Category Archives: D&D

Grp2: When last we left our heroes… #10

D&D, D&D Grp2, post mortem, RPG

Later than planned but this has been a busy week at work, and I felt like writing the other post mortem for the taster session first.

So let’s get on with looking at session 10 of the campaign set in Sly Flourish’s City of Arches.

The party met up with Adele and Tantalos outside her Emporium of Magical Relics. Where they were told a mystery person is trying to find out lore and artifacts that will allow the Children of Ibraxus to open an archway to Choul and allow the return of Ibraxus.

Whilst Adele and Tantalos went off to speak to the Golden Council, the party were sent off to Kartan, Tower of the Arcane to speak to archmage Savandra Thricecursed.

Instead of asking about the impending threat of the archway to Choul being opened up, the party decided to find out more about Rullus Hobb (an evil sorcerer who has a pretty large reward out on him). During their conversation with Savandra they were given some items that might help them.

The party adjourned to an inn to unwind and discuss plans. Which saw the party splitting into those that needed to unwind some more, milk contacts for information, and those that needed to get some rest (party poopers).

On the way back to their lodgings Jeb, Babs, and Dottie got attacked by a group of thugs. A fireball and some moves later the thugs were defeated just as the others turned up.

We left our party settling in for a well earned rest at their lodgings.

Post Mortem

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following part of the post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign. You may want to avoid this part of the post and join me in a future one. Don’t give in to temptation go read something else. #justsaynotometagaming

Work really does get in the way of having a good time!

Like the previous session I had another early shift on the day of our planned session. Which meant another ridiculous long day. However it’s the only way we could fit the session in. So needs must and all that.

This was a role play heavy session. Not my strongest strength as a DM.

It was strange in that sense.

I did end up throwing in an impromptu combat near the end to try and add a contrast to the rest of the session, and draw back in the odd player that may have started to get bored (of which I’m sure there was one).

For that combat I did have the players roll for initiative instead of using the cards to decide it. I used for my initiative roll a number from a list of die rolls I’d done before the session started. That list will be used in future combats.

I still get amazed by what the players pick up on and ignore.

With the players ignoring the thread about the return of Ibraxus and instead concentrating on the manhunt the majority of the secrets and clues went out of the window. They would have been dropped in the conversation with Savandra had they gone down that route.

Yes I could have stared the conversation to the Ibraxus stuff, but that would feel like I was railroading the players. I do like the players to have freedom in what they do. Even if it means I have to throw away what I prepped and improvise on the spot.

Although they will find that whilst they are off doing whatever the return of Ibraxus will progress. Even if it’s snippets of the story they get via Adele and Tantalos, who will be doing everything they can to stop it.

There is a potential John Wick 3 thread I can use that came out of the session with the Drenol character. Having Drenol excommunicated from the mercenary group he is a member of for offing another member might be an interesting sub-plot to follow.

As we left it the clock ticked over another day…

A date was set for the next session.

One Shot Taster Session Post Mortem

D&D, game night, post mortem, RPG, taster

It’s a day or two since the D&D taster session took place. Even longer since the D&D campaign was held. But here we are with the post mortem for the taster first.

Despite a less than conducive environment for playing D&D everyone had a good time, and enjoyed themselves.

The adventure that I went with for the session was The Lost Tomb of the Delian Order (by Matt Colville).

I started the adventure off at the foot of the hill on a dusty road with the owner of a local inn hiring the adventurers to investigate missing people from the nearby village.

The inn keeper gave the party a bloodied bone and told them to break it when they got to the entrance of the tomb. The bloodied bone was a magical item I created to cast the spell aid over the party when it was broken into two.

Sadly the party did not do this.

They finally did use it over the scrying pool.

On a practical level I used The Giant Book of Battle Mats (generously given to me by Shane) along with scatter terrain to give the layout of the tomb.

I should have used my Big Book of Battle Maps because table space was once more limited. I thought before hand we would be using two of the folding 6ft tables.

However unbeknownst to us all, the evening of our taster session at the community centre it was also open mic night.

In my opinion they would have been better off watching us play D&D than listening to the public murder of songs.

That’s why earlier I said that the environment was less than conducive to playing D&D.

The volume of the “performers” murdering rock and pop songs was bordering on making it impossible to play.

The Wizkids 2D miniatures worked well. I think the players enjoyed having something to represent their chosen characters.

The puzzle in the adventure appeared harder than I thought it was. The other group I’ve run this adventure with got it pretty quickly. A fact that when strategically shared with Gavin made him determined to solve the puzzle.

I did give some time at the start of the session for the players to read their character sheets and ask questions. There was a whistle stop tour of the abilities and how an ability check works.

Having multiple copies of the Starter Set rulebooks available was a good call. I think for a taster session for new players they were just right. Especially for finding out the details of the spells. Easier to navigate, and a lot less to search through.

I did half the damage that the goblins did in combat. It seemed the right thing to do considering they low hit points first level characters have. It meant I was able to avoid a tpk. Although it was looking likely at one point!

Having The Arcane Library PC Cards on hand with the pregen details on was useful, and worked well for me.

I think that’s about it for now. Who knows if and when I’ll run another taster session. Maybe it’ll just be an adhoc one one shot for this group instead.

One Shot Taster Session Planning #3

D&D, one shot, RPG, session planning

Decided that I really should be starting these posts with a similar warning as my campaign session planning posts. Just on the off chance that one of the folks planning to take part in the taster session wants to not have the twists and turns of whichever adventure we play ruined.

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming one shot/taster session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

I decided to create a separate DM folder for running one shots and taster sessions.

Compared to my campaign DM folder it’s very sparse.

The aim obviously is use it when running a one shot or taster session. So there is a lot of stuff in my DM folder that I just don’t need.

Some bits I will have to move between folders, such as the magic spell area of effect template, or the odd monster/NPC card. Plus my laminated DM cheat sheet.

I’ve decided to tweak the Matt Colville The Lost Tomb of the Delian Order! WTF! Who am I to change the great MC’s design? How dare I?

It’s not a big change. In the original if the party discovers the secret room, defeat the skeletons, their reward is a magic sword. And that’s my tweak. Using the notes from the other days post on creating magic items. That magical sword now becomes an ancient divine longsword that allows the barer to cast Word of Radiance (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) once a day, and gives +1 to attack rolls.

I think that makes the sword seem more special for whoever gets it. I might even give the sword a name.

Btw this should not in anyway be seen as me saying this is the adventure I’m going with.

I’m also liking the idea of running The Goblin Ambush (from Lost Mines of Phandelver) and then have the goblin trail lead up to The Lost Tomb of the Delian Order (by Matt Colville). That’d be a nice little mashup I think.

But I think the Goblin Ambush could also be modified so it’s cultists instead of goblins, and lead into The Obsidian Skull (from the City of Arches).

Either way I think works. Plus they have the advantage of being more player friendly than going into the Cragmaw Hideout.

For better or worse I’ve decided we’ll be using the official WotC Starter Set pregen characters. Mainly because there is less for me to print off and costs me less.

The stats have been copied to the blank player cards from Arcane Library for me to reference during the session and printed out.

D&D Grp 2 Session 10 Planning #7

D&D, D&D Grp2, RPG, session planning

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

I now have the Arcane Library Combat Cards Ultimate bundle. For me it’s nice to have the srd item, magic, and monster cards. But it’s the templates I’m more interested in.

I’m going to be using the templates to up my handout game. So these magic items I’m generating using the Lazy DM Companion and Workbook tables such as the ancient gnomish longsword will be on them.

Plus any spells not covered by the srd I’ll copy and paste onto a template so I can reference the details quickly.

Apart from having to print them out this is such a cheap way to get your hands on a large amount of item, magic, and monster cards to use in a game. Plus you are supporting a really great content creator.

Now I have a day or two to create and print out the magic items for the next session.

I’ve also been looking at the spell glyph of warding for use as a trap. It feels appropriate that the magic users of Kartan, Tower of the Arcane would use this spell to protect valuable magical artifacts,objects, etc. They most definitely would of used them to seal the Sealed Vaults to stop the horrors within being released.

I’ve dug out my old Galeforce Nine Spell cards and pulled the ones that I might potentially use with the glyph of warding. I’ll keep these in the folder for easy reference.

I also came across an old note where Kelsey (of Arcane Library) talked about slow adventure pacing. In there was a photo of the “something happens” table from an old D&D DM screen. Basically this is the Mat Colville “orcs attack” table. However Kelsey also shared a d100 table that she created that did the same thing. I’ve printed out the short d20 table. It meets my potential needs (at the moment).

Lazy Magic Items

D&D, DM/GM Tips, RPG

Wow I started this post over a year ago and it’s been sitting in the draft folder ever since.

But considering that this post was intended to be all about something I am currently doing for my next D&D session. It seemed about time to dust off the words, finish the post, and share it with the world.

Last week (well it was when I originally wrote this) Mike aka Sly Flourish put up a short video on building lazy magic items (video embedded below).

These are my notes from watching the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu7M090KkSE

In the video Mike uses four “questions” to come up with a new unique magic item for your campaign, adventure, or one shot (I think that covers everything). They are the following:

  • What is the condition of the item? – Get a list of conditions from Lazy DM Workbook (LDMWB) page 13.
  • What is the origin of the item? – Who made it? Use the list in LDMWB on page 13 or DMG page 142.
  • What type of item is it? – There is a list of mundane items in LDMWB on page 14, or the trinkets table 160 of PHB, if you want to make an object special and move away from the usual weapon/armour.
  • What special power does the item have? – If it’s a weapon consider giving it a spell effect as well as +1 attack/defence bonus. Daily use power, number of charges, or single use more powerful item. You can also use the tables on page 14 of LDMWB or PHB.

Since then Mike has published the Lazy DM Companion which also allows you to create “… powerful single-use magic items generated with the condition, origin, item, and spell tables from the core adventure generator.”

Even if it’s a weapon like a sword with a +1 to attack rolls that you want to give the players, doing the first two and the last question adds so much extra flavour to the sword, all of a sudden it’s grimy gnomish longsword that twice a day allows the spell bane to be cast, and gives +1 to attack rolls. Wait I’m going to use that this Saturday!

I hope you have found these notes helpful. It’s a great way to create unique magic items for your game that will feel fresh to your players.

D&D Grp 2 Session 10 Planning #6

D&D, D&D Grp2, RPG, session planning

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

Last night I took my DM bag with me to the Fenland Gamers fortnightly gaming session to show a friend who is just dipping their toes into D&D and being a DM.

Obviously I pointed out that this was built up over time.

I also took the opportunity to “refresh” my DM folder.

I consolidated one or two pages into one. They were only there for their list of names for NPCs. So those names are on a single page now.

I added some pages too. Such as a d100 table for generating NPC names. Along with notes on magic item crafting. Which is one area I want to explore more in the campaign. Visiting Kartan, Tower of the Arcane is the ideal opportunity to start this off.

Some pages got taken out because I have them in the Lazy DM Companion. Although I left a couple in that meet that criteria also because I want them on hand quickly!

I’m still waiting on a couple of character sheets so I can finish the reference cards for me to use during a session. I’ve had to message the players directly to ask for them. Otherwise I’m going to have to waste time at the start of the session getting the info required.

Come payday I plan to purchase the Arcane Library ULTIMATE BUNDLE: COMBAT CARDS FULL SET (5E). Which will give me the following:

  • The Monster Bundle: 357 pre-filled monster cards
  • The Item Cards Expansion Pack: 495 pre-filled magic item cards
  • The Spell Cards Expansion Pack: 319 pre-filled spell cards
  • Seven form-fillable PDFs for making your own items, monsters, legendary creatures, PCs, spells, and spellcasters
  • Print-friendly, black-and-white versions of everything

I do like what the Arcane Library produce. I’m using the character cards templates for recording the character info.

While the party are visiting Kartan, Tower of the Arcane they will bump into Dram, halfling wizard. Well I had to find a way to insert him somehow.

More in the week.

One Shot Taster Session Planning #2

D&D, one shot, RPG, session planning

Time to share some more musings for the upcoming one shot taster session that I’ll be running on the 15th November.

More details are firming up about the session like the number of players. It has grown from an initial three interested people to five that should be coming along.

The plan is that this taster session will be about three hours.

Three hours seems about the ideal length to aim for. Especially considering that this session is a week night, and not starting before 7pm.

I’m still undecided about the adventure to run.

However back when I was preparing my first session for my current D&D group I looked into, and did use aid on the party in that first sessions dungeon.

This is something I plan to do again in this one shot. Along side making sure that if needed healing potions may be discovered. Hopefully this will avoid a tpk.

I’m also going to try out a time tracker to track the use of torches, spell duration, etc.

I have printed out an A4 copy of the dungeon map that is part of the Sly Flourish 1st Level Adventure Generator from his Uncovered Secrets Volume 2. It’s a handy little map to have in a DM folder anyway. But for now it’s ready for if I decide to go down the route of using the generator to create the adventure for the session.

That’s it for now more soon I’m sure.

Dragons Of Stormwreck Isle Starter Set

D&D, first look, RPG

I know this post is pretty late to the party considering US based content creators got a head start on the rest of the world when they were able to buy this starter set and cover it during the Target exclusivity window. Everyone else has had to wait until it was released last month. Even then I’m a little later than others.

But I did only get my copy three days ago.

The big question I had to ask myself is do I have anything worth adding to the conversation about the new starter set?

After all there are some pretty great content creators out there that have shared their thoughts on it already. Some in the time since it has come out have even ran it, and shared more thoughts on it.

So what could I possibly add to the conversation about this new starter set?

You know I haven’t played the adventure. My initial impressions are exactly that. So take them for what they are.

So straight out of the box you get the following when you open it up.

  • Dragons of Stormwreck Isle adventure
  • Basic rules book
  • 6 dice
  • 5 pregenerated character sheets

WotC still don’t give a full set of dice in the box. They should at least provide two d20’s. But they don’t.

The Dragons Of Stormwreck Isle adventure is smaller compared to the original starter adventure Lost Mines of Phandelver.

For starters it takes characters from levels one to three, compared to characters finishing at level five in Lost Mines.

Page count is less 48 pages compared to 64.

But looking at the adventures and the dungeon maps players will explore, the maps are just smaller. Less to them. Having said that I’m already planning to reuse one of the maps for my current campaign.

I’m not sure why they reduced the scope, and size of the dungeons. Maybe the feedback WotC got over the years since Lost Mines was released is that new players and DM’s found the adventure too daunting.

I love the art in the new starter set, especially with the characters depicted being the characters from the 80’s D&D cartoon.

One thing I’d have liked to have seen included in this updated starter set is the inclusion of cardboard standees. Although a dream inclusion would be the Wizkids Idols of the Realm 2D starter set they do for this. Yes the price would go up but it would rake this set to the next level.

A digital code to unlock the adventure on D&D Beyond should have been included. No ifs or buts. This omission is mind boggling.

An A4 wipeable grid sheet to use as a battle map, similar to the ones WotC used in their DM kits would also have been nice. Along with a DM screen like the one in the essentials kit.

Although the fact WotC did create complimentary videos to help players and DMs get started, and provide a link to it in the box was a nice touch.

I don’t think the new starter set is an improvement over the previous one. So I’m unsure why they changed it. If it had some of the things added that I mentioned above. Yeah I can see why it was updated. The changes were needed to compete with similar starter sets from other systems.

But change for change sake? It feels like a money grab to me.

Yeah this will allow a group of friends curious about trying D&D to do exactly that. Which is what it’s intended to do.

D&D Grp 2 Session 10 Planning #5

D&D, D&D Grp2, RPG, session planning

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

The planned session had to be cancelled with life getting in the way of the majority of the players. Life happens, it can’t be helped.

Which means I have a bit longer to prep for the next session.

More time is always welcome when it comes to pondering, and getting things straight in my mind.

The main thing I need to concentrate on is the magic items that the party might come across.

I need to get some balance in what is handed out so that the non-magic users of the group don’t feel left out.

I’m thinking single use items, or limited use with a number of charges, maybe even an item that can get charges back. For the non-magic users specifically an item that gives a stat bonus of some sort.

I’ll share what I come up with in another post.

D&D Grp 2 Session 10 Planning #4

D&D, D&D Grp2, RPG, session planning

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

It’s been a morning of digging out stat cards for NPCs that the party could run into.

Ideally I’d be able to afford the Ptolus pdf and get the 5e stat blocks for the NPC cards I’m using.

But I don’t so the generic D&D stat blocks will have to suffice.

As the following description shows, the tower should be alive with magic users of all kinds.

“…archmage Savandra Thricecursed and her four mage apprentices administrate the tower, opening it up to sages, historians, wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks who seek knowledge of the world” City of Arches

Naturally the party if they do go to Kartan, Tower of the Arcane will meet at least one of the four mage apprentices, and most definitely Savandra.

Savandra will tell the party about the “Key of Choul” that is hidden deep in the towers vaults. The party will also learn that it’s also possible to “conduct sacrifices required to open the Gate of Choul”.

I think that the party will also find out that in The Endless Warrens is a “forgotten colossal undead cairn” that can be used to open a gateway to the realm of Choul if enough sacrifices are made.

Apart from the magic users, I want to populate the tower and the vaults and laboratories with appropriate creatures to encounter. I’m thinking rats (all sizes and numbers), various spiders, maybe the odd ooze.

Then I remembered that I have the Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. If I treat those vaults and laboratories as some sort of Frankenstein setting I can use the bestiary from that.

I like the idea when they enter that location with the hanging cages that contain skeletons that the threat actually comes from the boneless remains out side the cages. Or in the labs there are brains in a jar. Maybe some Gremishkas are running feral down there, or strigoi.

How cool would it be to have a swarm of zombie limbs come towards the party? These definitely make a change from the crawling claw. Which might make an appearance along with an animated sword.

A magic users lab is not a safe place.

Right time to get ready for work. Tomorrow it’s game day!