Playing in the Beautiful Mess

A few months ago, I listened to Mike Shea’s recording of a panel including him and other 5e designers at Gamehole Con 2025, discussing the platform that is 5e. I was particularly struck the following week when I prepped for my Ptolus campaign at the time. Working through my prep structure in my notebook, I found myself consulting a few books. One was Monte Cook Games Banewarrens, which I want to turn into a climactic element of that campaign. Since my party was currently making their way into a fortress in Hell, I consulted the Book of Fiends from Green Ronin. In addition to that, I jotted down page numbers for some devils from Flee Mortals and Kingdoms & Warfare, by MCDM. Then I decided to use the Monstrous Menagerie by EN Publishing for my more normal fiends. Finally, I used the Vault of Magic from Kobold Press to stock a treasure hoard within the citadel.

You’ll note I didn’t consult a single source from Wizards of the Coast—which was not deliberate. Instead, these resources were ones that jumped to mind, and seemed to have everything I needed. This variety is another symptom of the “Beautiful Mess of 5e.” The nature of the game, with so many non-integrated systems, as mentioned by Mike Mearls in the recording, facilitates the easy plug and play of a wider variety of sources. 

While editions may march on, with the release of so many available 5e variants with broad compatibility across them, seems to assure that this game will continue to be played for many years. It may not be perfect. It may get stale at times, but I think we’ll still be playing it, or a game much like it in a few decades.

Conan Reflection: The Scarlet Citadel

There will be spoilers for the short story in the article below…

When I first saw the title of this particular story, I thought of the eponymous adventure book by Kobold Press. As I read further, the influence at a broad level by this particular Howard story on the latter work became even more apparent. The tropes of a dungeon created by an evil wizard and populated with otherworldly monsters, the results of arcane experiments or communion with still greater evils. 

This direction is a bit unexpected, setting in the era of Conan as King of Aquilonia, rather than the thief, rogue, or sea wolf. It is out of the frying pan and into the fire as his army is betrayed and destroyed. The major focus of the story is on the descent to the underworld, in which the hero confronts the nightmarish horrors of the dark dungeon Tsotha, the wizard said to do demonic deals. Conan’s duel with the great serpent in the depths and rescue of a mage rival of Tsotha’s. The higher level politics are also fun details—one whole section details the activities of Conan’s loyal supporters in his kingdom’s capital and the efforts of a treacherous ally to seize the throne. 

All the elements described in the milieu of early roleplaying here are present—the ascendancy of the fighter, Conan, to political leadership. The adventure that brought the hero once more into the depths of a dungeon. These elements shine through in the early editions of the hobby and many of the aspirations of our modern games. The battles to be war gamed out, the adventures of the hero in the world shaped by these battles. Another intriguing touchstone in the mosaic of the tabletop roleplaying game hobby and its larger influence on society.

The Thrill of Creation

There is a nerve-wracking, nail-biting, anxiety-fueled moment when you hit send on a pitch for an RPG product. Because then you wait for a few days—a week? To see if your ideas made the cut. If someone thought they were worth investing time and money into developing, creating some real visual art, and printing on the page. 

There’s also nothing so thrilling as seeing one of your articles commissioned. Sometimes which ones made it baffles you. Like that one that was written feverishly in ten minutes at five in the morning on the due date before going to work so the noon deadline doesn’t creep up on you—yeah, somehow that throwaway is now in print, while the others I spent weeks thinking about didn’t make the cut. 

It doesn’t need to make sense. Creativity means giving other people control once you’ve made something. They get to form their own opinions, cut it apart, critique it…or maybe enjoy it, be inspired. They get to decide. And you just get to be happy you got to make something.

Reflections on Adventure Writing

Image courtesy of Pixabay

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to write my first published adventure. It was a rewarding experience and one that I learned a great deal from. Here are some reflections and thoughts that this process prompted.

Deadlines

When I pitched my idea, I did not expect to be picked for the theme of apocalyptic fantasy. I felt my concept was relatively undeveloped, and when the editor mentioned that for that particular adventure slot and another issue that nineteen pitches had been submitted, I was even more sure that mine would not be picked.

How wrong was I...

I was flattered to have mine picked, but slightly alarmed that I had one month to write and submit the text. I had other adventure pitches that went unselected that felt more developed to me and which I thought I could write faster. But this particular theme?

Setting some goals, along with a convenient trip that gave me some more personal time to write managed to make up for that, and I somehow completed the work on time.

Feedback and Collaboration

Immediately upon being selected, I reached out to the editor to look for feedback or thoughts regarding the pitch concept. As I suspected, major portions would need to be altered, and the desire was tight integration with the other authors of the articles appearing within. 

As this collaboration developed, active brainstorming and discussion within the designer Discord provided me the revised antagonists for my adventure, along with major details of the plot. And the suggestion that it would be great if a complimentary article of monsters was integrated into the adventure too! 

Pulling all these disparate bits together was a challenge. Initially it felt like I'd lost a degree of creative control, but I did my best to embrace the challenge, and enjoy the constraints. That is how we grow, yes? Through the experience I realized how much constraints can actually enhance your creativity, as you are forced to ask "how can I realistically get all these pieces to pastiche into something unique that works?" It also requires an author to set aside their personal thoughts and accept other perspectives and ideas, even if they are not exactly what you had initially envisioned. This seems to be a crucial still for collaborative development projects.

Growth

Some authors might find these constraints limiting or frustrating. I empathize with that, particularly as they piled up and I had to organize myself to make sure I hit all of the boxes. But exactly that experience was extremely valuable. Because the process of collaboration with editorial feedback and interacting with other creators helped me grow. Although this was a short project, I felt like it was training me to be able to navigate requirements in future larger collaborative projects. I had to let go of some of my own desires for independence and work to make something better than I would have on my own.

So next time you examine a sourcebook with highly integrated lore, or cross references to other material, consider the massive effort than a group of writers and editor(s) had to put in to ensure that their ideas were complimentary and met the requirements for that product. Communication is hard in most industries. Communicating creative vision is even harder, because our opinions are strong and do matter. I truly appreciated the collaborative environment, and openness to discussion that our editor fostered with that group on that project. 

This was an amazing experience overall—and even better, if you would like to check out the adventure I wrote, go subscribe to the En5ider Patreon campaign. To be upfront, I don’t get anything for promoting their page, but I true appreciate their efforts and willingness to allow untested and untrained RPG designers and writers who are just starting out to write for them. Any support you can give them will enable that to continue!

Adapting to New Settings & Systems: Adventures as Inspiration

Perhaps I'm unique, but I always find trying out a new setting or even RPG system intimidating. I've noticed that a major aid for me in approaching these is to use an adventure for that setting or system.

For example, I had a hard time feeling comfortable in my Ptolus campaign until I finished the Doctrine of Ghul as a mini arc. While I have my critiques of the adventure, it provided strong inspiration and examples to emulate for future games in the city setting that matched the flavor and scope that I'm trying to capture.

Perhaps that strikes at the heart of the issue. I try new settings and systems because I want to feel the things that the creator intended. I don't want my Midgard campaign to feel like the Forgotten Realms. But the nuance can be hard to create in our own adventures until we have seen something to influence their design. Empire of the Ghouls helped give me a good starting point and things to draw upon when my campaign went off it's rails in the Blood Kingdom with the regional fight against Lady Illmalad.

These thoughts were spurred by reading through the lovely Broken Weave sourcebook recently. It represents some major departures from the fundamental assumptions of 5e play. Ones that create tonal and narrative differences I want to lean into. The short adventure, the Titan's March, enabled me to get in the right headspace to do this, providing a framework to get started and things that I can copy and completely mix up in future games in the setting. I think in the case of single sourcebooks like this, such an example is even more critical as the entire burden of learning, teaching, and then creating an original adventure otherwise falls squarely on the GM.

This is one reason I think open licenses are so important for RPG systems. It enhances the ability of GMs to obtain adventures to learn and emulate, and means that publishers creating a system don't need to invest as many resources into creating a large adventure product or many smaller products if they choose not too. A dynamic TTRPG community enables us to experiment and combine elements from different products and systems to enhance our own games.

Why Read so Many RPG Magazines?

A few months back, I read Anatomy of an Adventure by M.T. Black. Then I also noticed Black’s highly viewed posts on EN World looking at old issues of Dragon Magazine. He practices what he preaches in terms of adventure and game design—read and copy the masters, and when you finish you’ll have discovered your own style. So though I was reading both old and new RPG magazines before this, it gave new impetus. 

In fact, based on what I’ve read about this hobby, the zine predates the game, and provided a common forum for discussion of ideas and concepts. Later descendants of the fanzine format were and are the official magazines of various publishers. 

These types of products play an important role in continuing to develop the hobby, I think even to this day. Take a look at the names in many of the magazines, old and new, for newer and more established publishers. Then take a look at the writers and designers in their books on your shelve or in your digital library. Magazines provide a place for new freelance writers and designers to cut their teeth in a more traditional publication space. Anyone can make a product and put it on DriveThruRPG (that’s not to diminish the self-publishing route, which is very hard on its own). But the process of working with editors and other designers fostered by magazines seems to fuel the larger TTRPG industry, and is the path towards authors credits in hardbacks from established publishers. 

Take a look at the early publishing credits of most of Wizards of the Coast’s design team if you don’t believe me. Experienced designers learned their craft writing then editing for Dungeon or Dragon magazines. More recent designers have some of their first publication credits in MCDM’s Arcadia. You’ll see En5ider authors in the author and designers credits sections of hardback titles from MCDM, Kobold Press, Ghostfire Gaming, and more.

So if you want to understand this hobby, find great ideas for your home games, or even start writing, take a look at EN Publishing’s En5ider, or Gate Pass Gazette. Learn from the work in Wildmage Press’ Horizons. Read the magazines from decades past and you’ll find things that inspire you, and you’ll drive your own creative energy.

2e AD&D Birthright Campaign Setting Review

This article is spoiler free, only providing specific information that the original books describe as safe to share with players as part of setting background.

Birthright is an interesting setting, and frankly not discussed much in my abet limited experience in the hobby. On ENWorld I've seen its fanbase called "small but vocal." It is small indeed, with much of the community residing on a fan website that has existed for roughly two decades and a more recently created discord server. For me personally, I didn't hear about Birthright until I heard it mentioned in passing in a video by Matt Colville. Appearing later in the life cycle of 2e AD&D, it seems as though Birthright never got as much attention as other settings like Planescape and Spelljammer. 

It's also of note that as older materials, the Birthright Campaign Setting and other supplements, available on DriveThruRPG, include the disclaimer that "Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today." Those interested in exploring this setting should keep this in mind and use player safety tools. 

The setting and rules of the original box set is laid out in three books. Let's take a look at them.

Atlas

Really interesting overview, providing the meat of the setting lore. It is written from an in-character perspective, by a chamberlain waiting for a wise emperor to rise and rule the fallen empire once more. I found the narrative style less annoying personally than when it was used for the Planescape 2e sources. The lore sets the continent of Cerilia up as a land that has been settled by humans, in a generally low magic setting. There still remain untamed frontiers to explore, which seems a major idea for some regions (there are some potentially problematic themes of colonialism as elves, dwarves, and orog peoples lived in Cerilia before the arrival of humans). 

The background of the setting is that a thousand years or longer before the present timeline there was a massive battle between the forces of evil and good, in which the gods also participated and destroyed one another. Their energy created new gods from some of the combatants and also diffused amongst those who survived on both sides, creating powerful magical bloodlines amongst the humanoids and also creating the dark antagonists, the awnsheghlien. These adversaries are functionally immortal and are natural bad guys for your adventures. 

There is a mystical element to the awnsheghlien, particularly as these are unique monsters, which I think is sometimes lost in D&D. So while normal versions of monster stat blocks might easily be used for some of them, it would also make sense to make modified or legendary versions of some (like a modified medusa stat block for the Gorgon).

Then the setting takes the bloodline theme and combines it with the divine right of kings to create a feudal system of rule. After the battle an empire arose that unified much of the continent, but it fell as the ruling bloodline weakened. The seeds of a plot that could be as radical as reuniting the empire, or as small as dealing with the local politics and the threat of nearby neighbors emerges. The rules presented in the rulebook then support this different style of gameplay. I like the fallen empire trope, and already planned to employ a similar theme in my own world. The world is distinct and interesting, and I’d definitely consider a campaign here.

The descriptions of the various lands are interesting, and I think you could do worse than using Cerilia without the domain system as an adventuring setting alternative to others like the Forgotten Realms.

Rulebook

Character Options

It’s always been interesting considering the class and character restrictions based upon ancestry which are included in older sourcebooks. Honestly seems rather silly at this point. However, I do appreciate the brief sections on each people that detail their culture and what makes them unique.

Domains

The domain system is what really makes this setting unique and cool. It will not be for everyone. There's a lot conceptually you need to take in and understand to effectively use the system. The GM really needs to be an expert, and it is more akin to a strategic simulation game than a roleplaying game. It's the intersection of these two styles of games that makes Birthright truly shine though.

First, you really need this beautiful stitched together map of Cerilia to understand this system. If you want to use another setting with this system, you'll need to figure out how to divide up the map according to provinces, which according to the book should be between 1,000 and 1,500 miles square, or about 30-40 miles per side if you are doing rough squares. The book notes the exact dimensions aren't important, but if you want to maintain some of the verisimilitude in ability to communicate and travel quickly within the area then this is a good rule of thumb. You don't need to do the entire map necessarily though, just the area you are interested in running your campaign. Then you can follow the principles of spiral campaign development as your players venture further afield, then detailing the provinces and new regions they are going to.

(Major aside: Khorvaire in Eberron, and Midgard are good settings to potentially look at for this. Khorvaire would function well if you wanted to play out the Last War, and Midgard has this type of intrigue and warfare baked into the setting already. The Forgotten Realms works less well because the Sword Coast is primarily city states, and the nobles aren't as tied to geographic holdings in the lore outside of those cities).

Provinces are assigned a level (the book essentially suggests these will primarily range from 0-9). The level assigned generally reflects the population, and through that the economic and political potential of the province (the book says importance and prosperity, but words from actual scholarship are much more descriptive and helpful to us in conceptualizing these). A major city of greater than 40,000 people is at least level 7 (i.e. a province containing Ptolus would be 7 or 8). 

Within a province you have four types of holdings:

• Guilds (Associated with the 2e Thief class)
• Law
• Sources (Sources of magical energy derived from the land itself)
• Temples (Centers of divine power and influence)

There are a number of slots for each of these holdings within a province equal to its level (except for sources, they have other rules later). There is also a limitation based on the size of the province for how many regents (rulers) those holding slots can be divided between (for instance, a level 3 province can only have one regent per type of holding. This is true even if the holding doesn't use all the available slots. Meaning this province can have a level 1 temple holding, but no other regents can take those slots.

Next the various types of assets that a regent can have are discussed, which is essentially anything other than a holding, including armies, money, and more. 

Reading this, it becomes very apparent that some sort of digital ability to manage data is necessary—those folks who did this by hand in the ‘90’s deserve a round of applause. A CSV file might suffice, with holdings nested under provinces and listed with their respective levels and regents. Regents' assets need to be tracked too. There's also the added wrinkle of tracking the interrelations of regents, scions, and their bloodlines. The type of hyperlinking available in Foundry or other non VTT document management tools also could be a way to provide lists of provinces, the holdings, and regents, along with their associated resource gain each turn.

In addition to all of this, there are the procedures for running domain turns and a skirmish battle game with cards for units (wait this sounds familiar). These rules provide some parameters that to me make them more usable that the more amorphous domain rules that Kingdoms & Warfare provided, certainly inspired by this previous product. Though you definitely need digital tools to keep track of everything, the procedures follow a certain logic, and some lists and flowcharts nicely demonstrate how everything ought to flow. The domain rules also explicitly are designed to work alongside adventures and guidance is given on how to advance time and interweave the domain turns with adventures—a degree of specificity that I find more helpful than the tired “make it up as you go” advice that I've also seen. The framework allows for deviation better than having to haphazardly create something on the fly.

Ruins of Empire

This book is densely packed, providing the domain data for a number of NPC regents and domains in Anuire, which is essentially a European fantasy themed portion of the setting. The level of detail included in this and other Birthright supplements (which we'll also take a look at in future posts) 

Final Thoughts

This setting offers a type of play not everyone is interested in. That’s okay, but I’m glad that people still continue to think about domain management and building kingdoms as part of the fantasy TTRPG hobby. This is an interesting setting from a historical point of view and offers one example of how to approach this problem. Various aspects of Birthright could be drawn from or combined with other systems—for example, division of a map up into regions is very similar to A5E’s exploration mechanics. If I were to run this setting, I might make use of the exploration encounters from A5E in this way to do pointcrawls with regional nodes.

You can also see how Birthright emphasized an ideal of generational play, with characters developing their holdings, perhaps gaining control of a province with regency, and passing on their power to a trusted heir. I like this idea in other works I've seen it in, like the much more recent Broken Weave. Similar mechanics from games like Pendragon could be adapted too.

There are also obvious different styles of play available in Birthright. For example, each player a ruler of a kingdom, which would focus significantly on the domain level game, and potentially include conflict between player domains. There's also the ability to place an NPC or a player in charge of a kingdom, with the others acting as vassals, promoting both cooperation, or providing a smaller scale for intrigue. There's also the option of simply adventuring in the setting with no players acting as scions or regents, but getting to interact with the politics and intrigue.

I would love to try out this campaign setting one day. For more reading and reflections from an older fan of the hobby than me, check out the blog post from Grognardia on the setting.

Dungeon Magazine 1 - Part 1

Spoilers for the adventures within…

The first issue of Dungeon appeared in 1986. I find it really fascinating to examine and see elements that are still part of publications of the past several years and even now in En5ider. This magazine, unlike its elder sister publication, Dragon, is noted to be providing adventure modules. This is principally the reason that I am most interested in examining this publication throughout its history and recording my thoughts; after all, modules are the easiest content to use in any edition or even other fantasy RPG. It’s important to note that I’ll be spoiling most of these adventures. So if you plan to ever play any, then maybe duck out.

The idea behind the magazine too is interesting—encouraging readers playing the game to submit their own adventures for publication. Of course, it’s noted that they become property of TSR once submitted—hence why we still see Dungeon modules crop up in official D&D products from WOTC. It’s also noted that the magazine will be bimonthly at this time.

I love the cover art by Keith Parkinson, which references one of the adventures within. This is what I imagine when I think of a dragon hoard. Indeed, one so large that it is essentially impossible to carry all of it at once.

The letters to the editor are also fun. They are very reminiscent of social media comments. It’s interesting to see how the more some things change, the more others remain the same.

The first adventure of the new publication is The Dark Tower of Cabilar, by Michael Ashton and Lee Sperry. It’s noted that these two are college students in a brief biographical paragraph—I don’t know that many modern, even amateur, designers fall into that demographic now—would be cool to see again. The module is quite substantial too, taking up fourteen pages of the publication. It is designed for 4-8 AD&D characters of 4-7th level.

The adventure set up is rather elaborate in backstory, but gameplay starts with a hard cut to the dungeon. I like the backstory though, as it’s a generic enough story to adapt to any setting. Briefly, a city’s king and city council were assassinated by an evil spellcaster, but the prince was saved along with the crown. The crown was stolen by a vampire who happens to live in the evil spellcaster villain’s former lair. The adventurers are tasked to retrieve the crown to establish the prince’s legitimate claim. 

Some odd bits of design include making saving throws for wooden ledges with modifiers based on adventurers’ encumbrance. Another is a d10 roll to determine how many firedrakes are in an area of effect spell—an interesting idea for randomizing theater of the mind combat. I’m not a hundred percent on board with the dungeon design. Entering involves climbing or flying up to the top and then going down, with the main chambers under the town in a three level dungeon. While reminiscent of the Tower of the Elephant, this design feels a bit contrived. There’s also odd omissions—like a door in room nine, described in the read aloud text, which doesn’t seem to lead anywhere or be referenced any further in the room description. Finally, it’s interesting how the HP for every single monster is individually specified. Even the weapons load outs for a band of orcs is laid out in a table.

It is certainly an example of a fun house dungeon, with touches like exploding books with no save for the damage, and more. It would be fairly easy to run using 5e, and probably even easier with Shadowdark. I don’t know if the dungeon is to my taste in some aspects, but I like the overall framing for the story.

The next adventure is Assault on Eddistone Point, by Patricia Nead Elrod, designed for 3 to 5 adventurers of 1st to 3rd level. The introduction and adventure set up is pretty involved (holy one and a half pages of exposition Batman!) It sets up a mystery, basically with a trade network that is crucial to the peace between two previously warring cities. A system of signaling towers connects the cities for communication and to guarantee each abides by the rules of their trade and peace treaty. The cities are now making the signaling towers capable of functioning at night through magic, and a magic user accompanied by a group (all fully described by the way) are traveling to each tower—but wait! They’ve gone missing! 

It’s a fairly simple exploration of a linear watchtower, and the antagonists are a group of bandits, but it’s good to see these tropes appear in the work of years gone by. The level of effort put into the cartography and three art spots for this article is fascinating, and the maps provide some good references for inspiration. But all in all, a middling adventure too, but more usable for me personally than the Dark Tower.

Part 2

Ptolus: The Lord of Flies - A Reflection

Mild spoilers from the Ptolus sourcebook and Doctrine of Ghul adventure. Content warning for insects and bodily functions.

Sometimes the funnest games happen when the session comes totally off the rails and your players give you ideas you would have never created yourself. Such was the case in my Ptolus campaign the other night. The characters had traveled to the city Necropolis, a relatively benign location by day, but haunted by packs of undead and the occasional fiend in the night. 

The adventurers were looking for an individual who understood Abyssal, the language of demons. There was added urgency because Vesper, the Wild Magic Sorcerer, had only two more days until she disappeared into the mystical Utterdark due to a curse placed upon her when she read the "Doctine of Ghul."

Through a series of encounters, the adventurers found their way to a lair of a hermit, who consorts with the demons of the Necropolis. His name was Igor. Both a drunk, and a visionary man, Igor is also accompanied by a horde of flies, which I described him as being covered in when he emerged from his dwelling in a crypt. One of my players immediately provided me the funniest idea I could have never come up with myself: 

"I wonder if he has clothes on under those flies?"

I mean, come on? Who am I to leave that on the table? So the character—while we used player safety tools—added this quirk to the existing character. Having him live in relative filth and excrement seemed like a natural progression.

For weeks after, my players enjoyed a good laugh when returning to the Necropolis and considering whether or not to once again visit Igor. 

Review- Conan: Black Colossus

Image is by RodrigoKatrakas, and used under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Spoilers for the story…

Reading Black Colossus makes you really realize how much more Howard influenced our modern games and adventures even more than Tolkien (and this is coming from a LOTR lover). The tale of the dark sorcerer, Thugra Khotan, entombed in a mysterious dome rising above the desert and the dried out river that had flowed with strength in his age. That’s a mystery that needs solving. That’s a dungeon that needs to be explored, and there’s treasure to be had—at great peril! 

It’s interesting to the elements of investigation touched on in the story, noting that the thief Shevatas put significant effort into his preparations. “Not for naught had he gained access into darksome cults, had harkened to the grisly whispers of the votaries of Skelos under midnight trees, and read the forbidden iron-bound books of Vathelos the Blind.” We can see not only in Conan, but in Shevatas the clear archetype of a cunning thief, who undertakes their business with great care, reflected in the description of his opening the door with a hidden combination on secret catches. This is continued with the fight with the guardian serpent, with poison of a snake exactly like it. “…the obtaining of that venom from the fiend-haunted swamps of Zingara would have made a saga in itself.”

There are of course elements that trouble a modern reader—the choices of language dismissing some of Howard’s fantastic cultures as uncivilized. The other standout is the perceived need to diminish Princess Yasmela through diminutive language to paint her as the damsel in distress, helpless without the aid of a masculine hero though she is the (abet caretaker) head of a kingdom. This of course culminates in her being snatched by the villain at the climax of the major battle and being taken as some sort of sacrifice, naked on an altar, and the descriptions of Conan’s passions for her overwhelming his reason—probably the ultimate source of many objectifying depictions of women in pulp sword & sorcery.

I enjoyed this passage and the image it invoked:

“Conan listened unperturbed. War was his trade. Life was a continual battle, or series of battles, since his birth. Death had been a constant companion. It stalked horrifically at his side; stood at his shoulder beside the gaming-tables; its bony fingers rattled the wine-cups. It loomed above him, a hooded and monstrous shadow, when he lay down to sleep. He minded its presence no more than a king minds the presence of his cupbearer. Some day its bony grasp would close; that was all. It was enough that he lived through the present.”

The battle of the pass and the Shemla Valley is also evocative, with some great descriptions of the actions of each side, and an interesting tactical depiction. I enjoyed this portion perhaps the most, and saw parallels to the battle of the first volume of the Black Company.

This story also speaks to the heroic journey from thief or adventurer to general and later ruler that characters were envisioned as following in early editions of RPGs. 

So in sum, there’s some bits that we are better off without in our fiction. But there’s also some really interesting plot elements that you can see have informed our current stories and games. So as with many past authors, there is much to emulate, some to avoid, and some to steal from Howard’s stories.

Empire of the Ghouls - Out of Zobeck

Spoilers for the adventure follow…

After returning to kobold King Koto Crag-Claw’s palace with their prisoners and the rescued Rozalyn Turnyr, the adventurers were treated as heroes. Their efforts cleared Brik’s name and exposed the machinations of the Blood Kingdom against the city council of Zobeck. 

In addition to their treasure reward King Crag-Claw provided them a place to stay indefinitely and they always were guaranteed free meals at the Rampant Roach. Straic was made to pay for the damages to the restaurant and he provided his daughter’s rescuers any smithing services they required free of charge.

They spent the rest of the spring and most of summer in Zobeck then, but kept busy. Korwyn spent much of his time finding and then refurbishing a river boat to use for travel on the river Argent. He found it through a halfling river folk named Ply Waterfroth, who put him in contact with a kobold named Skitter who gave him a great price for the boat. Rolan studied the apothecary tools he’d found, but couldn’t figure them out yet. He also assisted Korwyn with his boat. Frost had Straic make him a fancy set of silver knuckles, and was gifted a sturdier but more battered set of magical brass knuckles by the kobolds. 

Rolan also received a note from a cleric of Valeresh who kept the shrine in Zobeck. He went to visit the shrine and conducted a ritual which resulted in a vision of two world trees burning in the Tomierran forest and in the Northlands. The old cleric assured Rolan that it was a vision of Ragnarok and must be averted. Rolan was more sceptical.

Korwyn received a note from an old shipmate telling him of how the Duke-Admiral of the Republic of Triolo was issuing letters of marque to attack the Mharoti Dragon Empire’s ships. The friend also sent him a magical ring of jumping to wear on his horn. 

Finally, Frost met Dalinda Plainsfoot, an old friend from his time as a caravan guard on the Rothenian Plains. She told old stories and bought a few rounds until eventually sharing that Baba Yaga and the mysterious and fiendish Master of Demon Mountain were both more active on the plains. The master was sending his Tiefling children as emissaries to the Blood Kingdom and Mharoti Empire. Frost listened intently and also purchased supplies for her to take back to the Plainsfoot and Frostbane tribes to aid their wintering on the steppe. 

Finally they all received a letter from Grigori, who has originally hired them to find his girlfriend, recounting how he had returned to his homeland, Krakovar, to join the rebels against the Blood Kingdom and their ghoul allies as revenge for the disappearance of his girlfriend, Illyana.

After conferring together, the adventurers resolved to go North to find the rebels in a city in the Grand Duchy of Dornig where Gregori had directed them. They prepared the boat and brought along Chitter, Skitter’s nephew on their journey up the river Argent. The heroes departed early in the month of High Summer. Autumn and Winter will soon follow. They cleared a trapper’s net blocking the river in the one major happening of the journey North towards the Freehold of Obertal, a two day journey up river from Zobeck to the point where they could no longer navigate the river on their boat, which they had named the Keister.

Tying up the boat on the seventh of High Summer, they saw two griffin knights circling over the ruined fort, possibly portending trouble…

GM Reflections

This was a really fun game. It was the first time this group has played in person. Additionally, everyone enjoyed the downtime activities from A Life Well Lived and the journey rules from Uncharted Journeys. I really opened up the aperture of the adventure, pointing them to corners of the world that relate to their character. They also have me some interesting backstory info that made it easy to create diverse quest hooks. It’s interesting that they are actually still kind of following the main adventure’s quest line. I think blowing this adventure out into a full sandbox is really cool though, because it allows us to explore so much of Midgard’s rich content. It was interesting getting to use the downtime rules not just mechanically, but to facilitate storytelling.

Everyone enjoyed the new systems, but we all agreed that Cubicle7 could have made them easier to present to players through better handouts, like creating a “menu” of downtime options, and the same thing with journey preparations, since it’s difficult to choose these without a list of options. These systems prompted lots of interesting and fun roleplay though, which leads me to my conclusion that Cubicle7 really has delivered on the social and exploration pillars of 5e that have been lacking for so long.

This also marked a major break with the established story in Empire of the Ghouls. I found myself so enjoying the lore of Midgard that I really wanted to simply turn the adventure into a sandbox facilitated by point crawling using the Uncharted Journey rules. Interestingly they still decided to go North, which means I can continue to use the source material. Since they’re going to Grigori and the rebels I’m going to have them do a few missions into Krakovar and the Blood Kingdom, and potentially obtain the Robes of St. Adelind (although they don’t have the quest hook, so that will be more organic). Then they may earn the chance to meet the court in exile and escort Duke Avgost to the Wolfmark. They’ll also have opportunity to investigate the world tree in the Tomierran Forest.

Lost Mine of Phandelver - Conclusion

Spoilers for the adventure...

The heroes departed the forge of spells, a little disappointed at the shell left of the fabled location. They went North, following a booming noise until they found waves crashing against a cliffside in a large cave.

After marveling at the vast amount of water in this underground area, the party continued onward in the cave, coming into another chamber where they saw a cliff rising up in front of them. They found some rope hanging down from the edge and clambered their way up.

Next the heroes stumbled from a side passage into a large pillared chamber and suddenly found themselves under attack from giant spiders and humanoid monsters with spider heads. They also began to be pummeled by spells, as two of them were knocked unconscious by a freezing blast of cold. While Aina helped Amafrey and Blaaz up, Anarath cast a wall of force across the chamber to halt further spell attacks as he searched for the enemy caster. The heroes defeated the spiders and spider-like creatures and began to search for the spell caster as they were hammered with fireballs exploding over their heads.

Anarath heard a taunting voice in his own ear, but struck nothing when he swung. Finally, the wizard cast a fireball blindly and heard a voice call out in pain. Yet no one appeared. He continued to cast area spells toward the enemy, as his friends moved into the area. Amafrey swung his sword blindly and connected with something invisible. Finally, they heard a thud after Anarath cast a last spell into a hallway to the South. Investigating, they found a Drow mage that they had killed. They found a staff and notes on his body, and quickly searching the surrounding rooms they found Nundro Rockseeker and saved him.

Gudren and his brother offered a fifth of the profits of the mine to the party as a reward for their efforts, and the heroes took a well deserved rest in Phandalin.

GM Reflections

It is quite satisfying to finally have completed this campaign. Scheduling issues, geographic separation, and moves made it difficult to play consistently, but it was fun. It did become difficult to get excited about continuing at times when the plot was dragging along, and I learned some valuable lessons about keeping the plot moving. I think I’ll play a bit more active role in doing that as we either continue with these characters or transition to something new. I see that as speeding up time and allowing time to pass. Adding smaller adventures or dungeons within the larger arc. I do still really like XP-based leveling, although it is much slower. But using a VTT I feel that it’s easier to manage than actually deciding when to award milestone levels, especially since that can vary so widely and be so unclear in published adventures. Many will not find that opinion to their taste, which is alright with me.

The boss fight with Nezznar used a higher level mage stat block from Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. It was difficult, but my players seemed to enjoy it. They carved through the giant spider and ettercap minions very quickly, and it became a cat-and-mouse game with Nezznar. The dice fell in their favor too, because there were a couple times when characters would have been killed had I rolled better. I was nervous about a TPK though when the two healing characters went down with the first Cone of Cold I threw out. 

I thought the pacing went well for a finale though, and I still think that Lost Mines of Phandelver in its original form is an amazing adventure. It’s a great to introduce a new batch of players to the game, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it adapted in some fashion in almost every edition of D&D going forward.

Solodark

I just took a look at Solodark, the free rules for running the amazing Shadowdark RPG as a solo game. To be honest, there’s not a lot of material here, but what does exist is interesting.

Essentially the understanding is that you basically have everything in the Shadowdark core rules to run the game by yourself, so no systems other than initiative in combat have any mechanical changes. What you do lack is a GM to answer questions, which is why you are provided the details of the “Oracle Die.” This is a d20 roll with a variety of outcomes to determine yes/no questions and add twists to the responses with a random table of verb and noun prompts. The creator, Kelsey Dionne, has made several great videos showing how she’s employing these rules as an example.

When I have the opportunity I’d love to try out a Solodark campaign and I’ll put out write ups of my experiences. In the same vein I’ve been meaning to try out Ironsworn for the same reason—and a close friend recommended it.

On the larger subject of solo RPG play, I think it’s a great exercise in creativity, particularly as Kelsey demonstrates, because the player must creatively and imaginatively interpret ambiguous results. I could see it being a great creative writing exercise to get through writer’s block. It’s also just a great practice for a GM, interpreting new results and creating the story on the fly so you can nimbly respond and interpret your players’ actions in a multiplayer game. For this same reason I plan to spend some time soon looking at Ironsworn as well.

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen - The Battle of Steel Springs (Part I)

Spoilers follow for the adventure…

Players defeated the mummy knight and discovered a horde of treasure, including a scroll of remove curse, hidden in his sarcophagus. The scroll was the object of their quest, which would allow Davgin to remove the curse from the rapier Fallon bought.

The party returned to Kalaman to find it strangely quiet. Except for the city guard and their own company most of the army was absent. They went to Castle Kalaman to investigate.

First they found Rookledust in her workshop, which she emerged from disheveled, whilst a whir of clockwork and machinery sounded out from inside. She was largely unhelpful, having spent the past several days working.

Next they went to Marshal Vendri’s office, finding a disheveled aide-de-camp examining maps and dispatches. She recounted how the Marshal had taken the bulk of the army to attack the Red Dragon Army’s supply lines toward Estwilde, while afterwards Lord Bakharis had taken most of the remaining troops against orders to attack the enemy near the ford of Steel Springs on the Inkwater River.

The heroes rested for the night, still exhausted from their adventure in the tomb, and then set out with their other troops towards the ford to attempt to save Bakharis’ force from destruction by his own hubris.

The march took two and a half days. Their scouts reported that the troops were in combat on the Western side of the Inkwater, being driven towards the river in disarray.

Attempting to save the army, the adventurers committed their own forces to battle, managing to drive off several enemy units and rally some of the remaining units of Bakharis’ force.

GM Reflections

This session provided me the opportunity to employ the mass combat system again from Kingdoms & Warfare. The players seemed to enjoy it more this time. They are once again back on the railroad though, with little time to rest. I would put more effort into building out a node-based plot, but the players have already expressed that they are excited to try a new campaign, but don’t want to simply end this one. So I’ll do my best to advance them in level and bring this to a satisfying conclusion.

Ptolus Campaign: Unexpected Turns

My most recent session of my Ptolus campaign took an unexpected turn when the players decided the rates for rooms on Tavern Row in Midtown cost way too much. Where are the cheapest rooms, and where did they go? The Warrens.

The Warrens have a reputation as the roughest and poorest section of Ptolus. The streets are unnamed and the tenements and builds are closely packed. They found an apartment building advertising a vacancy through a scrawled sign directly on the exterior which could have been mistaken for graffiti. They paid a deposit of two months rent and paid the first month upfront for a single room. The room was unfurnished, on the second floor, with warped floorboards, dust and debris scattered about. The window had no glass, just a torn fabric covering fluttering in the breeze. Water damage around the window and mold and mildew throughout completed the scene. Outside in the hallway, individuals with sunken, blackrimmed, and bloodshot eyes quivered with the shakes from the drug shivvel. 

Certainly a far cry from the warm taproom of the Ghostly Minstrel, with its easy access to Delver’s Square and influencial clientel. 

But it’s what the players were interest in roleplaying, and for at least two of them, it made some sense for their backstories (one is a con artist, and the other grew up in the Warrens but left the city for a long time).

But more than that, it was an interesting exercise in completely improvising an environment and events that occurred, like their trip to an eatery down the street that resulted in one trying a drug for the first time and playing Peg the Tom (the knife between the fingers game) in a high stakes bet. Or the confrontation in the morning after hearing a scream in the alley outside their house. The Warrens native knew to keep well enough away once he found out it was connected to one of the major crime families.

I've always wanted to try out a gritty, crime driven game. I didn't expect the opportunity to arise so soon. Looking forward to exploring a type of fantasy different from my normal fare.

The bigger takeaway is that it helps to have fictional ideas in your head for these situations. TV shows or movies that tell different stories help prime you for improvisation. The players don't care if you ripped off another form of media—they usually don’t even notice! Reading, playing other games, and watching interesting stories all give us opportunities to learn from and create our own unique stories. The coolest part about tabletop RPGs is that you never know where your players will take you once you jump the rails.

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen - The Knight's Tomb (Part II)

Spoilers follow for the adventure…

The skeletons certainly shocked the adventurers, but they quickly turned them back to inanimate bones. With the threat past and the evidence of necromatic energy present, Asterius found himself more morally flexible, and the adventures found some treasure amongst the dead.

Next, Gringle spied a hidden door, which led to a lower chamber dominated by a still pool of water. As the adventures moved into the chamber, the water formed into an elemental creature, angry at its long imprisonment. Though the angry elemental fought hard, the adventurers soon defeated it. 

The party then spent the next hour or two searching for secret doors because they had yet to encounter the mummies that the preparatory materials indicated was in the tomb.

Eventually they found secret door in the stairwell from the front entrance, and through it entered an inner crypt. Within they fought three sarcophagi. The adventurers attempted to open one and awoke three wights. Asterius’ armored form helped block most of the wights attacks, and the spellcasters blasted down the undead knights.

At last they opened the secret door to another inner crypt, and were confronted by the awakened mummy of the leader of the knights of the tomb. He demanded that they leave and explained that the dead could not rest here because of the treachery of the master of Daargard Keep to the West. The foul energy of this betrayal had kept these knights’ spirits from departing, and they had slowly gone mad from their time in the tomb. The party attacked the knight after discovering all this…

GM Reflections

While I like the map I used for this tomb, it illustrated one issue Justin Alexander has also called out—placing essential story or rewards behind a secret door halts story progression. I will heed the warning better next time. This dungeon is so small though that it feels a bit sad not to use the entire thing. Next time though I’ll put the required reward in a place not blocked by a secret door and then have greater rewards for the secret area that are nonessential to the story.

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen - Emperor of the Waves (Part III)

Spoilers follow for the adventure Salvage Operations from Ghosts of Saltmarsh…

Finally hoisting the heavy box up, Asterius and Fallon laboriously hauled it up the ladder from the hold as tentacles continued to batter the hull near them and water gushed in. Gringle and Davgin were already well up the stairs, and dodging tentacles. Gringle was knocked prone as the ship shuddered and began to list. He scrambled up, screaming towards the Spirit of Winter for the jollyboat to come pick them up. Davgin fired a firebolt into the air to act as a flare.

The boat began its slow approach, eventually reaching them as everyone had finally clambered to the top of the quarterdeck to avoid the rising waters. As they paddled away, the Emperor of the Waves cracked in two and sank into the depths.

After a long day the adventurers returned to Kalaman, and took the box to Aubreck Drallion. The shabby merchant could barely contain his excitement, and promised them that he would send their payment in a few days once he had time to liquidate the property and credit notes.

The merchant’s word, and his money, were good. Within a few days the characters found their coffers swollen with gold. Naturally they decided to go spend some of their hard earned cash.

First they went shopping at an Oddities shop. The. Went to an Apothecary owned by a mysterious dark mage of the Mages of High Sorcery. Her name was Wyham, and based upon her knowledge of his exploits, she extended Davgin an invitation to Red Robes of High Sorcery. She wrote to the tower on his behalf. 

While there, Asterius purchased a long sword of dragon slaying, and Fallon bought a short sword of vengeance which they quickly discovered was cursed. Inquires suggested that magic to dispel such a curse might be found in a tomb of Solamnic knights to the South of the city.

Additionally, during their downtime, the party dispatched spies to examine the Red Dragon Army’s logistics and defenses. They also discovered that the Red Dragon Army attempted to raise a unit but failed. However, some of their spies paid dearly for this information, being captured and hanged as a warning.

GM Reflections

The short adventure Salvage Ops is pretty outstanding. It’s a compelling adventure with a hefty reward that acts as a really good payoff for the pain the characters have to go through. Like most ship exploration the map is cramped, which is a negative. But I loved the extended action sequence with the attacking tentacles and the terrain shifting. It was the first time I've used any such effects in a game, and I thought it worked really well.

This was also an interesting opportunity to employ domain actions and the intrigue system too from Kingdoms & Warfare. My notes on this are below:

Espionage to discover enemy domain defenses. Red dragon army attempts and fails to raise unit. Hangs spies in response to espionage, -1 comms for Avengers of the Crossing.

While my players are having a hard time with the intrigue and organization system, I think with the right group they can definitely facilitate roleplaying, much as I’ve seen with the journey system in my Empire of the Ghouls campaign.

Empire of the Ghouls: Disappearances in Zobeck

Spoilers for Empire of the Ghouls and Everybody Lies from Zobeck: Clockwork City…

8 of Thunders, Zobeck Free Year 92

A winterfolk halfling with tousled hair, a sleek black minotaur, and a brown haired elf sporting a shaped goatee knocked back ales in the Blackened Fish Tavern. The people here were strong, sturdy folk. Burly longshoreman, and muscled riverboat sailors, spending an evening eating or carousing after a long days work bringing cargo up and off the river Argent into Zobeck. 

An unshaven man with unkempt brown hair joined them at their table. His clothing, though slightly disheveled like the rest of him, was of a higher quality than the other denizens of the dive bar. He ran a hand through greasy hair shakily.

"Thanks for coming. I'm Grigori.They say you all have a reputation for finding things and people that need finding. And I need some help. My girlfriend, Ilyana, has been missing for three days. I don't know what happened to her," he said.

The minotaur met and held his gaze. The halfling flipped his own touseled hair off his forehead and took another sip of his large stein. The elf appeared disinterested, instead continuing to survey the room, though a trained eye could have told that he was listening intently while looking around.

"We're gonna need some more information to go off friend. Not to mention--what's the reward? If you know us then you know work ain't free and ale ain't cheap in Zobeck," said Eirgrofan Frostbane, the halfling.

“She was last seen near this dump of a restaurant, the Rampant Roach. They say kobolds have been making people disappear, maybe the kobolds that own the Roach had something to do with it. She also worked at the Silk Scabbard.”

“Silk Scabbard? What’s that?”

The man looked uncomfortable.

“Look, Ilyana’s a good girl. Let’s just say that the establishment is a bit of a house of ill repute. If you go there, find her friends, Filipa or Iskra. If you tell them that ‘Grigori got them their jewelry’ they’ll know I sent you.”

The adventurers eyebrows raised slightly. 

“So you want us to see who took her? Do you have any enemies? Asked Korwyn Belmont, the minotaur.

“Well I may have taken something important from the Cloven Nine a few months back…allegedly. A book, fully of infernal writing.”

“And what’d you do with it? Do you think they took your girlfriend?” Asked Frostbane.

“Nah, I keep a low profile. They probably don’t know about her. I need to get going though—can’t stay in one place too long as a second story guy,” said Gregori.

They asked him a few more questions then he slipped away. After finishing their drinks they set off to find the Silk Scabbard.

The trio soon arrived at the Silk Scabbard, and after coughing up the cover charge found themselves in a large, two-story building. A crowd was gathered around a pit on the first floor, and the sound of heavy blows and grunts met their ears. Other people sat at gambling tables on the lower and upper floor, and some watchers stood on the second floor balcony to watch the pit fight below. Throughout there also moved a few women, most in gaudy makeup, serving tankards of ale and occasionally slipping discreetly through a side door by the bar with a patron. 

After exchanging a few words with the bartender and collecting their own ale, the adventurers moved closer to the pit to watch. Eirgofan looked on with interest as a thickly built hill dwarf exchanged body blows with a large, tightly muscled man. The dwarf was winning, weathering hits like the Ironcrag mountains when the wind beat upon them.

Watching from across the room, Rolan noted a group of bruisers watching the fight with tattoos up their necks and faces. The symbols twisted in a way that made one uncomfortable, but he couldn’t make any sense of their meaning.

As Eirgrofan moved around the pit he was bumped by a large man with a boxum woman on his arm. 

“Watch yourself there tiny folk!” the man slurred drunkenly.

“Oh, beg pardon my good sir. Let me buy you a drink as apology,” said Eirgrofan, gesturing to the woman and passing her a coin. The man brightened considerably and patted the halfling on the head. 

“What a good little feller. Much obliged,” he said as he stumbled off with the woman and disappeared through a door to the back rooms.

Eirgrofan then went to rejoin his comrades, who had found themselves an open booth near the fighting pit.

Korwyn called over a server. She had a slight build and dirty blonde hair. 

“We don’t get many folk like you around here sir,” said the woman in a soft voice. “Welcome and how can I help you?”

Korwyn ordered drinks and then asked the young woman, who they discovered was named Svetlana, about Illyana and her friends.

“I didn’t know her too well, but I can get Filipa when she finishes up with her client. I think you ran into them earlier,” she said, looking at Eirgrofan. “I’ll be sure to send her over.”

About fifteen minutes later the woman they now knew was Filipa walked over to their booth. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Grigori sent us. He said that he got you your jewelry. We're trying to find Ilyana," said Korwyn. 

Filipa immediately seemed to relax slightly and her eyes glistened. "So, what do you want to know?"

"When's the last time you saw her? Where was she? Did she have any enemies?"

"Nah, Ilyana was a nice girl. Except for that loser Grigori. But he's harmless. Last I saw her was about a week ago. We were walking back to our apartments in Lower Zobeck. She left us to take a shortcut through an alleyway. The only way to tell which one it was is that the alley has some Kobold restaurant called the Rampant Roach. Haven't seen her since."

"We heard something about kobolds being behind disappearances. What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, but if you want to talk to kobolds, they live in a slum in the South of Zobeck."

After finishing their drinks, the adventurers departed.

As night fell, they arrived at the gate to the Kobold Ghetto. It was a flurry of activity, as the working kobold population of Zobeck left for their nocturnal shifts, keeping the gears of commerce literally grinding on. 

Some uniformed kobolds collected a toll and looked through bags as others entered and exited. Rolan felt someone push against him and touched his coin purse just before a scaled and clawed hand removed it from his belt. The erstwhile thief disappeared into the crowd as quickly as he appeared, but was not able to take Rolan’s money.

“Guard yourselves. They’re pickpockets in the throng,” he said.

Korwyn reached reflexively for his coin purse, and found that someone had already lifted two gold pieces off of him while he had surveyed the crowd.

“I hate this city,” grunted the minotaur.

Although most kobolds they attempted to talk to simply avoided eye contact or only spoke draconic, eventually the adventurers were able to pull aside one of the inspectors who spoke common. He had green tinged scales and seemed impatient, looking at the crowd behind and around them.

“How can I help you?”

“We were looking for a girl that may have come through here."

The kobold looked at the minotaur like he was a cow: "Only kobolds come through here on the regular. I can't help you." He turned and moved off to rap a young kobold on the head as the adolescent clumsily liberated a pocket watch from an elderly kobold shambling off to work.

"Perhaps we ought to check out the Rampant Roach," suggested Rolan.

Soon the trio found themselves in a dark alley, where they came upon a small eatery with a faded wooden sign out front depicting a cockroach. The proprietor was an enthusiastic kobold who before they could blink ushered them in and began serving them a five course meal. They discovered this kobold was named Skirtal, and he began to recount to them how his nephew, Brik, who sat in the corner flanked by two female kobolds, had been accused of involvement in the disappearance of a blacksmith's daughter. Skirtal offered them a reward if they could clear Brik's name.

Intrigued by the offer, the trio decided to also investigate this disappearance. Skirtal also asked if they could protect Brik as he went on an errand to the black market in the Cartways, under the city of Zobeck. They readily agreed, and followed the kobold on a dizzying journey through the streets and tunnels under the city (Korwyn was the only one able to keep his bearing because of his maze navigating ancestry).

In the Cartways Black Market, the adventurers discovered some bad news, and found themselves enraged at the trafficking in people they discovered. But they did not have the power to upend the slave trade--yet. They found a Darakhul ghoul slave broker named Radu, who upon checking his ledger found that a woman matching Ilyana's description had been taken to the city of Vanderkhul a day or so prior. Ilyana was gone.

9 of Thunders, Zobeck Free Year 92

The night was now well upon the city and the adventurers needed a place to rest off the streets after dropping Brik off at the Roach. Not far from Crown Square they found the Seven Bells tavern where they stayed the night and purchased breakfast and a midnight snack.

Feeling tired and discouraged but rested the next morning, the adventurers decided to continue investigating the unresolved disappearance and visited Straic’s Smelter, the blacksmith shop belonging to the victim’s father.

At Straic’s smelter they found the proprietor, a balding middle aged heavyset man with red beard and hair edging his thinning scalp. His son-in-law, Viktor Turnyr worked the bellows, and was a much younger, thinner, sandy blonde hair man. 

The conversation with Straic was tense. It was obvious that he was incensed regarding his daughter's disappearance, and he placed the blame squarely on Brik. The red haired man angerly brandished Brik's knife, which he had found near the window that Rozalyn Turnyr, his daughter, had been taken from.

Their experiences in the Cartways, and interactions with the kobolds only increased the adventurer's unease with Straic's accusations. But setting this aside for the moment, they decided to contact Grigori again and report their findings.

Grigori was struck sullen and quiet by the news, but did not doubt the truth of their findings. He paid them the promised gold and said in passing that he planned to leave town.

"This town is great, isn't it?" Quipped Frost sarcastically.

GM Reflections

This adventure has an interesting story. I had initially planned to follow the lead author on Empire of the Ghouls, Richard Green’s lead from his own play through and use Everybody Lies (available in Streets of Zobeck, and Zobeck: Clockwork City) as an intro adventure in Zobeck. Then about two days before my game as I finalized my prep I decided that I didn’t like the adventure as written, nor did I much enjoy the first section of Empire of the Ghouls. Thematically it also felt weird to run these two very different mysteries as completely distinct railroads. Also, while this session had no combat encounters I preferred this to the original story for Everybody Lies (beat the first level characters to a pulp three times and expect them to still feel like they have efficacy and choice?)

So I blew up both adventures, took the locations and NPCs from both and mixed them together. Because of the time limits on my preparation due to my procrastination and pickiness, I needed to keep my prep simple but effective. So I noted and numbered all the locations in both mysteries, along with the important NPCs there that could hold clues. Then I drew a web map showing the connections I wanted to make between nodes. Finally I generated three clues for each location that pointed towards nodes I had connected. This enabled the adventurers to explore, solving one mystery at their own pace and discovering the other organically. It also showed the darkness that exists in Midgard and the stakes of the campaign. It may also have increased their desire to leave Zobeck behind!

Altering Ilyana’s fate also allowed me to highlight the evil of the ghouls and give a glimpse of the future of the campaign. The one thing that was a bit difficult and new for me was the sheer number of NPCs I role-played as the party moved through the city. They covered ALOT of ground as you can see by the length of this write up. There were so many plot points it literally took me over three months to write all of this.

However, I’m excited for the party to get on the road, because while Zobeck is cool, it isn’t my favorite part of Midgard.

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen - The Emperor of the Waves (Part II)

Spoilers follow for the adventure Salvage Operations from Ghosts of Saltmarsh…

The disgusting vomit washed like a tidal wave over Asterius. The. Dropping like foul piñatas, three more demons emerged from their cocoons. Asterius rallied his strength, drawing upon his inner discipline as a knight of Solamnia. Gringle fired arrows and the others hurled spells from the back. In the midst of this tremendous racket, a door opened at the other end of the hallway behind them, and a sallow elf carrying a staff appeared. A loud pop noise resounded and a giant blue spider appeared behind Gringle. They now had to fight on two fronts. 

The elf let out a shout: “The spider goddess will have your souls for intruding upon this sanctuml! The elf then summoned a fiery orb that slammed into Gringle, knocking him unconscious.

Davin turned to match spells with the caster, while Fallon healed Gringle. Asterius took mighty swings at the demonic mouth monsters in front of him. As soon as he slew the last one, Asterius turned to sprint up the hallway. On his way he forgot the dilapidated wooden grate leading into the hold below through the floor. When his massive hooves hit the floor the grate buckled and Asterius went, torch in hand, tumbling into the hold. 

Asterius held the only light, and his torch was extinguished with a sizzle as he fell into the water filled hold, plunging the whole area into darkness. 

In the dark, Fallon and Davin heard a door snap shut from the direction that the elf had been. Davgin summoned a light. Gringle, now healed and alert once more, helped Fallon quickly toss down a rope, which they secured through the mast that went down through the ship in the center of the corridor. 

Asterius looked about in the dim like from Davgin that shown down from above he saw the glint of pale, dead eyes. Ghasts, undead men, converged on him in the water, slashing at him with their razor claws, and gnashing their rotting teeth with hunger. 

Hauling with all their might, his companions yanked him up to their level, away from the grasping undead. In the moment before he was pulled through the opening, Asterius glimsped a metal box in the water that matched the description of that which they had been sent to retrieve. After recovering their breath for a moment they kicked down the door behind which the druid had fled.

The druid confronted the adventurers, warning them that remaining would be their destruction. Unfazed, the heroes slew the druid and the remaining spiders within the room. After searching the room, the heroes found the ladder descending to the watery hold below.

Readying their weapons, they entered the hold, attacking the ghasts in the water. Although exhausted, they fought off the diseases from the undead and destroyed them all. Attempting to lift the heavy chest, they began to hear an ominous groaning and suddenly the ship shuddered. Within moments, holes were punched in the rotting walls of the hold, as massive tentacles reached for the adventurers and water poured into the compartment. Asterius and Fallon desperately strove to lift the box, as Gringle and Davgin bounded up the ladder, attempting to reach the upper deck.

GM Reflections

Another straight dungeon crawling session. I actually really enjoy dungeon crawls the more I do them because it’s so easy to prep them. The party always takes longer than you expect so if you prep 4-6 encounters including traps and fights then they won’t move a crazy amount due to their own paranoia. They’re easy to seed lore into or add interesting creatures, and you can have crazy cool environments to explore.