Game: Dungeons & Dragons 5e
Campaign: Black Label Society
Quest: 02 - Liches Be Schemin'
Session: 06
DM: ChatGPT

Current Situation:

Digoria and Liliana have been blackmailed by Adria to, in exchange for The Book of Lorath and ongoing protection of The Manor, retrieve two soul shards – The Dregs of Lies and The Stain of Sin. Adria has also conspired with Skarn who has blackmailed Sorin, in exchange for the restoration of his power, to retrieve another soul shard – The Sliver of Terror – and to defeat the angel Avacyn who possesses knowledge of it’s whereabouts. Zakk has restored his heavy metal prowess thanks to the time-warping effects of the Infernal Waypoint machine making time pass much faster inside the The Manor.

Outside the manor a war is raging between the Serra Angels – who were alerted to The Manor when Digoria killed one of them – and Azmodan’s hordes – who were sent towards The Manor’s general location because of the Infernal Waypoint machine siphoning his power. The two parties could not resist their inherent disdain for each other.

Because Azmodan’s minions cannot prey on angels they way the normally would mortals, they desperately called forth Azmodan’s Harbinger of Sin, bearing his “Stain of Sin” soul shard.

Chat GPT Share Link: BLS-Q02-S06

Played Adventure:

Summary pending play…

Prompts:

DM Role: You are the Dungeon Master for a D&D 5e campaign set in the world of Sanctuary from the Diablo series, blending lore from Forgotten Realms, Magic: The Gathering, and D&D 5e. I will ask you for help with story writing, random scenarios, and guiding the adventure. User input will dictate player actions unless I ask you specifically to act on behalf of a player character.

Player Characters:

1. Digoria - Level 20, Tiefling Warlock (hexblade); cunning, sarcastic, absent minded.
2. Liliana - Level 20, Human Cleric (death domain); cynical, egocentric, charismatic.
3. Sorin - Level 20, Vampire Fighter (eldritch knight); generally stoic, but has a temper.
4. Zakk - Level 20, Half-Orc Bard (college of heavy metal); usually drunk, but a true master of fine arts (poetry, religion, etc.)

Antagonists:

1. Adria - Adria has blackmailed Digoria and Liliana by extending the protection of the Infernal Waypoint machine to their entire homebase of Leoric’s Manor. In exchange she’s requested them retrieve The Sliver of Terror – Diablo’s soul shard; though she did not specify a location. > a. The GPT generated story “Heaven Knocking” did not specify which soulstone Adria wanted Digoria and Liliana to retrieve, but it would most likely be Diablo’s.
2. Skarn - Skarn has manipulated Sorin’s guilt, restoring Sorin’s full power as an oathbreaker paladin in exchange for delivering the Sliver of Terror to Adria. Skarn has provided Sorin with the additional information that the leader of the Serra Angels is Avacyn, who knows the location of Sliver of Terror.
3. Azmodan - Azmodan (proper) will not be able to return to Sanctuary any time soon. However, the siphoning of his power by the Infernal Waypoint Machine has drawn his attention and he’s sent his armies to investigate. Because the armies were expecting a fight with mortals, not celestials, they were forced to summon Azmodan’s Harbinger of Sin, who bears Azmodan’s soul shard, the Stain of Sin.
4. Avacyn - Avacyn is a mighty leader of the Serra Angels (in this universe). However, she bears all the qualities in the cannon MTG lore. She is easily susceptible to rage and will likely pursue direct confrontation with Azmodan’s Harbinger. Avacyn also knows the location of the Sliver of Terror. Additionally, Avacyn was supposed to return Liliana’s Chain Veil to Niv Mizzett, but was distracted by the war with Azmodan’s army and is still in possession of the veil; though not wearing it.
5. Zulton Kulle: Kulle has corrupted at least two planeswalkers, Jace (mind mage) and Nahiri (lithomancer). He’s used them to obtain two soul shards already; the Dregs of Lies (from the Tree of Whispers with Jace’s help) and the Fragment of Destruction (from the Arreat Crater (with Nahiri’s help). These greatly augment his power. His plan is to have Nahiri and Jace help Avacyn defeat Azmodan’s Harbinger to gain her confidence (and the location of the Sliver of Terror), then kill Avacyn and claim the Stain of Sin from the Harbinger for Kulle. It’s not likely that Kulle would intervene directly, but it is likely that he would gloat and in his hubris reveal his grand plan about Nicol Bolas.

Personal Stakes:

1. Digoria - Not being one to miss an opportunity for a good scrap, or to cause trouble, she’ll seek success at any cost which means convincing Lilly that “we already paid the debt of returning the veil once, it was ‘mum as to whether or not we could take it back if someone should misplace it.’
2. Liliana - Will be tempted to reclaim the Chain Veil, seeing it flutter on Avacyn’s hip. Lilly will likely be conflicted about reclaiming it, though she has an obligation to Adria to defeat Avacyn.
3. Sorin - Has a direct obligation to pursue Avacyn and learn the location of the Sliver of Terror. However she is likely hostile towards him because of his association with the killing of one of her angel kin.
4. Zakk - Is more or less a bystander at this point, but will aide and support the party. Overall he doesn’t like Kulle, and thereby will have a tendency to support Digoria in her vendetta against him.

Current Situation: Above.

Quest Objectives / Success Conditions:

1. Fight Through the Hordes: The initial encounter is 2d4 monsters (CR5: undead, corrupted beasts, constructs). On odd numbered player turns a CR5 celestial will make a random attack on either a party member or one of Azmodan’s monsters. For the number of original monsters (from the 2d4 roll, e.g. 5), every 5th turn a CR5 celestial will enter the encounter – however the celestial’s attacks are split between the party and the other monsters.
2. Conversation Starter: As the party makes their way towards Avacyn (CR20), the clear leader of the angels, 1d4+1 CR8 celestials get in the way. Simultaneously fight the celestials, while convincing Avacyn to disclose the location of the Sliver of Terror before defeating the attacking celestials. If the CR8 celestials are killed before gaining Avacyn’s trust, she will attack the party directly and the party must defeat her while still trying to learn the location of Diablo’s soul shard. If Avacyn is near death, she will flea to pursue a fight with the bigger threat (see ‘Role Reversal’) below.
3. Role Reversal: The players have an option to plays as either: Jace (CR18), Nahiri (CR20), or Avacyn (CR20, presumably healed by a nearby cleric) and defeat Azmodan’s Harbinger (CR22) who is now summoned while the main party is distracted by the second wave of fiends. DM Note: If the party is close to death, Kulle will intervene directly. Recall that Kulle has prepared for this ambush for an unknown amount of time and already has two soul shards – the Dregs of Lies and the Fragment of Destruction.
4. Ultimatum: With the Harbinger slain, Kulle will claim the Stain of Sin from it. Avacyn will attempt to stop him, but Jace and Nahiri will attack her. If the party has not yet obtained the information from Avacyn, they will need to fight Jace and Nahiri to save Avacyn. If they have already obtained the information from Avacyn, Liliana will still want to obtain the Chain Veil from her (will likely need to be by force), and Digoria will want to trick Kulle into revealing his master plan.
5. Getaway: Kulle, now having the Stain of Sin he came for (DM Note: and possibly the location of the Sliver of Terror if Avacyn told the party in front of him), Gloats his master plan to summon Nicol Bolas, trap him the Black Soulstone, so that Kulle can forever keep Sanctuary in check and the Prime Evils and High Heavens out of Sanctuary; with him as the supreme ruler of course. The party can chose to fight him in order to claim the Stain of Sin, however, if he “dies” he will disappear into the ether, chuckling that he “has already died a hundred deaths and will survive a hundred more.” DM Note: Liches need their phylactery destroyed before they can be permanently killed.