Session Overview#
The party successfully infiltrates the resistance headquarters beneath High Forge, where they meet Victor and plan coordinated attacks on Iron Claws V production facilities. What begins as a straightforward bombing mission evolves into a moral crisis when human experimentation is discovered, culminating in intense combat with Lieutenant Grimjaw and his crossbow squad.
Meeting the Resistance Leadership#
Victor’s Laboratory#
The party enters Victor’s sprawling underground laboratory, a chaotic monument to controlled and uncontrolled experimentation. The workspace is filled with bubbling beakers, crystallization dishes, blast-scarred walls, and hastily scrawled equations mixing legitimate chemistry with stick figures and explosion diagrams.
Victor appears wearing multiple pairs of stacked goggles and a singed lab coat, wielding a modified turkey baster with copper coils. His immediate response to the party’s arrival is to panic about being “compromised” and demand everyone grab explosive devices.
Zone of Truth Interrogation#
To establish trust, Victor ritually casts Zone of Truth using chalk circles, forcing everyone into close proximity for verification. During the magical interrogation:
Key Questions and Answers:
- Party members confirm they are not Iron Claws members
- Silas admits he enjoys explosions and likes gold as his favorite element
- Olivia reveals concern about the mysterious dragon orb they carry
- Ohma introduces himself as a new party member, explaining his turtle nature
Victor’s Forgetfulness: Victor reveals he had completely forgotten about their radio conversation regarding sulfur, demonstrating his scattered mental state due to constant experimentation stress.
Resistance Personnel#
The party meets additional resistance members:
- Lady Corwin: A posh-looking dwarf decorated in finery who advocates for strategic gold heists over demolition
- Sia: A mysterious figure with bleach blonde bangs covering her face, notable for her glowing purple eyes and connection to the dragon orb’s resonance
Sia’s Abilities: She can sense the orb’s presence and describes feeling resonance frequencies that tie into the music pervading her being, suggesting supernatural sensitivity to the crystalline matrix affecting the city.
Strategic Planning Session#
Victor’s Demolition Plan#
Victor proposes attacking three V production facilities:
- Crystal Refinement Lab: Processing raw violessence into drug components
- Synthesis Plant: Converting materials into the finished V drug
- Distribution Center: Packaging and shipping V throughout the city
His plan involves explosive destruction of all facilities to eliminate V production permanently and free the addicted population from dependency.
Lady Corwin’s Alternative Strategy#
Corwin advocates for a different approach:
- Intercept tribute shipments: Massive gold transfers occur every full moon going “up the mountain”
- Strategic disruption: Bankrupt Helja while discovering who she’s paying tribute to
- Surgical precision: Maintain city infrastructure while eliminating Iron Claws funding
The Ravers Connection#
Sia represents a third faction - the underground ravers affected by Helisanna ’s supernatural musical influence. Her plan involves throwing parties in the Under Lake, though this seems more recreational than strategic.
The Ravers’ Situation:
- Thousands of teenagers with purple eyes gather for massive underground parties
- They exhaust what V was available in the lake water and now purchase from Helja
- Withdrawal effects include several days of catatonia followed by violent desperation
- They can eventually recover through detox but require significant time and support
The Explosive Mission Begins#
Victor’s Dangerous Timing System#
Victor provides three bombs with different countdown timers:
- 40-minute timer (taken by Bru )
- 50-minute timer (taken by Elspeth )
- 60-minute timer (taken by Olivia )
Critical Error: Victor activates all timers simultaneously upon releasing the bombs, creating an inflexible schedule requiring sequential facility attacks within strict time constraints.
Party Criticism: The team immediately recognizes this as poor planning, with Bru being acknowledged as superior at bomb construction and timing mechanisms.
Strategic Route Planning#
Ohma ’s exceptional survival check (23) reveals Victor has carefully calculated timing to allow sequential facility attacks, but the party must hurry. The route requires:
- 10 minutes to reach the first facility (reduced to 7 with Ohma ’s assistance)
- Sequential timing to hit all three targets within the countdown windows
- Split-second coordination to avoid being caught in explosive radius
The Crystal Refinement Lab Infiltration#
The Throwing Sequence#
Coordinated Athletics: Olivia and Ohma work together to launch Silas onto the 40-foot building roof using their combined superhuman strength.
Success Rolls:
- Olivia : Athletics check of 24 (with Flash of Genius boost)
- Ohma : Athletics check of 23 (with bardic inspiration)
- Silas : Acrobatics check of 30 (natural 20) and Stealth check of 28
The spectacular throw results in Silas executing a perfect landing while protecting the bomb, rolling silently across the roof to avoid detection.
Breaking and Entering#
Silas demonstrates his expertise by:
- Picking the maintenance hatch lock with Sleight of Hand (28 total)
- Keeping the high-quality lock as a trophy
- Successfully infiltrating the facility using rope and stealth techniques
Human Experimentation Discovery#
The Horror Revealed: Inside the facility, Silas discovers twelve glass chambers containing people in various states of V-induced experimentation:
Test Subject Conditions:
- Subject 7: “More agreeable” according to notes
- Subject 12: “Senses merged”
- Subject 13: “Dead, removed later”
- Subject 3: Unconscious and slumped in their chamber
The Lucid Victim: A young human woman (approximately 20 years old) with purple veins and lips presses against her glass chamber, begging for release. Silas ’s exceptional insight check (natural 20, 28 total) reveals she has fought through the V-induced haze enough to maintain coherent thought and genuine desperation.
Moral Decision Under Pressure#
With less than three minutes remaining on the bomb timer, Silas faces a critical choice:
The Rescue: He releases the lucid woman, who immediately escapes with superhuman speed enhanced by V withdrawal effects.
Mass Liberation: Despite recognizing the other subjects appear more volatile and unpredictable, Silas chooses to open all chambers, giving everyone a chance to escape before the explosion.
Philosophical Justification: He asks himself “What would Olivia do?” and chooses to prioritize saving lives over personal safety.
The Explosive Escape#
Dramatic Window Exit#
Silas jumps through a third-story window shouting “Catch me!” while six naked, purple-veined former test subjects follow behind him. The scene creates chaos as the rescued subjects immediately attack Iron Claws guards with their bare hands.
Coordinated Rescue#
Ohma demonstrates his monk abilities by:
- Making a running jump to gain extra height
- Successfully catching Silas in mid-air (Dexterity check: 15)
- Using Slow Fall to reduce damage by 35 points
- Ensuring both land safely despite the dangerous height
The First Explosion#
The Crystal Refinement Lab detonates with a massive purple-orange mushroom cloud visible throughout the underground caverns. The explosion proves much larger than Victor anticipated, creating:
- Purple snow falling across three city blocks
- Massive shockwave requiring Constitution saves
- Widespread V contamination creating hallucinogenic effects in the area
- Radio transmission from Victor admitting his coefficient calculations were wrong
Environmental Chaos and Navigation#
V-Dust Effects#
The explosion creates a purple mist throughout the streets, causing:
- Vision distortion making navigation difficult
- Hallucinogenic pathways where alleys appear where none existed
- Rippling cobblestones creating an unstable visual environment
- Constitution disadvantages for party members who failed their saves
Street Battle Emergence#
The V contamination draws purple-eyed ravers toward the explosion site, creating a chaotic three-way conflict:
- Iron Claws guards trying to manage the disaster
- V-addicted ravers drawn to the destruction like “moths to flame”
- The party navigating through the battlefield toward their next target
The Distribution Center Ambush#
Lieutenant Grimjaw’s Trap#
The party arrives at the Distribution Center (housed in the old Stone Hammer Brewery) to find an organized ambush led by Lieutenant Grimjaw, Helja’s right-hand man.
Enemy Forces:
- Lieutenant Grimjaw: Heavily armored with twin axes, scarred face, and gas-filtering breather mask
- Seven crossbow soldiers positioned in a defensive semicircle
- Pre-positioned tactical advantage using the warehouse entrance as a chokepoint
Grimjaw’s Ultimatum: He offers the party a chance to retreat and be hunted “sportingly,” or continue and face immediate execution along with their families and associates.
Combat: The Crossbow Squad Battle#
Initiative and Opening Moves:
- Bru (22): Opens with his Eldritch Cannon in Flamethrower mode, hitting Grimjaw and two soldiers (10 damage to one, 5 damage to others who saved)
- Helisanna (17): Casts Hex on Grimjaw, then delivers two Eldritch Blast attacks (16 and 12 damage respectively)
- Ohma (12): Closes distance and delivers two Force damage attacks (9 and 11 damage), then uses Stunning Strike to incapacitate Grimjaw
Gas Hazard Complications: Grimjaw’s armor releases poisonous gas when damaged, forcing Constitution saves from nearby attackers. Ohma fails his save and becomes incapacitated, falling unconscious next to the stunned lieutenant.
Coordinated Assault:
- Silas : Delivers devastating sneak attack for 23 psychic damage, then hides behind cover (Stealth: 22)
- Olivia : Charges in mounted on Bob, dealing 17 damage with her first attack and successfully shaking off the gas effects
- Elspeth : Finishes Grimjaw with a Branding Smite gun attack (19 piercing + 7 radiant damage), dramatically declaring the bomb threat
Crossbow Retaliation: The seven remaining soldiers unleash a coordinated volley at Olivia , scoring multiple hits for 35 total damage despite her AC 20 armor.
Victory and Intimidation#
Elspeth ’s successful intimidation (21 total) after killing Grimjaw causes the demoralized crossbow soldiers to flee. The party successfully plants their second bomb without further resistance.
The Second Explosion: Unlike the first facility, this explosion is more controlled with no shockwave, successfully destroying the distribution center and catching it on fire without widespread collateral damage.
Character Development and Team Dynamics#
Moral Complexity Under Pressure#
Silas ’s decision to release all test subjects despite time constraints demonstrates character growth from purely self-interested to genuinely heroic, even when personal survival is at stake.
Combat Coordination#
The battle showcases improved party tactics:
- Ohma ’s stunning strike creating opportunities for allies
- Elspeth ’s protective positioning in front of wounded Olivia
- Coordinated focus fire eliminating priority targets efficiently
- Creative use of mounts and positioning for tactical advantages
Victor’s Incompetence#
The session establishes Victor as well-meaning but dangerously unprepared, with his timing system creating unnecessary risks and his explosive calculations proving wildly inaccurate.
Ongoing Plot Threads#
- The Third Facility: The Synthesis Plant remains as their final target
- Human Experimentation: The rescued test subjects represent ongoing atrocities requiring investigation
- Victor’s Radio Contact: His transmission was cut off during Sia’s scream, suggesting complications at headquarters
- Purple-Eyed Ravers: The connection between Helisanna ’s influence and the V-drug epidemic continues developing
- Tribute Payments: Lady Corwin’s information about gold shipments “up the mountain” suggests larger conspiracy
Technical and Mechanical Highlights#
New Combat Applications#
- Ohma ’s monk abilities proving effective for both offense and mobility support
- Coordinated throwing techniques using multiple party members’ strength bonuses
- Environmental hazards (poisonous gas) requiring tactical adaptation
- Mount combat with Bob providing advantages and complications
Stealth and Infiltration#
- Silas ’s skill monkey abilities allowing complex solo operations
- Creative problem-solving under extreme time pressure
- Lock picking and rope work demonstrating practical adventuring skills
Moral Decision Making#
The session effectively balances action sequences with meaningful moral choices, forcing characters to make split-second decisions about priorities when lives are at stake.
Session Conclusion#
The episode ends with the party having successfully destroyed two of three V production facilities while uncovering disturbing evidence of human experimentation. They’ve eliminated a major Iron Claws lieutenant but face an uncertain situation at resistance headquarters and one final facility to destroy.
The combination of explosive action, moral complexity, and character development creates a satisfying episode that advances both the immediate mission and broader campaign themes about fighting systematic oppression while maintaining personal ethics under pressure.
The cliffhanger regarding Victor’s interrupted transmission and the remaining facility bomb creates natural tension for the next session, while the rescued test subjects and revealed experimentation program provide ongoing plot hooks for future adventures.