Messy Problems

One wonderful aspect of gameplay in D&D is the ability to create a problem with no clear solution and then throw it at players to see what happens. Sometimes the results are amazing. For example, in this game I’m DMing…

Some Backstory 

The party of heroes was called to adventure on The One Continent where gods like Dahc-Torf Unkenstein and Rumpov Steelskin rule over realms shaped by the powers of the funky, the staid, the tight, and the loose. 

The State Ozquo is a powerful staid empire to the south. Years ago, the empire’s forces flooded a valley that was the childhood home of the heroes. The Drowning killed thousands and seeded the heroes' need for revenge. 

When they were old enough to make a name for themselves, the party began to earn some renown just outside of The State Ozquo through a series of adventures... and some misadventures. Locals gave them the tongue-in-cheek nickname of “The Uncaged,” a reference to their capture and eventual escape from the forces of the State Ozquo. Over time, they gained a reputation as a bold, if sometimes rash, force for the funk.

The Challenge 

Stone Giant by Anders Johanson

On this day, the Uncaged were presenting evidence of The State Ozquo’s planned invasion of the Northern Kingdoms. They brought the evidence to the leaders of Gappand, a kingdom divided into three districts: Greenwood, Archer, and Pine. The people of this kingdom, who were descended from giants, were troubled by the evidence the heroes shared. They agreed to support a military response, but only if the Uncaged could prove themselves worthy. 

A Stone Giant Dreamwalker had made her home in a massive sea cave north of the kingdom. The dreamwalker was working constantly on an otherworldly sculpture for which she would wander about collecting large objects from the region to add to her work of art. The dreamwalker took what she pleased, a tree, a granary rooftop, a hedge, an out-of-use siege engine – anything. 

A few days before the Uncaged arrived in Gappand, the dreamwalker had entered the heart of the kingdom. She went to the Temple of Ancalljam – the god the kingdom worshipped above all others. She took a massive stone sickle out of the hand of the temple’s statue and brought it back to her sea cave. 

If the Uncaged could bring the sickle back to Gappand, the Kingdom would not only agree to send its troops to support an offensive against The State Ozquo, they would call on other Northern Kingdoms to do the same. 

The Players' Solution 

The Uncaged climbed down the sheer face of the sea cliff to find the dreamwalker in her cave hard at work on her sculpture. 

They could have attacked the giant. But they decided to try something else first.

The bard strummed a chord on a magic lute and started playing a song praising the sculpture’s beauty. The cleric monk cast a spell that gently shook the earth beneath everyone’s feet. The druid filled the cave with a light fog. The wizard crept forward and tried to help, but delivered a clumsy compliment that might have been mistaken for something else – so she turned herself invisible, hoping she hadn’t ruined the vibe. Meanwhile, the paladin and the rouge waited to see if things were going to devolve into violence. 

The dreamwalker was moved. She lifted up the bard in the palm of her hand and listened. Together they beheld the sculpture, and that’s when the song suggested a small change. The dreamwalker did not object. The bard cast a spell that magically lifted the sickle from the sculpture and moved it weightless to the floor where the invisible wizard could push it towards the mouth of the cave. The paladin took hold of it and prepared to climb with it back to the top of the sea cliff. As this happened, the bard caused all of the plants on the sculpture to grow flowers. Blossoms covered the work of art and filled the cave with the fragrance of spring. The druid transformed into an owl and screeched as it flew out of the cave. The dreamwalker, overcome by the power of what had just happened, wept and thanked the heroes for their inspiration.