We were very excited to return to Dungeon and ScienceMaster James Gurney’s wicked world of D&D but it had been a while… so here’s the amazing “novella” he sent us to refresh our memories!

The story so far:
Recently released from prison and on the transport ship the Vincenco the bandit of techno as they refused to call themselves fought off their old warden whose mind was corrupted by some evil force. Having won their first fight the ship was plunged into a deep fog, some say the deepest fog. The famous and silver voiced pirate Giggs Doomlilly attacked the ship from his airship. Making off with most of the ships valuables the pirates returned to their airship, the bandits managed to stay alive and make a new frenemy. 
The ship struggled to navigate in the fog and ran aground on an unknown island. Venturing into the cave the bandits were charged with a dire mission by a mysterious old man on his disappearing island. Find and capture a fragment of the void. Failure will surely doom this existence and perhaps others. They were told to find the deepest crypt in Red Larch. 
A mysterious book decided to insert itself among the players possessions, lovingly referred to as laBook. A totally normal book, that likes blood and dislikes mostly everything else. Other forces from the ocean boarded the ship and demanded Labook, Esdeath refused to give up her new companion and a rough fight broke out. The Bandits were once again pushed to their limits but fought off the unknown minions.  
Arriving on terra firma for the first time since their imprisonment the bandits wasted no time in forgetting their quest. While wondering the streets of Luskin they met a Dragon bourn merchant by the name of Johan Macafee whose copper based tax avoidance scheme soon included the bandits. His copper mine had stopped producing and he needed strong capable hands to venture up the mountain and find out why.
To aid them in this tax evasion the bandits went shopping. A studious shop keeper liberated the majority of their gold from the cruel confinement of a purse. In exchange the party bought healing items, armor, and a returning javelin which even the quick witted and perspicacious Rodnedith the UnReady could not lose. 
A young white dragon met the bandits at the mouth of the mine. Out matched and fated for a most unpleasant death the bandits were trapped. In a spark of inspiration they rubbed together the plethora (>6) of neurons at their disposal and managed to think of a plan. A make shift bomb was made using the mining equipment. Taunting the dragon into attacking the petard was expertly thrown down the dragons mouth and exploded. The deeply injured dragon still had some fight and managed to knock out and exhaust some of the bandits. But eventually the white dragon was bought low and the bandits liberated the mine of its foul influence. 
Venturing back to town, the Tieflings within the group were paid a terrifying visit. In exchange for the void they would be given great power. The party met back up with Johan, he thanked the party and they went on their separate paths. While securing passage south to Waterdeep the main city near Red Larch. Rodnedith the UnReady is lured by the siren call of a couple of street performers. The expertly disguised Giggs Doomlilly baited the Bandits into a street brawl. 
Most of the town watch stepped in and stopped the fight and put everyone into the local jail. This gave Giggs the opportunity he was looking for to speak with the bandits. He told them of a big job he, and Phillip (the BugBear), were planning but couldn’t complete as they were being watched. In a warehouse near the docks there is some cargo that needs to be returned to the unlawful owner Malum Macintosh in the Chased Catfish pub. They were told, repeatedly, do not look in the box! The bandits were released from jail and made their way to the docks.
To no great surprise, after making their way to the warehouse and finding the box, fighting off the security system, the box was opened. A foul light filled each of the bandits and compelled them to speak the worst thing they have ever done. 
The rage orb (LaOrb according to Esdeath) seemed changed and after a quick lick from Rodney tasted slightly citrusy. Taking the orb to Malum, half the party remained outside to keep the orb safe while Legerald, Jefferson, and Ilya went to speak with Malum. The outside party conducted a midnight vigil for a hamster, which some how ended up in a fight with a local priest and some night watchman. The box was once again opened and the souls of the night watchman and priest was stripped from them and absorbed into the rage orb.  
Speaking with the “sassy and grumpy” wizard Malum he was only interested in getting the orb transported down to Waterdeep and in payment would tell the bandits information about the void. Malum was amused that the Bandits had in fact opened the box and hadn’t all died instantly. Accepting his mission to take the orb to Waterdeep the bandits made their way to the ship preparing to leave south. They witnessed a large ramshackle airship drop an anchor directly on to the jail. They could just see a large well dressed hairy lady and much smaller figure be hoisted away and escape. 
Rodnedith was approached by a messenger who demanded he stay in Luskan until he could be returned home and assume his responsibilities as a noble. If he failed to do so he would be put to death. He ignored this request and boarded the ship. 
The Vincenco left Luskan heading south with a full complement of passenger. Without hesitation the bandits decided to see what valuables  the other passengers had which perhaps would be better suited in the hands of the bandits. Circumventing an hour or so of detective work the bandits stumbled upon the beds of two rich looking sorts which were filled with dirt. Making use of some broken mirror shards the bandits discovered that two of the passengers were in fact vampires. After a long and drawn out fight with fluid allegiances being drawn and redrawn both vampires were killed, again. 
The party now arrives in Waterdeep, richer or poorer they must meet up with Malum again, learn what he knows about the void and then perhaps head to red larch to face their fate.  – James Gurney

And here’s the software we’ve been using for the games:

https://roll20.net/welcome – Seems like a Must-Have for online gaming.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/ – really nice way to integrate dice rolls and your own character sheet with roll20.net. In fact, I’m such a fan of DNDBeyond, we use so much and makes online TechBandits D&D so much fun that I’ve used some TechBandits funds to help support them!

https://talespire.com/ – We just freaking loves this Talespire thing…So much so that I bought a copy just to support them! Talespire has added a wonderful focal point for the games… it’s beautiful 3d D&D boards that you can customize and design to your geeky heart’s desire…with all sorts of fun new cool features being added constantly! Please give them some love!