5 Year Anniversary 2024 - Reflections

Esper and Fyruss bickering about Esper falling in a sewer

The playful, teasing banter between Esper and Fyruss. One of the players left, and the other is pretty much inactive now, but they brought a lot of entertainment when they were here - both in general RP and quests they were in together. Here’s they are bickering about Esper falling in a sewer
- Jay
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/1006551458633756772/1007402189213409290 [Cottonwood]

Aralyn and the Noobs

It was a part of the Underground server plotline and we had all formed groups for different parts of the invasion of the fortress. I chose the courtyard because not many people were going for it. It was only as the battle was starting that I realized that my character, Aralyn, was the highest leveled character there and she was only level 5. The rest of the characters in the courtyard were 3rd level. This was a tough battle, and though Aralyn almost died on a roof that day and saw her god rejuvenating her faith, no one who was a player character died. This was one of my favourite combats ever, and that's saying something because I've been in a lot of really, really good combats in my time here.
-EclaDragon
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609277774770995200/753946499582263317

Moon the Avatar (Relkath Battle)

The entire Relkath battle was amazing! But I will forever remember the moment I got to turn Moon into the Avatar.
-Geak78
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/1083196932106752100/1090114229278879825

Finny’s Mustard Purchase

An RP that always sits fondly in my memory is when we bullied poor Finny (gryphon) into RPing with themselves for a Mustard purchase and they absolutely delivered more than we could ever have hoped for. Truly a hilarious occasion and well worth the RP voting victory it won at the time.
- ryanbreadinc
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609280822523985921/1166704263251116072

The Origin of Johnson (The Creature in the Pond)

An RP moment that will live down in server history is the origin story of Johnson, the "interesting" vegetative creature that inhabits ⁠the pond.
- Gryphon
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609277989775212544/1095149616267272304https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609278093244366848/1096176063744319679

Red and Silent Leaf Deal with a Drug Dealer

Another unforgettable moment for me was way back when our local caped-crusader sent Red and Silent Leaf to deal with a local drug dealer, but they were surprised to find themselves empathizing with the drug dealer.
- Gryphon
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/671310598235095072/713073591092248686

Kuld vs. the Hydra

That time Kuld (CmdrGlork) single handedly took down a hydra in the middle of town after an interesting holiday wish.
- Geak78
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609277576468365312/1067752691310272583

Jordy’s Story

It started as a fight in the arena ran by Neith (LightningNevan) Where they fought Mordekainen and his evil band. At the end of the battle Mordekainen hit him with a spell that ultimately ripped out half his soul. Though he didn't fully understand till a couple weeks later.
- Twitch
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609278728610250773/758695998087757835 [Arena 3]

Time went on before the angel Galadriel worked with him to open a portal to avernus. Where he and his family tracked through hell to retrieve his soul. Along the way. He confessed to his sister Aralyn about his feelings for Vellia. Along the way they were lured in by a young 5-7 year old succubus girl named Akta. Who was being used by two others to lure in souls to feed. The group defeated the older ones. And took Akta along with them because she was an orphan and wanted to keep her safe. Towards the end of the trip. Jordy had to fight his missing half of soul to combine again. Almost dying in the 1 on 1 battle he came away victorious. When they left for the material realm he brought Akta with him and together He and Vellia adopted her as their own.
- Twitch
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/615141456142663690/788640878905393182 [Redwood]

Several Legends of Heracles

I've had the pleasure of being a part of the MacGuffins community for 4 out of 5 years now, and I'm having trouble trying to pick a handful of highlights when there's just so many. Which is why I'll be sharing a whole lot of them, and hoping people don't mind the clutter! For now, I'll focus in on my first character! For those of you who didn't have the misfortune pleasure of meeting Heracles, a brief overview of his top hits. Ecla mentioned earlier our grand battle in the courtyard. One of my first times in a large scale RP combat. After the battle, we were all quick to secure the spoils of war, including the ballista we stole confiscated from the fortress. To this day, it can probably be found at Kyrgos (Kommizar)'s shop. Major props to Finny (gryphon) for letting us do this, and for making the licensing fee so reasonable. There's when he first donned the crimson cape, and became a vigilante.
- Mushroom
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609277774770995200/756239919432859659

I am thankful to all who put up with the shenanigans he got up to, especially Marielle 🟣🟢 (EclaDragon), Aster⁴(Twitch), Bromir Firebeard (iDarkelf)🍺, Kyrgos (Kommizar), and Mathias the Undying (K-Mac). To give you an idea of how things went, a look at the time several of Herc's friends gathered to get him to sign a contract swearing not to lie anymore.
- Mushroom
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/671310598235095072/833065136515973190

I also had great fun pursuing the Coin Legion as Heracles, an organization which played a large part in Mathias the Undying (K-Mac) overarching story which I had the joy of participating in. This next link is Herc's last quest, when he finally signed himself up to be the new Liason of the Coin Legion, and becoming part fiend: (Need the Banyan Role)
- Mushroom
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/615141105973067795/930990037082976276 [Banyan]

The Book of Grim

In my earliest days on the server I had the joy of embarking on a rather dark and tragic overarching storyline. Sadly it was one that never reached a proper ending, but it had a lasting impact on my PC at the time. It also opened me up, as a DM, to the possibilities for long-term storytelling on the server. This is the story of the Stroganoffs, part of the "Grim" series, a questline run by former server DM Ryder. His quests have always been known for being rather grimdark and gut-punching with its use of tragedy and emotional storytelling.
The story started out rather simple, a grim retelling of classic fairy tales. The quest my character, Myrghion, had been introduced to involved tracking down a missing girl. But this story quickly became much more involved with lycanthropy, grim experiments, and eldritch "old one" implications. And it all played into a larger overarching narrative that predated the Relkath and Sick Children storylines
- Kmac

The Witch King was a mysterious BBEG being slowly developed within the greater lore of MacGuffins. Not much was known beyond his affiliations with the Red Wizard of Thay. Now, anyone who is familiar with classic D&D might recognize that group. At one time they were about as notorious within D&D lore as the likes of Vecna. But even they were just one piece of the puzzle. Other DMs were interweaving other storylines with other BBEGs, such as the Umbral Darkness, a magical organization working in opposition of Mystra. This was a grand story of long-form storytelling thag sadly never reached a conclusion as several of the DMs involved would eventually leave the server for various IRL reasons. Despite the story left unfinished, it should not be forgotten as it has arguably left quite an impact on several of our players and characters. For a good place to start, I highly recommend looking through the quest "The Book of Grim".
- Kmac

I wanted to mention Red in the post, but given all the drama that surrounded him I was a bit hesitant to mention him. That whole thing still stings. Red's death had quite an impact on Myrghion.
- Kmac

I had a few quests with Red and ... the monk ... can't believe I've forgotten his name, but I don't think I interacted with any of the 'others' and was mostly just bummed to see him go.
- Ashwand

The Death of Dr. Lawson (Hemlock)

Speaking of character changing moments. Dr. Lawson's death in one of Moon's first quests forced him to reevaluate his life in many ways. Wildcat didn't want to go against Dr. Lawson's strong beliefs and so chose to let the death stand. Geak wasn't a fan because I loved the interactions with them and Irri. But it was a true moment of growth for Moon. Honorable mentions to Willem Layne Cragson (Moop) and Jexios (Nahir) also in that quest
- geak78
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/1023033344247742504/1023585913030312078 [Hemlock]

Town Square Snowball Fight

This snowball fight from almost 5 years ago. An impromptu back when I think we used to run the weather command every day, and a random snowfall turned into a scene of out of quest fun times. Really opened my eyes to the kind of open nonsense that can happen on play-by-post. That kind of RP have been amusing but challenging to do in a tabletop without feeling like "Okay, anyway, let's get back on track."
- Kaution
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609277576468365312/651876798577115166

Death of a Friend

Wilco was a particularly hilarious character to me. I think given most of my other favorite moments somehow involve death, this one is one of the most lighthearted ones that still stays in my mind.
- Kaution

Irri the Pillow-Throwing Dragon!

I love the time that Irri, the kobold, briefly became a pillow throwing dragon!
- geak78
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609277657674416147/1022188354370031626

The Sudden Death of Darner

One of those good scenes that involve a death...The abrupt and highly dramatic killing of Darner in a downtime-rp scene. The quick work from an assassin (which is very hard to do at higher levels) and an example of how dice tell a story. A set of very unfortunate rolls ended the old man's adventuring, until he was shortly thereafter reincarnated as a young drow female. I know that Moonsilver (CloakedSage) leaned into the scenario with the openness and interest that makes them a forever fantastic player, aided by Finny (gryphon)'s masterful storytelling. I know Sage noted how this unforeseen outcome actually helped revitalize his interest in the character, and he played the reincarnated Willow for many years. Death scenes are hard to do well in a world where resurrection is just a diamond away. Everyone involved really nailed it, though, and it was a fantastic read.
- Kaution
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/673459360881704964/705815847532232734 [Downtime RP]
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609277290337009667/705885438694654004 [Continued in Temple Services]

One Ring

Can't forget @Finny (gryphon) putting a hag cursed ring of three wishes in front of Moon. While Fyruss (Jinx (HugglesVonD) 🍸 ) Kirsikka (Dalia) Talon (JackNine) ♦🦆 and Cemis 🐌 (Snezhana) tried to dissuade him but then Kirsikka gladly cut his finger off 😈 after he killed and injured everyone around with a 9th level flame strike!?!?
- geak78
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609278124672417823/1043641931030331492

Bubbling Below

One of the stories that has intertwined with my own characters to some extent - but is MUCH larger than that - is @Mathias the Undying (K-Mac)'s connected otherworld - which seems to encompass his own characters (who often become NPCs), other people's characters (who often become NPCs eventually!), town-RP, quests, re-Quests and everything in-between! I love the world kmac creates, even if I don't pretend to understand half of the lore or goings-on. I love that it all connects. For example, I put in a request to explore Luna Pines criminal underworld - and we ended up on a major heist for the Coin Legion - who are tied to the overarching story he is creating. I could go on - but honestly, there is too much to describe in a post here. But a shout-out to K-Mac - and a shout-out to his ridiculously cheesy (in the best tradition of dnd!) 'Don't Go Inn' (which we tried to save from burning down on the current quest - and will be sorely missed from other town-RP events)
Jay

This one time in the Shadowfell...In the spring of 2020, there was some stuff going on with the pond. There were bubbles coming up from a crack in the pond. Previously Red had gone through it and had this traumatizing experience with two voices in a floaty void-like place. He managed to escape, but after that he was keeping an eye on the pond. He did some research and found some potential entities the voices could belong to. Aralyn and Grant, also Alron and Grant, were at the pond for some reason. Looking back it looks like they had all come to the pond to help look for the Autumn maiden which was a different server storyline. They all investigated the crack. Aralyn tried to get through, but she couldn't quite make it. Grant then went through to see what was on the otherside. After several minutes Grant hadn't returned and everyone was growing worried, especially Aralyn. Alron and Quinton tied a rope around Aralyn and this time she managed to get through. She ended up in Nevan's dms in the floaty void-like place where she
heard two voices, a man and a woman. They talked about her like she was a plaything and were amused about her asking them loudly where Grant was. She refused to leave without Grant and ended up being paralyzed so she couldn't return on her own. Grant came out shortly after she went in and told the others to pull her back right then. At that moment the rope went taut, and they began to pull with all their might. Red arrived shortly after and offered to help. They were very close to failing, but somehow they managed to pull her free. She was terrified. Bane arrived because he wanted to go fishing and he ended up going after Aralyn in a sense after she went off to her camp to pray. This then led to another scene where Bane spends some time with Aralyn as they hunt and make snow angels. In the end Bane gets Aralyn a room so she doesn't have to sleep outside anymore. These two scenes led to some development from Aralyn, and the one at the pond created one of her worst nightmares
- EclaDragon
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609278093244366848/720835402789027870https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609278113276493855/721922274751545394

Death of a Poet

Beating Kaution to the punch, and tied to the pond mentioned, here's a throw back to when Quote and Relinquish perished at the hands of something within the pond. A sad day for sure, when we lost our town's resident kenku poet. Even sadder yet, that Relinquish lived on as Relish. (A reminder of the dangers of a fireball)
- Mushroom
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609278093244366848/787466641239310337

Undead Pool Party

I fondly remember having an Undead Pool Party.
- Rivers
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/1104177596146663544/1134452165675602020

Finny’s Final Gambit

What about that time gryphon killed Finny? Quite the noble sacrifice!
- Geak78
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/1083997728977191003/1087342195129991228

That entire [Relkath] arch was phenomenal, and the sacrifice and following search for Finny and Neith was quite fun. I said it to Nevan at the time, the idea of trudging through different arenas to try and catch Relkath as he gets closer and closer to Luna Pine was an epic battle masterpiece. Finny sacrificing by intentionally using the "negative" effect of a weapon was just a beautiful and well played scene.
- Kaution
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/1083997728977191003/1103795935454167150

Elaf’s Shenanigans

One of the most fun quests I've run (in which, most of the members are still on the server, too!) I'm going to explain a few things for context: Elaf Kutarirfe (Laendri) and Icarus (Mushroom) 🍄 are the most joyfully chaotic players I've ever had the pleasure to DM. Kyrgos (Kommizar), Orbin (Robinart), Benji, and Moonstone were all fantastic and good balance who could play along with shenanigans while also keeping the party moving forward. This was marked as a Deadly quest, because I wasn't pulling punches in terms of the traps. It was very likely that not getting a trap could result in a death. This particular trap was a giant chasm of lava. A single lever that needed a DC 30 STR check to pull, which Kyrgos almost hit (and probably would have, I believe, if he had drank the Potion of Fire Giant Strength I gave them earlier in the dungeon). The alternative solutions included flying past some challenging fireball-based activity or climbing the wall with a series of 3 DC 20 Athletics checks. Failing would mean falling in and failing in the lava. Laendri only asked in OOC: "Could I make an athletics check to check how hard would it be before crossing?" I said yes, he could make an athletics check. Then the above happened in character, in which Laendri takes it upon himself to defy the odds several times. I think being reckless with a character is hard to not also make annoying. Somehow, I just always appreciated the way that Laendri could ride that line and push the envelope and even putting the party at reasonable risk without it being problematic. Part of the joy is that it is putting the character in challenging situations for any reason, and when things go south (like an impossible Dex Save), accepting fate. That's also the quest where I gave Heracles a clicker and I think where I made my first Damassian to justify an OOC race change for Laendri.
- Kaution
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/661540743512588288/809130557355196436 [Weeping Willow]
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/661540800664043541/809126053531615292 [Weeping Willow]

Kautionary Tale on Free Will

Speaking of memorable quests, had to dig up this one which I specially advertized as a puzzle quest in all caps to make sure the right kind of players signed up. But no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and Relish (kaution) happened to use Polymorph on a modron contruct, allowing it to experience free-will which slowly corrupted the overseer of the puzzles and spawned a whole second follow-up quest about the rat-worshipping free-will rebel modrons and the Mad Prime trying to exterminate their "defectiveness".
- Gryphon
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/661540743512588288/871982182275637309 [Weeping Willow]

Through the Looking Glass

After successfully dealing a blow to Relkath's army, Kyrgos (Kommizar), Quinton, Orbin, Heracles, and Tark decided to follow after Relkath through his portal, only to end up having gone way off the rails, and gotten lost in another dimension. Luckily, the Raven Queen bailed us out. I swear, in the moment, it seemed reasonable to pursue…
- Mushroom
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/615141027749167124/820433502805033021 [Bamboo]

A Word of Thanks

I’d like to say thank you to everyone who’s helped me and made me feel welcome on the server. I started here a little over a year ago and it’s been so much fun! I was completely new to Discord, Avrae, and PBP, though not to RP by text or 5e in general. Everyone has been very patient with me as I learned (and continue to learn!) Neith (LightningNevan) , thank you for starting and maintaining it and giving me such a good place to start! You do so much to keep everything going! Many thanks to Alaric Starfury (geak78) 🌒 for all his help with Avrae and D&D Beyond. Several times I’ve had issues or questions that he’s taken the time to help solve. Beyond technical issues, he responds to posts in such a friendly and helpful way, and Moon often helps other PCs in character as well. Irmisz ☁ (ryanbreadinc) has also answered a lot of questions for me and was quick to join a scene with me when I arrived, which I appreciated!

A huge thanks to Atlan Uskar (Rivers) for taking on my Re-Quest, and the revamped Re-Quest board in general! I can’t wait to see where this goes! Also many thanks to everyone who’s DM’d for me, including Kuld (CmdrGlork), Icarus (Mushroom) 🍄, Atlan Uskar (Rivers) , Marielle 🟣🟢 (EclaDragon), and Neith (LightningNevan) . Ezra Silkstra (Lufty), Moonsilver (CloakedSage) , Bronwyn 🌨 (Pare) , Gethin (Jesse) , and Avery ☀🏹 (arson) have also been really helpful to me with both Avrae and general questions. Thank you!I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone, but I probably have. Thank you all for all the fun so far! 💙
- Song_Sparrow

Aquatic Prank Gone Wrong

Panacea would like to apologize to Effie Amillorna (Rin)☀ for nearly drowning her in the name of a prank
- EverClear
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/1144785992507736195/1269134265451413565 (The Incident)
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/1276715014014763051/1278990802260856863 (Consequences)

Assorted Dumb Adventuring Ideas:

The scene where Kyrgos, Danton and Bromir jumped off a cliff ⁠the-edge-1⁠
- iDarkElf
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609278113276493855/843436818061590578 (Cliff Diving)

Then there was also the time we loaded Usk into a ballista and fired him at the temple.....⁠the-edge-1⁠
- iDarkElf
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/609278113276493855/816124365905199115 (Iron Usk)

LOL, that reminds me this moment when the players failed an Arcana check to teleport themselves home at the end of a quest despite advantage and bardic inspiration
- Gryphon
⁠https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/615141244108013587/637310893251756042 [Stranded, Dragonblood]

Kyrgos vs. John Locke

That time Kyrgos (Kommizar) gave away Aralyn's restaurant to a succubus.
- Kmac
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/673459360881704964/894252020603682896

Pride and Eldritch Abominations:

As Ecla suggested, linking our original big final fight with Pride. This was Icarus (Mushroom) 🍄, Marielle 🟣🟢 (EclaDragon), Kyrgos (Kommizar), Slyfoot (Ashwand) 🫘 and Arkonheim, DMed by Neith (LightningNevan). Actually, context is required. First we fought an Elder Brain Dragon thing. Followed by heavy debate on whether we can afford to rest, before finally relenting there is no rest for the wicked. And then the bloodbath that was fighting Pride herself, all while our blood seemed to be going to some ritual, terrifying us further. A classic example of how taxing adventuring can be, and what Nevan means when advertising a quest as deadly. It was hard work, but also a lot of fun, and I'm grateful to have gotten to be a part of the Sick Kids story line from early to the end!
- Mushroom
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/615140948330020874/960361512571138058 [Eldritch Dragon, Angel Oak]
https://discord.com/channels/609125617467916309/615140948330020874/962995501446348820 [Pride, Angel Oak]

Reminising of Baumer

That being said, I'll never forget my (Butch's) time here. I knew who Butch was as a character, but always struggled to find his "class". He was a fighter, and a lover. He loved his brewery and its employees. I'll never forget my first arena fight. I was new to PbP, and had no idea how to navigate Avrae. What I do remember is Butch going up against some very angry Santa's Elves (Redcaps) mounted on Reindeer. Butch, being a lover of all things Winter's Crest, didn't want to harm Santa's reindeer, but those mean elves had to be put down. After taking care of the elves, Butch decided he was going to tame one of the reindeer, which just happened to be Rudolf. I rolled well, and the arena master (finny maybe?) let me ride out of the arena on Rudolph. He then worked it out so Rudolf could be a mount for me (same stats as a horse), and even let his nose glow 🤣 There were other memorable moments on the server. Another involving Santa in a Neith (LightningNevan) quest even. At the end of the day, I just got busy with life, and fell away from this place, but I'll never forget the special place in my heart this place will hold because this server got me through some tough times.
- Baumer

Happy to be Here

Just to chime in a little bit - I've been a member of the server for 2 years now. I'm not nearly as interactive as many people are - my life doesn't really let me be on discord a lot, and I don't have a great memory, and so I try not to put myself in positions where that will delay or inconvenience people. But, at the same time, I do enjoy getting the chance to role play, to slip into someone else's being and try to think about what that means, and to get to play a game with some people, to roll some virtual dice and kill some monsters. So to everyone who's had to wait for me to take a turn - sorry! I appreciate everyone who contributes to the server - all the official administrators and mods and helpers from LightningNevan on down, who keep things running and create the systems and functions, from characters to arenas to shops to rules to plots and more, as well as all the people who enjoy playing in that world, whether that means having tons of interesting situations roleplaying, or whether that means tackling an interesting combat puzzle, or any other way that they have fun together. So - I don't really have any big and awesome or hilarious moments to mention. I have a few moments I remember, and I hope I've helped others to have a few memorable moments. But I do very much like it here, and that's thanks to everyone. So thanks!
- Beardog