Planescape - Blood War XXIV. Expedition into Abysm

Abysm, Demogorgon's Lair

I'm sitting here writing 5 Planescape summaries in a row, and it's giving me a lot of perspective. The two players of this campaign, George and Jessie, have been with me for 10 years. We started out with just us three getting together playing every week. It was the beginning of a transition from my old group, in which I was running a really unpleasant Shackled City campaign.

Pro: Once the Shackled City game ended, I started running 3 games a week, 2 at the game store, and one at home with George and Jessie. I guess I was a "professional DM"? I got paid to run games at the game store for 6 years. It was an awesome deal.

Jessie stopped playing D&D for a while when she had her daughter, but a few years later she jumped at the opportunity to come back.

Cedric, one of George's old characters

George: George is one of the most loyal friends you can have. At work, he's by far the best and most reliable worker. In life, he's always polite and kind. He's one of those people who gives much more than he takes.

One of his quirks is that he refuses to accept birthday and Christmas gifts. At first, I used to try to work around that. Eventually, I realized that to honor his wishes was itself a gift. George means what he says. If he says he doesn't want a present, he really means it.

Jessie's extremely vulgar pirate character

Jessie: Out of everyone in the world, Jessie has the sense of humor closest to mine. We both love dirty jokes, Will Ferrel, adult swim, and all things Korean.

I always felt honored that she played D&D with me, as I always felt like she was one of the "cool kids" and I'm a weirdo lurking way off the beaten track. But she always shows up, she always plays, she's always pleasant. She listens to my dumb stories and tells me hilarious anecdotes about being a parent, complete with poop, vomit and other bodily functions.

Campaign Groove: This campaign is special to me because we hit a groove early on, and I've been able to give these players the long, in-depth game that they deserve.

The fact that they've learned (and retained) so much information about Sigil and the planes means a lot to me. It means that they're paying attention and they're invested. It means I'm doing my job!

Jessie having a dream about the Lady of Pain was seriously one of the things that meant the most to me. The game is in them!

Back Burner: When it comes to D&D projects, I go through waves of interest. For a while, Planescape was at the back of the list while I got the Tomb Guide done, the Tomb Companion done, and the online games up and running.

Sitting here now, laughing at all these doofy notes I wrote and remembering what they mean reminds just why D&D is so awesome. It is a way to get together with your friends in a safe, healthy way, and have fun while creating a story that entertains all of us in our own style.

The Party

(Jessie) Bidam - Black-Scaled Dragonborn Fighter
(George) Theran - Elf Wizard  

Last time, the adventurers had realized that Demogorgon had stolen their divine shard. With it, Demogorgon could obtain god-like power!

They consulted their ally, the succubus Red Shroud, and learned that the shard was likely in Demogorgon's two towers in the Abyssal Ocean. These towers are sometimes known as Abysm.

Platinum Bidam

Demogorgon has two heads, each with a distinct personality. One tower reflected the personality of the head known as Aameul, the other tower reflected the personality of the head named Hethadriah.
Red Shroud forged them markings on their hands which would grant them passage into Abysm. She even knew the sigil sequence to teleport them there!

Red Shroud is allies with the heroes, as she is trying to reform her ways. As the daughter of Demogorgon and Malcanthet, she's obviously a little messed up.

The heroes appeared in the tower, and nervously greeted a balor guard, who let them pass. The heroes explored rooms in the tower.

Soul Larvae Sorting Chamber: The heroes spotted  a cambion named Drumorg pocketing soul larvae when nobody was looking. The heroes blackmailed him, and ended up with a massive pile of soul larvae all their own.

Crimson Theran

They wanted to give these larvae to the Queen of the Harpies,  the long-suffering girlfriend of Pazuzu. With the larvae, she could become a fully-fledged demon lord and leave Pazuzu without fear of being murdered.

Magic Experiment Chamber: The group required truenames of nascent demon lords, one of which would allow them to summon Xanthopsia, Queen of Obscenity, who they met when they fell into the innard's of Graz'zt's abyssal realm. Xanthopsia is trapped down there.

Shami-Amourae's Old Room: Demogorgon kept this room around. Currently, a simulacrum of Shami-Amourae lived in here. The simulacrum was fed up with Demogorgon. The group acquired a really dumb magic item: Magic lingerie that gives you an AC of 18, would they wear it? Bidam was all over it, but he didn't want to take off his armor of invulnerability. I think they plan on giving it to one of their dude NPC friends.

Prison: I made up some NPCs to see if the group would free them. There was a drow, a frost giant, and a devil. The group left them there, to my surprise.

Treasury: This is the home of Fearforge, an adult black dragon, sleeping on a massive pile of treasure. They couldn't help but notice that there were some really dumb magic items sticking out of the pile that I had made up. The heroes crept close and used Renbuu's pigments to turn the black dragon into a gold dragon. He woke up and was appalled at his pat behavior. He befriended the heroes and agreed to go to Sigil with them. Here's the magic items:

• A pump that would solve the erectile dysfunction of the Progenitors.
• A dimensional love hole. The less said, the better.
• 3 arrows of urethra seeking! That's right! When fired, it magically goes right in there.
• The Divine Shard!

War Room: The group had the shard, but were curious about what was in the final room of this tower. Generals were arguing about Blood War plans. The group snuck around and learned that the demons were planning to use misty portal on the river styx to blindside the devil armies. They also found a sigil sequence that could take them right to Lamashtu's lair!

The adventurers escaped Abysm with Fearforge and returned to Sigil, with a bunch of new options for future sessions.