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. 

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

Table of Contents

Spoilers follow for the adventure...

The day following their return from the countryside, the adventurers visited Mr. Aubreck Drallion in his manor house in Kalaman. The house was behind a stone wall with iron gates that were opened by an officious goblin butler in a starched and pressed black evening jacket.

"Please, follow me. I presume you are those who Master Drallion sent for?"

Gringle swept into a bow, with a rakish grin. "Indeed! I am Gringle Gragle, Duke of Greenwood."

The butler did a doubletake, looking at the ragged goblin, then flaring his nostrils in an inaudible snort. "Indeed, well met sir."

While the grounds and house were maintained, it seemed as though there was something off. Flecks of rust and a squeak when the iron gate was opened, faded paint on the house and shutters, a few notable patches of brown on what must have once been a verdant lawn.

They were ushered into a sitting room and library with a middle aged man in fine clothes sitting on a faded sofa. They took seats at the butler's signal, greeting the man with a handclasp. The man had premature worry lines etched into his forehead and around his mouth, crows feet wrinkling around his eyes. Grey streaked his hair in far greater amounts that his years seems to justify. His clothes, though fine, seemed to be several years behind the current fashion.

This was Aubreck Drallion, and he proceeded to relate to them how he had invested in trade bound for a far-off land, converting much of his money and property into deeds and statements of credit, to be converted back once they arrived at that location. However the ship carrying this hoard in non-monetary form was separated from its escort and thought lost at sea. Drallion had heard reports though that the ship, the Emperor of the Waves, had been spotted barely a day's sail from Kalaman. He offered them ten percent of the value if they could recover the metal box containing his investment from the ship.

"You see the loss has quite ruined me," he said.

Drallion explained that he had contracted a ship called the Soul of Winter, procured equipment, and only needed their help to retrieve the box. 

The group agreed.

"We can leave immediately," said Asterius.

"The ship is prepared to get underway early tomorrow with the morning tide," said the merchant. "It has equipment that I have procured that may assist you as well."

They bid the merchant farewell then, and returned to their quarters in Castle Kalaman. The next morning they departed early upon the Soul of Winter, and came upon the derelict near the mouth of the bay after traveling most of the day. They all kept their stomachs, but Gringle particularly took to the rolling deck and the salt air. "Tis a perk of being a Duke," he remarked to his friends.

The abandoned ship appeared oddly calm, it's masts broken down to stumps, but the deck strangely clear of all debris. Their dwarven captain pointed out that the Emperor listed slightly to port, likely because her ballast had shifted.

Asterius armed himself with his equipment and a few vials of antitoxin from the supplies purchased by Drallion. The others left the new supplies, content with their own gear.

The crew rowed them over in the ship's boat, but refused to tarry close by the Emperor. "Signal to us when you come back atop deck!" The captain had said.

Once the adventurers were on deck, they surveyed the ship, but found nothing interesting topside. A rusted grate covered a hole into the hold, and doors led to cabins fore and aft. Opening the aft hatch, Asterius stepped into a dark room, veiled in spiderwebs and dust, with a dark, bloodied altar dominating it. A ring of skulls afixed to iron spikes in the wall hung above it.

Suddenly massive archnid forms looked in the darkness, and swarms of thousands of tiny spiders appeared from the rotting timbers under their feet. Finally, a humanoid figure with the face and mandibles of a spider bounded from the shadows to bite at them. Asterius and Darrett found themselves swarmed, covered in spiders and warding off bites from poison dripping mandibles. Gringle stepped back, firing arrows at the large creatures. The fight was going south, although Asterius fought valiantly, until Davgin arrived from examining a wooded detail fixture on the deck. He cast spells of frost and cold, blasting away the spiders. As the giant spiders and man spider attacked, poison dripped from their gnashing mandibles.

Soon however the tide turned. They killed the last of the spiders, before examining the dark altar. Amongst the wreckage they found a moldy and decaying book recording an attack on the ship by the captain. The account ended abruptly, presumably the author was killed in the final assault.

Next they tried the door into the forward cabin, finding giant spiders in the space and another spider man. A sea of tiny spiders boiled up from the decaying stairs leading down, rolling over them. Gringle's well placed arrows, Fallons rousing shouts and charms, Davgin's powerful spells, and Asterius' strength carried the day, and soon they stood in the now quiet room. 

Next they crept down the stairs, moving into a narrow corridor. They managed to spot a web blocking a doorway before blundering into it. Asterius took a swing with his axe, then a second, attempting to hack through the web. 

His cuts alerted yet more spiders to their presence, and soon they found themselves awash again in spiders. Davgin's castings of Frost Fingers proved crucial to turning the tide. After defeating these foes they advance cautiously into the ship, carefully opening doors, but only finding empty rooms. Until they came to the bow of the ship and opened a door into a dark room to find it shrouded in webs, and four bundles hanging from the ceiling. Upon closer examination each of the bundles of webs seemed to be vibrating slightly. 

Asterius swung his axe, attempting to cut one of them open. It burst open, and an unnatural creature that had stumpy legs and a mouth that seemed to cover half it's body slapped to the ground. The monster opened it's jaws, spewing forth a fountain of sickening acidic vomit at the heroes, and the other cocoons began to shake violently. At the same time they heard a loud "pop" and behind them appeared a massive spider as if from the air.

GM Reflections

This was a really fun, dungeon crawl session. The ship's map is a bit cramped, making it a bit difficult for players to maneuver. The crawl has definitely sapped many of the party's resources. The maw demons at the end were really fun to run. Their special abilities made them much more interesting than some of the others. The ettercaps (spider men) for instance are a bit underwhelming, as are the giant spiders.

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen - Enemy Raids in the Countryside

Table of Contents

Spoilers follow for the adventure…

After defending Rookledust's home from the Dragon Army goblins. She invited them into the house, which they found to be filled with various mechanical contraptions, parts, books, and junk. As she brewed them tea they discovered that the tinker gnome had provided a fire blasting weed killer to a man in black and red armor. He'd wanted it with detailing added to make it look like a dragon.

"I thought it was quite strange at the time," she said. They noticed lying around amongst the junk were several magic items, like an old spell book, a cape that could give someone the ability to breathe underwater, and a dancing sword. Rookledust also showed them her fargabs, magical devices that enabled people to speak to one another through them from several miles away.

Rookledust agreed to return to Kalaman with them, and they journeyed back without incident, arriving just after dark.

The next day they awoke to a message from Marshall Vendri. Reports indicated that dragon army elements were raiding farms East of Kalaman, and she wanted them to investigate. Additionally a letter from a merchant named Aubreck Drallion arrived requesting that they visit him about a business opportunity, and finally another note from the Mariner's Guild, noting that they needed help with a project that would aid the city's defense. They elected to follow up on the mission from Marshall Vendri with all speed.

The heroes set out immediately, traveling the whole day through a drizzly grey afternoon. They could see the Dargaard Mountains once again, far to the South, before the dark clouds covered them up. 

They knocked on door of kender family’s farm after nightfall in the rain, asking if they had seen soldiers and if they could stay the night. The lender farmer recounted how soldiers had come and taken his pigs after threatening to burn the farm. The soldiers had headed North. The farmer let the adventurers stay in the now empty barn previously occupied by the pigs. 

While Gringle snuggled into a bed of straw and filth, his companions had a more difficult night in the smelly, damp quarters. The next morning Asterius and Davgin still felt exhausted by after the long night of little sleep. After a brief breakfast, they headed North.

Soon the adventurers came upon a fire pit with the carcass of a pig, recently eaten. The embers were still warm. They were close.

A few miles more down the road they came up upon a farmhouse. A group of hobgoblins stood outside with torches and their commander, a human dragon army soldier, ordered them to attack the house and put it to the torch. The heroes charged into battle. Davgin unleashed a bolt of lightning, Gringle fired off arrows, Fallon exhorted her comrades, and Asterius waded into the melee. The battle rapidly turned in their favor after Davgin threw a massive fireball into the midst of their enemies.

The adventurers recovered the pigs following the fight, and returned to arrive at the lender farm once more just before nightfall. The lender slaughted a pig and fed them bacon and pork to celebrate and thank them for the help. Then once more they spent a long night out. Asterius and Fallon elected to sleep outside in what shelter they could find from the rainrather than brave the barn again. They awoke with stiff necks, totally unrested. Gringle once against slept happily with the pigs. Davgin found a warm spot after climbing up to the rafters and spent his night comfortably there.

The next morning they began their return journey to Kalaman, ready with their report for Marshal Vendri. As they drew near Kalaman they spotted a group of tiredly looking soldiers marching from aways off. Gringle rode ahead of the group to investigate and was delighted to discover Cudgel and the remnants of her mercenary company. Cudgel immediately requested to enlist herself and the remaining soldiers in the heroes' company. The adventurers gratefully accepted and the whole group returned to Vogler together.

GM Reflections

This session was fun, but didn't really move the story along. I pulled it from the missions that are part of this section of the campaign around Kalaman, and also included some missions from Ghosts of Saltmarsh as sidequests. My players noted that that they are interested in finishing the story but want to move onto something new sooner than later. So while I'll still run one of the side missions I'll probably start pushing the adventure along a bit faster.

Teaching New Players How to Play RPGs

One of the less discussed challenges of being a GM is the task of teaching new players the game in your system of choice. Juggling trying to tell a compelling story, jumping between NPCs, running monsters, and then breaking your train of thought to answer rules questions from players can be overwhelming. But our games are fun and it’s incredibly rewarding to see players start to grasp rules and embrace their characters as they interact with your game world.

Do Your Homework 

Your success in teaching others really hinges on your own understanding of the rules and system you want to play in. You don’t want to deflate your pacing by spending agonizing minutes looking up a rule while new players get bored and start looking at their phones. So reading and taking some notes on your system of choice is probably in order (see below for more thoughts on reference materials). You may also find others online at various TTRPG fan sites, message boards, or blogs that talk in depth about running your system or choice and how to resolve rules questions and issues that come up during play.

But reading a ton of material can be difficult and it can be difficult to conceptualize how certain rules work or a game will run in person based on the rules on the page. To break this up and try another learning style I suggest looking for video creators discussing your system of choice or an actual play of the game if you can find one. Just like Critical Role demystified D&D 5e for many people, watching others play the game can make a complex and densely packed character sheet or stat block seem more intuitive when you see the product of their use at someone else’s table. It’s important to remember too that your game will be your own interpretation and implementation so don’t beat yourself up about your story or if it isn’t as smooth as some of the videos you might find. 

Pregenerated Characters Can Help

I’ve tried this both ways, both using pregens and building characters with new players. Pregens are helpful to get playing quickly so you can really start the fun part of the game where you will spend the most time. After all, if the players don’t enjoy actual gameplay their TTRPG career will be short. A player can love playing and hate make characters and go a long way. 

On the other hand, creating a character provides an attachment, motivation, and sense of ownership in a TTRPG game. Players will remember the characters they make themselves and often be more invested in the game if you can tie their ideas in. 

The approach you take depends on your group, which leads into my next thought…

Know Your Players

Unless you’re in an environment where you already know people like RPGs or are interested and willing to put in the effort to learn a new one, it helps to know your players. If they’re your friends or family outside the game then you probably know them pretty well and that can help you teach them specifically and understand the best ways to approach the game with them. This will help you judge how to approach your scenario and encounter design too. The ultimate goal is to create a fun experience for yourself and everyone you’ve invited to your table. 

Sometimes you’ll encounter people interested in playing who haven’t had the chance that you don’t already know. For them, encourage their continued enthusiasm. They will probably be some of your most motivated and invested players (and maybe even future GMs!) 

Trying to rope in people you don’t know very well or don’t already have a positive relationship with can be stressful, but it can also be rewarding to build a friendship based on gaming. It tends to help if these people already have experience playing TTRPGs when trying to teach total strangers a new system. In these cases, playing something they’re familiar with to develop a gaming friendship and relationship might help before proposing a transition to a new system.

Make Your Own Screen Notes

This is a bit of a personal one, but perhaps it’ll work for you. I like to play with a screen, which I know not all GM’s use. I use my screen even when I run fully virtual games, both to set my own atmosphere and to hold my notes.

I found that my system mastery increased when I created my own reference notes for the game I was playing. In the photo at the beginning of the article I have on the far left my consolidated version of all the combat rules and conditions for 5e that I had trouble remembering. I keep this up for every game so that I can quickly reference it. My sheet takes up less space than the same info does on a printed screen, and writing it reinforced the rules for me. It also has information that never gets printed on 5e screens from WOTC because I found it relevant. 

I do the same with subsystems and Homebrew rules for my game so have a reference and don’t have to carry all the rules in my head while trying to teach them to players.

I plan to and am doing the same thing with every system that I plan to run, whether that be Shadowdark, Shadow of the Demon Lord, or Classic Traveller.

Final Thoughts 

Taking others on a journey to lands and places that only exist in our collective imaginations is a rewarding experience. Sharing that with others and teaching them how to play can be difficult, but is the catalyst to those amazing experiences. I hope these thoughts are helpful in some way for GMs and veteran players who want to help others enter the TTRPG hobby or involve their friends and family in this awesome hobby.

Troll in the Cave: MCDM’s Filthy Peasants Funnel

Spoilers follow for the adventure from the article “Filthy Peasants” from MCDM’s Arcadia issue 9…

Bruna frantically administered first aid to her comrades who had just fallen down the slippery and slimy sloping tunnel. Two of their number had already died, with one having eaten a deadly mushroom after almost drowning while crossing the swift flowing stream outside the cave. Another had gone gibbering mad after looking too closely at the statue of a hideous tentacled creature in the chamber where they’d fought the strange grey monsters of ooze.

Wulf was dazed from the fall, but did his best to help, as Cecie snatched up the lantern that was their only light from the cold hands of another villager who had snapped their neck from the fall. 

After long tense minutes, Bruna was able to slow her efforts. Three unconscious but alive after the fall in the slick tunnel. The remaining villagers finally had time to survey the cavern in which they found themselves. The remnants of a smashed wagon and some packages lay scattered about, and in the shadows an injured merchant lay, drawing shallow painful breaths. 

“We’re here to rescue you,” whispered Wulf.

“You shouldn’t have come,” hissed the merchant. “The troll will kill you all.”

“We’ll take care of it,” said Bruna, with false bravado that denied the dread she felt. “Did you see where it went?”

“I have no idea,” the merchant said, clutching her broken ribs. “I don’t know where my companions are either.” She lapsed into fevered silence, shivering as she breathed.

Aegilus glanced around at the three passages out of the chamber. 

“No use staying put,” he said and headed towards the Northmost opening. He found another large natural chamber with eerily glowing fungi growing around the walls. The boots of a humanoid corpse poked out from the thick fungi on the South wall. Aegilus moved towards the boots to check the figure when a severed arm caught his eye in the fungi. He examined it, spying a ring that looked magical—or at leave very expensive. He plucked the ring off the arm. As he did so, he brushed the fungi. Suddenly two creatures that seemed to be living fungi with tendrils began moving towards him. They were slow though. Pulling out his spear to stab at the creatures, Aegilus shouted towards his companions:

“Monsters! Get in here!”

The group rushed into the chamber, attacking the creatures with whatever they had. Some carried spears, others had better gear they’d taken from their dead comrades, figuring that they no longer needed their weapons. These were no adventurers, merely village folk dispatched by their community to hunt down the troll preying on traveling merchants.

Stabbing and shooting the creatures, the villagers lost another two of their number, but managed to kill them…if one could kill a fungus. Checking the corpse under the fungi they found some silver and a few weapons, along with a spell scroll that Wulf put in his bag.

Retreating to the space with the smashed cart, they huddled fearfully in the darkness with their unconscious friends that they had hidden there, resting for an hour. 

Finally, after a few of their friends had woken, groaning, but alive, the villagers continued deeper into the caves. The next chamber was coated in dried blood and gore, and strewn with bones, but held six live goats that bleated and stomped their hoofs. 

“Guess we know where the missing livestock went,” said Bruna.

Wulf tried to use the ring he’d found and studied while resting to cast a spell of animal friendship on one of the goats, but it just bleated disdainfully and shook its bearded head, then turned and retreated to the back of the cave.

They returned from that branch and took the last tunnel South, finding themselves in another chamber with a large iron cage, secured by a bent metal bar. Three winged mosquito-like creatures banged at the bars, sucking blood from the three people held within.

“Stirges!” said Raffolk, who had seen such beasts in the woods near the village.

The villagers fought the creatures with all their might, but were unsuccessful until Nicolas hit one of the monsters with the big stick he always carried. It fell dead with a loud thwack. The others were dispatched quickly after.

Using the stick as a lever, Nicolas pried the bar securing the cage open, allowing the three surviving merchants to escape toward their friend in the room to the North.

“The troll is just behind those pillars,” said one of the merchants, pointing towards a large natural pillar formed by a stalactite and stalagmite that had grown together. “It took Gerald back there about an hour ago. We heard him scream but haven’t heard anything since.”

The villagers crept forward carefully, splitting to flank the pillar on either side. They found a room illuminated by a fire, with a merchant turning on a spit over it. Bones lay scattered across the floor, and on the South wall lay a tunnel opening deeper that appeared to be blocked by bits of debris. Hunched in front of the fire sat a small troll, juices dribbling down its chin as it feasted on the flesh.

Bruna stealthily moved into the room, waiting until her companions were in position, then stabbed the monster in the back. It let out a roar of anger. The villagers unleashed their weapons on the troll, while Hendricks caught the worst of the heavy blows and bites the monster unleashed. But as the party wounded the creature they saw the flesh knitting itself back together. Nicolas bravely shoved the monster into its own cooking fire, which seemed to halt the healing, as they piled on the punishment. Finally they struck the final blows, bringing the creature down. They’d defeated the monster, saving their village from ruin and keeping the merchants coming along the trade road.

GM Reflections

This was the second time my players in my Dragonlance campaign and I have taken a break from our regular campaign. We tried the level zero funnel a few months ago, making a number of characters and finishing about half of it. This time half the players were out and the remaining two didn’t want to go on without the others. They suggested finishing up the funnel. 

It was a lot of fun, and not a hard adventure to prep. I feel better prepared to try another funnel using this system or Shadowdark in the future. I really enjoyed the discovery of making random characters and following the luck of the dice.

I’ll include a full reaction to the adventure once I get to Arcadia 9 in my series on the magazine. We leveled up the players’ favorite characters, Bruna and Wulf to first level. Bruna is a paladin with the soldier background, and Wulf is a wizard with the hermit background. I am currently working on my own game world where I will eventually set several adventure including Rappan Athuk and Slumbering Tsar. I think these two characters would go great in either one of those campaigns, so I will create a village that they could be from if they ever get to be used. While Rappan Athuk is a 1-20 level campaign, Slumbering Tsar starts at level seven in Pathfinder 1e, so I would probably string a few adventures together to get those characters leveled up for that.

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen - The Avengers of the Crossing

Table of Contents

Spoilers follow for the adventure...

After the council of Kalaman had deliberated for far too long for their liking, the adventurers were ushered back into the meeting chamber.

"We have considered your words and the plight of your people," said governor Miat. "We will provide aid and shelter for the refugees of Vogler, but it comes with conditions. Our own resources are stretched in these troubled times, and we will need assistance protecting our own and now your people. Marshall Vendri, would you explain your idea?"

The marshall stood, leaning toward on the oak table.

"Your account of the battle for Vogler was impressive and compelling. You are formidable warriors. We ask that you form a martial company of those able-bodied survivors of Vogler, along with any others you can recruit, to assist us with the defense of Kalaman. We need every sword we can muster to defeat this threat."

The adventurers considered the offer, then nodded in assent. Marshall Vendri's hard eyes crinkled as she gave a thin smile.

"This is welcome news. We also ask that at least one of you take an oath of allegiance to Kalaman, becoming an officer of our military and gaining the title Esquire of Kalaman. Not all of you need take it, and those who do are of course able to undertake other personal business during your time at liberty not engaged in our defense. You will be released from your oath when the conflict is over. Who of you will take the oath?"

Gringle stepped forward, chuckling to himself.

"Well, I will take your oath!"

Asterius watched the small goblin for a moment.

"As will I."

Marshall Vendri then directed them to raise their right hand while resting their left upon their weapon, and repeat her words.

"By the strength to wield this weapon gifted by Kiri-Jolith, I swear to uphold the defense of Kalaman and protection of her people above any personal endeavor or desire, even until death or the wardens of Kalaman release me from my bond."

They both repeated the oath. The marshall nodded in witness of their words.

"Now, we will provide you as many resources as we can spare to aid you in mustering your troops, and will provide you lodging within Castle Kalaman. Additionally we will provide a small weekly allowance to you as officers of Kalaman that you can use to defray the costs of some of your efforts."

She then called one of the guards and directed them to guide the adventurers to their quarters.

As they walked through the large castle, Davgin and Asterius noted the Solamnic motifs in the architecture, along with the art, showing the fortress to be an ancient hold of the Solamnic knights.

Soon they arrived at their quarters in a large disused ballroom on the fourth floor of the castle. Several rooms that were onc3 likely parlours adjoined the large room. Cots, tables, and some crates sat in the once opulent room, hastily placed there based on the resent disturbance of the layer of dust and crumbling plaster than coated the floor. The ceiling displayed a faded painting of Solamnic knight marching onto a field of green in battle array. Intricate crown molding outlined this and the three grand chandeliers of gleaming crystal. A large fireplace that looked long disused took up a large portion of the long interior wall and bright windows stretching from floor to ceiling let in the dazzling sunlight.

The adventurers immediately began arranging their equipment and settling into the space. Soon they were seated at the table, surveying a map of Kalaman and the surrounding region along with some reports furnished by Marshall Vendri's aid. They also began drawing up the charter for their company. Davgin suggested that the company be named "Avengers of the Crossing," to which the others arged after some short debate. Gringle idly drew an emblem as they discussed plans, and when lunch arrived from the castle kitchens everyone agreed that they would use Gringle's picture as their symbol and on their battle standards.

Their plans and discussion went long into the night...

GM Reflections

This is where I have chosen to depart fairly significantly from the adventure as written. I felt as I've mentioned before that the characters really need to be able to make meaningfully choices, and the best way I saw to do that was to put them in command. Most of the session was spent making decisions about their martial organization following the rules of Kingdoms & Warfare. We’ll see how my experience implementing the system for the first time goes. Moving through intrigue and trying to explain it to players is a bit difficult, and there’s a lot that isn’t necessarily intuitive about that system. But I would like them to be able to make a tangible impact on the Red Dragon Army’s operations throughout the adventure.

The Opening Move