Play Report May 19 2026 - Crow's Keep #36
Introduction
Bugbears bugbears bugbears! This session I ran Demon Driven to the Maw as a sort of liminal dreamspace created by the bugbears for... some purpose. I love this module, as it's a perfect bite-sized location you can easily finish in one session; perfect for my open table format. Little conversion was required. I substituted the baobhan sith for bugbears, and the redcaps were treated as 1 HP mooks with a wicked 1d8 attack. They scored a lot of critical hits.
Alas, the big table from last week did not see any returning members. Most of my sessions lately have been around 2-4 players. With the failure to fire on May 5, as well as some impending life changes, I'm keeping an eye on the open table's feasibility going forward. We've been going for nearly a year now and it's been one of the most satisfying campaigns I've run, so if we do have to stitch it up before long. I won't be too sad. It's natural for campaigns to end, but I hope this one has some juice yet.
Kaledar's player will likely be out for some time, so we decided to the have his character become the new ruler of the Woodfolk. He's pushing level 4 now and has a pet griffon, so it makes sense he'd be shopping for strongholds. Currently shopping for some domain rules to have him manage the faction between the in-person sessions.
Report
In attendance:
- Kaledar, level 3 cleric, astride his now-mature griffon mount Gilgamesh
- Aislinn, level 2 thief
- Bart, level 1 warrior
Retainer Daniel the Blade, level 2 warrior, and Marrow Goblin-Strangler, level 1 thief, accompanied the band. Bart additionally made friends during a raucous pub crawl, and was accompanied by 4 level 0s. Three goblin toadies named Griz, Kitch, and Whiff swore fealty to the band.
Rumors of the young and healthy dying in their sleep plagued the Keep, leading the Ogre-whelming Force setting out to conduct reconaissance against the mysterious bugbears. With the goblins now scattered throughout the borderlands, the gnolls gone, the kobolds destroyed, and the orcs without their cauldron, the bugbears remained as the deadliest of the forces arrayed in the Caves of Chaos. Kaledar observed it was odd that despite their many blows against the Caves of Chaos and the Cult of the Eye, a more major reprisal had not come. Disquieted by this, the band set out.
The Force surprised a goblin wolf squadron picketing the ruins of Emridy Meadows. With the thieves raining arrows from above, Kaledar and Gilgamesh led them into a chain trap the band had set up between buildings. Most of the goblins were clotheslined and dismounted, and when the band slew their hobgoblin leader, the three survivors surrendered. The goblins Griz, Kitch, and Whiff all pledged their loyalty to the Ogre-whelming Force, and offered to bring them to where the bugbears had vexed the goblins in the past. The Force was charmed by the goblins' wacky mien and goofy demeanor, and took them along.
True to their word, the goblins led the band to a clearing northeast of the Caves. At the center stood a door with a seven-fingered hand burned onto its center. Gilgamesh had to remain behind as the griffon could not fit through the door. The band steeled themselves an entered, suddenly finding themselves in the foyer of a grand house where a harvest party had begun. Aislinn observed that it had been late spring when they had set out.
In the great hall, three surly witchfinders eyed women in green while villagers danced. Though they mistrusted the band, the witchfinders told them devilry was afoot and to trust no one at the party. Among the attendees included the strange women in green, a golden youth cleaning up at cards, and a cackling old man at the end of the hall.
Throughout the party, little men in red hats leered at the band. Bart moved through the rooms killing the redcaps, but there always seemed to be more. No one seemed to pay any heed when he grabbed the little men by the ankles and dashed them against the wall.
Aislinn followed Malacoda to the room she had mentioned. The green-clad woman bade Aislinn look beneath the bed. A withered witchfinder stared back at Aislinn, a final look of anguish frozen upon his dead face. As Aislinn backed away, a mighty wallop fell upon her back. Malacoda's skin lay in the corner of the room, and its wearerβa bugbearβwas about to tear Aislinn Half-orc limb from limb!
Kaledar and Daniel were swift into the room after hearing Aislinn slam into the wall. They dispatched the bugbear, with the sounds of the festivities masking the noise. In the room, they recovered a silver-tipped cudgel and three black candles, the latter of which make all in their light invisible.
The band then conscripted the witch-finders and attacked the green-clad women, who revealed themselves as bugbears! Most of the partygoers dropped like marionettes with their strings cut, while more bugbears came out of the woodwork to attack the band. The redcaps joined in the fray and set fire to the house. During the fracas, a bugbear was spotted leading a young woman through the parlor. Kaledar slew the young woman with a javelin, believing her to be an ally of the bugbears Marrow was nearly dragged off by the bugbears, but for Aislinn!
The band then fled the burning house through the front door, spilling out into a camp they did not recall setting. Strange times indeed...