Barrow Mounds of the Valeran Elves - A Reflection

Cartography by Dysonlogos

The Barrows of the Valeran Elves are a location that interested my players on my hex map of the Southwestern Marches of the Blood Kingdom. They only elected to explore the large mound in the bottom, center of the map above.

The mound's ancient stone doorway is marked by a large visible cleft or divot in the ground, perhaps left when erosion caused the earth over and around the door to fill the space. It requires several hours of digging to unearth the door, which however opens with a DC15 Strength check.

I had a nasty Neophron demon named Gnasher, acting as a scout for the Band of the Twice Damned circling over the party ominously throughout this time outside.

Within, as it's a simple dungeon, I had the characters pass stacked bones of servitor halflings, as the nobles of the elven empire possessed in ancient times in the Midgard setting. Inside the first of the tomb's rooms was a peacefully resting champion of Valeresh who possessed a magical lance that the cleric took. The largest room held a banshee, who was a minor elven noble, killed by dwarven reavers as they came South, eventually to settle in the Ironcrags and create the modern dwarven cantons. 

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: Anatomy of an Adventure

Anatomy of an Adventure is the first book I've encountered by a TTRPG designer for other designers. Written by M.T. Black, a prolific writer of 5e D&D material, I found it to be an extremely enjoyable and inspiring read. 

Written in a conversational voice, Black's work is enhanced by his own analysis of his earliest works, identifying strengths and areas he'd do things differently given the chance. It certainly leans towards the art side of the craft of adventure design rather than the science. 

Most work in this very niche subject area is actually advice written for GMs, who act essentially as their own independent adventure designers routinely. Instead Black approaches the subject as an introduction to the industry and aid for aspiring designers to create their own first adventures.

Some nuggets that I took away:

• Emulate (i.e. copy) those adventures and elements of stories that you love. Adding enough things together and doing it you way will make it your own.
• Other adventures, or old issues of Dragon or Dungeon magazine provide great inspiration and examples of things to try.
• This journey takes practice, repetition, and failures. Working through these and learning from them is valuable.
• Random tables can provide inspiration and break up stale thinking.

This was an extremely interesting and engaging read for me. In parallel I took a look at some of Black's adventures to see other examples of his thoughts. I think this is a great resource and motivator to try designing their own original material.

Lore Book: The Edict of Deviltry

The lore book below was created to facilitate a church trial in my Ptolus campaign on the fate of the Ghostly Minstrel of the famous inn named after the spirit…

BE IT PUBLISHED THAT THE SECOND COUNCIL OF DOCTRINE DOTH DECLARE THE

EDICT OF DEVILTRY

The corruption of the arcane knows no bounds. Thus the Council of the High Priests of the Nine issues this CONDEMNATION. The believers must eschew and destroy the worshipers of fiends, hiding amongst us. They must cast down the arcane, removing that which the wizard, warlock, and occultist have profaned by their touch. The faithful must DESTROY the undead in all their forms, and loath the worshippers of the restless dead.

The rest of the document expounds on the theological grounds for the edict, and explains the doctrines of the gods.

The Book of Iron

Lore book for my Ptolus campaign...

This book is made of forged iron plates, joined by rings into a spined book. Its symbols glow with a mysterious white light, similar to the light of the moon. It is the writings of a monk named Sister Ilathira. She writes the tragic story of Mima Goldentongue, and of how her husband, Kedar Goldentongue fought the Disciples of Karcius to attempt to save her. The dark cultists kidnapped her from their inn—the Golden Boar. They sought to sacrifice her to summon their dark lord Karcius from the beyond.

Kedar Goldentongue died defending his inn from the cultists, but was unable to save his wife. However, the ritual failed, and Lord Karcius remains in the Hells. Sister Ilathira speculates that the sacrifice of the husband and wife compelled the gods to prevent the return of dread Karcius. She further notes that the cultists of Karcius are pursuing her, and seek to prevent her from recording this history.

This particular lore book was a crucial clue in an arc involving the party preventing an an over zealous order and inquisitor from exorcising the titular Ghostly Minstrel from the inn of the same name in Monte Cook’s Ptolus setting.