What was your “It’s what my character would do” moment?

Okay, in the Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign I’m currently playing, I am playing a water genasi beastmaster with the flaw that if anyone challenges her courage, she won’t back down, no matter how dangerous. She also has a deep respect for nature.

Anyways, the party last session was Iruka (my character), Ren (lizardfolk eldritch knight), and Fenmore (human fey wanderer). We had two others, Vantika (elf assassin) and Nevon (drow war mage), but they didn’t show up.

The town of Saltmarsh wanted us to investigate some lizardfolk behaviour in the nearby swamp. The townspeople were worried that the lizardfolk wanted to build an army and attack the town.

We’re not murderhobos, so the goal was to see if diplomacy was a possibility. The plan was that Ren, as a lizardfolk, could connect with the tribe, and let them see it’s all cool.

However, there was a problem: Ren doesn’t know Draconic. However, Fenmore knows five languages, including Draconic, and has a proficiency in Persuasion. He was able to convince the lizardfolk to give us an audience with the queen.

We learned the lizardfolk queen doesn’t want to attack Saltmarsh, and that she’s at war with the sahuagin, who attacked us last session. Good news, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

However, diplomacy didn’t go well. There’s only 200 people in Saltmarsh in fighting condition, and one Arcana check later, Iruka recalled that there’s only 2 mages that could learn Water Breathing, so the queen can have a marine fighting force.

The attention turned to the party’s capabilities. Iruka failed to convince the queen that she can fight on the frontlines, and if she gets strong enough, she can use Water Breathing to take others under the sea with her.

Iruka even promised to show what she’s made of in a spar. However, the queen wasn’t convinced we could fight, even though Iruka took down two sahuagin on the way there. She should’ve been there.

However, hope wasn’t lost. The queen told us she’s gathered ambassadors from the koalinth, the locathah, and the merfolk. We decided to talk to the merfolk. Good thing Iruka knows Primordial, and she delivered a speech that even if the lizardfolk don’t trust our ability, they can, and that we are all fighting a common enemy.

The merfolk gave us a mission that can prove to the queen we are worth fighting alongside: Find and kill a giant crocodile that has been giving the lizardfolk a problem.

Iruka had to prove she was brave, that she and Delfina, her companion, could hold their own in the water. We succeeded in the rolls to track, find, and sneak up on the giant crocodile.

Iruka, understanding that it’s just an animal, used Speak to Animals, and with a +7 to Animal Handling rolls, even with disadvantage, she should have a shot. The roll failed, and initiative was rolled.

If it was me, I’d keep my distance, shooting spells at the croc with the rest of the party. Any of my other characters would have handled this situation better. But Iruka had something to prove, risks be damned.

While Ren used Chill Touch to deny healing, Fenmore used Hunter’s Mark to deal extra damage with his longbow. Iruka then had Delfina swim up and bite the croc, before she struck twice with her +1 dagger. In a single round, thanks to a crit, Iruka dealt 22 damage.

When it was the croc’s turn, it swung its tail, but Delfina swam out of the way. Then, the croc bit at Iruka, and took all but 2 of her HP. While we did manage to do a lot of damage to the croc, it’s not looking too good for Iruka either.