Shawn Merwin’s Return of the Lizard King is an adventure for levels 1-4 characters that provide an alternative opening for Tomb of Annihilation. It has no relationship to Tomb of the Lizard King, a 1E adventure by Mark Acres. The adventure starts in an unusual place: a misfiring teleport spell takes the adventurers to the Feywild. There, they discover the realm under the effect of … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Return of the Lizard King
In The Gleaming Cloud Citadel, the adventurers need to find the Archmage of the eponymous mage academy. He’s ensconced in his tower, and his fellow mages are worried about him; they hire the adventurers to find out what’s wrong. Unfortunately for the adventurers, not all the wizards see eye-to-eye on this, so the adventurers must deal with competing wizards at the same time while also … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Gleaming Cloud Citadel
This is a wonderful time to be a Dungeon Master. There’s a huge amount of material out there, interest in the game is at an all-time high, and there are all these creative Dungeon Masters out there who are sharing their techniques. Which is just as well, because I’m horrible at coming up with new monsters, spells and magic items. What makes a successful DM? … Continue reading The Art of DMing: Assembling the Pieces (The Non-Creative DM)
Bards are charismatic. Bards are skilful. Bards get to talk to everyone! Here are a few notes on how to play them effectively at first level. What is the Bard best at? The bard is the best at inspiring other characters to perform well. They also are good with a range of weapons, can cast spells, and choose to be good with any skill in … Continue reading Playing a First Level Bard
I ran Oh, We’re In It Now on the weekend. It’s a 2-hour DDAL-legal adventure written by Luke Gygax and Thomas Valley. It’s the second time I’ve run it, and so I was much more confident about how to approach it. The adventure doesn’t use a map. The adventurers are in the middle of a lot of mazey corridors trying to find the way out. … Continue reading Snakes, Druids and “Oh, We’re In It, Now!”
In Out of the Feywild (see review in the last post), there’s an encounter with an invisible pixie. The encounter says it trails the PCs invisibly unless they seem friendly. What then makes the pixie interact with the PCs? It’s a problem I’ve seen many times in adventures. The designer needs to set up a situation where the PCs have something to react to. The … Continue reading Adventure Design: A Word on Encounter Triggers
Out of the Feywild is a short, six-page adventure by Andrew James Woodyard for characters level 3-5. It describes itself as a magical forest mystery. It can easily be played in a single sitting, although its length can be adjusted to last between two and four hours without much trouble. The basic plot is that the adventurers are travelling towards a town when they get … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Out of the Feywild
We ran our Session 0 of Storm King’s Thunder last night. Six players all rolling characters at the same time, creating a party of adventurers that would work together and would be fun to play. The result: A Warlock, a Paladin, a Barbarian, a Monk, a Druid and a Wizard. Covers all the bases! “Hang on!” I hear you cry. “What about the Rogue?” The … Continue reading Storm King’s Thunder – Outrunning the Barbarian
In my experience, a lot of D&D combat takes place around doorways, certainly if the players have played a lot of the game. Why would you want to go into a room? The DM has probably filled it with lots of traps to get you the moment you go in, and monsters are waiting to surround you at a moment’s notice. Far better to stay … Continue reading The Joy of Doorways
Barbarians are tough. Barbarians are strong. Barbarians are incredibly fun to play. Here are a few notes on how to play them effectively at first level. What is the Barbarian best at? The barbarian does the most damage of any first-level character with two-handed weapons. They need to be raging while doing so, but even the fighter doesn’t deal as much damage. Barbarians are the … Continue reading Playing a First Level Barbarian
