[Channel Teaser] How My Best Friend And A DnD Noob Pulled Off
The Craziest Plan Ever This story was submitted by our viewer, Cassie! A bit of context before I jump into the story,
I run a homebrew DnD game every Thursday with a group of very close friends. For the most part, all of us have DM'd a game
or two and know 5e like the back of our hands. Well, all except one. Cue my best friend. She had only played 4e and briefly at that. Maybe a total of eight hours in her lifetime. She is an excellent roleplayer and always
expressed interest to me to play DnD, but she was scared and hesitant. So when I started to get an idea for a campaign
around the fall of last year and went on to gather my party, she was the first person
I invited. I explained to my friends that I would invite
my best friend and said that she might need a little extra help sometimes. No problem. They were all ready to help and offer advice. At first, she was very shy and hesitant because
she knew all of them were veteran players and DM's, but I told her that she would be
fine and I would be there to help. When I asked what class she would play, we
tossed around a lot of ideas. She gave me what she sort of wanted in a character/idea,
and I tossed out the idea of a Warlock. I explained to her what they were all about
and she was hooked. Normally, I would not discuss patrons and
their identities with my players and I like to leave it a surprise and something to figure
out over the course of the game. But, because she was new, I gave her the choice
of a few patrons and what pacts they can have. Immediately, she gravitated to The Great Old
One patron. This is important and will come into play
later. I said it was a-okay and the campaign started
up. Our party consists of the following;
a Shadar-kai Monk of the Long Death named Elandiel,
a Zendikar Vampire Runic Fighter named Myth, a Halfling Druid of the Flame named Teara,
and, lastly, my best friend who is playing a Human Warlock with The Great Old One pact
named Theresa. The party had made its way over to Theresa's
home city and found something amiss. First off, there were people starting to go
missing. It started off in the lower districts, but
even some nobles were going missing. Second, the Queen of the city was starting
to have random conniptions. Moments where she would just pass out and
start having seizures, sometimes being out days at a time. Third, there is a dark group going around
named 'The Brotherhood' and they have been gathering members under the guise of fair
treatment for all lower-class and non-human citizens. Fourth, the party was on the trail of someone
named 'The Dark Viper'. All the fun stuff but nothing too outlandish
for an adventuring group! After meeting with a contact in the lower
districts, the contact complained that any time any of her people got close to the 'Dark
Viper', she would lose all contact with them. The contact assumed they were dead until they
would be sent back to her -- nothing but shells of their former selves. Nice house but nobody was home. She called them 'living vegetables', as if
something odd happened to their mind. Immediately the DM's of the group knew that
I was sending out a bunch of red flags with my warnings. There was something in the city and it was
not good. When Teara and Theresa left the bar this contact
was at, they found a woman from the noble district, dumped there and not responsive. Her eyes opened and she was breathing, but
no response outside of just drooling. Teara did an excellent nature and arcana check
and deduced that her brain was drained. The discord started to buzz, as they all knew
the creature that could do it. Teara deduced that this was the work of a
Mindflayer, and a sloppy one at that, since they did not outright kill the victim. Teara said that they should notify the guards
while Elandiel and Myth said that a Mindflayer may be a bit out of their reach. But it was then that Theresa stood her ground,
saying they needed to stop the mindflayer in a heated moment of roleplay. Through her excellent roleplay, Elandiel and
Myth relented and agreed to help Theresa's plan to stop the mindflayer. It was a hairbrained scheme, but it is a bit
of a running joke with my friends that our ideas, while not always the smartest, gets
things done. The plan was to have Theresa dress up as a
noble and get her into the nobles district to try and lure the mindflayer out to grab
her. When it did, the party would attack. Remember I said it was a hairbrained scheme? Teara would be transformed as a mouse to be
in Theresa's pocket at all times. Elandiel and Myth were her 'bodyguards' that
might have been a bit 'careless' to see their charge be lost. The Roll20 Dice Gods had to be smiling on
Theresa because her rolls that night were superb. She convinced a high profile tavern to let
her in and managed to chat with some nobility, none of them knowing that Theresa was just
a commoner. Eventually, a woman came over to Theresa and
the two hit it off immediately. The woman convinced Theresa to go on a walk
with her so that she could 'show Theresa the sights'. Elandiel and Myth were following behind but
far enough not to be noticed -- stealth checks were great. The woman eventually led Theresa down an alley
and pointed to a statue to get her attention. "And this! This statue was gifted to us by the Elven
kingdoms!" The woman said, pointing to the statue. "Wow, I read about this statue in a book once. It is so odd to find it here," Theresa said. "You know, you are very intelligent! Not many people know about this statue. It is a little known gem of our city I suppose." "Well, I read a lot of books. It is a bit of a hobby of mine," Theresa said
off-handedly. "Excellent…” And then I changed my tone into a cool and
sophisticated voice. "Your knowledge will be a treat for me rather
than these lesser beings I have tasted." Before Theresa could even say anything, I
asked her to roll me a Wisdom save. Elandiel and Myth start running towards Theresa,
and Teara goes to hop out of Theresa's pocket and turn back into a halfling. Theresa rolls the dice. 19 on the dice. 22 in total. "You feel as if something tries to grip your
mind, to stupify you or confuse you. But you shake it off! The woman grins and you hear a voice in your
head," I said. "Interesting… prey that fights back? How delightful." The woman is amused and intrigued by Theresa’s
ability to resist her. And then… Theresa does the craziest thing I have ever
seen someone do. "I use my ability from my patron to talk back
to the mindflayer in its mind!" Theresa shouted. The discord starts going crazy. I am staring in disbelief at my screen at
what she just said, but Teara, Myth and Elandiel are cheering her on. Even her husband who I can hear in Theresa's
background asked what was going on. She explained, and I heard him say: "Oh no…
are you insane?!" I take a deep breath and ask the age-old DM
saying, "Are you sure?" Theresa: "Yes! I talk to it in its mind!" A quick thing to note about mindflayers: aside
from… well… don't try to talk in a mindflayer's mind! The particularly nasty thing about Mindflayers
is that they are part of a hive mind. If you were to magically go into their mind,
you would hear a lot of voices but also direct voices from the Elderbrain or whatever it
had. Their minds are like networks. And Theresa could easily go insane from the
number of voices she could hear or god knows what else. But, I pull myself together and say, "Okay,
roll me a wisdom save to go into its mind." Everything is quiet as she rolls her dice. And the Dice Gods smile on her. Natural 20. The discord erupts in cheers and even I cheer
her on. "You enter into the mindflayer's mind, breaking
past their layers of psionic energy as you hear all around you murmurs and whispers. Some are louder than others, but you know
that you and this mind flayer are not alone. If anything, it sounds like being in an auditorium. People are talking among themselves and it
is hard to make out individual conversations. Okay, what do you say to the mindflayer?" Theresa says, “First off, I am not prey
and second off, you are not the only thing that can do that little trick too!' " The woman's face goes into shock for a brief
moment and then into pure, unbridled rage, 'HOW DARE YOU COME IN MY MIND, YOU LESSER
CREATURE!' It flings you out of its mind, but you remain
unharmed by its exit thanks to your steely resolve. The woman's form changes into that of a slender
purple man with tentacles writhing on his face. The Mindflayer Arcanist hisses at you and
has you only in its sights. Roll for initiative!" As I reveal the pog, I hear Eldaniel start
saying: "Oh no, oh no, that's bad. That's REALLY bad!" "I don't know about you, but I think Squid
is on the dinner menu for tonight. I never tried mindflayer blood." Myth said, stalking forward. "Please don't," Taera said with disgust. The party dispatched the mindflayer quickly
and came out victorious. "You know… we have done a lot of crazy things
in DnD but that has to be one of the craziest moments I think I have seen in a very long
time," I said, completely blown away by what had just happened. "But we did it!" Theresa beamed. "I don't think you understand. That could have ended… REALLY badly." "But it did not!" The party then started to praise Theresa and
her player, both in and out of character, saying how it was a crazy idea but it managed
to work. They all leveled up after that encounter. As of this date, it was this moment that I
was beyond proud of my best friend who went from DnD newbie weeks ago to hatching crazy
plans and just going along for a fun ride now. Who knows where this adventure will take them…
but if this is what is to come of my campaign, I think by the end of it I will have plenty
of stories to tell! Entering the hivemind of mindflayers? Pure insanity! She is lucky she managed to escape with her
sanity. But like she said, they did it! Please let us know what you think! Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel,
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