An anecdote from Monday, 6/22/20's D&D session...
My group turned Level 5 tonight after finishing The Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign, for which we spared the big bad (first time we hadn't straight-up killed a baddie, typically after initially agreeing to a negotiation then turning around and brutally killing everyone). The next morning, after returning to our city of safe haven, Phandalin, we fairly easily killed an invading group of orcs (thanks to our new level upgrades), after which we decided to go find their camp to kill the rest. I had personally saved the weapons shop owner, who was so grateful she gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek - I "aw shucks"'ed the moment as a callback to doing the same thing earlier in the night after a failed attempt to negotiate with the big bad.
On the way to the orcs' camp/base, we randomly encountered two owlbears (DM's choice, because we'd often encountered boring, annoying sturgeons, and we're now in homebrew territory). Because we were level 5, they weren't putting up that much of a fight (there are four of us - a Half-Elf Rogue, an Elf Ranger, a Dragonborn Barbarian, and a Human Monk (me)), considering one of our 3 pet wolves managed to do decent damage to one owlbear and even knock it prone. My turn was initially skipped, but after it was remembered, I was able to attack the prone one twice and kill it. Then, turning to the remaining one, I had the idea to try and tame it (a recurring gimmick - hence the 3 wolves). The DM reluctantly humored the thought by saying we'd need to roll two 20s in a row. So, with my remaining bonus action, I used Flurry of Blows to try and knock it prone - failing on the first hit (needed a DC 14 - it rolled a 15), but succeeding on the second (it rolled an 11). The game had begun...
The Half-Elf Rogue rolls an attack, hits and successfully lands the non-fatal finishing blow. However, before talking about what we were going to do to try and tame the beast, I remembered that he gets advantage on a prone victim. So for fun, what happens when he re-rolls? He crits - the first 20 is secured.
With the battle "complete," it's time to figure out how to tame the wild beast. Enter the Dragonborn, who has Speak With Animals. He quickly starts shaking the dice in his hands to "warm them up" while we're talking about how absurd this is, and the specifics of the spell - it'd take one Action (though we're out of combat so it doesn't matter) and then we'd have 10 minutes to talk. As he continues to "warm up the dice," he talks to the owlbear, who's furious, rageful and only so intelligent, but my teammate gives a fairly compelling speech that we'd offer food, safety, companionship, and the chance to kill our enemies. I also toss him some meat from my pocket to gain favor (another gimmick - which helped with the 3 wolves).
When it comes time to roll the die, he tosses it into his new felt box... he doesn't say the number, we don't hear any reaction, but we see him lean back in his chair and raise his arms. He says "I'm not touching anything, I'm going to take a picture and send it to you" - he puts his phone over the die, takes a picture, then shows it to us on the computer: it's a golden nat 20.
After a brief discussion on names, for which the initially reluctant DM even got in on the fun and made a suggestion... and with the deciding naming vote going to the Elf Ranger... Prince Owlbert successfully joined our party. (And yes, he absolutely will eventually wear a hat and bowtie.) It was a beautiful, hilarious, and incredibly lucky cap to the night, and it involved everyone - my character's running gimmick of wanting pets, permission from the DM with the stakes, a 20 from the Half-Elf Roge, a 20 from the Dragonborn, then selecting the name from the Elf Ranger. Teamwork at its finest.
God I love D&D.
(Note: not all details are accurate, but they're accurate enough.)
