Dungeons and Dragons ("DnD"): Hoard of the Dragon Queen: Episode 3.2 Adventure #13
Date of Session: August 1, 2019 (11pm to 1:00am)
Number of Players: 3
Legendary Hero Menos (Dragon-born Paladin)
Kai-tick, Kin-slayer and “Servant” (Aarakocra Rogue)
XerX, the “X” Archer and “Master” (NOBLE Half-Elf Ranger)
Bubby has officially departed the game, but the story isn’t over. Not by a long-shot. The story and players had a vibe going on… it was time to detract from the campaign book. We needed downtime to establish the new flow moving forward. Without Bubby, the team’s dynamic would return to what it was before he arrived, and that scared anyone who remembered what that was like…
Let’s dive into what happened in this session:
Menos Venti Plus (MVP), also known as Vin the Genie, has pulled the ultimate betrayal against the Enforcers. He is the mastermind behind The Cult of the Dragon, a Master like XerX and Bubby, and reveals Mas O is only a strong Servant doing his bidding. This was a lot for the Enforcers to process, but the main goals remained the same: locate and collect the Nine Dragon Eggs to stop Dragon Queen, Tiamat, from escaping Ninth Hell.
The Enforcers, Menos, XerX, and Kai-tick, are left in the basement of Castle Greenest, now partially destroyed with a huge hole and an apple tree growing out of it. The trio discuss what to do next for Greenest, and then Captain Leon approaches. He wants to help the Enforcers in any way he can but is limited by their vigilante group status and Black Bulls obligations.
Cue the theme music of… The GINYU FORCE! Burter! Jeice! Recoome! Guldo! ANNNNDDD… CAPTAIN GINYU!
The Ginyu Force have arrived to give a message! They’re here to warn everyone of the Captain-Commander approaching Greenest at the speed of light! The Captain of the Golden Dawn and the entire 13 Squads.
Kai-tick was having a hard time understanding this concept despite watching Bleach prior to beginning this session… on-the-nose anime references shouldn’t be getting lost in the sessions. Especially mainstream animes like Naruto, DBZ, and Bleach… me and his fellow PCs had to explain this way too many times.
Anyways, the Captain-Commander arrives and dives into the hole as the Ginyu Force plays his favorite ringtone through their scouters. Aliens have advanced tech, an idea that has not been addressed all that much. That’ll change when the next “filler” story plays out in these next couple sessions. My players deserve to take a break from MVP’s grand reveal in order to train and harness their new abilities.
The Stars and Stripes Aarakocra approached the Enforcers. XerX sensed his power level was a terrifying level, almost overwhelming. Kai-tick kept a calm face, but he wasn’t an idiot. Even the Kin-slayer could feel the incredible power coming off the Golden Dawn’s strongest warrior. His name was Captain-Commander Eggza in honor of the first home he made in the multiverse. Since the Enforcers weren’t used to his long title, Eggza lets them call him, “Lord Eggza” instead.
Lord Eggza, an insane D&D combination of Homelander (The Boys, 2019), Frieza (DBZ), and Superman, is not pleased with the Enforcers especially XerX. Everyone except the Ginyu Force, were scared and chose their words very carefully. Lord Eggza was the one who originally instructed the Ginyu Force to execute XerX for disrespecting his honor, relenting after hearing Captain Ginyu’s agreement with Captain Leon.
Menos and Kai-tick were insulted by his bluntness but did not dare make a move against Lord Eggza. They hated the Captain-Commander’s cruelty and hurtful words but did not react. XerX, on the other hand, tested the waters against the most powerful NPC they’ve met so far. Honestly, nobody else could top the Captain-Commander’s strength. He was not someone you wanted as an enemy.
Lord Eggza reveals his ultimate goal was to help the Enforcers collect the Nine Dragon Eggs but not to stop the Dragon Queen from escaping Ninth Hell. In fact, he wished to release her on his own terms. You see… Lord Eggza has grown so powerful that nobody else could challenge him and this could be his last chance to test his ultimate strength. He also wished to thin out the multiverse, to showcase that Lord Eggza is the true hero and Captain-Commander among the 13 Squads.
Menos was the first one to speak out… Lord Eggza’s plan was insane and heartless. This is where the PC learned that Lord Eggza accepted that opinion and agreed with it. He’s also the legendary hero who vanquished Mas O to First Hell in the first place, playing a heroic part during the war between Dragon-born and Wolf-Kind 900 years ago. Lord Eggza was also connected with Kai-tick’s father and the League of Whispers. The Enforcers sweated and wondered how far this all went… how this evil Aarakocra was in charge of the Mage’s Knight Squads. All 13 of them.
Lord Eggza wished to undertake the Enforcers into the 13 Squads so they could aid him directly for the Nine Dragon Eggs. He wasn’t going to allow them into the Golden Dawn mostly because XerX, but he would place them in the Black Bulls as a sub-squad like a second Ginyu Force team. The Enforcers debated and ultimately planned to agree but…
There were more conditions attached to the offer. First, Lord Eggza needed to put them through a series of tests like the Ginyu Force endured, and not one to plan out events to such an extent, delegated everything over to Captain Ginyu, who happily agreed to the huge task. The Ginyu Force are the only people who did not openly fear Lord Eggza and served him quite willingly. Blinded by Loyalty.
Lord Eggza planned to leave around that point, but XerX decided to provoke the strongest NPC in the multiverse. What could possibly go wrong? Everything.
XerX was left with a stern warning by Lord Eggza and flew away. The NPC also has super hearing, so that made the players super paranoid about what they said out loud to each other. This is where Captain Ginyu took over the narrative for some exposition:
He intends to change the series of tests into a huge sports events as a fundraiser for the village of Greenest, now under the protection of the Golden Dawn’s Ginyu Force Squad. They need to help rebuild Greenest’s poor economic loss from the invasion, which will improve their chances of being legalized. Captain Ginyu reveals the legalization of the Greenest Village, the town that can’t find satisfaction, will be tied to the Enforcers’ test results. Plus, Lord Eggza will destroy them and the town if the whole thing isn’t in their favor.
A lot of stakes have been placed on this filler arc. Captain Ginyu declares the whole exam, “The Ginyu Events”! XerX calls it lame, which Captain Ginyu agrees with and renames the events as the “Ginyu Games” or GG. The Enforcers found the name way more appropriate than the last one, and more accurate. Captain Ginyu is happy and declares it’ll take them seven days to arrange the everything—decorations, set-up, inviting people, etc. This will give the players more than enough time to train, have downtime, and maybe partake in mini-quests.
The Enforcers are terrified about the upcoming GG’s and their priority to journey toward Waterdeep because Menos Venti Plus (MVP) is heading over there for the next Egg. This situation mostly took precedent though due to their actions, which they accepted was a good chunk of their fault. The Ginyu Force leave shortly afterwards to meet up with Lord Eggza outside, who was meeting with Governor Nighthill.
Kai-tick was not pleased to hear the Governor and Lord Eggza were meeting. Then, he remembered Noblin and TBA Goblin. He didn’t know where they were, which worried him in the moment but Menos and XerX reminded him that they had bigger concerns. He knew they were right, but the Goblins’ disappearance didn’t leave his head.
Menos, XerX, and Kai-tick wanted to train harder than ever. They looked to Captain Leon, the Captain of the Black Bulls, and a former League of Whispers member, student of Kai-tick’s father. He was the ideal half-elf for the job, but Menos wasn’t convinced of a monk’s strength. However, he agreed knowing there was no other options available. They would start training the following day to give the Enforcers time to say their goodbyes. The half-elf was convinced they wouldn’t pass the GG’s but agreed to help anyway for that fighting chance.
Captain Leon goes to check on Ned, the other Aarakocra who was still processing the trauma from Greenest Invasion. I keep mentioning this for a very good reason… Zora, XerX’s childhood rival / best friend is with Ned at this moment. After Captain Leon is gone and out of range, only the Enforcers were left in the basement training grounds underneath Greenest Castle.
Menos wished to long rest after the days they had, XerX wanted to provoke Lord Eggza, and Kai-tick went to the apple tree for Wuya Style training since he doesn’t require any sleep to survive. It was League of Whispers training, but I mistook it for Aarakocra trait and had to improvise on that mistake. It involved Lord Eggza, the American Aarakocra.
Kai-tick also had a talks with Governor Nighthill, which never went well and involved the Hero of Kin to get scary. Kai-tick wanted Governor Nighthill to ask the villagers for potion of healings and other supplies they’ll need for the upcoming Ginyu Games. Governor was in agreement, but it’d take him a day or two to gather everything. Kai-tick hated this man but he was a means to an end.
Menos went to take his long rest and reunited with his “Find Steed” Warhorse Axel on the way to his room. He loved that horse, but he kept leaving him behind. Lina and Kurt Swift have been taking care of him all this time. This is where Lina made her wish known to the Enforcers, who were all present for this scene. Lina wished to train as Menos’ new paladin squire. Menos was surprised to hear this and reluctantly agreed to take her as his student paladin. After all, he owed her and Kurt for everything they did for Axel, a Warhorse who is sort-of a real horse.
XerX went looking outside for Lord Eggza. He wanted a manly talk with the Captain-Commander and declared he’ll take a long rest afterwards. Lord Eggza arrives earlier than expected, but XerX keeps his brave face on. This player was cracking me up with defiance. He never does things like this!!!
XerX took the sudden cockiness way too far at the expense of his teammates… but I’m getting ahead of myself. Lord Eggza and XerX have a discussion, which ends with XerX declaring another statement: I will defeat you and surpass you as Captain-Commander! He was not pleased to hear the half-elf’s disrespect. Thus, Lord Eggza super-sped away to wake Menos from his long rest.
The door busted open where Lord Eggza captured Menos before he could react to his super speed. There was no need to do ability rolls because all the players knew it was impossible to take Captain-Commander Lord Eggza in a direct battle. They’d lose the match before it’d even start. Lord Eggza grappled Menos hard and told him this was a message from XerX. The American Aarakocra activated his heat vision and scarred in Menos’ chest the words: XerX. The damage almost shoved Menos into a death saving throw.
Lord Eggza gave XerX another chance to apologize for the disrespect, but the half-elf wiz-ranger wouldn’t budge. This is where Kai-tick suffered Menos’ fate at XerX’s expense. The players began to riot over XerX’s indecision to stop threatening the Captain-Commander. Kai-tick knew he couldn’t escape, the super-speed is basically impossible to dodge, which meant it was up to XerX to determine Kai-tick’s fate. XerX made another smart comment and Kai-tick was burned with heat vision. Technically, I should’ve offered the PCs a couple DEX saving throws, which I’ll do in future encounters, but I needed to flex my DM muscle once in awhile.
Lord Eggza left the Enforcers in shambles to patrol Greenest. He does not require much sleep. Kai-tick and Menos were not happy with XerX for the rest of the session. This was amusing to say the least. The players are gradually figuring out Lord Eggza is not a NPC you want as an enemy. XerX regretted everything and counted his blessings for no one dying. The rest of the night was awkward and uninterrupted slumber. As long as XerX didn’t piss off Lord Eggza again, which almost happened… a brief scene of Lord Eggza’s madness forcing XerX’s head against Menos’ window.
However, Lord Eggza did send his personal Nurse Joy (Pokemon!) to heal the party of their physical injuries. Menos would need to do the extra healing to remove the XerX scar from his chest. This did not please the Legendary Hero in the slightest. The Enforcers agreed to table this issue because they had training with Captain Leon in the morning.
The following morning arrived after the long rest. XerX, Kai-tick, and Menos meet up to discuss the upcoming training exercise where they also run into Captain Ginyu, Captain Leon, and Lord Eggza in the midst of a conversation. Captain Ginyu is happy to have run into the Enforcers. Now, he can tell him the good news: Lina Swift has been added onto the Enforcers’ roster team.
Lord Eggza informed Captain Ginyu of Menos’ interest in training Lina and wished to enter her into the GG’s on their behalf. The Enforcers, keeping a calm manner, thanks Lord Eggza for the “kind gesture”. Lina has no fighting experience, and almost died in episode one when the Enforcers arrived in Greenest. Menos forgot they met Lina and Kurt Swift not that long ago.
After this, Captain Ginyu and Lord Eggza official welcome Lina into the Enforcers, who arrived to train with the rest of the boys. XerX, Kai-tick, and Menos were not ready for this twist of events, but they rolled with it because they had no other choice. Plus, the team could use more members. After everyone else left the scenes, Captain Leon took deep breaths and explained the training exercise: three bells were attached to his belt and the goal was to steal them. It was a straight-forward team-building exercise. They had thirty minutes to complete the task.
Kai-tick kept his distance and watched Menos charge Captain Leon first with the Avatar Blade, activating the Water element. Lina held onto XerX out of fear. XerX was not okay with this and tried to push her off. Menos missed Captain Leon, and the monk handled the counterattack, forcing Menos to drop his weapon. This battle was not going to be a normal challenge.
Kai-tick struck Captain Leon next. They clashed using the same Wuya Style, keeping the attention off XerX. XerX pushed Lina off hard and used mage hand to retrieve a bell for himself. The stealth check was successful. XerX’s mage hand had one bell and planned the trip back on his next turn. Unfortunately, Captain Leon noticed the cantrip before it could reach XerX and struck down the mage hand using one of his attacks. Kai-tick had swoop down to pick up the fallen bell, and XerX contemplated killing Lina. The players are out of control, sometimes.
Menos, after dropping BBC (Stranger Things Great Sword) from a different round in the combat and picking up the Avatar Blade, decided to toss it back where he found it and refused to keep fighting. Menos went into a decent anime speech about Captain Leon’s bell training exercise being pointless. He raged on about bell exercise’s guaranteed fail being unfair because three bells for four people… and he preached teamwork was what they should focus on.
Captain Leon nodded and acknowledged Menos’ newfound resolve. XerX, Kai-tick, and Lina were somewhat moved as well. Captain Leon declared he was impressed, and that teamwork was the key to completing the exercise. He didn’t expect them to finish early due to their previous history of teamwork. This was a solid beginning to the newfound Enforcers. Having Lina on the team will be an interesting character dynamic to include.
To conclude the session, Captain Leon revealed a secret training method: a way to gain one year’s worth of training in one day. If this sounds familiar, it’s because DBZ music is influencing my DM choices. Kai-tick, Menos, and XerX are interested in the idea to gain immense power in a short amount of time. This will better prepare the Enforcers for the Ginyu Games and their budding character development.
The session ended here. This is an interesting arc I developed and made up on the spot. I am taking a lot of anime and putting it into the sessions because my players respond the most to these references. They’re also very excited about the Ginyu Games and the seven day break from the craziness. Thanks for reading, y’all! See you next time on D&D!