Ptolus Session Two/Three: Secret & Clues

On 22 August I ran the second session of my Ptolus: City by the Spire campaign. Below are some of the secrets I pulled out to use if anything came up during the session. I ended up using only those about the Delver’s Guild, as my players were mainly interest in going after a bounty of ratmen tails in the sewers. A Dysonlogos map of a section of sewers was my main prep for this session.

• A vast dungeon with many different sections stretches under the city in all directions.
• Strange phenomena that delvers call the pits of insanity can be found throughout the dungeons. (Pg 388 for effects on characters and the area around the pool). Roll a d100 to check for pool. Percentage likelihood increases as closer to the Spire.
• The Banewarrens are built in a compartmentalized magical fashion. Only sealed doors connect the sections and these can only be opened by the Banewarrens Key. 
• The Banewarrens key is held in the vaults of House Vladaam, but they do not recognize the artifact’s significance.
• The Banewarrens were built by a champion of light to protect all the most evil objects in the world. This champion fell from the light.
• Others helped the champion build the Banewarrens. The silver dragon Saggarintys was one. The dragon now is imprisoned in the Banewarrens.
• The stairs beneath the statue in Delver’s Square lead down to the Undercity Market. The market has major tunnels leading off into the dungeons and sewers of the city for delvers.
• The Delver’s Guild headquarters is in the Undercity Market. Would-be delvers can find jobs here, and pay membership dues to join the Guild 
• Associate Guildsman: Open, 10 gp per year. Access to Guild information, 10% discount at Ebbert’s Outfitters.
• Guildsman: Open, 20 gp per year, as associate, access to guild library, taproom, and way stations.
• Master Delver: One year membership at Guildman level. 500 gp per year. As guildsman, voting privileges and retrieval insurance.
• Grand Master: Open to Master delvers with three years membership. 5,000 gp per year. As master delver, plus claims staking.
• Spell scrolls and potions can be bought fairly cheaply from a number of vendors on Delver’s Square and in the Undercity Market.

The secrets & clues step of the Lazy Dungeon Master checklist is one of the most flexible and easy tools to use for GM prep that I’ve seen. I highly recommend using it as a prep tool.

Ptolus Session 3 Secrets & Clues

• Melishan’s Hand is a group of rival adventurers that operate under the city. Melishan is a female human mage and her companion Krotus is a male gladiator with red painted leather armor and shield. He wears a ring of the ram. See Doctrine of Ghul, pg 4 for more details.
• The Bull and Bear Armory sells armor and sometimes has magic armor in stock (pg 191, Ptolus). Iltumar Shon is the sixteen year old clerk of the shop who believes all manner of tales told him by the delvers.
• Notices about a missing girl are up all over Midtown. Text states: “Adventurers Wanted: To find our missing daughter. Reward: 200 gold imperials. See Toman Etherin at the sign of Black Swan.”
• Toman Etherin’s daughter disappeared the day before yesterday from near Iron Street.
• A sign of a tolling bell is marked over a sewer grate in an alley off Iron Street.
• The Cult of the Tolling Bell intends to sacrifice the girl in a ritual under the city.
• Members of the temple of the Ebon Hand passed by Iron Street recently.

Ghostly Minstrel NPC Roster

• Tellith Herdsman: woman, red hair. Manages inn portion and front desk.
• Zade Kenevan: Male, bald, skinny barkeeper.
• Sheva Callister: “Retired” delver. 31 years old. Made it big and has now decided to retire. Constant companion is the ghost of a comrade.
• Daersidian Ringsire: Elf battle mage with a wyvern mount. Companion to Brusselt. Wyvern is named Thorntail.
• Brusselt Airmol: Halfling master thief and constant companion of Daersidian.
• Jevicca Nor: Public face of the Inverted Pyramid. Redhaired woman. Holds a seat on city council. Magical left prosthetic arm made of glass.
• Rastor: Male lion man. Trades in magical weapons and can identify the properties of most free of charge.
• Steron Vsool: Powerful Paladin. His heart shines so bright it can be seen through his armor.
• Urlenius: Ogre mage and member of the Brotherhood of Redemption.
• Araki Chipestiro: 
• Mand Scheben: 
• Runewardens: 

The list above might be a helpful reference for other folks. My players decided to go live in the Warrens this session instead, so the patrons chart is probably unnecessary here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Image is licensed CC BY-ND 3.0, courtesy of The Dardanian

Happy Thanksgiving to all the U.S. based folks! Feast like the heroes of Valhalla in the art above! 

Swashbuckler Reactions (Class by somanyrobots)

Perhaps my favorite homebrewer of additional character options is creator KibblesTasty. When Kibbles includes a creator on his list of compiled Homebrew options I take notice. This was the case for somanyrobots, whose recent kickstarter Kibbles promoted in his Discord community. After reviewing somanyrobots’ content I added the Troubadour to my approved class list for my games. I’ll write an article on that class at a later date, but I wanted to document my thoughts as I examine somanyrobots’ Swashbuckler class and consider it for potential inclusion on my default approved list, or perhaps add it to a separate list of classes that may be allowed for certain campaigns.

The Swashbuckler 

First impressions, the pdf is laid out well, in a similar style to Kibble’s work, probably done with GM binder. It has an astounding ten subclasses, each appearing to have a fairly distinct niche and flavor at first glance. Looking over the class progression table the swashbuckler seems to live up to the archetype and expectation of being a martial expert class that contains skirmished elements similar to the rogue, and combat abilities similar to the fighter.

Quick build

This section calls for Dexterity as the highest stat, followed by Charisma or Constitution, so the same profile as the rogue. We will be reliant on finesse weapons, needing Constitution to survive in combat, and Charisma probably impacts some class abilities depending on the build.

Class Features

We get d8 hit dice, like the rogue, which fits more of a skirmisher role. We only get light armor proficiency, but we get both simple and martial weapons (and firearms, but I’m not sure I’d allow firearms in my games as a personal preference—we’ll see how integral they are to making this class effective). We can also have ranged builds because of the inclusion of all the weapon types—we’ll see how that plays with the class features. We also get the unique buckler shield proficiency (a shield that can be removed or donned using only a free item interaction instead of an action or bonus action).

We also get a musical instrument proficiency (guess this archetype does include characters we might build as bards ordinarily too) and water vehicles (because we’re leaning into the pirate archetype). Our skill list to choose from is essentially the same as the rogue with the addition of history. 

Rakish Expertise

Expertise in one skill or an additional skill proficiency (again, a diminished rogue feature).

Panache 

Now we get to the unique core resource of the swashbuckler. Panache is gained by completing various actions. You get some each time you roll initiative, which seems fair. You also get it for making critical hits (which interacts with the next feature), and for dealing damage to creatures of CR 1/4 or higher (this seems specifically to prevent abuse through the bag of rats trick). Finally, swashbucklers get a special way to waste an action and gain one panache (this seems as though it would only be useful in edge cases where you know you won’t be able to hit, but gaining one more panache will enable you to do so on a later turn or with the additional action you get at later levels). 

Debonair Deeds

Now we get the base abilities to spend panache on. These are a martial characters version of the shield spell, where you can expend a panache point to add your Charisma modifier to your AC when a melee attack hits you. Additionally if the attack still hits you get to roll your melee weapon damage and subtract the result from the damage that would have been dealt to you. There’s also a taunt ability requiring a Wisdom save from the target. On a failure the target has disadvantage on their next attack roll. Finally, Nimble Step allows you to use a bonus action to move half your movement without provoking attacks of opportunity, so similar to Cunning Action on the rogue, but explicitly designed to facilitate darting in and out of melee combat.

Deft Strike

This ability concerns me a bit with balance. It increases the range of results that give you a critical hit, something usually reserved for higher level features in other classes. You do have to wait, as the range only increases by one for each round you end in combat. You can also spend panache points to lower the crit range by however many you spend. You must spend this before you make the attack action. The feature starts with crits on 19-20, but advances to a larger range as you level up, eventually reaching 16-20 at fourteenth level. 

My concern with this class is the degree to which it alters the math on hitting. It may not make much difference at lower levels, but as you increase the amount of panache you can have to spend at higher levels it drastically increases the chances of crits against high level monsters you might not normally be able to hit. It is controlled a bit by the slower progression require a round or a panache point expenditure to increase the crit range. Additionally, the damage remains constant for crits based on your base weapon damage and not scaling like the rogue’s sneak attack. This feature still seems like it may be problematic, although I wouldn’t doubt that it’s fun. I’d have to see it in action to evaluate the concerns further.

Tricks of the Trade 

This feature provides access to a menu of options similar to eldritch invocations on the warlock, but much less powerful and geared toward providing the swashbuckler character various support and utility options, including various tool proficiencies, the find familiar spell so you can summon a parrot to keep on your shoulder, and swimming or climbing speeds. Most of these are fun and interesting and don’t seem game breaking.

Fighting Style 

Several fighting styles that encourage both one and two handed skirmishes, and ranged or mixed (ranged & melee) builds are presented. These all make sense and seem to incentivize “swashbuckling” behavior.

Swashbuckler Code

You get your swashbuckler subclass at third level. We’ll discuss these options later on.

Ability Score Increase

This occurs at fourth level. Notably, the Swashbuckler actually gets fewer ASIs that both the fighter and the rogue, perhaps due to the powerful options provided by Deft Strike.

Extra Attack 

This feature distinguishes the swashbuckler from the rogue, but it doesn’t get any more actions like the fighter at higher levels.

Instant Action

Allows you to use a bonus action to gain panache equal to your Charisma modifier. Recharges on a short rest. Now we’re still limited to only having up to four panache at this level, but this feature means that in three round fight I could have the possibility of critting in my improved crit range of 18-20 in one attack all three rounds, or 15% each time. Now the slow build of the increased crit range, along with the limited ways to gain panache help, but there are pretty significant spikes in damage whenever I do crit. 

You can see that somanyrobots was very deliberate in following the math to require either a slow build to increase the full crit range or a large expenditure of panache to increase the range temporarily. I think the thing that does mitigate some of the potential abuse is that the crit range resets each time you hit a critical, diminishing the chances. 

This means swashbucklers can be successful in going nova and expending their abilities, or be rewarded for patiently waiting for their crit chances to improve over a couple rounds. 

Suave Evasion 

Allows you to use your Charisma mod instead of Strength or Dexterity for saving throw effects.

Surprising Strike

Allows another attack immediately after you crit or if you expend two panache after a normal melee hit. This provides a pretty significant boost in power now that you can have up to five panache points at a time. 

I do appreciate that this feature prohibits automatic critical hits (like when a creature is unconscious) from working with this feature.

Last Stand

Coming online at level seventeen, this one is cool thematically, allowing you to use a reaction for falling to zero hit points but not killed outright to move up to your speed and spend as many panache points as you want. Then you can make one melee attack for each panache point spent. This one seems very powerful, but actually seems quite satisfying for a player who is either going to lose the character or be unconscious for a round or two until they are healed. The long rest requirement for this ability also limits most potential abuse. However, in the context of the lowered crit range and other abilities, this is still extremely strong.

Lightning Reflexes

Lets you take two reactions per round, but not for the same triggering event. Very powerful, but at the same time very simple for a capstone feature. I wouldn’t worry about it being an issue at this point because your spellcasters already have wish.

Summing Up

I pulled in two of my players best at optimization for their options. They both agreed that the Swashbuckler generally seemed like a fun class to play, with interesting abilities. We did not review all of the subclasses because there are so many. We did note that some of the flavor of the subclasses, like many for homebrew classes, overlaps with other classes’ niche. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but for some might be a narrative and mechanical concern.

Overall, we like the class, and think it would be great for a nautical themed campaign, or anyone with swashbuckling, thriller action.

Empire of the Ghouls: Journey North - Freehold of Obertal

Encounter with Griffon knights. Parley after wounded and went to Obertal. Talked with NPCs. Prepared for journey to Gunnacks. Korwyn asked about the weather, Rolan asked for advice on the trail, and Frost prepared their supplies. They came across a massacre of mountain shepherds, frozen under a small lake by mysterious magical means. Then they spotted the ruins of the Dwarfhold of Siberian South of the road on the hillside. They saw an entrance to the lower levels and went in to explore when they were attacked by giant albino bats.

Strong Start:

Encounter with Griffon Knights seeking a 100 gp toll on the Mountain Road near Obertal.

Review the Characters:

Korwyn: Minotaur sailor searching for the former captain of his ship who led them against the Dragon Empire. He thinks the captain may have been sent as a slave into the Ghoul Empire or the Blood Kingdom.

Frost: Winterfolk halfling traveling for adventure and to help his tribe. Going North in response to letter from Grigori about joining Krakovar rebels in Kariessen. 

Rolan: Arbonesse elf also going North with his comrades. Is skeptical of his faith and the recent visions of the World Trees he has had.

Secrets & Clues:

• The Dwarves of Gunnacks are great traders, taking their mule trains South to the Magyar Kingdom and even far Eastwards onto the Rothenian Plain.
• Grisal, the Black Canton, is the home of grim dwarven paladins and warriors. It must constantly be on guard against the threat of the undead of Morgau. 
• The Graveslayers of Grisal are great experts on fighting the undead from long years and great losses. They say the names of their dead fill the walls of the entryway to the Great Hall of the canton.
• A great number of Krakovan refugees have fled to Grisal as a refuge.
• Krakovan rebels seem to treat Kariessen as a base of operations. 
• The Bosom of Ninkash is a temple to the goddess of beer that offers food and lodging to all travelers in Gunnacks.
• The dwarves of Gunnacks plan to host an axe throwing contest through kegs of ale on the morrow. Dwarves from around the region have come to watch.
• The Griffon knights of Obertal hold the fort for Zobeck, but demand a toll from those who pass.
• The abandoned dwarfhold of Sibertal is in the foothills of the pass on the Mountain Road South of Gunnacks.
• Sibertal was an early settlement of the Dwarfs when they came South to settle the Ironcrag Cantons, conquering the former lands of the elves during the Great Retreat, 482 years ago.
• A magical plague, released during the Great Mage Wars, devastated Sibertal.
• The ancient Northern Elves sided against Wotan and Thor in the Vanir war alongside the giants and the fey. Dwarves were created to counter them.
• The Southern elves came later, traveling to Midgard from the Summerlands. 
• Other abandoned dwarf mines dot the hills.

Fantastic Locations:

Freehold of Obertal

Garrison: Six Dwarven Veterans (CR 3), four Human Scouts with Riding Horses, twelve Kobold chefs, servants, and grooms. Sir Gismondo and Lady Edeltraud. 

Mountain Road leads to Gunnacks, and forks to go either North towards Grisal and Dornig or West towards other Dwarven Cantons. Small dwarf holds, shepherds huts, and other safe places are built into caverns or along brooks.

Abandoned mine:

https://dysonlogos.blog/2018/07/09/wharton-mine/

Obertal Map:

https://dysonlogos.blog/2020/02/15/duzigs-hold/

Sibertal Map:

https://dysonlogos.blog/2022/10/31/release-the-kraken-on-the-dungeon-of-holding/

From the Midgard Worldbook:

“A canton typically encompasses a set of halls—not just mines and simple shelter. Proper halls include a set of forges or smelters, a brewery, a set of clan homes, and at least one temple or shrine.”

NPCs:

Dalad Gunnacksen: Male dwarve caravan master. Has traveled far and wide. Employed Frostbane once on a journey to Misto Kolis, the nomadic city of wheels. Red beard. Wears many colorful gemstone rings and a thick gold chain.

Kaldosh Gunnacksen: Boorish dwarven axe thrower who jeers at the adventurers during the axe throwing contest. Distant cousin to Dalad, but has a light brown beard plaited into two forked points. Drinks excessively, even for the priests of Ninkash.

Monsters:

Griffon Knights (see above)

Empire of the Ghouls: Into the Kobold Warrens

 

Spoilers follow for the adventure Empire of the Ghouls from Kobold Press…

The trio sat, a bit stunned at Grigori’s acceptance of their information, and the realization that persons taken by the ghouls would likely not be found again.

“Well,” said Frost, “Maybe we should check out that bathhouse Grigori mentioned yesterday and see if it has any connection to the Rosalyn Turnyr disappearance.”

The others agreed, but before they could leave a dock worker a bit in his cups hailed Korwyn.

“Ho there minotaur! A Southern like you must be quite interested in these kidnappings by kobolds that are the talk of the city!”

“What do you mean?” asked Korwyn, his hand nonchalantly resting on the base of his axe.

“Only to say that we’re with your people in their fight against the Dragon Empire, and those kobold types must be their spies. Trying to distract us from supporting the Magdar Kingdom as it fights the reptiles.”

“Ah,” said Korwyn, considering this. “Well thank you for your support.”

“Aye! I’ll buy you a drink minotaur!”

Korwyn accepted the ale, and returned to his comrades.

It was early afternoon when they arrived at the intricate stone-faced edifice of the Old Stross Bathhouse off of Crown Square. Upon entering they discovered that entry was free and that they had to leave their weapons outside.

They proceeded to the lower level, and Korwyn and Rolan found a place to lounge by the largest pool. Frostbane, who the other adventurers had begun simply calling Frost,  decided to explore the bathhouse further. 

“To most of these people, I just look like a little kid,” he told his companions. “I’m basically invisible.”

Frost wandered into the back lounge area where he saw a varied group of people relaxing, socializing, and playing games. It was afternoon and the bathhouse did not yet have the evening after work rush. Next Frost went into the gymnasium. Looking around at the people exercising, lifting weights and punching bags of sand the halfling murmured:

“Looks like my kinda place,” to himself.

He moved through the area, examining the weights and equipment until he stopped in front of a very muscular dwarf woman. She chalked her hands and gripped a heavy metal bar with at least seven hundred pounds affixed to the ends, then her face turned purple and veins bulged as she bent and stood up with it several times, finally dropping it to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Very impressive!” Said Frost, then introduced himself.

“Welcome,” said the dwarf. 

In a short conversation, Frost discovered that the dwarf was a cleric of Volund normally working in the Temple District, and that she’d met Rozalyn at the bathhouse before, but hadn’t seen her around in a few weeks. After they finished talking, Frost stepped onto the deadlift platform and attempted to lift the weights himself. They lifted about an inch before thudding down loudly.

Frost stepped off and stretched ostentatiously, “Better not over exert myself too much! Got things to do today.”

He continued his tour of the bathhouse, wandering over towards the heated pools, where he spotted the Darakhul slaver Radu sitting in a warm pool. His blue bloated undead flesh was covered in a warm sheen of condensation. It was absolutely disgusting.

Wandering back over to his companions, the three watched as a creature that appeared to be an elf with dark greyish skin and horns spreading from its brow came down the stairs from the upper level and headed towards the warm pools, sitting in the water near Radu. The two began to talk, but their voices didn’t carry into the large pool room.

Frost had an idea, assuring his friends that he would find out what they were discussing. The halfling glanced around.

“No signs saying no running by the pool!”

He began jogging laps around the large pool and threading his way into the warm pool room. He could almost hear them, but was only catching bits and pieces. He ran two or three circuits before he ran into a patch of water spilled onto the tiled bathhouse floor near one of the warm pools. Suddenly his hairy feet lost their grip, and he went slipping and sliding, striking his head on the floor as he fell, then falling into the water of the warm pool. A small cloud of red spread from his head in the pool.

Then he burst out of the water. “I’m okay, I’m okay. That was all planned,” exclaimed the halfling. “But perhaps I’ll just rest here for a bit,” he said to no one in particular, nursing his head aching head as he cocked his ears toward the ghoul and his companion. He finally recognized the other creature as a Shadow Fey, elf-like people hailing from the Shadow Plane. The two hadn’t seemed to recognize him, merely glancing over dismissively at the big splash he’d made.

They were discussing various trade matters and the issues posed by the war with the Mharoti Dragon Empire to the South. Worrying that it would impact Zobeck’s trade with the Blood Kingdom and the Shadow Fey.

Frost listened for a while before getting up and going back to his friends, reporting his findings to them. They agreed the information was interesting, but unhelpful in their current goal of finding Rozalyn Turnyr. 

Leaving the bathhouse they retrieved their weapons, then decided to head to the city guard post in Lower Zobeck that was handling the investigation.

The post was a small office in the densely crowded buildings of Lower Zobeck’s streets. Entering they saw five or six guards. One with sergeant’s chevrons sat with his feet up on a desk, reading. The others sat around a table, playing cards.

“We’re looking for information about a missing person,” asked Korwyn to the sergeant. Without glancing up the man pointed towards another desk:

“Fill out the forms over there and we’ll look into it.”

Frost began filling out a form, as Korwyn continued to stare at the man.

“I think you’ve already investigated this person, but we were looking for more information.”

“Huh,” said the guard, still not looking up.

“Maybe we could do something to expedite your investigation,” asked Frost.

The guard rubbed his fingers together in the universal sign for cash.

Frost laid two gold pieces down on his desk. The man finally looked up and looked at the money.

“That’ll get the form from his desk to my desk.”

Frost dropped three more coins on the desk.

“That’ll get me to look at it next week instead of the week after.”

Korwyn pulled Frost aside: “I don’t think he cares enough to really expedite it. Let’s try something else.”

Frost nodded, then turned back to the guard. “How about if I beat one of your men in an arm wrestling contest you let us take a look at the case file?”

The man laughed, looking Frost up and down. “Deal! Nicolai! Get ready!”

A burly guard over two meters tall stood and walked over to a table, rolling up his sleeve to reveal a hairy muscled arm.

Frost stepped forward, rolling up his own sleeve. His small hand was child-like, totally engulfed in the large man’s grip.

“Ready, set, go!”

Frost’s muscles bulged suddenly, no larger, but straining. The burly guard held his hand steady for a moment. Then Frost’s arm levered his large arm over, slamming the back of his hand against the table.

“Done,” said the small halfling, as a murmuring and shouts of disbelief rang out from the guards.

The sergeant nearly fell out of his chair as he laughed.

“Well you better keep working out Nicolai! And lay off the beer! Sergei! Help our new friends find the papers they’re looking for.”

A young nervous-looking guard stepped forward. His hair was clipped short in a haircut he seemed to wear unnaturally, still new to this type of life and job. Frost followed him into a back room crowded with papers and ledgers, and began to search for Rozalyn Turnyr’s.

Korwyn sat down with the guards to play cards as he waited, while Rolan looked on. Korwyn began to regal the guards with tales of his life as a sailor and gladiator, about all the enemies he had vanquished previously, especially those who cheated at cards. The men seemed to grow nervous, and Korwyn’s practiced eyes caught their tells as they played until he won the pot.

“Nice to play with you fellows,” he chuckled. 

In the back room Frost had found the file and read through it with Sergei. Sergeant Hendryk—that was the sergeant’s name—noted in it that he didn’t believe the theory about kobolds being behind the disappearance due to Brik’s alibi. Another note pointed out that Rozalyn disappeared out a second story window. How could Brik have carried her? No answers were provided, but a final note commented that a kobold with blue scales named Kwarrel had approached the guard about the case too.

“Much thanks,” said the halfling kindly to the young guard. “Just a tip, next time you’re in the neighborhood, there’s this great restaurant called the Rampant Roach that you have to try.”

With that, the trio left the guard post, and headed towards the Rampant Roach for dinner.

Skirtal greeted them enthusiastically as they arrived and busied himself prepping a large kobold dinner for his patrons. They began discussing with the chef the information they had uncovered when suddenly a rock crashed through the restaurant’s window.

Outside they could see the glimmer of torchlight in the gather darkness and hear the shouts of a large group of people.

“Get behind me!” Said Korwyn, stepping up to open the door.

Outside was a mob of at least a half dozen people. In front whipping them into a frenzy was the blacksmith Straic and his son Viktor Turnyr, Rosalyn Turnyr’s father and husband.

“Stand down fellows and no one gets hurt,” thundered Korwyn.

“We want that dirty little kobold!” Shouted the men.

Korwyn shoved the crowd back from the door, stepping out into the alley and allowing his companions to follow. They made short work of the mob, and brought Straic and his son-in-law, Vikor in to question them. They were predictably uncooperative. 

Skirtal then related how his kobold patron was kobold king Koto Crag-Claw, and suggested that the adventurers escort Brik and the prisoners into the kobold warrens for protection. The kobold king might even be able to provide them further information from his spies…

16 November 2024 Empire of the Ghouls Prep Notes

Strong Start: Finish Pumpkin King boss fight, XP, treasure rewards from previous session notes.

Scenes: 

-Aftermath in Morrowdown with villagers—mob fight?

-Return to the Black Fortress

-Lore on the Blood Kingdom and Ghoul Imperium from dwarven lore sage in Black Fortress

-Potential downtime 

-Journey to Gybick or Kariessen (Uncharted Journeys)

-Encounter with Papa Toadlegs (red hag who possesses the Cauldron of Blood—see Rappan Athuk, pg. 50, 641)

-Hellwarden teleporting encounter.

Secrets & Clues:

-Trihild Spikeshard is an expert in Ghoul lore visiting the Black Fortress from Grisal.

-Various groups of rebels fight against the Blood Kingdom, including the Shieldmaidens of Sif, the Grim Accord, and others. 

-The Band of the Twice Damned leads raids against the rebels in this region.

-The Court in-exile attempts to coordinate rebel efforts, but this is difficult due to their various motivations. Some are little better than brigands or the vampires they oppose.

-The Great Necropolis near Castle Lengrove is the location of the Gate Subterranean, the main entrance to the Ghoul Imperium in the Blood Kingdom.

-The underworld is a treacherous place filled with monsters, ghouls, and the remains of fallen empires.

-There is a legend that a secret empire of ghouls exists in the Shadow Realm—opposed to the Empire of the Material Plane of Midgard.

-The Ghouls can detect the living among them. According to the writings of an explorer from the cantons the the Gravebinders of Siwal in the Southlands possess secrets to walk among the dead.

-Elvish Dey roads that walk through the Shadow Realm allow travel quickly over long distances.

-Some caravans in the Blood Kingdom use secret tunnels to travel to the Ghoul Empire. Some use magical devices allowing them to navigate underground (Rod of Underworld Navigation-Vault of Magic, pg 85)

-The city of Gybick was the base for Krakovar’s spymaster before the war—there maybe some left within the city, seeking to resist the Blood Kingdom.

Fantastic Locations:

-Black Fortress of Grisal: Training ground for paladins of Khors. Commanded by General Jaro Whitebeard. Dealing with problem of Krakovan human refugees. (Test of loyalty for Jaro to reveal location of Krakovan court in exile, Empire of the Ghouls, pg 84)

Monsters:

Band of the Twice Damned member accompanied by veterans or guards.

ENWorld Publishing’s Monstrous Menagerie 2

While I haven’t had the chance to mention it before now, I love the material and support that ENWorld Publishing provides for their Level Up: Advanced Fifth Edition products, and currently they are Kickstarting the Monstrous Menagerie 2. I highly recommend taking a look! I will look to do a deep dive of the first bestiary in that series—which is an amazing drop-in replacement for the regular 5e Monster Manual! I’m sure this next book will be just as high quality and helpful. Their explanation of horde monsters on as a preview functions as good or better than MCDM’s minions, and their ongoing support for 5e is a strong plus if that’s your game of choice.

Lore book: Travails of Nithtari

The following lore book was written for the players in my ongoing Ptolus campaign about the story of St. Nithtari, a religious figure for the Church of the Nine in my own setting. This lore book is intended to provide some interesting stakes and information to the life cleric who is a devotee of the saint.

This slim, leather volume is handwritten, with a few sparse illuminated images in the margins of the story of Nithtari. It speaks of the village of Gravnahein in a high valley of the Stonemourn Mountains, outlining the ancestry of its rulers down to Nithtari, “the bane of the fell workings of her forefathers, and mother to rebirth.” 

It notes the parentage of “horned ones,” derived from foul consorting with fiends that led to this family, worshippers of the “Fell King of the Deep and Outer Dark.” Craven and devoted to power, Lord Karcius, uncle of Nithtari, ruled the village with an iron fist from his fortress, Fanghold. It is recounted that Karcius “knew the evil roads and caves to walk the world of devils and swear his soul face to face.” It is implied a great evil, called only “Liar of the Gibbet,” held power over Karcius, making him an evil knight, empowered but damned for eternity.

The legend is unclear on the details, but notes that Nithtari saved her village from the “unholy tide of Karcius’ follies,” and achieved rebirth as an angel under the power of the “Grim Lord of the Nine.”

The book contains an invocation against evil and undeath,  which can be cast as an action, granting advantage on an attack against a fiend or undead. This property may be used once per day when holding the book in one hand.

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.

Cursed Scroll 2: Reactions

It’s almost the end of a months-long journey through available Shadowdark content. I think it’s evident why this RPG won four Ennies this year, including top RPG product. The Curse Scrolls just add to the goodness.

That brings us to the second installment of the Shadowdark zine. Cursed Scroll 2: Red Sands—the cool camel-riding cover art we seem to be in for a desert themed setting. The map and hex crawl guide on the next pages do not disappoint. Cameron Maas manages to make a desolate desert look cool. Definitely some stylistic things from this map I’ll keep in mind for my own regional maps going forward.

The art of a demon or jinn on the page following Kelsey’s introductory note is a beautiful piece, and brings to mind that from the AD&D DMG. 

The three classes are each distinct, and are totally unique for the other Cursed Scroll offerings and the core classes. They seem relatively balanced to the core classes, but I find myself wondering what most GM’s decisions on Shadowdark classes will be. It feels appropriate to restrict many games to the core four classes, particularly because the other added classes often feel similar in archetype to the core ones, although different in their abilities and implementation. I don’t know that I would allow every class in every campaign. Instead it makes sense to restrict them for thematic and world building/lore reasons. The other thought these classes give me is that between them, the core, and Cursed Scroll 1, it would totally be feasible to run a game of Shadowdark in the Dark Suns setting. My personal favorite of these three is the Pit Fighter, although the Ras-Godai’s Black Lotus talents are really interesting and cool.

Perhaps my favorite section of the zine is that on pit fighting. This is a cool system you can easily port to 5e or any other d20 system. The random tables let you determine the venue and stakes for a pit fight, then encounter tables help you generate an encounter (these you’d need to modify for your system of choice). Enduring wounds up the ante for a fight, adding additional consequences. The example Thraxis arena is also a great location for adventure.

The mount rules are a welcome addition, which I hadn’t even missed in the core Shadowdark rules, but it’s good to have that aspect of the game slightly better defined. It illustrates one of the core appeals of Shadowdark though—that a group can incorporate the additional rules or simply run with the core rules and make their own rulings on any mechanics not included. The light weight nature of Shadowdark is one of its greatest strengths, so if the additional mechanics of the Cursed Scrolls add too much complexity it seems completely in-line with the game’s philosophy to ignore them. 

Also, the area in which the mount rules one up 5e? They have an entry for a cart, so you can play old school and cart all your treasure home.

The desert setting in this zine is called the Djurum. The travel in the sands section is very similar in design to the environmental effects provided for the cold and sea weather for Cursed Scroll 3. It doesn’t quite grasp me in the way that the other zines have, but it’s still a lovely mini setting.

I’m excited to see what Arcane Library does next. I suspect there’ll be an appetite for more Shadowdark material for quite some time, especially as the RPG fanbase continues moving through the D&D edition change with all the turmoil that brings. Shadowdark is a great alternative for the future, and a game that you could play for the rest of your life if you wanted to.