If you haven't already done so, be sure to read the previous posts in the Scribe Notes series for the complete back story!
It was a short ride to the cave. A small hidden entrance behind a rock. Waves... crashing in the depths. Gundren's brother, Tharden, was found shortly inside. Poor dwarf had been dead at least a week. His other brother, Nundro, might still be inside. Gundren gave Ava Tharden's boots. Magical items that fit the wearer and provide extra agility.
It proved handy when a yellow slime fell from the ceiling. I wasn't as lucky. Caught most of it. The ooze started attacking once it hit the ground. Foul ichor took me by quite a surprise, bludgeoning me senseless. I tried to shrug it off but was a sticky mess. Ava made a mess of the ichor with a mighty swing. I'd have been helpless without her. The slime split and attacked us further. But Thaelin and I were able to escape. My Ray of Frost was ineffective. Ava's axe was all the beast needed in the end. Thaelin and Ava knew the creature as an Ochre Jelly. Carnivorous slimes that lurk in caves.
Came upon an interesting pool in the cave. Thaelin, much to our surprise, turned into a shark and retrieved a wand from the bottom of the pool. A wand of Magic Missile. I remember them from my schooling days. The devices contain numerous charges of the spell for demonstration purposes. Quite handy in these circumstances. Thaelin insisted I carry it.
Up the stairs and we come to a door with voices on the other side complaining of undead and mentioning someone named "Nezznar". Ava's attempt at a grand entrance was unsuccessful. Her well intended kick did not break in the door; it merely knocked our arrival to the bugbear horde inside. Trym and Ava were quick to damage the first with a flurry of blows. Thaelin halted the beast in the door and I unleashed a fan of flame on the lot. Burned them all to a crisp but still they stood. The one in back lobbed a javelin at me so hard it penetrated my magic barrier... and my shoulder. The rest of the party managed to dispatch the rest while I drank a healing potion. We barred the doors and took a short rest. The room was a barracks, barricaded from the other side. We found a curious white potion. Some kind of healing or protection energy emanates from it.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Scribe Notes - Vol. 5: A Brief Stop in Phandalin
If you haven't already done so, be sure to read the previous posts in the Scribe Notes series for the complete back story!
Back in Phandalin for a bit of errands and rest. Stopped by the shrin of Lick to see if Sister Garelle could shed some light on the trinkets we picked up in Cragmaw Castle. While she took a look, we visited Trym's aunt at her farm. A humble folk, the halflings. Trym seems a bit of an anomaly amongst her normally shy, reerved people. Small wonder she took to the adventuring life. Her "Bag of Tricks" provided the evenings entertainment.
Trym's Aunt was a most gracious host. Poor woman was most grevious to learn of her friend Reidoth's death, a druid who was slain by the dragon in Thundertree. Still, she managed to make us a marvelous potato soup. So savory.
Sister Garelle was not dissapointing. She gave us wonderful information the items we found. Ava's Axe, "Hew", is an excellent magical item, potent against plant material. The statue is most fascinating. It's a divinity focus. Casts Augury for anyone who asks it a question. Only seems to work once per person. I think we'll keep it around.
The pub was entirely too boisterous for my tastes. But Sildar was able to expound on my knowledge of Wave Echo Cave. A magical item factory made by an alliance of human wizards, dwarven smiths, and gnomish tinkerers. Local orcs heard of the place and launched an attack. The ensuing battle killed scores on each side, and destroyed the very heart of the mine. Gundren says he knows a secret passage in. Plans to restart the forge. Trouble is, the Cragmaws and this Black Spider are most surely on their way there. Not to mention monsters and undead.
Trym's planning some ridiculous disguises. I hope they won't be necessary, but nevertheless, it is an extra asset. A battered miner wandered in. Human and ornery. Said goblins attacked his camp in the south east Sword Mountains. Trym and Ava, both deep in their pups, promised bengence for the poor lad. It seems helpfulness has become an addiction to the two. A big day tomorrow. I hope for a good night's rest.
Back in Phandalin for a bit of errands and rest. Stopped by the shrin of Lick to see if Sister Garelle could shed some light on the trinkets we picked up in Cragmaw Castle. While she took a look, we visited Trym's aunt at her farm. A humble folk, the halflings. Trym seems a bit of an anomaly amongst her normally shy, reerved people. Small wonder she took to the adventuring life. Her "Bag of Tricks" provided the evenings entertainment.
Trym's Aunt was a most gracious host. Poor woman was most grevious to learn of her friend Reidoth's death, a druid who was slain by the dragon in Thundertree. Still, she managed to make us a marvelous potato soup. So savory.
Sister Garelle was not dissapointing. She gave us wonderful information the items we found. Ava's Axe, "Hew", is an excellent magical item, potent against plant material. The statue is most fascinating. It's a divinity focus. Casts Augury for anyone who asks it a question. Only seems to work once per person. I think we'll keep it around.
The pub was entirely too boisterous for my tastes. But Sildar was able to expound on my knowledge of Wave Echo Cave. A magical item factory made by an alliance of human wizards, dwarven smiths, and gnomish tinkerers. Local orcs heard of the place and launched an attack. The ensuing battle killed scores on each side, and destroyed the very heart of the mine. Gundren says he knows a secret passage in. Plans to restart the forge. Trouble is, the Cragmaws and this Black Spider are most surely on their way there. Not to mention monsters and undead.
Trym's planning some ridiculous disguises. I hope they won't be necessary, but nevertheless, it is an extra asset. A battered miner wandered in. Human and ornery. Said goblins attacked his camp in the south east Sword Mountains. Trym and Ava, both deep in their pups, promised bengence for the poor lad. It seems helpfulness has become an addiction to the two. A big day tomorrow. I hope for a good night's rest.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Scribe Notes - Vol. 4: Cragmaw Castle
If you haven't already done so, be sure to read the previous posts in the Scribe Notes series for the complete back story!
While riding, we learned of Thaelin's affiliation with the Circle of the Forest - a protective group of druids assigned to different parts of the forests of Faerûn. As it turns out, Thundertree and Cragmaw Castle are in his jurisdiction.
We came to the outskirts of the castle in the dense woods. Seven crumbling towers above the tree line. Despite its dilapidated appearance, it remains quite defensive. Best be cautious...
We approached a side entrance on the south. Trym sneaked ahead to investigate. We first made way into the banquet hall... and loudly introduced ourselves to eight goblins during their evening meal. Three got away and dragged us into a trap. I set flame to the extra goblins and we set off north, only to find more goblins. One set off into the woods in terror. The rest weren't as lucky. One of the doors was trapped and nearly swept us up in a pile of rubble, cutting off two passages in the process. We also found some dwarven sized armor in a stock room. Grabbed a longsword next to it, hoping to return it to Gundren.
Hobgoblins greeted us in the next room. Confounding cantrips! So difficult to bring forth in my mind. But Ava slew two with a single stroke! After the battle, we secured the room and took a short rest to recuperate. I swear we've spent two days in this castle.
Found the wretched, defiled altar in the northern tower, attended by three of the goblin cultists. We cut them down in almost an instant. The last one, Lupo, cried out to his "god." We cleared the altar of its trinkets and admired the once great shrine to Oghma.
The room to the south of the shrine contained a fascinating brazier. Human made, dedicated to many gods, not just Oghma. More curious was the tiny statue of a sun elf in the coals. But most curious was the enormous beaked worm that dropped down on us from the ceiling. I attempted to slow it with a poison arrow, but the spell fizzled most embarrassingly. It dodged my witch bolt, but Ava made an elegant chop to its head. Thaelin identified the beast as a "Grick" - subterranean monsters that use camouflage to blend into their surroundings.
We finally found Gundren, beaten on the ground and in the presence of what surely must be this "Black Spider." A vile drow woman with a wolf and a bugbear in tow. A mighty battle... Thaelin's bears made short work of the wolf. I surprised the drow with a mighty artillery of magic missiles, as Trym planted an arrow neatly in her thigh. The drow grins... a respectable adversary.
A flurry of blows! The drow looks to Trym and says her name, taking the halfling aback. Another volley of magical energy and the drow... well, I can only say "withered" before our eyes. It lost all color and form. Most disturbing. A shapeshifter is not quite what you'd imagine in the flesh.
The bugbear put up quite a fight to the very end. "King Grohl", apparently... didn't seem all that dignified for a king. This "Black Spider", unfortunately, is merely an impostor. Gundren begs us to make haste to Wave Echo Cave to save his brethren. No rest for the adventurer, it seems.
I'll have to inform the Temple of Oghma of the shrine's cleansing when next in Neverwinter. Still... such a marvelous day. The shrine is cleansed and we move on to Phandalin for some much needed rest. I am eager to see what else Oghma has in store...
While riding, we learned of Thaelin's affiliation with the Circle of the Forest - a protective group of druids assigned to different parts of the forests of Faerûn. As it turns out, Thundertree and Cragmaw Castle are in his jurisdiction.
We came to the outskirts of the castle in the dense woods. Seven crumbling towers above the tree line. Despite its dilapidated appearance, it remains quite defensive. Best be cautious...
We approached a side entrance on the south. Trym sneaked ahead to investigate. We first made way into the banquet hall... and loudly introduced ourselves to eight goblins during their evening meal. Three got away and dragged us into a trap. I set flame to the extra goblins and we set off north, only to find more goblins. One set off into the woods in terror. The rest weren't as lucky. One of the doors was trapped and nearly swept us up in a pile of rubble, cutting off two passages in the process. We also found some dwarven sized armor in a stock room. Grabbed a longsword next to it, hoping to return it to Gundren.
Hobgoblins greeted us in the next room. Confounding cantrips! So difficult to bring forth in my mind. But Ava slew two with a single stroke! After the battle, we secured the room and took a short rest to recuperate. I swear we've spent two days in this castle.
Found the wretched, defiled altar in the northern tower, attended by three of the goblin cultists. We cut them down in almost an instant. The last one, Lupo, cried out to his "god." We cleared the altar of its trinkets and admired the once great shrine to Oghma.
The room to the south of the shrine contained a fascinating brazier. Human made, dedicated to many gods, not just Oghma. More curious was the tiny statue of a sun elf in the coals. But most curious was the enormous beaked worm that dropped down on us from the ceiling. I attempted to slow it with a poison arrow, but the spell fizzled most embarrassingly. It dodged my witch bolt, but Ava made an elegant chop to its head. Thaelin identified the beast as a "Grick" - subterranean monsters that use camouflage to blend into their surroundings.
We finally found Gundren, beaten on the ground and in the presence of what surely must be this "Black Spider." A vile drow woman with a wolf and a bugbear in tow. A mighty battle... Thaelin's bears made short work of the wolf. I surprised the drow with a mighty artillery of magic missiles, as Trym planted an arrow neatly in her thigh. The drow grins... a respectable adversary.
A flurry of blows! The drow looks to Trym and says her name, taking the halfling aback. Another volley of magical energy and the drow... well, I can only say "withered" before our eyes. It lost all color and form. Most disturbing. A shapeshifter is not quite what you'd imagine in the flesh.
The bugbear put up quite a fight to the very end. "King Grohl", apparently... didn't seem all that dignified for a king. This "Black Spider", unfortunately, is merely an impostor. Gundren begs us to make haste to Wave Echo Cave to save his brethren. No rest for the adventurer, it seems.
I'll have to inform the Temple of Oghma of the shrine's cleansing when next in Neverwinter. Still... such a marvelous day. The shrine is cleansed and we move on to Phandalin for some much needed rest. I am eager to see what else Oghma has in store...
Scribe Notes - Vol. 3: An Unfit Adventurer
If you haven't already done so, be sure to read the previous posts in the Scribe Notes series for the complete back story!
Vexing sounds in the forest... or a lack of noise, really. Webs. Thicker as we go. We heard a scream in the woods. Ava found its source - a large hold in the ground, covered in webs. Trym scouted ahead... loudly, and led us to a cavern full of bodies and spiders. Odd humanoid spiders. Grotesque creatures! Something about the close quarters or unfavorable surroundings made it hard to get out effective spells. Ava took quite a beating from these arachnid monstrosities. But all was not for naught, for we found quite a horde in that hole. Trinkets, coin, and magical items. A pouch most curious. Seems to be bigger on the inside.
Ettercaps, the creatures are called. Spider shepherds. We pulled a live human from the webs. Thaelin is what he can do to heal the poor lad.
The boy's name is Taman Starag. He took quite a beating. Risked his life to be an adventurer. His whole party was killed chasing the treasure that horde. We gave him a share of the gold and my long sword. He was exceptionally grateful, and told us to look him up in Neverwinter so he could repay us. I hope he makes it home in one piece.
Vexing sounds in the forest... or a lack of noise, really. Webs. Thicker as we go. We heard a scream in the woods. Ava found its source - a large hold in the ground, covered in webs. Trym scouted ahead... loudly, and led us to a cavern full of bodies and spiders. Odd humanoid spiders. Grotesque creatures! Something about the close quarters or unfavorable surroundings made it hard to get out effective spells. Ava took quite a beating from these arachnid monstrosities. But all was not for naught, for we found quite a horde in that hole. Trinkets, coin, and magical items. A pouch most curious. Seems to be bigger on the inside.
Ettercaps, the creatures are called. Spider shepherds. We pulled a live human from the webs. Thaelin is what he can do to heal the poor lad.
The boy's name is Taman Starag. He took quite a beating. Risked his life to be an adventurer. His whole party was killed chasing the treasure that horde. We gave him a share of the gold and my long sword. He was exceptionally grateful, and told us to look him up in Neverwinter so he could repay us. I hope he makes it home in one piece.
Side Quest: A Cave in Neverwinter Woods
After driving off the dragon in Thundertree, I was a bit concerned that the PCs still weren't prepared for what lay ahead of them in Cragmaw Castle. So, I quickly threw together a little encounter that would give them a bit more experience in combat, and some minor magical items to make the challenge they were about to face a little more manageable. This was put together very quickly, so the map I'm including below was one that I found on CartographersGuild.com (via a web search on Roll20), made by a user by the name of Torstan. For anyone looking to re-use this adventure stub, it assumes a party of four players, averaging level 3-4.
On the ride from Thundertree to Cragmaw Castle, the PCs become aware of an eerie silence that has overtaken the woods. No birds chirping. No animals skittering to and fro. Even the winds seems to stop blowing. Soon, they begin noticing spider webs covering the flora. A few, at first, but more and more as they travel onward.
Suddenly, the silence in the forest is broken by a piercing scream. The party desperately searches for its source, eventually discovering a web covered hole in the ground. They descend into the earth, and find themselves in a large, hollow cavern, covered in spider webs. Immediately, they see the dried, mummified remains of a humanoid corpse hanging from a web, sucked dry of all it's juices. Several other human shapes hang in webs around the room, wrapped in silky cocoons... and none of them moving.
Here is the map of the cave the party now finds itself in (disregard the "Up to Large Cave" note... as I said, I didn't create this map):
Suddenly, a thick, sticky stream of web shoots down from the ceiling of the cave. From above, an Ettercap (Monster Manual pg. 131) descends, alongside three Giant Spiders (MM pg. 328). In the rounds that follow, three more giant spiders skitter forth from the web covered dens in the back of the cave. When all the monsters are slain, the party is free to explore the rest of the cave.
Webbing obscures the entrances of the five chambers chambers marked with dashed lines, as well as all walls, and the central pillars. Any player attempting to move through the webbing becomes stuck, and must spend their action attempting pass a DC 12 strength check to break free, or be restrained. Depending on the party's health, feel free to throw additional spiders in the chambers on the eastern wall. Any living spiders detecting a stuck victim in a web will immediately attempt to bite the victim, injecting its' poison (see description in Monster Manual). The webbing burns easily when set to fire, eliminating the hazard.
Moving clockwise from the recessed area at the north end of the cave, there are eight distinct regions of the chamber. These are:
On the ride from Thundertree to Cragmaw Castle, the PCs become aware of an eerie silence that has overtaken the woods. No birds chirping. No animals skittering to and fro. Even the winds seems to stop blowing. Soon, they begin noticing spider webs covering the flora. A few, at first, but more and more as they travel onward.
Suddenly, the silence in the forest is broken by a piercing scream. The party desperately searches for its source, eventually discovering a web covered hole in the ground. They descend into the earth, and find themselves in a large, hollow cavern, covered in spider webs. Immediately, they see the dried, mummified remains of a humanoid corpse hanging from a web, sucked dry of all it's juices. Several other human shapes hang in webs around the room, wrapped in silky cocoons... and none of them moving.
Here is the map of the cave the party now finds itself in (disregard the "Up to Large Cave" note... as I said, I didn't create this map):
One Square = 10 Feet
Suddenly, a thick, sticky stream of web shoots down from the ceiling of the cave. From above, an Ettercap (Monster Manual pg. 131) descends, alongside three Giant Spiders (MM pg. 328). In the rounds that follow, three more giant spiders skitter forth from the web covered dens in the back of the cave. When all the monsters are slain, the party is free to explore the rest of the cave.
Webbing obscures the entrances of the five chambers chambers marked with dashed lines, as well as all walls, and the central pillars. Any player attempting to move through the webbing becomes stuck, and must spend their action attempting pass a DC 12 strength check to break free, or be restrained. Depending on the party's health, feel free to throw additional spiders in the chambers on the eastern wall. Any living spiders detecting a stuck victim in a web will immediately attempt to bite the victim, injecting its' poison (see description in Monster Manual). The webbing burns easily when set to fire, eliminating the hazard.
Moving clockwise from the recessed area at the north end of the cave, there are eight distinct regions of the chamber. These are:
- Northern nook. Contains a body, sucked dry, and suspending in webbing, Visible immediately upon entering the cave.
- Upper eastern chamber. Contains the corpse of Carric Amastacia, a traveling elven wizard.
- Central eastern chamber. Contains a corpse suspended in webbing, long since sucked dry.
- Lower eastern chamber. Contains a corpse so long dead that nothing but bones remain.
- Southeastern chamber. Contains a giant spider, which joins the Ettercap in combating the players after three rounds of scrambling across the cave.
- Southwestern chamber. Contains two giant spiders, which join the Ettercap in combating the players after three rounds of scrambling across the cave. Also holds a secret treasure horde, consisting of: 5pp, 50gp, 200sp, 800cp, 1 Azurite (10gp), 1 Blue Quartz (10gp), 1 Black Onyx (50gp), and 1 box of turquoise animal figurines (250gp) (adjust these values as necessary to fit your game's economy). The horde also contains 4 potions of healing, a scroll of False Life, a Shield +1, and a Rust Bag of Tricks (Dungeon Master's Guide pg. 154).
- Central western nook. Contains the body of Taman Starag, wrapped in a spider silk cocoon. Taman has zero hit points, but a DC 15 medicine check will reveal that he is not dead, but rather being kept unconscious by the spider's poison. A healing potion or spell will revive him.
- Northwestern nook. Contains the cocoon wrapped body of Pavel Chernin, a human and friend of Taman's. Pavel was recently eaten, and an inspection of the body will reveal portions of his flesh which are dissolved.
Taman is a human male of about 18 from the city of Neverwinter. If the PCs manage to revive him, he will be confused and overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his companions. He and his friend Pavel met the elven wizard Carric in a tavern in the city, and were intrigued by his tale of a treasure horde hidden in a cave in the forest. Believing himself and his friend Pavel to be capable swordsmen, Taman convinced the two of them to go in search of the treasure. However, they were attacked by spiders in the forest before they could ever find the cave, and were dragged back to the ettercap's lair. Taman watched in horror as the spiders ate Carric alive, but was, mercifully, poisoned into unconsciousness before he could watch them kill his childhood friend. His shame and remorse is made even greater by the fact that it was his idea to seek out the treasure, and he sees now - too late - that he was only "playing" at being an adventurer, and the true heroes are the ones who saved him from suffering the same fate as those foolish enough to follow him.
Taman's chief purpose is to help begin the process of spreading tales of the party's heroism outside of Phandalin. He owes them a debt of tremendous gratitude for saving him, and if the PCs seek him out in Neverwinter, they will find him an unflappable ally who will tell any that will listen of their selfless acts.
Don't forget to award appropriate experience bonuses if the players save Taman!
After running this side quest for my players, I'd say it was pretty successful. It got them used to coordinating their actions in a protracted battle, put some treasure in their hands, and made them feel like heroes - a prophecy which tends to become self-fulfilling. If I ran it again, I'd probably reduce the treasure in the horde by removing the gems. The rust Bag of Tricks, however, has proved a great addition to the campaign, and has been employed in many clever ways by the party ever since.
I had one player complain that she was expecting to enter Cragmaw Castle in this game session, but instead felt like she lost the whole night fighting spiders in a hole in the ground. Side-quests such as this serve a very important role in my campaigns, and I'm glad I ran it, but it probably would have felt less abrupt if I'd put an adventure hook in a couple of sessions prior. A mention of Taman, Pavel, and Carric from a tavern wench when the party was in Neverwinter, or the blood drained corpses of a few deer on the outskirts of Thundertree, for example. Still, this little mini-adventure provides a nice break from the standard goblin slaying fare of most low level campaigns, while still staying true to tried and true epic fantasy tropes. Here's hoping it finds some use in your campaign!
Scribe Notes - Vol. 2: Reclaiming Thundertree
If you haven't already done so, be sure to read the previous posts in the Scribe Notes series for the complete back story!
We set fire to the occultist's cottage and cut them down as they fled the flames... On a happier note, I successfully cast a Flame Sphere for the first time. Burned three of them to a crisp; poor devils. Rinn rushed us away from the scene and spoke of trust. His real name is Thaelin.
The plan... if one were to call it that, is for Thaelin to coax the dragon into prematurely using its acid breath while we lay in wait. While it recovers its breath, we are to beat the creature into fleeing... wish me well! I'm planning on using that scroll of fireball.
A mighty battle! We rushed in as soon as the acid cleared. Thaelin was split into many forms. A clever tick. Ava fired off two shots, landing one. Trym missed once... twice. But that scroll! By Oghma, such a fiery blast! It nearly took the whole tower in flame. Thaelin rent the ground beneath it's feet, but it took flight and chewed through one of his illusions. His response was to summon a pair of brown bears. After that I must say I lost track of the action. Last I remember, the dragon was flying away with our arrows and fire still wounding it. Thaelin has agreed to show us to Cragmaw Castle. Oghma be praised!
While we rested at Thaelin's cottage, he told us of Cragmaw Castle: a former human settlement, taken over by the Cragmaw Goblin clan. Awful creatures. They worship a vile god called Maglubiyet. Only a day's ride to the site. Oghma's first task for me me... almost complete!
We set fire to the occultist's cottage and cut them down as they fled the flames... On a happier note, I successfully cast a Flame Sphere for the first time. Burned three of them to a crisp; poor devils. Rinn rushed us away from the scene and spoke of trust. His real name is Thaelin.
The plan... if one were to call it that, is for Thaelin to coax the dragon into prematurely using its acid breath while we lay in wait. While it recovers its breath, we are to beat the creature into fleeing... wish me well! I'm planning on using that scroll of fireball.
A mighty battle! We rushed in as soon as the acid cleared. Thaelin was split into many forms. A clever tick. Ava fired off two shots, landing one. Trym missed once... twice. But that scroll! By Oghma, such a fiery blast! It nearly took the whole tower in flame. Thaelin rent the ground beneath it's feet, but it took flight and chewed through one of his illusions. His response was to summon a pair of brown bears. After that I must say I lost track of the action. Last I remember, the dragon was flying away with our arrows and fire still wounding it. Thaelin has agreed to show us to Cragmaw Castle. Oghma be praised!
While we rested at Thaelin's cottage, he told us of Cragmaw Castle: a former human settlement, taken over by the Cragmaw Goblin clan. Awful creatures. They worship a vile god called Maglubiyet. Only a day's ride to the site. Oghma's first task for me me... almost complete!
Scribe Notes - Vol. 1: The Dragon of Thundertree
The first Scribe Notes were taken while the PCs were still in the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure from the 5e starter box, and pick up after the party drove Redbrands out of Phandalin, and were trying to find Cragmaw castle. After clearing a band of orcs from Wyvern Tor for a wayward Necromancer named Hunan Kost, the wizard advised the party to seek out the Banshee Agatha in the ruins of Thundertree. If they could convince her to help them, she could tell them the location of Cragmaw Castle. After a brief stop at the House of Knowledge in Neverwinter to do some research on the destruction of Thundertree, the eruption of Mt. Hotenow, and Agatha herself, they headed off in pursuit of the banshee.
After battling stirges and goblins, our comrade Trym took grievous injuries in a night ambush. But our valiant fighter Ava rushed into the fray in nothing more than her sleeping garments and a helmet! Firing bow and swinging sword, she laid waste to three, no four goblins! I flung magic missiles as fast as I could, but barely kept up. We won the night, but at quite a cost to our health. A good rest, and we were back to work.
Our first examination of Thundertree was of an old crumbling cottage. Roofless and depressing. Entirely worthless in both value and knowledge. In fact, most of Thundertree offered nothing in terms of usable assets.
Trym is a most disruptive little person! Constantly switching note and toppers on my research supplies. I assume at this point she enjoys my displeasure. At least the shield maiden Ava respects the virtues of knowledge and privacy! Her company is a boon to both mood and offensive skills.
Anyway, the plants here are most ponderous. I swear I was some moving out of the corner of my eye. Then one snatched up Trym! Several of these blighted bushes attacked us. Only through the skill and determination of our comrades were we able to overcome these monstrosities. I was elated to have dispatched one with my longsword. Normally I would take no delight in such base endeavors, but Ava has taught me much of the martial arts of swordsmanship. I never understood the skill and concentration required. I have a new respect for the physical prowess involved.
Still, my magic was needed when ash zombies attacked, biting Ava on the neck! After many battles with these horrors, we finally made it to a well maintained cottage, living in by a mysterious little fellow wearing the vestments of a circus side show. He wanted of yet another "insurmountable danger." Boredom endures... but lo! Tales of a green dragon upon the hillside! Surely, these are the adventures I dreamed of as a young elf. A real dragon! In the flesh!
But for tonight, we rest and eat. The little fellow offered us a dinner of salad and berries. Made me full. Never did catch his name... "Rinn", we found out in the morning, after more of these peculiar berries. Rinn insists on a detour to deal with some dragon worshipers. He says they mean to make a deal with the beast, and pose a danger.
Off to some mayhem, I suppose. 'Tis the nature of "field work"...
After battling stirges and goblins, our comrade Trym took grievous injuries in a night ambush. But our valiant fighter Ava rushed into the fray in nothing more than her sleeping garments and a helmet! Firing bow and swinging sword, she laid waste to three, no four goblins! I flung magic missiles as fast as I could, but barely kept up. We won the night, but at quite a cost to our health. A good rest, and we were back to work.
Our first examination of Thundertree was of an old crumbling cottage. Roofless and depressing. Entirely worthless in both value and knowledge. In fact, most of Thundertree offered nothing in terms of usable assets.
Trym is a most disruptive little person! Constantly switching note and toppers on my research supplies. I assume at this point she enjoys my displeasure. At least the shield maiden Ava respects the virtues of knowledge and privacy! Her company is a boon to both mood and offensive skills.
Anyway, the plants here are most ponderous. I swear I was some moving out of the corner of my eye. Then one snatched up Trym! Several of these blighted bushes attacked us. Only through the skill and determination of our comrades were we able to overcome these monstrosities. I was elated to have dispatched one with my longsword. Normally I would take no delight in such base endeavors, but Ava has taught me much of the martial arts of swordsmanship. I never understood the skill and concentration required. I have a new respect for the physical prowess involved.
Still, my magic was needed when ash zombies attacked, biting Ava on the neck! After many battles with these horrors, we finally made it to a well maintained cottage, living in by a mysterious little fellow wearing the vestments of a circus side show. He wanted of yet another "insurmountable danger." Boredom endures... but lo! Tales of a green dragon upon the hillside! Surely, these are the adventures I dreamed of as a young elf. A real dragon! In the flesh!
But for tonight, we rest and eat. The little fellow offered us a dinner of salad and berries. Made me full. Never did catch his name... "Rinn", we found out in the morning, after more of these peculiar berries. Rinn insists on a detour to deal with some dragon worshipers. He says they mean to make a deal with the beast, and pose a danger.
Off to some mayhem, I suppose. 'Tis the nature of "field work"...
Scribe Notes - An Explanation
DM-ing is a lot of work. At any given moment, the DM is expected to track combat mechanics, play the parts of multiple (often dozens of) NPCs and Monsters, translate player actions into rules, keep track of where players are within a story, make on the fly adjustments to planned events, cross-reference data across at least three rule books, read prepared descriptions, tell a story that's being made up in real time, and much more; all while keeping the atmosphere fun, engaging, and exciting for the PCs. It takes years of practice to truly master, and I've been out of the game for longer than I was in, so I'm still finding my grove again.
As part of my attempt to lighten my workload so I can focus on keeping the story going, I offer my players a small (5%) experience bonus to track some of the game mechanics for me. Specifically, I have one player track initiative, another track treasure and experience, and another keep notes on the general events of a game session, so we can refresh everyone's memory on what happened last time at the start of each new session. This last job provided me with an unexpected surprise, when I found that the player taking the role of party scribe (Val) wrote all his notes in first person perspective, the way one would write a journal.
His notes beautifully tell the story of my campaign from a character's perspective, and are infused with delightful little quips that shed light on Val's personality. I look forward to hearing these scribe notes every week, and I love the idea of doing something with them, so I've decided that I'll present them here for you to enjoy.
My general method for posting on this blog from week to week will be to wait until the PCs complete a given adventure, then post the materials I created to run it, along with my comments on what I liked, or what I would have done differently. I'll then post the Scribe Notes for the adventure. This will allow any DMs using this blog to get the core mechanics of an adventure, a DMs take on what worked and what didn't, and a player's perspective on how the story unfolded. And as an added bonus, any curious reader could start at the beginning, read only the Player Character descriptions and Scribe Notes posts, and have a solid understanding of the entire story of our campaign.
It's worth noting that these notes are written quickly, and were never designed to be proper works of fiction. And while I may do a little light copy editing (mostly to correct spellings and improve readability), these stories are not my work, and are not being submitted for creative or stylistic critique; they're just a lot of fun to read.
So with that by way of an introduction, please enjoy the backlog of Scribe Notes that we've taken so far.
As part of my attempt to lighten my workload so I can focus on keeping the story going, I offer my players a small (5%) experience bonus to track some of the game mechanics for me. Specifically, I have one player track initiative, another track treasure and experience, and another keep notes on the general events of a game session, so we can refresh everyone's memory on what happened last time at the start of each new session. This last job provided me with an unexpected surprise, when I found that the player taking the role of party scribe (Val) wrote all his notes in first person perspective, the way one would write a journal.
His notes beautifully tell the story of my campaign from a character's perspective, and are infused with delightful little quips that shed light on Val's personality. I look forward to hearing these scribe notes every week, and I love the idea of doing something with them, so I've decided that I'll present them here for you to enjoy.
My general method for posting on this blog from week to week will be to wait until the PCs complete a given adventure, then post the materials I created to run it, along with my comments on what I liked, or what I would have done differently. I'll then post the Scribe Notes for the adventure. This will allow any DMs using this blog to get the core mechanics of an adventure, a DMs take on what worked and what didn't, and a player's perspective on how the story unfolded. And as an added bonus, any curious reader could start at the beginning, read only the Player Character descriptions and Scribe Notes posts, and have a solid understanding of the entire story of our campaign.
It's worth noting that these notes are written quickly, and were never designed to be proper works of fiction. And while I may do a little light copy editing (mostly to correct spellings and improve readability), these stories are not my work, and are not being submitted for creative or stylistic critique; they're just a lot of fun to read.
So with that by way of an introduction, please enjoy the backlog of Scribe Notes that we've taken so far.
Meet Our Player Characters
While the primary focus of this blog will be to act as a repository for the DM resources that I create over the course of my campaigns, I intend to supplement this information with stories from our actual game sessions. So to that end, here is a brief description of our Player Characters, so that readers can better understand the adventures I blog about. I post this both from a perspective of allowing insight into the party composition for purposes of campaign architecture (for example, some of the adventures I write won't work if there isn't a thief in the party), and simply because I want readers of this blog to be able to follow along with our unique story as it unfolds. So without further ado, allow me to present our party:
Trym Greenbottle
Ava Koulsen
Ava is a human female who has an innate desire to protect the innocent and bring order to the chaos in the Realms. Growing up as a dock worker in Neverwinter, she learned to drink, fight, and live among sailors and port hands; and to never let anyone push her (or anyone else) around. A strong and capable warrior, she is can always be found on the front lines of any battle, protecting her companions from harm, even at the cost of her own well-being. Though she grew up as a simple, uneducated peasant, she tries to seem wise and insightful... even if she doesn't always get it right. But what she lacks in culture and social grace, she more than makes up for in heart and heroism, and has been known to sometimes pick up stragglers in need of protection and friendly travel companions. She trusts in her friends completely, so much so that she risks betrayal, and relies on those closest to her to smell out deception. However, as a Marcheon of The Order of the Gauntlet, she believes to her very core that she is a hero in the truest sense of the word, and that one day her deeds will earn her a place among the legends.
Trym Greenbottle
Trym is a nimble female halfling, and mistress of stealth, subterfuge, and assassination. She acts as the party's unofficial "face man", frequently helping to talk her less charismatic friends out of sticky situations. She originally honed her roguish skills as a member of the small thieves' guild known as The Redbrands in the mining outpost of Phandalin, but was eventually betrayed and nearly murdered. She soon had her revenge, however, after killing or driving out all of her former guild mates and toppling the fledgling group of bandits. Experience has taught her to always be on the lookout for someone working an angle, but once her trust is earned, her devotion and honesty is absolute. Small, silent, and astonishingly deadly, Trym is capable of jamming a poisoned dagger into the back of an evil noble, but will also be the first to offer comfort to an innocent orphan (even if she won't admit it). These days, she holds the title of "Shadowcloak" in The Order of the Velvet Glove, a loosely organized network of spies, assassins, and rogues with reach extending into most cities in Faerûn.
Val
Bookish, erudite, and aloof, high-elven wizard Val employs his exemplary intellect in his dual role as the party's tactician and scribe. An acolyte of the Temple of Oghma, Val cherishes knowledge above all else, and is prone to great acts of charity in the service of common folk, often in the form of generous donations to his order, aiding in the creation of public libraries, and general acts of public service. Despite growing up in Neverwinter, Val spent most of his time with his nose buried in his books, and never quite developed the sense of social interaction needed to make him a deft conversationalist. He's been known to speak plainly and act decisively in delicate situations, consequences be damned. His awkward demeanor masks a powerful nature, however, and when pressed to combat, Val is a mighty war wizard specializing in the evocation of fire magics; frequently turning the tide of a large battle with a well placed explosion or bolt of flame.
Thaelin Galamne
The wood-elf druid Thaelin Galamne was a late addition to the party, having met up with them in the ruins of Thundertree. He was appointed by his druidic order The Circle of the Forest, to free the town from the grasp of a young green dragon which was making it's lair in the ruins. The other party members shared this goal, and together, they deftly drove out the beast, cementing their friendship. Quietly solemn and wise, Thaelin exiled himself to the wilds at a very young age in the wake of a tragic mistake that caused the deaths of many in his village, and has lived as a hermit in the caring graces of the forest for over a century. He has little understanding and less interest in human customs, and finds any settlement bigger than a hamlet to be claustrophobic, often preferring the shelter of a mighty oak or solid boulder to the comforts of a warm inn and soft bed. He also has little use for monetary wealth, preferring instead to invest his time into making everything he needs. His sacred Staff of Healing is one such example, which he invested a year of his life into creating, and puts to regular use when helping his fellow party members survive dangerous encounters.
Welcome to DM Notes
Greetings, adventure seeker, and welcome to my little blog!
If you're wondering what this is all about, let me give you a little background. Like a lot of people, I played Dungeons & Dragons throughout most of my adolescent and teenage years. For almost a decade, I ran an a few different AD&D 2nd Edition campaigns, and always loved it. But as adulthood crept in, friends started moving away, responsibilities started piling up, and the games fell by the wayside. I tried the new editions as they came out, but none of them pulled me back in the way 2nd Edition did, and no game ever made it past two or three sessions... until I discovered Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
I purchased the 5th Edition starter box (with the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure) because it was reasonably cheap, and I'd heard really good things about the new edition. After just a couple of sessions, I was hooked, and so were my players. To anyone who's played D&D in the past, but never gotten into any of the more recent editions, I strongly encourage you to check out 5e - Wizards really did knock it out of the park, and for the first time in almost two decades, I'm finally starting to feel like the Dungeon Master I used to be.
Our game has now been running for about four months. We play at a very leisurely pace - one night a week, typically for just a few hours per session. But we've played through the starter box, the players are past level 5, and the game has survived a fair amount of out-of-game social upheaval without falling apart, so I think we're in it for the long haul.
Which leads me to this blog.
Playing D&D in the age of the Internet is awesome. We play in Forgotten Realms, and the Forgotten Realms Wiki alone provides me with endless time-saving resources and depth (even though most of it hasn't been updated for 5th Edition yet). I also use Roll20 to build dungeon maps, track details on monster stats, and generally run the game. We may even be adding a remote player in the near future, who can connect in through the Roll20 interface just as if they were sitting at the table with us. And Deviant Art is an incredible resource for those of us who (like me) have zero innate fine art talent, yet still want to drive the vision in their head into something players can see with their own eyes. Some of the best artists in the world are on there, and they're offering up their work for free (note: specific licensing varies from image to image, and in no way am I encouraging anyone to steal artwork; these artists deserve every penny they earn, and then some, so please treat them fairly). In fact, the beautiful background image on this very blog comes courtesy of Deviant Artist Kerembeyit.
But for all the new tools and resources that are available, one thing hasn't changed - the DM still needs to come up with new and exciting adventures for his party. This has always been my favorite part of D&D - I love creating rich, living worlds, full of mystery and adventure, and then watching how players react as the story unfolds. It's basically the reason I DM.
So I've been spending a fairly large portion of my free time designing adventures for my group, often to truly unnecessary levels of detail. I like to know the complete backstory on almost every NPC the characters meet, so I can portray them in as realistic and multi-dimensional a manner as possible in game. If the PCs head into a town, I want to know the location, layout, and occupants of every inn, tavern, shoppe, temple, and stronghold they might visit while they're there. If they're going to pick up a traveling companion or square off against a villain, I don't just want a stat block, I want a full character sheet. I feel that the dungeons I create should be every bit as full and vibrant as the professionally produced dungeons that come out of a boxed adventure, complete with rich maps, graphics, and props. It's a lot of fun for me to build all of this. But I've been noticing that after spending all the effort to put this content in place, my players will typically enjoy it for a game session or two, and then it gets relegated to the dusty corners of my hard drive, never again to see the light of day. That seems like a shame to me.
So, I've decided to share all this extra content with the world, and this blog is the place where I'm going to do it. To be fair, my intentions here aren't totally altruistic - uploading documents, notes, and character details to this blog gives me an online backup, and lets me maintain a linear timeline of events within my game. I strive to create as high-quality content as possible, and I like to think that with a little effort and polish, any of my quests could be cleaned up and sold as commercial out of the box adventures. However, these were all created specifically for my campaign, and often under time constraints that don't allow me the opportunity to go back and clean things up, fix every typo, or correct every inconsistency. A lot of times during play, things will get left out, put in, re-arranged, or just changed outright on account of player actions. Because of this, events referenced in long running campaign adventures may be inconsistent from previous sessions. And while I try not to reference specific characters too much so that the adventure can be kept generic, I won't do so at the expense of making the game enjoyable and unique for my players, so occasional references to our specific party will sometimes make it into the final product. The point is that I want to make this information available to other DMs for their players, but this blog is ultimately supposed to support my campaign, not distract from it. So expect to use this content as a "jumping off" point for customization, not necessarily a finished product. How much you need or want to customize it is up to you.
But with that caveat out of the way, I hope you'll enjoy the resources that I post here, and that they can get some extra life in your campaigns, rather than going to waste on my computer. I'll probably be in here updating this blog after every game session with game notes, NPC character sheets, in-game histories from our scribe, and occasionally maps and adventure notes.
One final VERY IMPORTANT note: this blog is very much for Dungeon Masters ONLY. If you are a player character - ESPECIALLY ONE PLAYING IN ANY OF MY CAMPAIGNS - stop reading this blog and navigate away RIGHT NOW. Most of the stuff I write hinges on mysteries that unfold over many game sessions, or even an entire campaign. Knowing what's coming will completely spoil the game for you and the other players. If your DM is running any of my campaigns and you want to cheat by reading ahead, I can't stop you. But just like Christmas wasn't fun if you sneaked a peak at what your parents bought you before it was wrapped, knowing what's coming in any of my adventures will only remove the challenge and short-circuit the game.
So there you have it. Stay tuned for easy to implement adventures and DM resources. Every thing I post here can be considered to be under the standard Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (except for content or graphics which I did not personally create). But if you end up using anything I post here in your game, I'd love to hear about it. Please leave a comment on any post with questions, thoughts, or whatever strikes your fancy. I'd love to find out that I'm making life easier for other Dungeon Masters.
Happy Trails & Grand Adventures,
Talis
If you're wondering what this is all about, let me give you a little background. Like a lot of people, I played Dungeons & Dragons throughout most of my adolescent and teenage years. For almost a decade, I ran an a few different AD&D 2nd Edition campaigns, and always loved it. But as adulthood crept in, friends started moving away, responsibilities started piling up, and the games fell by the wayside. I tried the new editions as they came out, but none of them pulled me back in the way 2nd Edition did, and no game ever made it past two or three sessions... until I discovered Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
I purchased the 5th Edition starter box (with the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure) because it was reasonably cheap, and I'd heard really good things about the new edition. After just a couple of sessions, I was hooked, and so were my players. To anyone who's played D&D in the past, but never gotten into any of the more recent editions, I strongly encourage you to check out 5e - Wizards really did knock it out of the park, and for the first time in almost two decades, I'm finally starting to feel like the Dungeon Master I used to be.
Our game has now been running for about four months. We play at a very leisurely pace - one night a week, typically for just a few hours per session. But we've played through the starter box, the players are past level 5, and the game has survived a fair amount of out-of-game social upheaval without falling apart, so I think we're in it for the long haul.
Which leads me to this blog.
Playing D&D in the age of the Internet is awesome. We play in Forgotten Realms, and the Forgotten Realms Wiki alone provides me with endless time-saving resources and depth (even though most of it hasn't been updated for 5th Edition yet). I also use Roll20 to build dungeon maps, track details on monster stats, and generally run the game. We may even be adding a remote player in the near future, who can connect in through the Roll20 interface just as if they were sitting at the table with us. And Deviant Art is an incredible resource for those of us who (like me) have zero innate fine art talent, yet still want to drive the vision in their head into something players can see with their own eyes. Some of the best artists in the world are on there, and they're offering up their work for free (note: specific licensing varies from image to image, and in no way am I encouraging anyone to steal artwork; these artists deserve every penny they earn, and then some, so please treat them fairly). In fact, the beautiful background image on this very blog comes courtesy of Deviant Artist Kerembeyit.
But for all the new tools and resources that are available, one thing hasn't changed - the DM still needs to come up with new and exciting adventures for his party. This has always been my favorite part of D&D - I love creating rich, living worlds, full of mystery and adventure, and then watching how players react as the story unfolds. It's basically the reason I DM.
So I've been spending a fairly large portion of my free time designing adventures for my group, often to truly unnecessary levels of detail. I like to know the complete backstory on almost every NPC the characters meet, so I can portray them in as realistic and multi-dimensional a manner as possible in game. If the PCs head into a town, I want to know the location, layout, and occupants of every inn, tavern, shoppe, temple, and stronghold they might visit while they're there. If they're going to pick up a traveling companion or square off against a villain, I don't just want a stat block, I want a full character sheet. I feel that the dungeons I create should be every bit as full and vibrant as the professionally produced dungeons that come out of a boxed adventure, complete with rich maps, graphics, and props. It's a lot of fun for me to build all of this. But I've been noticing that after spending all the effort to put this content in place, my players will typically enjoy it for a game session or two, and then it gets relegated to the dusty corners of my hard drive, never again to see the light of day. That seems like a shame to me.
So, I've decided to share all this extra content with the world, and this blog is the place where I'm going to do it. To be fair, my intentions here aren't totally altruistic - uploading documents, notes, and character details to this blog gives me an online backup, and lets me maintain a linear timeline of events within my game. I strive to create as high-quality content as possible, and I like to think that with a little effort and polish, any of my quests could be cleaned up and sold as commercial out of the box adventures. However, these were all created specifically for my campaign, and often under time constraints that don't allow me the opportunity to go back and clean things up, fix every typo, or correct every inconsistency. A lot of times during play, things will get left out, put in, re-arranged, or just changed outright on account of player actions. Because of this, events referenced in long running campaign adventures may be inconsistent from previous sessions. And while I try not to reference specific characters too much so that the adventure can be kept generic, I won't do so at the expense of making the game enjoyable and unique for my players, so occasional references to our specific party will sometimes make it into the final product. The point is that I want to make this information available to other DMs for their players, but this blog is ultimately supposed to support my campaign, not distract from it. So expect to use this content as a "jumping off" point for customization, not necessarily a finished product. How much you need or want to customize it is up to you.
But with that caveat out of the way, I hope you'll enjoy the resources that I post here, and that they can get some extra life in your campaigns, rather than going to waste on my computer. I'll probably be in here updating this blog after every game session with game notes, NPC character sheets, in-game histories from our scribe, and occasionally maps and adventure notes.
One final VERY IMPORTANT note: this blog is very much for Dungeon Masters ONLY. If you are a player character - ESPECIALLY ONE PLAYING IN ANY OF MY CAMPAIGNS - stop reading this blog and navigate away RIGHT NOW. Most of the stuff I write hinges on mysteries that unfold over many game sessions, or even an entire campaign. Knowing what's coming will completely spoil the game for you and the other players. If your DM is running any of my campaigns and you want to cheat by reading ahead, I can't stop you. But just like Christmas wasn't fun if you sneaked a peak at what your parents bought you before it was wrapped, knowing what's coming in any of my adventures will only remove the challenge and short-circuit the game.
So there you have it. Stay tuned for easy to implement adventures and DM resources. Every thing I post here can be considered to be under the standard Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (except for content or graphics which I did not personally create). But if you end up using anything I post here in your game, I'd love to hear about it. Please leave a comment on any post with questions, thoughts, or whatever strikes your fancy. I'd love to find out that I'm making life easier for other Dungeon Masters.
Happy Trails & Grand Adventures,
Talis
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