The Shadowvale Campaign (thoughts) part 3

Picking up where we left off. The group headed back towards Glasspring with mixed emotions. They had cleared out the perceived goblin threat, but that had only revealed a much darker force at work.

Going into the next session, I generally didn't have any set encounters planned for the group, unless they choose to pursue the Darius angle. They held up outside of town for over a day watching the comings and goings and noted that the town guard was much less active, in fact nonexistent at times. Finally they braved up enough to venture into town and confront Darius. While the group had been away, I had Darius release the town guard and take total control of the quiet town of Glasspring.

I have to give my players credit, they devised a hell of a plan to break into his mansion using disguises and trickery. Some of my most fun memories at the gaming table are just watching and listening to my players come up with these crazy schemes....great stuff!

The meeting with Darius was modeled much after the I6: Ravenloft encounter with Strahd (and really a lot of this campaign was borrowed as such from that module).

Not quite Darius, but close!

The group dined in a civil manner and Darius proposed an agreement to the group, to seek out and find the Book of the Shadowhorn (the key piece needed for him to challenge the mortal gods of the Shadowvale), in exchange for riches and ownership of the town. The group hesitantly agreed and Darius made the deal in blood by murdering the town sheriff, who was charmed, in front of the group. This was the first time the players (most of whom were new) had experienced a shocking and unexpected event in the game, it definitely had an effect on them. I feel like these elements are important in games to keep the super hero mentality in check...these are just normal people in abnormal situations.

With some guidance from Darius on the rumored location, the group immediately set out for Eldermere with the thought the book was located somewhere deep beneath that small village. After a bit of hex crawling and wilderness encounters, the group arrived at Eldermere only to find the village in ruins and it's population now turned to mindless undead...

I love Megadungeons!

Since I first laid my hands the Ruins of Undermountain boxed set when I was a kid, I've had this love affair with megadungeons. This has never really been a featured product from the likes of WoTC, but man the OSR has some great ones. ASE, Maze of the Blue Medusa, Stonehell, Barrowmaze, the list keeps going.

Hours of fun?

The new school of roleplaying shuns these a bit as story gaming has taken root, but I really think there is a great appeal in these products. So, what makes for a great megadungeon? Factions, uniqueness, high danger and rich rewards, alien and abnormal environments. Can I actually run an entire campaign using a megadungeon? Hell yes you can! Some of the best megadungeons have tons of creatures, npc's, items to mess with, adventure hooks, and central themes to resolve. With all of this, you and your group can still build and tell an amazing story of adventure and isn't what D&D is about at its core?

Session Recap: Keep on the Borderlands (01/19/18)

Wow! This one was a doozy, where to start? We pick up with the players just leaving the keep once again returning back to the Caves of Chaos to plunder and possibly resolve some loose ends from person at the keep. There was a pretty good turn out for this session.

Cody >> Kodar the drunk sailor bard (lvl 4)
Scott >> Gensher tiefling paladin (lvl 4)
Brian >> Yvelda orc monk diva (lvl 4)
Kevin >> Elmond human bard (lvl 4)
Daniel >> Nadar half-dragon paladin of deceit (lvl 4)

No encounters on the way to the caves and the group decided to go back to where they had left off, the goblin entrance and head towards the hobgoblin den. I had a surprise in for them though, since they had let the Redcap goblin chieftain leave on his own accord, I had it in mind they had contacted their bugbear buddies to set up trap to retake their part of the caves. Obviously the bugbears do not work for keep and the chieftain had given over several of his tribe to become slaves or meals for the bugbears. 

I had set up the immediate entrance to the goblin caves with a burning oil trap and barricaded both sides of the cavern to hopefully trap even nosy adventurers between a crossfire of ranged attacks while actually on fire. And bingo! The group decided to go this exact route. The encounter wasn't much an issue and they finally killed off the goblin chieftain before he could retreat back to the hobgoblin lair in a last ditch effort, but resources were tapped and this would come into play before the end.

The group then made their way towards the hobgoblin lair via the connection in the goblin caves. The hobgoblin had not had a chance to resupply from the previous days encounter when the group had freed their prisoners, but they were expecting them. The group battled through a couple of encounters and they actually managed to take a one hobgoblin, Pookit as prisoner.

There was some pretty hilarious roleplay as the group questioned him in a good cop / bad cop manner, and it was decided that they would bind and gag him and take him along....as a mascot....The group barricaded themselves in a cleared room and took a short rest. This is where something fortuitous would occur thanks to the random encounter table. During the rest I hit twice on the table >> 1d4 gnomes and 1 carrion crawler. I decided to have the gnomes be a rival adventuring group and I placed the carrion crawler near the hobgoblin caves entrance to the ravine. Gnomes slew the crawler and proceeded into the caves in a different route than the group. The group decided not to investigate the commotion down the hall.

The group finally made their way to the lair of the hobgoblin warlord overseeing the clan in this cave. Impressed by their ability to make this way, I had him attempt to parlay with the group to help expand the hobgoblin interests in the Caves of Chaos, notably in killing the bugbears. In the midst of this, Yvelda lost patience and attacked the warlord and off we went with the final encounter of the night....

So, I had not previously run hobgoblins in 5E previously, but they have a bonkers ability which can make for a pretty deadly encounter, Martial Prowess: once per turn can choose to deal additional damage when a melee attack hits an opponent with 5' range of an ally, dealing an additional 2d6 damage. Damn, that some brutal stuff. On top of this, the hobgoblin warlord has 3 attacks per round, along with the same martial prowess ability, on top of that the hobgoblin had planned for just this situation in case the party did not take the deal and placed two additional guards outside of the room.

This encounter was a bloodbath, for both sides really. Their rolls were really poor which did not help and the warlord slowly beat them down focusing on the softer player characters who for some reason were in range of him despite being restrained by one of the paladin's abilities. When things looked their darkest, Cody's character Kodar made a break for it while Gensher the surviving up right member slew 1 of the 2 remaining hobgoblins before being dropped as well.

I mentioned that Kodar saw the gnome party as he was fleeing from the caves. He decided to plea with them to help and they agreed for a share of the loot. We ended the session with people in the midst of their death saving throws, but I noted that the other group arrived in time to stabilize those who were down...next session will reveal just how "good" this gnomish group may or may not be, but this was essentially a TPK and the first one I'd DM'd in 5E.

Critical Role is not D&D

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but Critical Role is not D&D. For all of the good that show does: bringing new people into the hobby and opening the doors for many players to view and learn about the hobby, it also does an equal amount of bad.

Hear me out, Critical Role is really just a over-produced, likely scripted, TV-show with D&D as it premise. Matthew Mercer, the DM of Critical Role, is in my opinion a great DM and story-teller, anyone would be lucky to have him run a game for them, but the show people are watching weekly is not so much a game as an ongoing produced show. Here is when the bad comes in regarding the hobby. New players and prospective DM's brought into the hobby by this show will expect this type of TV drama in their games: the voice acting of characters, grand elaborate stories from the DM, and produced drama outside of the actual play.

I recently had a twitter exchange between a newer DM questioning why his new players aren't voice acting and always speaking in first person at their games...their timeline was full of Critical Role fluff, this told me all I needed to know. Don't force your players into something they aren't comfortable with. If they show up, participate and have fun, then that is mission success.

Look....the fun of D&D for the DM is when your players are having a good time. It is not telling some grand story, write a book if you want that. The story should emerge organically from the interactions between the players and the encounters that the DM has laid out. Your game, as a DM, doesn't need to be full of rich history and some grand setting full or lore, let the players help define your world, let their choices have meaning in the setting.

The tabletop RPG hobby is probably in it's best place since the early 80's due in no small part to streams and live-plays such as Critical Role, but my hope is that those coming into the hobby will define their games in their own way, not based on something they watched Thursday night.

Tales from RPG games of yore

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a neighborhood with kids close to my age, whom I'd often press into service as players when I needed them for the games I ran in my youth. Fortunately and unfortunately one of these was my younger brother Paul. You see, Paul was the player who really didn't give a crap because he had better things to do....his characters were throwaways and his actions were the definition of wild card.

In one of the better campaigns I ran during this time, my brother had rolled up the group's Magic-user....a 7'2", 18 strength, don't fuck with this dude in a back alley Jenis. I suppose spell casting is just his side gig.

For one of the early adventures in this campaign, the group was looking for some scrolls in some generic ruins I had probably drawn up 15 minutes prior to the session. In the midst of all of this, the group somehow began to argue which direction to take.

Paul probably: "I saw some treasure to the west hallway, I don't give a crap, I'm going down there to get it"

Drew, playing the dwarven fighter: "We have to go to the east, the Wizard told us to go this way for the scroll."

Paul: "So what, I want that gold!"

Drew: "We shouldn't split up, it's not safe in here."

Me >> rolls for random encounter due to the yelling....nothing.

They continue to argue which leads to Drew stating that he's going to knock him out to move on.

Paul: "Come and try it mother fucker!"

Initiative is rolled and what happened next still gives me a laugh to this day. Keep in mind, this AD&D, Jenis the magic-user has 1d4 hit points. Paul, not one to back away from challenge insisted that he wouldn't use any spells (Magic Missile or Sleep would have won this fight quickly). Rolls were made and by the end of it, Jenis the magic-user had slain the parties fighter in single combat, in the middle of the dungeon with his staff. Drew was obviously pissed, but no one at the table could hold back their laughter.

D&D is a random ass game, sometimes the dice screw you, but there is always a story to be had...

OSR: My roleplaying love affair

Let's talk about the OSR. For those not in the know, OSR stands for Old School Renaissance and refers to movement in the RPG community to continue and expand upon the basis of 1st edition D&D. There are now numerous retro clones of the rulesets that have been published to date, my favorites are >> Labyrinth Lord, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Swords and Wizardry, and Dungeon Crawl Classics. The best part is that you can find most of these games for free through DriveThruRPG or their individual web pages.

What I love about the OSR is that it harkens back to my upbringing in the hobby. Gone are the min-maxing superhero characters, you play normal persons in abnormal situations. You are not able to plow your way through difficult encounters with character violence and abilities, you will need to think as a player...often encounters in the OSR are deadly, if you're fighting, you will soon be dying. This is true fantasy roleplaying, monsters seem scarier and deadlier, the world is more fantastic.

Everyone is looking for something different in their roleplaying games, but this is what I started in and this type of gaming is more what I'm drawn to. Credit to D&D 5th edition for bringing me back into the hobby, but the OSR is what has fueled me since and taken most of my hard earned loot in real life. Which brings me to another point, the amount and quality of content from numerous creators is amazing. Look at some of the LotFP products, their layout and craftsmanship is second to none. Books such as Maze of the Blue Medusa and the recently released Dark of Hot Springs Islands are both inventive and just stunning tomes to hold in your hands.

I've been slowing moving the groups I referee to the OSR through our play and adventures. Once our current campaign wraps up, I'll make the permanent switch over to the Labyrinth Lord rule set on something new and likely gonzo given my current taste. If you're interested, I've a few links listed at the top of the blog to get you started.

Curse of Strahd: Thoughts and reflections

I was fortunate enough to play in a year long campaign for Curse of Strahd that recently wrapped up. I wanted to share some of my thoughts on this module from a player and DM perspective. I played a human paladin in this campaign, he was pretty stereotypical for paladins, the uptight lawful good-doer. 

Brennan Tattersall in all his glory

My DM was a first-timer, but he really did a great job for his first go at refereeing a campaign. Our group was a mix of players and classes, with some playing remotely as the rest of us gathered at the table, which seems to be an increasing phenomenon these day. Thank you internet!

So Curse of Strahd is essentially a rewrite of the original I6: Ravenloft from the Hickman's. The updated version (written by Chris Perkins of WoTC) expands upon the original opening a more sand-box type feel for the land of Barovia and can be run for PC's level 1 - 10. Their are numerous adventure hooks seeded throughout the adventure, but the primary driving point is the obtainment of items required to do battle with Strahd himself and possibly free yourself from the lands of Barovia.

Overall, I think this is one of the better releases put out from the 5E D&D line. The intro adventure "Death House" which our group did not play is one of the highlights of the entire module, it sets the tone and feel for Ravenloft. Horror and oppressive atmosphere are tough things to pull off in any published adventure, but the book does a great job adding tidbits which help with this like changing the flavor and use of certain spells to represent this feel.

Again with other 5E releases, the book is bloated with information on NPC's and locations which based on your groups decisions may require a lot of page flipping, but thankfully there is an excellent set of maps included with this book unlike previous releases. Any perspective DM's will definitely need to give it a good read through before showing up to the table. There is also the borrowed mechanic from the original I6 that randomly assigns the items used in the fight against Strahd to various locations throughout the map, this is done from the initial encounter with Vistani and Madame Eva's tarot card reading.

I was fortunate enough to play in a group and with a DM that presented us with lots of roleplay interactions as we worked to establish a home base of sorts in the town of Vallaki. As I mentioned previously, there is a lot going on in this town which could lead your PC's to go in a myriad of different directions. Our DM, did a great job of seeding these tidbits of information as we went along. Some of the highlights included the encounter with the druids while assisting the local winery outside of Vallaki, inter-political drama within the town with the current Burgomaster and those more aligned with Strahd, and the gonzo of the Amber Temple.

Throughout the adventure, Strahd will harass and test the players in various ways, but the culmination of the adventure of the adventure is the final show down with Strahd within Castle Ravenloft itself which is a fairly large dungeon by 5E standards. By the time my group had finally made our way to Strahd we were are armed with an assortment of powerful relics and powers, but also allies, this led to an easier than expected final showdown. Again, I still think the power-creep of 5E is way out of hand and this is just another example. If I was running this adventure, I'd continue to scale back the magic items and additionally buff the encounters presented, which my DM did.

All that being said, I had a great time in this adventure. Like most sessions, it comes down to the players and DM in regards to fun and I was lucky in that regard. I do have one complaint that is not related to the adventure itself, but a mindset / actions from another player who joined the group remotely. You may know this type of player, because I have seen many over the years. Since this player was playing remotely and rolling his own dice, he was held accountable to those results through trust. The same player who rolled up his character with 4 starting abilities over 16, one of which was an 18.....and seem to always land a success when needed.

Guys and gals out there, you don't need a super hero character to have a good time at the table. Those flaws make your character more fun and enjoyable to play, trust me. I have seen this a lot with new players and I'm not sure where it stems from, but his actions and rolls caught a lot of eye rolls from the other members of the table. This type of mindset is why I'm moving more and more to the OSR and running my own games.