Monday, December 28, 2020

Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary - Episode 18 - Graboids?

The prep... 

Only the Essentials

I'm as surprised as you are. I had considered this campaign over. Then the player of the Druid mentioned that she was a bit sad to not see this adventure to the conclusion. Sadly our player who handled the Rogue was unable to join. I told the Druid player I had no problem running the game for her as a single player with a sidekick. I would have to adjust a few things I had originally planned, but it wouldn't be too hard. She declared she wanted to take that damn white dragon down, and so I pulled out my copy of the Essential's Kit and reviewed my notes. 

Now, I've been running my homebrew campaign for almost thirty sessions now, so I've gotten pretty good at using the techniques from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master to prep for my weekly games. But I'm making up all that material: from the lore of the world to the adventure material. So picking up Dragon of Icespire Peak again and realizing how little I'd have to do was kind of a pleasent surprise. 

Going of my notes, I saw that I had focused so much on the Harvest Festival in Phandalin as the next big event. I also realized that a bunch of that stuff, while fun and entertaining, would work so much better for two players and the DM. It was all homebrew material, and I'm going to use it someday, but I know my Druid player. She is goal oriented. For her, getting to the Dragon was the big prize. I decided to just skip the festival, and say that her character had a good time and enjoyed it. I also mentioned that her partner the Rogue decided to work off her debt to Haylia and do a job for her in Neverwinter. 

Bout that time ol' Inverna showed up...

I asked the Druid player to look over the available quests. There was the Goldtoe Mine (which was the one I think they were going to do after the festival) and the logger's camp. She read over both quest cards and picked the logger's camp. Simple enough, deliver supplies to the loggers through the Neverwinter woods. Still she was wary and asked her old friend the Cowgirl Elf, Inverna to come along. 

Since I was pulling this together on the fly I flipped to the adventure in the book and gave it a quick read. I noticed a few key things. First was the boar they run into on the way (which is an anchorite in disguise) could act as foreshadowing for a later adventure. There is a totem hidden in the chimney of one of the ruins that is causing the Ankhegs to swarm. Finally I've never used Ankhegs before (but I remember them from the old Balder's Gate game). I was amused by the fact that the Ankhegs can tunnel, grapple and spit acid... damn. Luckily the adventure was pretty self contained and short - the perfect one for a quick pull up session.

I wanted to add the possibility of one more random encounter on the two day journey to the logging camp. Since they had run into undead orcs in a previous session I created a scene where the Druid and Inverna could come upon two more undead orcs set up as a trap. Other than that, I took a few notes for secrets and clues (the boar is an orc shaman, the totem is calling's the Ankheg, Tibor is a coward) and then got ready to DM. 

The story...

Sometimes a boar is just a bore.

We started with the pair going to Barthen's Provisions to pick up goods. Had a quick role-play moment as Barthen told them the name of the ox pulling the cart was named Vincent and that Barthen expected to have Vincent come back in one piece. I asked if they wanted to pick up anything else from the provision's store. However the pair had a bunch of stuff already (I just shifted a bunch of the magic items the Rogue had over to the Druid). So with that the pair was off.

I had her roll 1d6. On a 1 she would get the zombie orc encounter. Otherwise they would run into the boar in the clearing. She rolled a 5, so I told the Druid that Inverna was a bit more talkative than normal and the two ladies caught up discussing the happenings at Butterskull Ranch (where Inverna stayed to help in a previous session) and the excitement of the festival (we rolled and Rupert the goat lost to Black Phillip in the Goat races).

Up next was the encounter with the boar in the clearing. The Druid was cautious and decided to have the cart and ox go around the creature. I had her roll Animal Handling and she succeeded on the DC: 13. Vincent obeyed her commands. I also asked her to roll for Inverna to roll Strength/Athletics to help move the cart off the trail so it wouldn't get stuck. She also succeeded. So the ladies avoided the boar, and it raced off into the forest to the east (planting the seeds for danger in an upcoming adventure).

Then it was time for the evening stop and setting watches. On the fly I decided the "boar" would return to see what they were up to. The Druid detected the animal watching them, but she remained quiet and observant. Since she didn't react, the boar headed to the east again.

I'm sure it is nice and safe...

The next morning I had them roll another D6. She got a three this time, so no encounter again. Instead the the party arrived at the logger site. I read the description of the camp to the player. She was immediately suspicious of the holes in the tents and how damn quiet it was. They dismounted the cart and investigated the tents. I kept things eerie and mysterious as they examined the damage to the tents and the bedrolls. The Druid rolled poorly for Investigation and wasn't able to determine what kind of attack this was. As they started toward the next campsite, the first Ankheg attacked!

The ankheg rolled poorly on stealth, so it wasn't able to sneak up on the Druid. She heard it coming and we rolled initiative. It was a pretty intense battle. The Druid used Moonbeam to great effect, and Inverna swung with her blade. But the acid attack was vicious and both ladies were burned in the attack. They finally defeated the creature with a combination of Frostbite and a mighty strike from Inverna. The player sighed and said, "So now we're dealing with Graboids!"

Not quite Graboids, but
an incredible simulation!

The party returned to the cart. There the Druid cast Beast Bond on Vincent the ox, to communicate with him and he with her as they explored. He could warn them if he saw something coming or if he needed help. The two then went to the only standing building: the office. They circled the building peeking in the windows. They saw the floor was wood, easy for an Ankheg to burst through. But they didn't see anyone inside. They did see a closed door to a storage room, so they headed to peek into the window of the storage room. 

Unfortunately for them one of the Ankhegs heard them messing around (they weren't being stealthy), and it attacked. This time they were not caught unawares either. In fact they had a clever plan. The back of the office is close to a stone plateau. Inverna was able to climb up that easily enough, and she managed to get a rope down to the Druid at the last minute and pull her up, just as the Ankheg erupted from the ground. It was time for another dose of Moonbeam, Produce Flame and Inverna unleashing attacks with her longbow. The Ankheg did get an acid blast against Inverna, but they were able to take the creature out with little issue.

They climbed back down and headed to the storage room, peaking inside. There they saw the lone survivor, Barthen's brother Tibor. He barricaded himself in the storage room. They entered the office and told him they were there to rescue him. He was dubious that they killed all the creatures. Sure enough another one was charging toward the office. Tibor screamed and the ladies prepared for battle. The Druid hurried out doors and when the monster exploded forth she cast Entangle. The Ankheg was strong enough to break free, but the ground was still difficult terrain and his movement was slowed. But things got dicey, the Druid exhausted her spells.  She was doing the most damage to it, so the monster focused on her, driving forward and finally knocking her out with a deadly bite attack. Luckily it was also very hurt, so Inverna finished it off with a longbow shot. She then used their only healing potion to bring the Druid back up to her feet.

Could easily be in the
Monster Manual.

The pair hurried back to the office and found that Tibor had tried to escape through the window and was stuck. The ladies extracted him and got him back to the cart. He assured them that no one else has survived the Ankheg attack and that they should return to Phandalin. The ladies took him at his word and turned the cart around. Soon enough Tibor reveled his cowardly nature (mentioning that he was willing to sacrifice Vincent the ox and hiding in the middle of the crates in the cart for the whole trip). Both ladies were not impressed.

On the journey home I had them roll for the zombie encounter, but once again it didn't happen. I did have the boar return in the night, and this time the Druid got a good look at the boar. Still she didn't react, so the creature hurried away to the east. The next day the group returned to Phandalin, and returned Tibor to his brother. Barthen paid the ladies (100gp!). The Druid gave Inverna half the pay, and then spent 50 of the GP on another healing potion, because that last one came in real handy.

I told the player that the notice board had new adventures and that she leveled up! She was excited to increase to see what she got at level 4 and picked up a new Feat from Tasha's Caldron of Everything. I leveled up the sidekicks and the player picked the Woodland Manse as the next stop for the adventure.

The post...

It was a lot of fun throwing this quick session together. The book provided me with enough information to run it pretty smoothly with such short notice. I was able to adjust the difficulty as we went through the session (there can be up to 4 Ankhegs around). Since they are fighting the creatures one at a time it is easy to drop one or more from the adventure if you need to. After the Druid fell unconscious I figured it was probably a good idea to ignore that last one. 

I had a blast rolling physical dice again, and seeing my player's face as events occurred. Playing online has many advantages, but since we play audio only it can be hard to read how well the players are enjoying the adventure. I did stumble a bit, referencing the book a few too many times. I keep forgetting that I have the adventure on D&D Beyond, and can reference the text as well as the images for the adventure. I also goofed when showing my player the map. She was able to see some text behind it, and a spoiler for the site was revealed. 

The player had a good time and was looking forward to playing again. The Manse it a bit more complicated so I'll have to take some time to prep that one, but all in all this went well. 

Up Next...

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Blog Update

 So it has been quiet around here for the last few months. As I mentioned in my previous post, my Dragon of Icespire Peak game was cancelled because of COVID. The good news is that I'm still playing D&D each week. The bad news is that my blogging time has been cut down severely.

I'm running a home brew game in a world of my own creation. Between all the world building, and session planning, I'm not having a lot of energy or time to write a full campaign diary for the sessions.

If you are curious about my world building, you can check out my page over at World Anvil for Reluria. It is based on the old D&D Basic setting of Mystara, but I've added my own twist to it. I'm using the same basic maps of Mystara and even some of the information from the Gazetteers which I've been picking up. I uses these as a jumping off point and then weave my player's stories and histories into the setting.

I post new content over there each week. Most of it is probably too much detail for my players, but I'm enjoying building all this right now and if I end up running more adventures in this setting in the future, I'll have it all set up.

Anyway, I hope to return to posting here a bit more frequently, but until then, thanks so much for reading the blog. I read and try to respond to all the comments. Stay safe and keep your ears open for any good stories you might  hear.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

The Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary - Mid Campaign Wrap Up

(We did end up picking the game up again, but with only my Druid player and a sidekick. Read about the continuing adventure with Graboids!)

Wrapping it all up

Still out there making mischief!
Once the virus hit, it became impossible for our little group to meet up again. One of the players was an essential worker, and her job kicked into high gear. We weren't able to come up with a consistent meeting time or day, and came to the agreement that the campaign is on pause. But in all honesty I think we are just going to stop right here.

If things get to a new normal, and my players want to pick up where we left off, then I'm willing to adventure with them once more. For now, the dragon is still flying  over the Sword Mountains and terrorizing the folks in Phandalin. Somewhere a elven druid and her tiefling rogue companion are preparing to take it down.

Game Talk

I was able to discuss the campaign with one of the players and get her feedback on her experience with it. This was a HUGE help in guiding my approach to my next campaign (which is happening sooner than I thought). She confirmed some of the elements I experienced, and I also learned a bit more about her as a player and what kind of adventure she was looking for.

So the big stumbling block for her, were the episodes in town. The player felt those dragged on too long and didn't feel like they offered much to the story. I would feel the same way at times. I enjoyed playing all the townsfolk in Phandalin, and some of the interactions were a blast (Harbin in particular). But I agreed that it often felt like the story took a back seat as they wandered around the town and interacted with all these folk.

Voted most useful companion!
I've been listening to Sly Flourish's one on one version of The Dragon of Icespire Peak to hear how differently he handled it and for one player. One of the big differences was that he kept the town moments very short - ten minutes max. The player was there to pick up the job, rest in the inn, and that was it. He only really narrated something if there was a new element in play. In one instance he had some bards show up and attempt to make a song about the heroic adventurers... with humorous results.

Now, I've played in a couple campaigns where the shopping/town sequences can bog down the whole game, but we've had some players that love that stuff. So it is important to figure out what works and keep the approach balanced. My player is very goal oriented, and so I understand how she felt the "between encounter" segments were not her favorite.

However when I asked her what parts she really enjoyed, she mentioned nearly all the encounters and puzzles (she's a big fan of puzzles). She like the set piece encounters and the exploration of the excavation site, as well as the battle at the Shrine. She also enjoyed the side kick characters, although she felt Inverna (cowboy elf) was the better one, and that Donnabella (the magical unicorn) was more of a liability. I did remind her that they didn't really get to see Donnabella at her best. She got to cast one spell in the entire Gnomengarde exploration.

Reflection

Overall it sounds like my players had a good time. I know I did. I learned quite a bit as well. I've been playing online using a virtual tabletop for nearly three years now. So running a game at a physical table was very different in some ways. I really came to appreciate how much math the virtual table tops do for you. But I also liked rolling physical dice and seeing the players faces as things happened (I play voice only online).

This game has a dress code?
I think I've improved as a DM. It felt like I had a better handle on pacing, with only the town sessions really giving me trouble. I really liked running from a published module, it gave me a nice spring board to build on. It's fun to know that my version of the game is the only one where zombie orcs can attack in Conyberry, or where a festival of High Harvest included goat racing. I am sad that we never got around to the festival. I put a lot of work into it, and was really looking forward to it. But I kept all the materials so maybe I can include it in a future game (or if we ever come back to Phandalin I'll have it ready).

All that said, I had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends in a fantasy world for a few hours, enjoying each others company, rolling funny shaped dice and talking in silly voices. It is a shame it ended too soon, but we made some great memories while it lasted and that is the important thing.

What's Next?

Once I realized we were not going to be able to meet for a long time, I started thinking about running an online campaign. I talked with the player of the Druid, and she was game to give it a try. So I started pulling some concepts together. I've had a home brew world cooking away in the background for a couple years now. I think it is time to unleash it on some players and see what kind of stories we can make. I'm looking forward to it, and who knows maybe I'll write a diary about here.

For those of you that have been reading and enjoying the diary, thanks so much. I'm sorry you didn't get a proper ending. But if this helped you with your own version of The Dragon of Icespire Peak, than it was worth writing.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Perception or Investigation - Dungeon Master Tools

Why open a "trapped" door yourself when a friend can
open it?
Like my previous look at Athletics or Acrobatics, I'm going to examine the difference between Perception and Investigation skill rolls in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. These two checks come into play a lot during a game, and they are often ones that seems to cause some contention at the table. Usually you have characters with higher wisdom scores, like Clerics or Druids competing with higher intelligence scores like Wizards and Rogues wanting to use the skill that best suits them. Let's take a close look at the situation and see what skill is really called for.

Classic example, the adventuring party is tracking down the orcs who have abducted the village wizard and spirited her away to their overlord. As they pursue the orcs into a dense woodland, the group is staying on alert, knowing that orcs aren't completely stupid. The monsters may anticipate a tail. Sure enough a group of three orcs lie in wait to ambush the party. You ask for a Perception check from a character who is proficient. The Druid says he is and starts to roll, but the Rogue says that she has a higher Investigation skill modifier and wants to roll too. What do you do?

That dragon has one hell of a
stealth score!
In this case you can have both characters roll for their individual skills, because both apply. Let's look at each skill individually. According to the Players HandbookPerception "lets you spot, hear or otherwise detect the presence of something. It measures your general awareness of your surroundings sand the keenness of your senses." It is directly tied to Wisdom with "reflects how attuned you are to the world around you and represents your perceptiveness and intuition". It would be safe to say that the Druid's experience of living within the woods, knowing the sounds of bird and beasts would allow him to perceive changes in the environment that may be caused by the orc rearguard. A Perception check makes sense.

The Players Handbook describes Investigation as when you "look around for clues and make deductions based on those clues." It is tied to Intelligence score which "measures mental acuity, accuracy of recall and ability to reason." So if the Rogue notices some broken branches on a cluster of shrubbery, the lack of animal sounds in the area and even the slight indentation of a boot print, she may put the pieces together to determine that someone is hiding and waiting to ambush.

You can see right away that there is a grey area here. How can the rogue pick up these clues without perceiving them? How can the Druid deduce from the signs of nature the ambush around the corner? In this case, I have no problem letting both characters make the roll. Perhaps the characters work together to piece the ambush together (if both roll well). Or you can have the Rogue roll with advantage (roll two D20s and use the higher roll) to say that the Druid was assisting her with the Investigation. Or vice versa. Like my previous post explained, the goal is to make sure you let your players do the cool things their characters can do.

Between the two of them, I think they got this mystery
solved.
Let's flip the tables a bit. Suppose the party is looting the office of a corrupt mayor looking for evidence that he is being bribed by the evil wizard. The Druid's high Perception will not help in this case, because what they are looking for is specific documents or a paper trail. The Rogue's Investigation skill will be a big help here as she pieces together the correspondence that proves the mayor is corrupt. Luckily she has the Druid along with her to keep an eye out for trouble. So when the mayor's deadly elf bodyguard tries to sneak up the stairs, the Druid rolls his high Perception skill and detects the assassin.

Another way they can work together is in detecting and disarming traps. The Druid may be able to find the discolored cobblestone on the floor. But he will need the Rogue's keen Investigation skill to put together how the trap works, and then her nimble fingers to disarm the danger.

The main idea is to keep the two skills distinct enough when possible so the players feel like they are specialized and able to use those talents when needed. It keeps the players working together to solve problems. It also lets you as the DM to build encounters that play to their strengths or prey on their weaknesses. Because sometime even heroes have a bad day.

Saturday, April 4, 2020

The Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary - Episode 17 - The Night Before the Festival

The prep...

A quick search on the internet will reveal all kinds of fun
festival mini-games.
Ok I'm going to admit right off the bat that I probably spent way more time than I needed to on this little bit of home-brew content. But after the fuss I had the NPCs in Phandalin make about the festival, I figured I might as well make it a bit of an event. I curious to see how it plays out for the players, and if they find it as much fun as it was to put together.

I did some research online to find some skill challenges and mini-games to have at the festival. I wrote down some notes on the mechanics for the ones I think would fall into the wheelhouse of the player characters. Events include an archery contest, a scavenger hunt, a card tournament and of course goat races. None of these are mandatory for the players to engage in, but all have prize money and I know for sure the Rogue is looking for anyway to make coin to pay off Haylia.

I created some NPCs visiting the town on this feast day. Some will provide information for the current campaign. I have also thrown in a couple with seeds for Princes of the Apocalypse as well as the official followup to this adventure Storm Lord's Wrath. We'll see if either one grabs the characters (although I've been seeding Princes for a few sessions now).

There are also some vendors in town selling unique items like Silvered weapons (needed for later missions) and health potions. Yes the dragon is going to be sighted during the event, just to keep the tension up. All in all, there is plenty to do. I spent quite a bit of time creating new NPCs and working on the festival events. The NPCs will be useful to flesh out Phandalin a bit more, so even if the festival doesn't click, I'll have new characters for the players to interact with. I've also finally made a list of NPC names (something I should have done a long time ago) just in case my players decide to talk to the random halfling drinking at the inn. (deep breath). Ok, let's see how this goes.

The story...

I told the players in advance that they had a couple days before the festival started. So they could spend those days doing anything they wanted, and we could role play any key events that got their interest. So I started working through the events, and the players ended up interacting with just about every single one! In the end, we didn't actually get to the festival.

To win, he'll stop at nothing!
I handed out the list of events for the festival and the players were immediately caught up in the idea of Goat Races. So they went around town asking about which goats were participating. I had established that Donnabella had saved a goat named Rupert during the white dragon's attack on Phandalin earlier in the campaign. So now I revealed (retconned) that Donnabella was out training Rupert for the goat races when that occurred. So the players had a connection to the event. I made Rupert the middle of the road option for the race, but if encouraged he had the potential to win! I also made the favorite goat Black Philip (which the players heard as Black Peter, so we just went with it). Yes Black Philip is a reference to the film The Witch, just for fun. Or is he really tied with infernal forces? Not sure, but I can go that way if we want. The players promised to help Donnabella get Rupert into racing condition and did some research to find out that Rupert loved apples. So tempting him with apples and having the Druid speak to him is the next step. Rupert's owner, Margo also has some story hooks to deliver, and I hinted at those.

They met some old friends like Adabra the alchemist. Norbus and Dazlyn, the dwarf archeologists showed up to talk with Fargrim Rakencrack (at a lunch event). They also met an older dwarf who helped out Haylia at the Miner's Exchange. The players wondered if he was also part of the Zhentarim... I'll let them wonder.

To the west of Phadalin lies a new adventure...
Lots of visitors from local areas arrived. Obviously Fargrim came with a group of adventurers acting as his body guard. I had them chatting a bit about the dragon and wondering if they should try to take it down. A group of merchants arrived from Yartar and Triboar. They brought more news about things going badly in that area (tied to Princes of the Apocalypse). Finally I had a traveler from Leilon show up and talk to the players about her new town and how they are looking for adventurer's to help make the village a center of trade and travel in the area. This is a plot hook for Storm Lord's Wrath. I also had a couple elven bards show up and chat with the Druid about her background in the Feywild.

I'm really abbreviating everything that happened, because it was a lot of role play, discussion about which festival events to try, and checking out the stalls and stores to see what kind of deals and specials they were planning.

We ended the session on the morning of the Festival. The characters were awakened to the smell of cinnamon apple pancakes in the inn. Then they headed off to find Donnabella and Rupert to see how he was doing the morning of the race.

The post...

I swear it is happening next time!
This session was a lot of fun for everyone and it just flew by. I created hand outs for the festival events as well as a lengthy menu for the Stonehill Inn. These items delighted the players and they referred to them throughout the session.

I introduced a LOT of NPCs in this session and I'm going to create a handout for them to keep as a reference for the day of the festival in case they want to interact with any of them. I was prepped for all the mini-games, but we didn't get to any of them. I admit I was a bit disappointed, but the session was so much fun, it doesn't matter. I love that this is a role-play heavy group. But I think they'll be ready for some hack and slash when the festival is over.

I'm also pleased how much the players enjoy the townies of Phandalin. If we move action to Red Larch or Leilon for future adventures, it will be tough to compare those folk with these that the players have really grown to like (especially Donnabella, Tobin and Inverna). But that is a worry for future DM. For now, I'm looking forward to the next session,

Up Next...

Session 18: Graboids?

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Athletics or Acrobatics - Dungeon Master Tools

Acrobatics or Athletics... never mind, just RUN!
For Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons characters have a variety of skills they can excel in. Some of these get boosts based on race, class, and experience. One of the trickier determination players and DMs run into during the course of the game is determining if a physical action requires an Athletics skill roll or an Acrobatics skill roll.

What I have seen happen is that the player wants to roll the skill they have the higher score in (naturally) and may push back on the DM when the call for the other.

For example, the Rogue is attempting to climb up a castle wall. Like most Rogues, her Dexterity score is high and she gets a bonus to Acrobatics skill roll. She asks to use her Acrobatics skill to see if she succeeds in climbing the wall. But the DM asks for the strength based Athletics skill instead, determining that it takes physical strength to climb the castle wall. The Rogue scoffs. Her Strength ability score is low and she has no proficiency in her Athletics skill. Her attempt at being the cool infiltrator is neutralized.

Was the DM correct?

On page 175 of Players Guide you see an explanation of the Strength ability score. It describes it as the measure of... "bodily power, athletic training and the event to which you can exert raw physical force." Page 176 describes Dexterity as the measure of "agility, reflexes and balance." So the skills related to those abilities would correspond.

Specifically, the Athletics skill which is related to the Strength ability "covers difficult situations you encounter while climbing, jumping or swimming. The Acrobatics skill which is related to the Dexterity ability "covers your attempt to stay on your feet in a tricky situation, such as when you're trying to run across a sheet of ice, balance on a tightrope or stay upright on a rocking ship's deck".

Having the right gear at the right time is always good.
I would say that the DM in my example made the right call. Climbing a castle wall would require an athletics skill roll. This doesn't mean the Rogue is neutralized. If she has climbing gear in her equipment pack, she can use that to reduce the difficulty class (DC) of the climb check. Or maybe she has rope and grappling hook prepared. Because she has a high dexterity, she would probably get a nice bonus to throwing the grappling hook (the DM could treat that as a missile weapon attack, something that a high Dexterity score would improve). Once the rope is secured, her climbing DC will either drop or vanish completely (depending on the DM).

Let's try a different example. A Paladin and Rogue are on top of a tower watching a battle between dragons. It is all fun and exciting until the brass dragon hurls the blue dragon directly into the tower they are on. The violent shock causes both characters to loose their footing and start to fall off the tower. The Paladin wants to roll Athletics counting on his high Strength ability to keep his solid stance. The Rogue thinks an Acrobatics roll is needed instead, her high Dexterity would surely come into play in this situation. The DM decides that it will be an Acrobatics check. Sure enough the Rogue keeps her footing, but the Paladin loses his. Crying out in alarm, the Paladin falls over and the weight of his armor and momentum from the tremor sends him hurtling toward the edge!

At this point the Paladin can attempt to grab hold of a piece of masonry to stop from tumbling over the side. As a DM I would ask for a Strength saving throw and if he fails that, maybe let the Rogue roll a Dexterity saving throw to see if she gets her rope out to the Paladin in time for him to grab at it.

"How dare you sir. I would never smash into a tower!"
There are other instances that may be a bit grey, where it seems like either check may apply. In that case, if the players can provide convincing reasoning why they would use one skill check instead of the other, go ahead and let them roll it. Remember that the idea is to create a fun exciting story around these characters. You don't want to stop them from being the cool heroes. As a DM you want them to succeed, but not with out peril.

With new players it is important to remind them that they can use anything in the environment on their person in unique ways. Before they make that check, ask them to look through their gear, review their spell list or give them a hint from the environment description. New players may be more used to video games, where that kind of thinking isn't as frequent.

Hopefully this helps guide you on how to adjudicate which of these two skill rolls to ask for and when. They are ones I see most often confused and argued, but have you seen ones that come up more frequently?

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

The Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary - Episode 16 - Botched Bountyhunters

The prep...

"How tough can a rogue traveling with a druid
and a unicorn really be?"
I wanted the players to start the session with a bit of combat. Things have been simmering between them and Haylia's hired toughs for a while now, and I figured it was time for the two groups to face off. I decided that the Halfling spy was tired of being humiliated and he convinced the other three toughs that they could capture the Rogue and get the bounty on her head for themselves. So they set up an ambush for the characters as they were leaving Gnomengarde. Unfortunately for the goons, the group decided to spend the night with the gnomes, so any advantage they would have attacking at sundown would be lost. Still, these guys are stupid, so I figured they would try it in the morning anyway.

I also prepped for the Highharvest Festival that I had been hinting at over the course of the game. I had found some ideas for fun festival activities. I also decided that Lillian would be selling silvered weapons at a discounted rate (one of the upcoming adventures contains creatures that can only be hit by silvered or magical weapons).

Unfortunately we had a real late start this session and we didn't get much past the goon attack. The group spent some time in Phandalin afterward doing some minor things, but we decided to end the session before the festival started (little did I know this Festival was turning into a major part of the game).

The story...

Gnomish goodbye?
We jumped backward in time a little bit, as I had the characters settle in the bunkhouse for the evening in Gnomengarde. I asked them about watches and the decided to take them. During the Druid's watch, she heard a strange noise from outside. She did some investigating (making some great stealth rolls) and could just make out a figure moving away from Gnomengarde toward the narrow pass leading into the area. She returned to the bunkhouse and told her companions about the figure the next morning.

The party said their goodbyes to the gnomes and then headed out. But they were being super careful, rolling for perception checks and survival checks to find footprints. They rolled very well and noticed sets of fresh footprints in the area. They saw the spot where the gorge narrowed, and realized it would be a great place for an ambush. So they were ready when that ambush occurred.

I was using the standard Bandit stat blocks from the Monster Manual for these guys. I tweaked some of the weapons a bit by adding a short bow here and a hand axe there. It didn't impact the damage output too much. All it really did was alter the flavor of the encounter. I had two of the thugs attack from range and under partial cover. The other two would get in close with clubs and try to knock out the Rogue. Well the party rolled really well for initiative, and got some of the first shots off. The bandits rolled poorly and missed just about everything at range. The Druid unleashed her Moonbeam spell again and pretty much torched the two thugs with clubs. The WORST SPY EVER was knocked out by a Sleep spell from Donnabella and the last one surrendered when he failed a morale check.

Sleeping halfling dreaming of a gooseberry pie
as big as a mountain!
I do like rolling morale checks for enemies. I essentially have them make a Wisdom Saving throw against a DC I decide. If the battle is going poorly the DC is higher. The last thug, a dwarf, rolled pretty badly and surrendered. The group questioned him and he said that the WORST SPY EVER came up with the idea to ambush them and convinced them all to do it for the coin. He also told them a little more about the bounty hunter that was after them. He said she was known as The Huntress, and that she was very famous for always taking her bounty. But that she thought of the whole thing as a game. The group let him live and he ran off toward the sea. But the group took the sleeping halfling spy and tied him to the collapsing pool and dragged him back to town.

What followed was them dragging the poor guy along with them as they visited each and every place in town as a public display of not messing with them. They visited the general goods store, and experimented with the Treasure Barrel. They purchased the petrified mouse, and then tried to send the construct fish back through the barrel. It didn't work, but I kept rolling a 1D4 to see if it anything would happen. Then they went to the inn and had a drink. I had Quinn Hightopple run in and punch the tied up spy in the crotch, much to the delight of the players. Then they went to the Shrine of Luck, and finally visited Harbin.

Every adventuring party needs a pole.
They gave Harbin the Hat of Wizardry for 50 gold. But he wasn't interested in the other items. He asked them to stay for the festival (he is thinking it would be good to have them around for extra security). I told them about the events at the festival, so they would have an idea. Harbin also reminded them about the other two missions. One is an escort mission to the Gold Toe Mine and the other is to check on a Logger's Camp. The characters had seen the dragon flying around near the forest, so they weren't too excited about going there. But they also didn't fancy an escort mission. They talked it over for a little but in the end decided to figure it out after the Festival. They are also intrigued about the lighthouse and the source of power within it.

Finally they paid Donnabella for her time, and she said she would be happy to travel with them again. Then they dragged the Spy back to Haylia. She was very very upset after the party told her what happened. She assured them that she had nothing to do with the ambush and that the spy would be punished and that they wouldn't have to worry about seeing him... ever again. It was rather ominous. She also mentioned that she was more annoyed at the loss of money from the whole thing and that working for her was lucrative and the option was still open for the Rogue.

The group headed back to the inn, and we ended the session there.

The post...

Everyone loves gourds, right?
This session felt a little flat to me. I think it was because we got started late. But also because the players decided to drag the spy around with them through the whole town as a kind of punishment. This added extra town material to the session that I wasn't planning on. I had assumed we would jump right to festival day.

The players had fun, but I felt like I was spinning my wheels. I just need to get over that kind of thing as a DM. If the players want to drag the annoying halfling prisoner all over town, let them do it. I admit there were some funny moments and comments from the locals that came of it. But I was itching to get to the festival events. I'm going to want to prep some handouts for the next session so they have things to reference about the festival. All this material is home-brew, and I see how much the group enjoys handouts and other physical props.

Up Next...

Session 17: The Night Before the Festival

Friday, March 13, 2020

5 Things I Learned Being a Dungeon Master for Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons

I always roll behind the screen!
Since getting back into playing Dungeons and Dragons a few years ago, I have had the pleasure of running games of various sizes. My first couple games in Fifth edition were on the short side, lasting a couple sessions of about four hours a piece. I've run a couple one shots last about four hours, and of course I'm running my Dragon of Icespire Peak campaign.

It's been an interesting experience running those three types of games. I've learned quite a bit from the experience. So in no particular order, here are some of my observations and lessons I picked up from running these games.

  1. You are the only one who knows that the players missed that really cool room/treasure/encounter.
    • The first adventure I ran was a dungeon crawl that lasted two, four hour sessions. I worked on it for a good couple weeks coming up with traps, cool encounters, interesting non-player characters and a fun boss battle. When we finished the first session it became obvious that I crated too much material. I was actually annoyed that they were going to have to miss some of the fun things I thought up if we were going to end the game the next session. For a while I was disappointed by the experience. But when I talked to the players, they really enjoyed it. I was the only one who felt that it wasn't as good as it could have been, because I was the only one who knew about the stuff they missed. 
  2. Nothing is wasted, it just goes into the next adventure.
    • That is when I picked up the cool NPCs and plunked them down into the next short session I ran about six months later. I took one of the traps they avoided, and tweaked it for the new setting and used it. Again I made a bit too much material for this second game so some of that stuff got shifted to the one shots I ran almost two years later. Just make sure you keep your notes, because you never know when it will be useful.
  3. You control the pace.
    • Yeah, learned this the hard way. The second game I ran I set up like an old school
      THAC0? We don't need no stinkin' THAC0!
      Mission: Impossible adventure. It was all about setting up the mission and executing. I tried to create tension, but instead I created long periods of waiting around. It got tedious and boring. The thing is, I didn't have to be. The DM controls the timing, and it is fine to just jump ahead to the good parts. There are ways to build tension in Dungeons and Dragons, but they tend to work better in the immediate situations. I've gotten a lot better at pacing since then, but yeah, that was a rough game.
  4. Prep for the next session only.
    • World building is a blast, and coming up with all these great schemes and villain plans is a lot of fun. But there are so many times that you never get to those moments, or when you do it is six sessions later and so much has changed that your original plan doesn't even work. Even running a published adventure like Dragon of Icespire Peak doesn't guarantee that you will follow the written path. The players will do their own thing, come up with innovative solutions, and take the story in unusual directions. So the best thing to do is to have a very lose outline of your overarching plan. But really focus on prepping for that next session. Don't get lost in the joys of world building when you never get a chance to get out of the village.
  5. Handouts
  6. Oh you think you know it all? Well, you haven't even
    begun to learn. (insert evil chuckle)
    • Players like to have things they can reference, review and dig into. This can be a simple menu for the tavern, or a letter from an enemy or a treasure map. Playing at the virtual table, it can be a bit tricky, but possible to come up with all kinds of written material for the players to interact with. Remember rule 4 and don't spend an outrageous amount of time of these, but do spend some time. When you are playing at the physical table, having physical spell scrolls to hand out, actual inspiration tokens to manipulate and even magic item cards can add to the game. It is one of things I think The Essentials Kit did so well with their box. I love the two sided map and having those cards for the sidekicks has been a lot of fun (since I ended up using about half of them to people Phandalin). 
So there you go, a few things I've picked up, and I'm still learning and picking up new techniques for being a better Dungeon Master.

Do you have any tips you want to share?

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

What's in a name? - Name List - Dungeonmaster Tools

When you absolutely must roll a 100...
Dungeons and Dragons can involve a lot of improvisation. You can plan out your adventures, roll up your stats for monsters, and attempt to anticipate your player's every move or reaction. But in the end, the players will do what they please. You may prep for the dungeon delve beneath the mountain, and your characters decide to seek out the floating castle they heard about six sessions ago. You've got nothing prepped for the floating castle, and now your players are obsessed with finding it. Quick thinking is needed.

This kind of thing happens all the time, but you can have some tools ready to make the minor challenges roll a bit smother (yes, a dice pun in a Dungeons and Dragons blog, big shock). One issue that I've run into many times is the characters deciding to talk to a random non-player character (NPC) they pick out of a crowd. All you said was, "you are on a crowded street" and suddenly our players are questioning a washer woman about the dragon they saw flying around the town. Sure you have to improvise her reaction, but the worst part is when they ask you her name.

Here's a tip: you can't name every random NPC "Bob", it is going to break immersion.

Instead you should always have a list of NPC names handy. At the very least have 10 male and 10 female. If you want to go crazy you can narrow it down by race too. So you can have 10 male dwarf names and 10 female dwarf names, and elf names, and halfling names, and dragonborn names and... well you get the idea. However you decide to do it, this little tool will save you a bunch of time head scratching and endless NPCs named "Bob".

It has just a lot of stuff, if not "everything".
One of my favorite supplemental books for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons is Xanathar's Guide to Everything. It is packed with great stuff for players and dungeonmasters alike. Well worth picking up after you have the core rulebooks. In its Appendix B at the end of the book it contains 17 pages of names that you roll up using a D100. It gives you fantasy names as well as historical names. Plenty of names to pick from when building adventures, characters or just to have handy for those random NPC moments.

There are also plenty of online tools for name generation out there. And these can be very handy to create your lists ahead of time.

When you do assign a name to the random NPC make sure you make some note somewhere with a brief description of the NPC, what name you gave him or her and what they told the party. This is necessary because for some reason your players are going to latch onto that one random NPC instead of the ones you spent hours creating, and they will proceed to bring them when you least expect it. So make sure you have these notes handy so when they ask to speak to Rezena the Dragonborn clerk in the tiny fishing village from session 2, and you are now in session 40 and you just happened to be passing that fishing village and they want to pop in and say "hi" you have an idea of who they are talking about.

So there you go, one of the most valuable DM tools and one that you won't regret having around, even if you are running a published adventure.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

The Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary - Episode 15 - Fractured Facktore Tales and the Amazing Blunicorn

The prep...

Crossbow machine to the north and wine room
of death to the east. Nice and safe.
So I had most of the material prepped already for this session. The big change was turning Fracktore, the gnome in room G7 from an insane scientist into a traumatized witness to the murders of the gnomes in the dining room. I took this idea from Sly Flourish and his excellent article about running this adventure. This allows the characters to use roleplaying to get more information out of her about what she witnessed. Her paranoia is fueled by the fact that she saw the attack, and realizes that the attacker is a shapeshifter of some kind. This gives the players another ally they can use as they work their way through the complex, one with a bit of knowledge.

I re-read about the rooms the trio hadn't explored yet, just to get a refresher about them. I was going to have the attack occur in the room G8, with the wine casks for sure. I also prepped the magical items that the characters would get from this excursion. I felt like we were good with ending this portion of the adventure tonight. I got my gnome voices ready and then we started.

The story...

The Rogue, Druid and Donnabella (magical unicorn) discussed where they wanted to go next. They were warned about the crazy gnome Fractore, in the room to the south, but they hoped that maybe they could get past her without things getting out of hand. The players were extremely cautious moving down the corridors. I described how this corridor was different. As they neared the room, torches were set up, as well as lamps.

Alternate crossbow machine, human made instead of
gnome made.
The Druid rolled a high perception roll and I told her that she realized that the positioning of the torch would cause her shadow to move in front of her as she walked down the corridor. They realized that Fracktore was using this as a way to determine when someone was coming down the hall. The Rogue used her sneaky skills to inch down the corridor, masking her shadow with clever placement. She was able to peek into the next room and get a good look at the room layout and the mechanical crossbow design.

The Rogue went back to the group and they discussed a little further. The machine could fire a crossbow in four different directions and was controlled by a gnome operator in the seat above the crossbows. They decided to try to talk to Fracktore and hopefully get the gnome to stay calm. They made a big production about going down the hall, and the gnome called out a warning. They responded that they were here to catch the murderer, and needed her help. She didn't trust them, saying any one of them could be the killer. The discussion continued, but Fracktore lost her patience and fired down the hall at them. She missed, and the Rogue used a well placed arrow to damage the machine.

"I swear it was supposed to do that... any data
is good data!"
This caused a break in the attack and made room for more talking. The group explained that they had talked with the kings and the inventors and were really there to help. Some high persuasion rolls (thanks to the Druid's awesome hat) were able to convince Fracktore that they were honest folk. The gnome described how she was in the dining room discussing how there shouldn't be two cutlery cabinets. She is in charge of work orders and if anyone is going to be building cabinets, they need to clear it with her. Suddenly the cabinet attacked! It had teeth and a horribly long tongue and messily devoured two gnomes before she was able to run away.

The group noticed that her tools on her belt were well cared for and very shiny. They reasoned that the shimmering the King saw during the attack could have been the sunlight from the nearby cave entrance reflecting off Fracktore's tool belt (I admit I had to stretch that a bit, but it got the group to stop obsessing over the "shimmering light clue"). The gnome explained how she had been hard at work on this machine for days and had little sleep. The group promised to guard her while she took a nap, and this boosted her trust in them. She vowed to help them out after a couple of hours rest.

The group took this time to talk about the possible shapeshifters this creature might be. They didn't roll all that well, and couldn't come up with anything. Once Fracktore was awake she joined them on their continued exploration of the complex.

To quote one of players, "Ewww, just... ewww."
Up next was the wine cask room, where the murderer was hidden. They walked in and I described how there were twelve barrels of wine in the room as well as a couple of gnome sized mugs on the wall. They asked Fracktore about the room, and she told them how they would move the barrels around using the crab contraption machines. She said that it was part of her job to keep an inventory over all eleven barrels. The Rogue was getting some wine at that moment, picking the barrel right next to the one where the mimic was hiding. I rolled a D12 and got an 11 for mimic placement. The Rogue was at barrel twelve.

The players picked up immediately that Fracktore said eleven barrels and there were twelve in here. The Rogue immediately backed away from the barrels. I rolled a 1D4 behind my screen: evens it attacked her, odds it did nothing. I rolled a 3. The group asked Fracktore if it was possible that someone added a new barrel. She said they would have to have a work order and no one had given her one in the past few days - because she was shooting at anyone who came down the hall.

The Rogue pulled out some ball bearings form her pack and then started to toss them at each of the barrels. She skipped the one she had pulled a drink of wine from, and went for the one next to it. I described how the ball bearing didn't bounce off but sunk in for a moment. Then we rolled initiative.

Donnabella in one of the pre-chosen forms!
It was a fun battle, with the mimic being a gross creature and its tongue being just plain disgusting to the players. Donnabella cast Firebolt and a wild magic effect occurred - she turned blue! At that moment the group dubbed her the Amazing Blu-nicorn. The Rogue took some shots at the monster, but it moved in close and attacked her, doing some serious damage. The Druid cast Moonbeam on the creature. This caused a wild magic effect of the Druid sprouting wings! But more importantly the moonbeam attack caused the mimic to drop it's disguise. They saw it as a puddle of translucent goo. More fire spells were unleashed and the moonbeam did a good amount of damage. The creature was finally slain.

With that accomplished the trio went back to tell the inventors and the kings the good news. There was much rejoicing, and the kings kept up their end of the deal. They ordered that their best magical inventions be given to these heroes. The characters received a Hat of Wizardry, a Wand of Pyrotechnics, a Clockwork Amulet and a Pole of Collapsing. I think the players were a bit disappointed by the bounty. Still they decided to accept the gnomish hospitality for the evening and sup with them and talk about their adventures.

The post...

Sometimes a barrel of monkeys is just a barrel of
monkeys and not a mimic.
This session was a bit strange because we only really had two encounters the whole night. They spent a lot of time around Fracktore, first trying to figure out how to approach her, next spending time discussing what she saw and how she could help them. It was some good roleplaying and I think the players really felt bad for the poor traumatized gnome. After that the whole sequence in the wine storage room was pretty suspenseful, especially when they realized there were too many wine casks in the room. They spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the best way to reveal the killer - if there was one and it wasn't just an extra barrel that was delivered without Fracktore knowing.

I did end up speeding through the bit at the end with the kings and the awarding of the gifts. We were running out of time for the session and I wanted wrap up the adventure and not leave any dangling for the next session. The players were having a good time, but I also go the feeling that they were ready to head back to Phandalin for the festival.

Up Next...

Session 16: Botched Bountyhunters

Friday, February 21, 2020

Don't Mephit Up - Low Level Elemental Enemies

One thing I've noticed when watching/experiencing low level play in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons is the tendency to use either goblins or kobolds as the first couple encounters for a low level party. Nothing wrong with that, but you or your party may want to try something a bit different the next time. And no, having them kill rats in a cellar doesn't count either.

One variant you may want to look into are Mephits, found on page 215 - 217 of the fifth edition Monster Manual. These little guys are elemental based enemies with a variety of abilities to make combat encounters challenging, but have low hit points (HP) and average armor class (AC) to keep them from getting overwhelming in low numbers.

"Here's mud in your eyes!"
You get six flavors of Mephit, and depending on what kind of environment you are using they can fit into just about any one. Mephits are made from a combination of two elements. So the mud Mephit is made of water and earth. A steam Mephit is fire and water. They are tricksters by nature, and they are usually summoned by magic to guard an area or defend a spell caster.

Most Mephits have the False Appearance ability, which allows them to hide in plain sight, allowing them to get the jump on a party, especially in their favored environment. So mud Mephits hiding a swamp are going to be very hard to to detect. All Mephits also have the Death Burst ability, which causes them to explode when they are killed, causing a Saving Throw for anyone within 5 feet of them or there are consequences. Sometimes it is damage, but other times it can be a condition. For example if a dust Mephit is destroyed, anyone within 5 feet of the Mephit must make a Constitution Saving throw or be blinded for one minute.

Mephits have a standard claw or fist attack that typically does 4 of a standard damage type (slashing or bludgeoning). But a few add some elemental damage to the average damage (typically fire). They also have a breath attack they can use once and recharge on a die roll of 6 on a 1D6. These breath weapons act much like the Death Burst causing damage or a condition impact if the saving throw is failed.

With six types to choose from and a bunch of different abilities and actions you can come up with some really interesting encounters for a low level party to deal with.

His breath is actually very refreshing.
I used Mephits in a one shot adventure for 1st and 2nd level characters. The Mephits were part of a defense system a wizard had put in place in his lair. They acted as guardians and part of a larger puzzle to figure out. So the Mephits would lie in wait using their False Appearance ability for the characters to make the wrong selection during the puzzle and either attack or just mess with the characters. The Ice Mephit could create a Fog Cloud that caused problems for the characters trying to solve the puzzle. While the Mud Mephits were acting more as attackers for a combat situation.

You can also have the Mephits working as minions for a wizard. Maybe the sorceress sends Magma Mephits to start a fire in a keep, or heat the metal weapons of the guards as she attempts to sneak into the keep and poison the characters.

As in most cases, at 1st level these little guys can be lethal, especially with their Death Burst ability. So you may want to keep the numbers low. But at higher levels, even if they get one shot, Mephits can present a challenging encounter and one that is sure to shake things up if you are looking for an alternative to goblins or kobolds.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

The Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary - Episode 14 - Scum and Villainy

The prep...

So it was time for the Rogue to deal with her debt and meet the bounty hunter I cooked up for her. I reviewed the bounty hunter's stats and got Haylia's toughs ready in case they were going to get involved in this whole mess.

But the real prep revolved around getting Gnomengarde ready and rolling. I was dreading this section a little bit. It was the most involved map we've worked with yet. It has a bunch of characters, nearly all of them are extremely wacky and wild. Speaking of wild, there is wild magic going on, and my Druid and Donnabella are primarily spell casters. I wasn't sure if the players would find this fun, or just annoying. And then there the gnomish voices - how high pitched did I want to make them?

But really the big issue was the murder mystery element. I wanted to give the characters enough to learn and explore so they didn't get frustrated, but I wanted to keep in intense and interesting all at the same time. I decided to seed some additional clue into the story when it seemed appropriate. I also used some advice from Sly Flourish about turning Facktore into a witness to the murders (see more about that in the next diary).

The way I saw this, it could either go really well, or flop really hard.

The story...

"I is spy."
So the session started with the Rogue and Druid accepting Haylia's invitation to meet with her at night. As they headed to the Miner's Exchange they moved slowly and kept eyes open for a trap. Sure enough the WORST SPY EVER halfling was watching them. I rolled for stealth for the little guy and he got a one. So I said he was hiding in the shadows of a building when someone put a oil lamp in the window and illuminated his shape. The Rogue snuck up behind him as the Druid distracted him by playing with her Produce Flame cantrip. It worked, the Rogue captured his sorry butt and dragged him into the Exchange to confront... meet with Haylia.

Haylia's poker face broke for a second when she saw the captured halfling but she waved off the spy as just an inept fool who she regretted hiring. More important was the fact that the messenger from Neverwinter arrived asking about the Rogue's debt, and made it clear that a bounty had been issued. Haylia explained that if the Rogue paid a bit of the debt right now, it would give Haylia leverage to negotiate with the messenger.

The Rogue wanted to talk to the messenger, to find out what they knew. Haylia gestured to the mysterious cloaked figure in the corner. I described the figure as being mostly in shadow, but they could make out fine leather boots with some scrollwork on them, as well as a rapier scabbard of excellent make. The Druid being part of the Circle of the Underdark recognized the scrollwork as Drow in style and I mentioned of wisp of silver white hair peeking from the hood. The player became convinced it was Jarlaxle (an infamous Drow crime lord) which gave me a chuckle. The figure didn't say anything, but Haylia kept talking, telling the Rogue that it was in her best interest to fork over a little gold, 10 pieces at least to start.

Dark elf assassin or bard groupie?
The Rogue grumbled and handed Haylia 50 gold pieces and said the rest would be coming soon. Haylia was pleased and said it put her in a much better position to bargain with... the messenger. The adventurers left, grumbling to themselves and securing their bedroom in the Stonehill Inn. The next morning they met Donnabella already waiting for them and bursting to go on a real adventure with two real heroes. The fan-girl antics made both players chuckle.

So it was off to the mysterious Gnomengarde. The ladies chatted a bit as they headed to the river and followed it up to the waterfall that marked the entrance to the gnome enclave. They got a kick out of the little islands dotted with giant mushrooms. Of course the Druid had to check those out and I described them as having different scents and attributes (the green ones had a yeasty smell, the purple ones smelled fermented, and the red had an oily sheen).

It was a little tricky describing the entrances to the complex. I was trying to avoid using the map for this one and stick to theater of the mind. But my players did get a bit confused by the whole thing. Eventually they decided to climb up to one of the ledges on the west side. This lead to the "bunkhouse" full of sleeping gnomes. The group rolled really well with stealth and passed by the snoozing gnomes without an incident.

From here they went to the laboratory to meet the two bickering gnome inventors. This was a fun encounter as I had both gnomes constantly arguing with each other, talking rapidly and getting off course with any bit of conversation that reminded them of one of their inventions. Eventually the two inventors pleaded with the heroes to find a killer in the complex. If they caught or killed this murder, then the gnomes would give them some of their best magic items. The players agreed.

"It will work perfectly, as soon as I figure out what it does."
I described how one of the gnome kings had gone mad after seeing two of his people murdered right in front of him. After it happened he ran to the throne room and locked it tight. He then proceeded to glue the other king to the throne so he would remain out of danger. This makes perfect sense because... gnomes. The inventors advised the heroes to try to talk to the mad king and see if they can get anything out of him. They said he was ranting and raving and that maybe if the killer was caught he would return to his normal state.

The players also found out that one of the inventions here was a strange portal that lead from a "trash barrel" to the "treasure barrel" in Barthan's. They also learned that the clockwork goldfish they found way back at the start of the campaign came from here. The gnomes were fascinated by this development and asked the characters to try an experiment by forcing "Bruce" the goldfish through the barrel at the other end to see if appeared in Gnomengarde. The players found this funny, not sure if they are going to try it or not.

So the characters went to meet with the king. Sure enough he sounded pretty darn crazy. He refused to open the door to the throne room. But he did tell them that he saw massive sharp teeth, a long tongue and a sparkle of light right before the attack. Now I added that bit about the sparkle of light because I thought the dining room (where the attack happened) was closer to the waterfall than it turned out to be. This caused a bit of a problem as the players became obsessed with the sparkle of light as they tried to piece together the mystery.

The inventors had warned the characters about Facktore, a gnome who had also gone mad and was shooting anyone who came near her with a massive crossbow device. The characters wanted to avoid her. So they left the complex the way they came in (awakening a gnome named Quibby who thought she was having a dream about elves and demons). They crossed the river (with all three failing their Dex checks and getting soaked. And then climbed to one of the eastern platforms. Here they found the dining room.

Gnomes come running for the great
taste of 1up.
Here is where the mysterious murderer of gnomes attacked the king and his subjects. But it looked pretty darn normal in there. They searched around and with some good Investigation rolls they determined the the cutlery cabinet had been moved. Adjusting it themselves they found dark stains on the wall and on the back of the cabinet. They also noticed the cabinet had some damage inflicted on the back of it. They looked around for the source of the sparkle. They spent a lot of time on that. Teaches me not to spout out colorful descriptors during a murder investigation.

The trio proceeded to check out the kitchen and see the gnomes at their whimsical work with the mushrooms. They headed into the pantry and checked out that area, but didn't find any more clues. They headed back to the dining room and discussed what they wanted to do next. It sounded like Facktore would have to be talked to, but they weren't sure how to approach her.

We ended the evening there, allowing them some time to think of the next move and the clues they had.

The post...

Nope no wild magic to see here. Just normal magic.
Overall I think the session went well. The first part with Haylia and the bounty hunter was just as intense as I wanted it to be. I'm going to have the bounty hunter watching the Rogue carefully going forward, and if no more money is paid to the bounty she will come after them.

As for Gnomengarde, it was a lot of fun. The role-playing was entertaining and engaging. The players seemed to like the crazy personalities of the gnomes and the murder mystery. While I did mention the wild magic to them in the laboratory, they haven't seen that in action yet.  But they did like seeing the extra stuff I added with the treasure barrel and the clockwork fish.

I'm curious to see where they end up next session, and how they handle the monster hidden in this complex. It looks to be a fun one.

Up next...

Session 15: Fractured Facktore Tales and the Amazing Blunicorn