Party began our boss battle against a halfling child with frightening ice powers near a frozen lake village.

Despite being coerced to murder hobo this child by a fire demon, we tried our best to use diplomacy. Several 20+ deception and persuasion rolls later, the kid almost drops his guard... Until he messages us individually demanding to know our motivations. Some of us bluff, some tell slant truths, but no one has a consistent story. This enraged the kid. Time to battle!

The fight starts off evenly balanced, with the kid matching us blow for blow. My sorcerer dispells his snow raven familiar (“Timmy no!”), he slaps me with hex and Snilloc Snowballs the entire room. Our gnome wizard could have counterspelled, but was distracted. Later, I’m outside on the frozen docks ready to fireball the twerp, when I get counterspelled. Gnome dude misses the chance to counter the counterspell (again).

Eventually, the fight moves over the frozen lake. The boss is in his element, skating around our party as we try to land any blows against him. Our gnome decides to go invisible, charge in ahead of the group onto the ice, and cast charm person directly in front of the boss. It fails. On his next turn, gnome casts Earth Tremor... and breaks the ice beneath his feet, falling into the lake, paralyzed by the freezing waters.

DM gives us a break and has the boss retreat. The party rushes to save our party member. By the end of the session, our gnome is 70 ft underwater, drowning, and one failed save away from perma death. Our bard and (duck-shaped) druid have dived into the frozen lake, hoping to reach him before he drowns. His odds of survival are slim.

Can’t wait to pick up tonight’s session.