Where We Left Off
The party is mid-combat on the upper floors of Reginald’s secretive manor, in the final stretch of a three-session heist. The objective: steal the lantern and get out alive. The building is a mechanical death trap — caged ceilings, dart traps, a Wall of Fire, and gas pipes running through the walls. Outside, four gargoyles patrol and wait.
The Bomb Guy Goes Down the Stairs
The most pressing threat at the start of the session was a squat, round bomb-carrying enemy — affectionately nicknamed “the Kool-Aid Man” — who had already burst through a wall last session and detonated a pale flame fireball. He was charging up a second device from his back.
Imogen solved this decisively. She grappled him from behind — burning a Second Wind as a bonus action (adding a d10 to the contested check) and landing a nat 20 — then threw him down the staircase. He rolled through every trap on the stairs: darts, explosions, burn mechanisms, the works. He pinballed down to the basement, hit the wall, and triggered the bomb he was already charging. The resulting explosion shook the entire building.
Bonk in the Cage
Bonk had been caught by a cage trap — concealed ceiling bars that looked like ordinary piping, which dropped and locked into the floor via an anchored mechanism. Getting him out required picking two latches.
Ms. Cheri used thieves’ tools and rolled a 14, successfully picking the first latch. Before she could get to the second, Imogen found a cleaner solution: her Bait and Switch maneuver lets her swap places with a willing creature within 5 feet by expending a superiority die. She used it to teleport herself into the cage and pull Bonk out — Houdini-style. Using Cloud Jaunt to reposition herself up the stairs, clearing the gas-filled lower room.
The Lantern, the Sword, and the Missing Pendant
Vesolnir used Mage Hand to move the lantern — the main objective — up 30 feet and into the upper floor. Touching it directly deals fire damage, so keeping it at arm’s length was essential. The lantern made it out of the building with the party.
The animated floating sword (a defense trap) had been dealt with last session when May cast Dispel Magic on it, dropping it inert to the floor. This session, Vesolnir picked it up. Examining the display case, it was labeled “the Sword of Reginald” — a longsword with a faint magical signature. He kept it.
On one of the display cases, the party noticed a velvet-lined impression where a Star Shard Pendant used to sit. It’s not invisible — it’s simply gone. Nobody has any idea who took it or when.
The Gargoyle Gauntlet
Four gargoyles had been patrolling the exterior since they were woken up in an earlier session. Too large to enter through windows or doors, they waited outside — patient, cracked, and watchful.
The escape plan: Cheri mounted her broom of flying, took a passenger, cast Mirror Image on herself (giving both of them a ~25% chance to redirect attacks), and flew down to the river at the back of the building. Vesolnir inspected the dock’s dingy — rolling a 20 on Investigation — and confirmed it was completely ordinary. Not rigged.
Meanwhile, the gargoyles acted. Two hurled rocks (missing), and a third closed in on Imogen with a bite-and-claw multiattack, connecting for 20 damage. Her 6 temporary hit points absorbed part of it, leaving her at 14 real damage taken. She burned another Second Wind to get back to 29.
May unleashed held Shatter centered on two gargoyles clustered together — constructs have disadvantage on the Constitution save, and both failed. Full 3d8 thunder damage to each. One gargoyle was also tripped prone by Cynthia’s character (10 damage + prone condition), buying extra breathing room.
Imogen swung at the nearest gargoyle — missed her first strike but still dealt 6 damage (her build ensures a minimum on a miss), then connected on the second for 13 more. The gargoyle was battered, dusty, and crumbling.
The Getaway
With everyone either flying, teleporting, or jumping:
The gargoyles gave chase within range but couldn’t keep up with the broom’s speed. The party slipped away, the lantern was safely retrieved.
What the Party Walked Away With
- The Lantern — the primary objective, delivered intact
- Reginald’s Sword — longsword with a faint magical aura, picked up by Imogen
- A journal — grabbed off a table; contents unknown
- 2,500 gold — the agreed payment, pending delivery of the lantern to the assassin’s guild
The Bigger Picture
Reginald himself apparently commissioned this heist — he asked the party to rob him, for reasons still unclear. The manor is mechanical throughout, with no magic in the traps or mechanisms (the bombs being a partial exception — they carry a fire-based energy). The building shook from the basement explosion as they left, with metal mechanisms clicking and resetting in the walls.
The three-session heist is complete.