One of the bigger problems with Princes of the Apocalypse is that it has an adventure structure that allows the players to very quickly end up in areas that are far too dangerous for them. However, the story is pushing them towards those areas. What’s the quest? Rescue the prisoners. Where are the prisoners? In a dungeon designed for level 12 adventurers. What level are … Continue reading Adventure Structure: Curse of Strahd
The rider who greeted the adventurers as they descended from Argynvostholt was Ezmerelda d’Avenir, a gift to DMs everywhere. One of the major things that you’ll often need as a DM is a non-player character who can drive the plot and give information to the adventurers that they can’t otherwise obtain or, more frequently, have missed. In this game of Curse of Strahd, that character … Continue reading Running Curse of Strahd: Ezmerelda d’Avenir
The exploration of Argynvostholt, a large ruined manor in the heart of Barovia, began under strange circumstances. I doubt many adventurers have explored a haunted mansion whilst the entire population of a village is camping on the front porch! The adventurers had gone to Vallaki to find the wedding dress the Abbot wanted, but they were worried about how Ireena was faring back in Krezk. … Continue reading Running Curse of Strahd, part 5 – Argynvostholt
One of the things that occasionally occurs in Dungeons & Dragons games is an outbreak of player arrogance. The belief that the player characters are the biggest, baddest people in the game, and that nothing can touch them. This often ends very badly for the player characters. I’ve been playing D&D for a very long time, and many of my early games were played with … Continue reading D&D Player Tips: Paying Attention
The tenth adventure of Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts is The Artifact by Teos “Alphastream” Abadia. This is a fascinating adventure, which rewards players who like role-playing and investigation as opposed to straight combat. It’s also based on the classic game of Clue. (Did you know they once produced a D&D version of Clue? They did! Really!) This is not to say that The Artifact … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Artifact
The ninth adventure in the fourth D&D Adventurers League season, The Tempter, has a lot to recommend it. It makes use of a number of gothic horror tropes that I adore, and it ends with the players having to make a decision that properly evokes the major theme of the adventure: Temptation. The characters might be sent to a Lady’s manor to bargain for supplies, … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Tempter
Life’s been a little crazy recently, so while D&D games have continued, blog updates have not. Many apologies for that! When we last saw our brave band of adventurers, they were heading off to Vallaki to find a wedding dress for the Abbot’s “Bride of Strahd”, but as it turned out, they decided to go back to the Wizard of Wines winery to pick up … Continue reading Running Curse of Strahd, part 4 – Yester Hill
There’s an excellent concept inside The Broken One, the eighth adventure of the current D&D Adventurers League season. It’s got some fantastic imagery, a moral dilemma and an exciting conclusion. It’s also an adventure I found very difficult to run. A large part of the reason for this is how dependent the adventure is on interacting with NPCs. This adventure begins with a meeting with … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Broken One
In our previous installment, the adventurers had defeated the druids and blights that had taken over the Wizard of Wines winery. It was now time for them to go to Krezk with the winecarts, fulfilling their pledge to the villagers and thus gaining access. The trip back occasioned a couple of minor attacks by wolves and stray blights, but both those threats were dealt with … Continue reading Running Curse of Strahd, part 3: Krezk
Last night, my Wednesday night group continued their quest through Curse of Strahd. This is the second group I’m running through the adventure, and they’re making different choices from the first group. Occasionally very different choices. And last night, most of the group were pretty tired. So they weren’t paying as much attention as you might expect. This led to a few interesting situations… It … Continue reading The Two Doorways – Tales from Curse of Strahd
