Phandelver & Below · campaign telemetry

Two and a half years in the log

A Foundry chat-log portrait of improbable crits, betrayed clerics, forensic investigation, aggressive resting, and a party whose dice are — annoyingly — fair.

5,075Foundry chat messages
3,563recorded rolls
27full game nights
10.67average d20 result

The campaign rhythm

Every full session, mapped

Weeks run left to right; days run top to bottom. The color tracks each full session from the campaign’s first game night onward.

December 2024 → October 2026

Game nights are grouped by calendar day — late sessions can cross midnight.

quiet327 messages
Session dates at a glance

Campaign rhythm

This table runs on vibes, not calendars — but the vibes average out to every three weeks.
The heartbeat: every ~25 days27 sessions across 648 days. The median gap is 20 days — remarkably close to a three-week rhythm once the chaos averages out.
2025 was the golden year16 sessions in 2025, versus 10 so far in 2026. And 2024? Exactly one: session one.
Binge and breakGaps range from just 7 days to 75. This campaign is not a metronome; it is a cliffhanger followed by a calendar negotiation.
Twice, they couldn’t waitBack-to-back weeks happened Oct. 24 → 31, 2025 and Jan. 28 → Feb. 4, 2026. Both gaps: exactly 7 days.
The great summer drought: 75 daysJune 5 → Aug. 19, 2026. The next session after the return became the biggest ever: Sept. 23, with 327 messages.
Runner-up break: 49 daysFeb. 27 → Apr. 17, 2026. Apparently spring scheduling is only slightly less formidable than summer scheduling.

Fresh from the table · Oct. 7, 2026 · 283 messages

9 → 18 → natural 20.

Cayde rolled initiative three times across three combats and improved every single time. After five initiative fumbles across the campaign, the full redemption arc happened in one night.

Cayde’s initiative arc · 9 → 18 → 22 on 1d20+2
Back-to-back natural 20s on initiativeExactly two natural 20s tonight: a Grick, then Cayde, forty seconds apart. The Grick rolled first; Cayde answered with 1d20+2 = 22.
A cleric fumbled ReligionCayde critically failed Religion with 1d20+0 = 1. The Twilight Cleric of Selûne has a new hall-of-fame entry.
LIGHTBRINGER had opinionsCayde wielded the sun-god mace from Gid’s theology joke, rolled 1d20+0+3 = 5, and missed. Selûne apparently had notes.
The medic was workingCayde restored 16 HP: Healing Word for 7, then Cure Wounds for 9.
Gid became a metronomeFive Longbow +2 Sharpshooter hits: 25, 24, 24, 23, and 21 damage. Same formula every time.
Bryon found the repeat buttonTwin 20-damage Eldritch Blasts, each on 2d10+7.
The Wraith won the damage spikeBiggest single hit of the night: 26 monster damage on 4d8+3+1d8.
Wraith, Grick, zero death savesThe enemies hit hard. The party still finished the night without rolling a single death save.

Dice report

The dice slightly love you

Natural 20s beat natural 1s, advantage appears nearly twice as often as disadvantage, and the underlying d20 is suspiciously reasonable.

Crits vs. fumbles

73natural 20s
VS
57natural 1s

Crits lead by 16. Statistically kind; narratively dangerous.

How this table rolls

Attack rolls
868
Damage rolls
629
Advantage
35
Disadvantage
18
82recorded rests: 48 long + 34 short

Checks & trends

They look at everything

Every skill check ranked, every save counted, and the clearest long-term change in the campaign: the conversation stayed steady while the damage climbed.

Skill checks, most to least

Perception and Investigation dominate the log. Stealth is a very distant third.

Perception
159
Investigation
148
Stealth
38
Survival
34
Nature
31
Religion
31
History
28
Persuasion
24
Athletics
22
Strength
21
Wisdom
21
Arcana
18
Intelligence
12
Insight
11
Intimidation
11
Medicine
9
Constitution
8
Acrobatics
7
Deception
6
Performance
4
Dexterity
4
Charisma
3
Sleight of Hand
3
Animal Handling
1
307 Perception + Investigation checksMore than double every other check combined. This party is not sneaky; it is extremely observant.

Saving throws

The mind-flayer half of the campaign is written all over this chart.

Wisdom
204
Constitution
175
Dexterity
75
Strength
43
Intelligence
12
Charisma
3
Death
2
Wisdom leads by 29 savesPsionic horror has asked for 204 Wisdom saves — and only two death saves. The party bends; it rarely breaks.

Power creep, quantified

The party hits 3× harder than they used to

Damage per session · all 27 game nights in chronological order

The party hits three times harder than it used toBars show damage for each session. Early sessions usually dealt 50 to 250 damage; late sessions commonly deal 350 to 600 or more. A trend line climbs from about 120 to 520 damage, and September 23, 2026 peaks at 1,123. 05001,000 Session 1: 267 damageSession 2: 186 damageSession 3: 52 damageSession 4: 421 damageSession 5: 159 damageSession 6: 225 damageSession 7: 96 damageSession 8: 440 damageSession 9: 254 damageSession 10: 266 damageSession 11: 310 damageSession 12: 149 damageSession 13: 56 damageSession 14: 248 damageSession 15: 353 damageSession 16: 371 damageSession 17: 304 damageSession 18: 40 damageSession 19: 139 damageSession 20: 430 damageSession 21: 323 damageSession 22: 607 damageSession 23: 366 damageSession 24: 356 damageSession 25: 567 damageSession 26: 1,123 damageSession 27: 513 damage 1,123 · Sept. 23, 2026
Dec. 202427 sessions →Oct. 2026

Roughly 3× the damage. The first six sessions averaged 218 damage; the latest six average 589. Early-2025 nights mostly lived around 50–250. Late-2026 nights routinely land in the 350–600+ range. Same heroes; substantially larger numbers.

Session chatter stayed steady

Foundry messages per session · same 27 game nights

Foundry messages per session stayed broadly steadyMessage counts fluctuate throughout the campaign without the strong upward slope seen in damage.
Dec. 2024Peak: 327 · Sept. 2026Oct. 2026

Same amount of talk; bigger numbers. Chatter keeps bouncing in the same broad band. The campaign’s escalation is mechanical, not conversational.

Combat record

Big hits & legendary fights

6,699 total party damage. The campaign’s loudest single rolls and the nights that turned into table legend.

Biggest single damage rolls

One roll, one target, no polite restraint.
Bryon43damage

Shadowblade +2

Feb. 27, 2026 · 4d6+2+4+3+4d8

Against two Animated Armors, a Helmed Horror, and their allies. The biggest hit of the campaign.

Gid39damage

Longbow +2 · Sharpshooter

Nov. 21, 2025 · 1d8+5+2+10+2d8

Against one Otyugh Mutate — the only enemy on initiative. Gid went down, got back up, and nearly soloed the boss.

Bryon39damage

Eldritch Blast

Sept. 23, 2026 · 2d10+7+2d8

Into the mega-crypt: six Crypt Guardians, a Shield Guardian, specters, shadow spirits, and a mummy.

Gid37damage

Longbow +2 · Sharpshooter

Oct. 24, 2025

Against three Psi Commanders and three Psi Brawlers. Psionic goblins met ballistic problem-solving.

Cayde35damage

Guiding Bolt · critical hit

Apr. 29, 2025 · 8d6

During the Cragmaw Castle assault: 11 goblins, seven hobgoblins, four goblin bosses, a grell — and Gundren Rockseeker.

Bryon34damage

Greatsword +1

Jul. 1, 2025

The Wave Echo Cave showdown: Nezznar, two Vhalak, six bugbears, a giant constrictor snake, and an ochre jelly.

Cayde30damage

Sleep · 5th level

Nov. 21, 2025 · 9d8

Same Otyugh Mutate night. Yes, the cleric casts Sleep. At 5th level. Nobody expects it.

Bryon: his top three hits are all Shadowblade +2. Unambiguously the nuke.

Gid: his top six are all Longbow +2 with Sharpshooter’s +10.

Cayde: her peaks are Guiding Bolt and Sleep — the two least cleric-y entries imaginable.

Legendary fights

Ranked by Foundry message count.
821+

party damage on Sept. 23, 2026: Gid 419 + Bryon 288 + Cayde 114, across 327 messages. Six Crypt Guardians, a Shield Guardian, specters, shadow spirits, and a mummy. Zero death saves.

  1. 01Sept. 23, 2026327 messages
    The mega-crypt6 Crypt Guardians, Shield Guardian, 2 Specters, 2 Shadow Spirits, a Mummy. Busiest night in campaign history.
  2. 02Mar. 16, 2025293 messages
    The horde17 Twig Blights, 10 Ash Zombies, Needle Blights — with Reidoth the druid fighting beside the party.
  3. 03Dec. 28, 2024285 messages
    Session one: Cragmaw Hideout8 goblins, Klarg, Yeemik, Sildar Hallwinter, wolves, and a giant poisonous snake. They opened with a bang.
  4. 04Jun. 22, 2025259 messages
    Undead swarm6 zombies, 6 stirges, 3 ghouls, and 2 ogre zombies.
  5. 05Aug. 27, 2025234 messages
    The Flameskull fight8 zombies and a Flameskull. Everyone remembers the Flameskull fight.
  6. 06Jul. 1, 2025191 messages
    The Black Spider showdownNezznar the Spider, 2 Vhalak, 6 bugbears, giant constrictor snake, ochre jelly. Not the busiest — the most important.

The Otyugh Mutate night
Nov. 21, 2025 · reconstructed

Gid went down — his only death save in 2½ years. Cayde dropped a 5th-level Sleep worth 30 HP on the boss. Bryon hit for 31. Then Gid got back up and landed a 39-damage Sharpshooter shot. All in one night, against a single Otyugh Mutate.

Character bloopers

Same move. Opposite destiny.

Natural 20s and natural 1s reveal the cast better than any character sheet.

The damage crown

Gid

3,048 damage201 damage rolls · undisputed party leader
  • Longbow +1: four crits — and three fumbles. Four bow fumbles total. The bow giveth and the bow taketh away.
  • Fumbled initiative twice. The initiative king occasionally does not show up.
Deep cuts
  • 419 damage on Sept. 23, 2026 — his best single night.
  • Battle Master archer, confirmed: “Maneuver: Pushing Attack” plus Sharpshooter’s +10 in his Longbow +2 formula.
  • Initiative: 15.0 average, best 25. Fastest in the party, and it is not close.
  • Healing in 2½ years: 9 HP. Once. Gid does not heal. Gid shoots.
  • His one death save came Nov. 21, 2025 — the Otyugh Mutate night. He still landed his biggest bow shot that night.
The reinvention

Bryon

2,614 damage176 damage rolls · 66 distinct moves
  • Most iconic crit: Intimidation (Advantage). Also two Greatsword crits and two Investigation crits.
  • Critically failed Wisdom (Perception) four times. The scout is blind.
  • Fumbled a Wisdom (Medicine) check. The big scary warrior botched first aid.
  • Once fumbled initiative on the “temp” token. Even the backup body was not ready.
Deep cuts
  • 288 damage on Sept. 23, 2026 — his best night.
  • All 107 Eldritch Blasts happened after October 2025. He started as a greatsword fighter and multiclassed into warlock mid-campaign.
  • Two “Roll Warlock Hit Points” entries and the Eldritch Smite invocation confirm the pact-weapon warlock.
  • 66 distinct moves: the most versatile character at the table.
  • Off-healing: 49 HP across five rolls. The warlock patches people up, apparently.
  • His one death save: Apr. 17, 2026, against the Intellect Snare and Wight.
The engine room

Cayde

154 HP healed19 rolls · nearly ¾ of the party’s 212 HP
  • Crits on Religion (Advantage), Guiding Bolt, and Spiritual Weapon.
  • Fumbled initiative five times. Selûne’s chosen is never ready.
  • Fumbled Spiritual Weapon twice. Her goddess’s own weapon betrayed her. Also fumbled Guiding Bolt and Religion.
  • Never once dropped to zero hit points.
Deep cuts
  • 1,037 total damage — while carrying the party’s healing by a mile.
  • Moonbeam debuted Mar. 16, 2025, during the Twig Blight horde. 57 casts since.
  • 53 distinct moves. Initiative averages 12.8 — slowest in the party, which tracks for the cleric who lets everyone else go first.
  • 114 damage on Sept. 23, 2026. Even the cleric went off that night.
Mid-campaign reinvention

Bryon’s secret: he’s a warlock now

Every one of his 107 Eldritch Blasts happened after October 2025. The log shows two “Roll Warlock Hit Points” entries, plus the Eldritch Smite invocation for his pact weapon. He started as a greatsword fighter and reinvented himself mid-campaign.

Class mystery solved

Gid is a Battle Master

The proof was hiding in “Maneuver: Pushing Attack.” His Longbow +2 formula carries Sharpshooter’s +10. Add 3,048 total damage and a party-best 15.0 initiative average: this is a Battle Master archer operating exactly as designed.

The horde made her

Cayde’s Moonbeam origin

First cast: March 16, 2025, the 293-message Twig Blight horde night. She has cast it 57 times since. Meanwhile she supplied 154 of the party’s 212 total healing — the engine room, in moonlight.

“By all means, lets go in and try to convert the whole bar of dirty, violent, mentally ill bullies”
— Gid, peak diplomacy
“As a side note, does Selune care that you use a mace made for a cleric for a sun god? I don't know if she gets along with Lathander”
— Gid, theology debate mid-dungeon
Loot item, literally
Newasdfasdfasdf

A placeholder in Cayde’s inventory survived long enough to become canon.

Critical-failure hall of fame

Everybody misses. Some make it a bit.

The natural 1s that stopped being bad luck and became character development.

5×

Cayde has rolled a natural 1 on initiative five times.

Five. Then, on Oct. 7, she critically failed Religion too — 1d20+0 = 1. The Twilight Cleric of Selûne botching Religion belongs beside the initiative fumbles forever.

Bryon · Perception ×4

Four critical failures on Wisdom (Perception). The table’s most versatile fighter-warlock is also, periodically, the scout who cannot see.

Gid · Longbow +1 ×3

Three fumbles with the same enchanted bow. It also crits beautifully. The bow giveth and the bow taketh away.

Spiritual Weapon ×2

Cayde critically failed her own conjured weapon twice. Divine intervention was requested; divine slapstick was delivered.

Even the monsters are bad at mornings.

Dwarf Skeletons fumbled initiative twice, Specters twice, an Ash Zombie once, and a Goblin Psi Commander once. Apparently undeath does not come with an alarm clock.

3

potions consumed in 2½ years

Potion of Healing ×2 and Potion of Greater Healing ×1. This party does not believe in consumables; it believes in carrying them forever.

Notable gear actually in play

Staff of DefenseCayde’s glass, attuned staff.
Spider StaffLooted from Nezznar.
WarhammerSubtlety, but heavier.
The sun-god maceProvoked Gid’s Selûne-vs.-Lathander theology debate mid-dungeon.

Roll deep-dive

The least of everything

The one-offs, near-misses, and rare statistical creatures hiding under the campaign’s headline numbers.

Guidance: exactly once.The most iconic cleric cantrip received one recorded cast across the full two-and-a-half-year log.

One-use actions & effects

Aura of VitalityMental BurstDissonant WhispersMagic MissileSecond WindPoison BreathRolling ChargeSnake Hair

Spells, features, and monster actions: each appears exactly once in the entire Foundry log.

Rarest checks & saves

Animal Handling×1
Sleight of Hand×3
Charisma×3
Dexterity×4
Performance×4
Deception×6
Acrobatics×7

Animal policy: negotiate with every monster; handle an actual animal once.

The save-heavy end of the list

Wisdom saves
204
Constitution
175
Fair dice, confirmed

Across 1,402 d20 dice, the rarest face is 1 (57 times) and the most common is 15 (79 times). Nearly flat.

1 · 57×
15 · 79×

Glorious one-off damage

Each of these formulas happened exactly once. Someone had a nova turn.

2d6 + 2 + 4 + 5d81d8 + 5 + 2 + 10 + 2d88d6 + 4

Most common formulas

1d20 + 0248×
1d20 - 1244×
3 potions total
two regular, one Greater. The inventory is apparently a museum.
2 death saves
for a party fighting mind flayers. Genuinely impressive.

Party fingerprint

How this table plays

Investigate everything, resist the psychic horror, and rest with purpose.

148Investigation checks
204Wisdom saving throws
48long rests
34short rests

The world

Where the party has been

The player-side story so far: a very healthy treasury, one shed character sheet, and a journey that began on the Triboar Trail before descending far below the surface.

The party treasury

25,450 gpacross all four player sheets · 21,671 gp on the three active sheets
Gid · richest7,871 gp
Cayde Starweaver7,054 gp
Bryon Blackthorn New6,746 gp
Old Bryon · retired sheet3,779 gp
Nobody is poor. A comfortable lifestyle costs 2 gp a day. Gid could live comfortably for nearly 11 years without lifting his bow.
Reinvention, now literally canon

Bryon did not just multiclass. He got a whole new character sheet.

The database still holds both versions. “Old - Bryon Blackthorn” remains in the actors list beside “Bryon Blackthorn New” like a shed skin with 3,779 gp left in its pockets.

Old - Bryon Blackthornretired · 3,779 gp
→
Bryon Blackthorn Newactive · 6,746 gp

Where the party has traveled

Every stop below is somewhere the players have already reached at the table: Lost Mine on the surface, then a very long descent into the Shattered Obelisk’s underdark.

Lost Mine · on the surface

Goblin Ambush→Cragmaw Hideout→Cragmaw Castle→Phandalin→Old Owl Well→Ruins of Thundertree→Wave Echo Cave→Wyvern Tor

Shattered Obelisk · down they go

Talhundereth→Crypt of the Talhund→Gibbet Crossing→Tunnels of the Deep→Illithinoch→Feeder Trenches→Spawn Hollow→Labyrinth of Eyes→Briny Maze→Crystal Dome→Wailing Battlefield→Ilvaash’s Anima

The adventure’s chapter titles

  1. A Dangerous Journey
  2. Trouble in Phandalin
  3. The Spider’s Web
  4. Wave Echo Cave
  5. Paths of Peril
  6. The Shattered Obelisk
  7. Rifts in Reality
  8. Beyond a Lightless Star

Rogues’ gallery

Names from the initiative log

Starter-set royalty, undead trouble, psychic nightmares — and a hydra with no interest in action economy.

KlargKing GrolIarno AlbrekNezznar the SpiderFlameskullMormeskGrandlejaw the hydra“makes as many bite attacks as it has heads”Freminethe Galeb DuhrYeggthe goblinPsionic AshenwightsEncephalon ClusterIntellect SnaresGrellOchre Jelly