The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide introduced me to the concept of henchmen. They were a follower loyal to your main character and provided another character that you could control. (Good when there were fewer players!) Henchmen advanced at half rate and took a share of the treasure. But these seemed quite reasonable compared to the benefits. However, I never played in an … Continue reading Using Henchmen in Dungeons & Dragons
I often begin my campaigns with megadungeons. I sketch out a couple of maps of the first two levels, stock them with monsters, traps, tricks, and treasures – usually using a combination of choice and random selection – and let the players go explore. I have never, however, spent the entire length of a campaign exploring one. Stories suggest themselves to me as we play. … Continue reading Enter the Megadungeon
I am a fan of wandering monsters and random encounters. The concept, in case you were not aware, is that every so often while the party are exploring a dungeon or travelling through the wilderness you make a check to determine whether they have an encounter. The encounter is not necessarily combat, although it often in the sort of combat-heavy games I tend to run. … Continue reading Worldbuilding through Wandering Monsters
The type of fun you enjoy in a Dungeons & Dragons game depends on the group. It may also just depend on how they feel when you play the session. For us, we are currently enjoying a fun romp through dangerous monsters, strange caverns, and many varied treasures. Yes, we are running the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. There is not much of a plot to … Continue reading Adventures in Greyhawk – More fun in Tsojcanth
My home campaign has continued its quest for the Rod of Seven Parts. With the first part in hand, they discovered the second part was possibly in the land of Ket; which was the place with which their nation was at war and why they were seeking the Rod in the first place! As it turned out, the second part wasn’t in Ket! Instead, it … Continue reading Adventures in Greyhawk – Tsojcanth
I don’t like the Season 8 format. This explains some of my problems with The Folly of Sneaky Simon, a DDAL-legal adventure for Tier 1 characters set in the Border Kingdoms. The material is always struggling against the format. I have seen very few scenarios that handle its limitations well. The Call to Action is a good example of where things falter. The text describes … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Folly of Sneaky Simon
There are times when it is all about the framing of the encounter. Haruman’s Hill, to me, represents all the problems Descent into Avernus has. Lulu brings the characters here as she thinks it’s where the Sword of Zariel is. Instead, it isn’t, and it fatally undermines Lulu as a character. From this moment on, Lulu is mostly useless. She’s not guiding the characters; she’s … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus, part 10: Haruman’s Hill
BOXED TEXT: This medium-sized room (20 ft. by 50 ft.) has a green, leafy tile pattern covering the floor. Four trees growing out of stone pots stand in a row along the centre of the room, ten feet between each one, each between five and eight feet in height. Their leaves and trunks are grey, and they stand unnaturally still. DM Information: The four trees … Continue reading The Stone Orchard
I am in the process of running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist for the third time, as noted in previous blog entries. It is a strange product, where the advertising and title do not quite match the contents of the adventure. It is, at least, fully set in Waterdeep – something that causes a lot of problems when a similar naming scheme was applied to Baldur’s Gate: … Continue reading More Thoughts on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
For some reason, I wanted to design this monster with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons statistics. I have no idea why. And I am sure someone else has done this before me. But I wanted to put it out there. TETRAHEDRON FREQUENCY: Very RareNO. APPEARING: 1-4ARMOR CLASS: 4MOVE: 4″HIT DICE: ¼% IN LAIR: NilTREASURE TYPE: NilNO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4SPECIAL ATTACKS: MaimSPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprise on a … Continue reading The Most Fearsome Monster (AD&D stats)
