Greyhawk – Invasion of the Shadow Fey

My recent Greyhawk sessions have been dominated by the brewing war between Ket and Veluna, which was provoked by the death of the High Priestess of Xan Yae on a trip to Veluna. I’ve been drawing on some Kobold Press products to find foes for the characters, and I settled on using the advanced Shadow Fey found in the Creature Codex. Xan Yae, as the … Continue reading Greyhawk – Invasion of the Shadow Fey

5E Adventure Review: The Skull Square Murders

The Skull Square Murders is a level 5-10 adventure by Paige Leitman for the D&D Adventurers League. It is written in the 2+2 format (two hours of main adventures with two 1-hour bonus objectives) and demonstrates all the problems that the format has when it comes to writing investigations. The central concept is that you need to find a key, and you discover that the … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Skull Square Murders

On the new Seasonality rules for the D&D Adventurers League

Beginning with Season 9, the D&D Adventurers League is moving to a new form of character creation, advancement and play restrictions. Dubbed as “Seasonality”, it links characters more to individual seasons. (You can find a brief description in the latest Dragon+) The effects of this are primarily the following: When you create a character, you choose a Season for that character to belong to. Seasons … Continue reading On the new Seasonality rules for the D&D Adventurers League

Conquest Games Convention – midway report

It’s the start of day 3 of the Conquest Games Convention in Melbourne. It’s Easter Sunday. It’s a slow start for the day – I assume some people are going to church, while others are sleeping in. The main action at the convention at present is the gaming going on at the D&D Adventurers League tables. This pleases me, as I’m the one who organised … Continue reading Conquest Games Convention – midway report

On Using Boxed Text

Boxed text is used to provide an initial description of an encounter to the DM and players, with the intention that the DM read or paraphrase the information to the players. It has the following benefits: It alerts the DM and players to what’s important in the room. It conveys the author’s intention for the initial stages of the encounter. It can set a mood. … Continue reading On Using Boxed Text

5E Adventure Review: Citadel of Vlaakith

Citadel of Vlaakith is an adventure for level 1-4 characters. In it, the characters are sent to investigate a strange structure that has crashed in a nearby swamp; all reports indicate it came from another plane of existence. The characters are not the first to investigate: another party of adventurers were sent but did not return, and there is also a hobgoblin tribe in the … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Citadel of Vlaakith

Formatting Encounters

Using one format for all types of adventures unchangingly is a problem. You want to adapt the format according to the style of adventure (investigation, exploration, combat-heavy, event-driven, etc.) When I look to describing a particular scene or encounter, I think there are a few key areas that should be present. I look for the following: An opening paragraph or boxed text that sets out … Continue reading Formatting Encounters