[Channel Teaser] How My Party Accidentally Summoned The BBEG
Early Triggering A Crazy Encounter Hi everyone, All Things DnD is back with a
story. This might be one of the best examples of
a wish going just so wonderfully wrong. I need to hand it to the players for their
awesome teamwork and the DM for a great set up. Tell us your awesome wish gone wrong, or right
moments after you listen to this! Sometimes, a kind gesture can lead to the
craziest encounter a party can face. I am the DM for a homebrew 5e setting, which
I had been running for nearly six months. The Party is made up of three players: Zrakris
– a Black Dragonborn Vengeance Paladin, Knacker – an old Tiefling Necromancer, and
Buxton – a Human Sorcerer using a homebrew Oceanic-themed Origin. The party is around level 16. For background context, the party had just
returned to the Capital after slaying Knacker's old cult leader, Monteur. Monteur was once involved with the BBEG of
this arc, and the party sought him out to get information and put him to rest. However, though they were successful with
their endeavors, the BBEG they were preparing to face was not the true final boss. Earlier on in the campaign, I asked my players
if they wanted to go the full length of the campaign or if they wanted to split it up
into two parts and come back to it later. They chose the latter. So, I made the final boss for this arc the
finale. Or so we all thought. Zrakris, our Paladin, had picked up a Deck
of Many Things and had used it amusingly throughout the course of the story. He sent a snobby cleric away with the Void
card. One of the cards he drew was the Moon card. For those of you who have never drawn this
card, it gives its user 1d3 Wishes. He had three wishes, and was down to his last
one. The party returned to the Queen, who had sent
them on their mission. She was a young Wood-Elf girl who took the
throne after her father perished on a trip to a war monument. His body was never recovered. As the party was discussing their next plan
of action with the Queen's Goliath Paladin bodyguard, Zrakris was chatting up the Queen. Casually, Zrakris told her: "I wish your Father
was here." At first, we thought nothing of it. The Dragonborn had served under the King before
his death, and we thought he was just feeling sentimental about his absence. But, no. He was using his last Wish to bring the King
to the war room. Now, out of game, I knew what had actually
happened to the King. In an evil one-shot, Knacker's player, who
played a Fallen Aasimar Vengeance Paladin, had aided the Goliath bodyguard in dispatching
the King. The King had been searching for a member of
his royal guard that had supposedly fled to the Elemental Plane of Fire after stealing
a powerful sword. The portal to this Plane was beneath the war
monument, and the King planned to retrieve his guard and the sword himself. Once the King passed through the Portal, the
Goliath bodyguard and the Aasimar struck down the support that kept the Portal open, trapping
the King inside and allowing them to puppet his daughter who would take the throne in
his absence. So, Zrakris wishes for the King to be present
with the Party. I describe it as: a portal spewing hellfire
opens up at the far end of the war room, and a knight clad in smoldering full plate steps
out, wielding a burning greatsword in his left hand. Unbeknownst to the Party, the King had survived
his encounters within the Elemental Plane of Fire, but had become possessed by the armor
he was forced to wear. A burning shell of a man he once was, the
King's mind was twisted and his will suppressed. Angry for being pulled from his duties against
his will, the King attacked. His first target was the Goliath Paladin,
the closest person to him. Within a single round of attacks, the King
brought the Goliath down to just under 30 HP – from his max of 161. I look to the party, a malevolent smile on
my lips. "Say hello to the Final Boss, the one we decided
to keep for later. Let's roll for initiative." The party was obviously awestruck and horrified
at what I just said, and I couldn't blame them. This came from left field and was all because
Zrakris thought he would be able to bring closure to the Queen. Taking what actions he could, Zrakris casted
a 5th level Circle of Power, taking 5d10 Necrotic damage due to the effects of casting Wish. He was hoping to provide what support he could,
mainly since his Strength stat was currently at 3. Next, Knacker decided to pull out the big
guns and cast a 9th level Prismatic Wall, creating a dome that surrounded the King. The King failed his save against being blinded. After that, the Goliath took the Queen and
began to flee, rushing her to safety and to gather more men to help stop this threat. Buxton was last on the initiative, and cast
a 3rd level Tidal Wave. I ruled it that the spell was encased within
the Prismatic Wall, making the King trapped within a fishbowl. The next round of combat began, and I ruled
that each layer of the Prismatic Wall would take full movement to get through. This means that the party has seven rounds
of combat to gather what they need to defeat the King. The King takes his full movement and gets
through one layer of the Wall. Zrakris took the time and healed himself with
some of his Lay on Hands ability. Knacker began to cast Magnificent Mansion
as a backup plan in case the party needed to escape. This would take a minute, so the old Tiefling
would only have 3 rounds after the King escaped to complete the Mansion. The Queen and Goliath had fled by this point,
removing them from combat. Buxton's turn, and oh boy did he have a plan. Using his magic, he cast a Blink Spell as
a bonus action to enter the water-filled dome. He could breathe underwater, so he would be
alright. However, Buxton fails the save against being
blinded by the Wall, but manages to cast a 5th level Maelstrom. So, let's just recap what just happened. The King must make it through each layer of
the Prismatic Wall, taking 50d6 of elemental damage as he makes it through each layer. He also has to make both a Dexterity and a
Strength Save to resist damage from both the Tidal Wave and Maelstrom spells - in addition
to either falling prone or being dragged 10 feet into the center of the Maelstrom upon
failing both of those spells’ saves. This also means that Buxton has to make the
same saves for his own spells. Knacker's player put it perfectly: "Buxton,
you’re a blind man trapped inside a killer washing machine." Indeed he was. Buxton failed every single one of his Strength
Saves to resist the Maelstrom spell he cast. In addition, he was completely blind, not
knowing where the King was, and the Blink Spell had him popping in and out of combat
every round. By the time Buxton finally emerged from the
killer washing machine, he had 24 health from his original 140 HP, all of which was self-inflicted. Speeding up combat, the King also emerged
from the Wall, still blind. I rolled for which way he would move, and
he would attack whatever he came into contact with. This happened to be in the direction of Zrakris,
our Paladin. The King swung wildly at him, cleaving through
his health and with a lucky critical hit to boot. The burning sword sliced through Zrakris'
shield and shield hand. Zrakris retaliated with one final smite, dealing
solid damage to the King while dealing himself 4d10 Necrotic damage due to the effects of
Wish, putting Zrakris into Death Save territory by his own volition. Knacker cried out in shock, fearing for his
friend but unable to do anything unless he stopped casting the mansion. He casts Shadow Blade as an 8th level as his
bonus action – just in case. Hearing Knacker's cry, the King began to stalk
towards him. This fight has lasted for nearly three hours
and we just hit round 10. Buxton is no longer blinded, and now being
able to see the King once again, decided it was now or never. Buxton raised a finger at the King and said:
"I ask, nay, I command you… DIE!" Buxton cast his 9th level Power Word Kill. I asked him: "You target the King, correct?" Buxton's player confirms. I then describe the scene. "Buxton, you point your finger at the King
and command him to die. Around you, you sense your ancestors, all
doing the same. They understand the gravity of the situation,
and they wish for this to end." I describe as the King slumps forward, his
life now truly ended. However, as the Party finally takes a sigh
of relief, he stands back up. I love doing multi-phase bosses, and the armor
was technically its own separate entity. Now top of the initiative, the armor has a
choice to make. It either kills Knacker who is standing in
front of it, or it saunters over and butchers the creature that killed its flesh puppet. I rolled a d20 – ten under it attacked Knacker,
eleven or higher it attacked Buxton. It rolled a 14, so Buxton it was. As it began to walk over to Buxton, fury and
malice literally burning from it, Knacker was given an attack of opportunity. He managed to hit its high AC, and drove the
Shadow Blade through the smoldering helmet, dealing 21 points of damage – a single point
over the armor's HP. Knacker rode the body down to the ground,
the innate psychic damage of the spell diffusing what semblance of life the armor had. The guards that the Queen had gathered finally
arrived, and they took care of the situation. The party was rewarded for their efforts,
and they returned the kindness by reviving the King back to life with his sanity intact. Weak but humbled, the King thanked them for
freeing him from the clutches of the armor. There was a sweet reunion between the King
and his daughter, and the party could now take a moment to sigh in relief. At this point, the table is ecstatic. They managed to overcome a seemingly impossible
challenge, thanks to some creative, albeit somewhat suicidal magic. After the fight, the party survived their
wounds and continued the story, wrapping up the final arc in another awesome combat encounter. Why is it that wishes always seem to backfire? But at least there was a happy ending to this
one! Please let us know what you think and comment
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