Three adventurers take up a quest to slay a man-eating bear. Yes, I know the adventure is titled "Owlbear woods" but I only have a regular bear miniature, so it's an alpha bear, I guess. Our brave heroes:
- Buut Rhaal, human barbarian
- Bloody Bob, half-orc barbarian
- Pussycat, tiefling bard
After a short talk with the one-eyed halfling mayor of a village on the border of Neverwinter Woods, the adventurers investigated where the most recent bear attack took place. They found a roughed up clearing and a bloody hand still holding a woodcutter axe in the bushes. The barbarians, both proficient in Survival (this will be handy later on), decided to sleep for the night and start in the morning. Bob got drunk, Pussycat got laid.
In the morning, the party started on this roll-on-tables-driven adventure. With the barbarians helping each other out, they immediately penetrated the deep woods, coming upon a burned clearing. They were immediately beset upon by a smoldering earth creature and flaming spirits. They ran away.
Even having run away, the party was badly mauled. They rested a short bit away (a natural 20 roll ensured a quiet hour), then decided to go on. On a deserted forest trail, they met up a rage drake guarding its home.
The barbarians again contemplated running away, but the bard decided to attack with spells. How... uncharacteristic. In the end, the party again got mauled, but they defeated the drake.
At this point they decided to go back to the village to rest, but they ran into a goblin wolf rider.
This only made them want to go back to the village even harder, which they did.
The next day, they went in again. This time, they cruised by all combat encounters. They found bear tracks in a couple of empty groves, leading them to an overgrown elven shrine. A ghost popped up, bidding them to pray, which Buut Rhaal did. Proficient in religion, eh? The ghost went away.
The party then found a magical pond overseen by a satyr playing his flute. Pussycat and Bob joined in the song, thus convincing the satyr of their good intentions. Thus came the dilemma, as the well-informed satyr pointed them in the direction of the she-bear's lair. Apparently, she became brazen after having cubs. Both barbarians being close to nature, they decided on not killing the bear.
Yes, this party totally behaved in reverse at every choice.
And so the party reached the lair and inspected the cubs, then ran out the lair and waited for the momma bear to arrive. Buut Rhaal, with his bear spirit totem, "talked to the bear", convincing it to look for food in the forest first and the village last. The bear half-agreed.
The party then retreated to the village, and tried convincing the villagers of leaving animals out for the bear to eat, thus making her avoid people. This was a tough sell, but as the village couldn't move, the bear attacks were temporary until the cubs grow up, and the adventurers offered their quest reward money to buy animals, the mayor acquiesced - hoping that a braver party of adventurers would arrive in the meantime.
No TPK so... victory?
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