In this episode of Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, the characters started to investigate those behind the Cult of the Dead Three and engaged in some role-playing. I began the session with a recap of what had occurred last time. When you’re running a mystery, reminding the players of what is going on is necessary. It’s a good idea for any game you run, but … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus, part 3
In the Garden of Evil is a Tier 2 adventure set in Avernus in which the characters are sent to save a Hellrider and her unicorn which are trapped in Bloodroot Grove, a remnant of the beauty that existed in Avernus before the Blood War. This is the fourth of the Tier 2 Avernus adventures for the D&D Adventurers League. In the first three, the … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: In the Garden of Evil
Love’s Fickle Arrow is an investigative, urban adventure for level 3 characters set during the events of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, although I see no issue with adapting it for use as a stand-alone adventure. In it, the characters are hired to protect a famous bard from an assassin, as he participates in performances of the play “Love’s Fickle Arrow”. This is an impressive adventure. I … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Love’s Fickle Arrow
The Diabolical Dive is an adventure for level 5 to 10 characters set in Avernus. It is the third and final part of the Behind Infernal Lines trilogy. The characters must breach the infernal fortress of Plagueshield Point, which is at the bottom of the River Styx, and retrieve the plans that the Hellriders used when they attacked Avernus. I’m not sure why the characters … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Diabolical Dive
Our second session of Descent into Avernus saw the characters continue their attack on the sewer-based hideout of the cultists of the Dead Three. Ye gods! We’d ended the first session with them winning in a tough fight against two cultists: a fist of Bane and an iron consul. The first order of the day was taking a rest. The dungeon, as written, doesn’t have … Continue reading Running Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, part 2
Face the Music is a short encounter for use with third-level characters that you can use in a variety of situations. It features a set of animated magical instruments, which can form a combat encounter, as well as a few secrets for the party to uncover. I estimate it should take around thirty minutes to one hour to play. I think it’s a charming product, … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Face the Music
This is a second part of a series of articles examining the history and challenges facing the D&D Adventurers League since the beginning of Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition in 2014. This is an outside view of the program, which, while I’ve been involved in many facets of the league, I am not privy to the internal discussions and research of Wizards of the Coast … Continue reading Seasons of the D&D Adventurers League, part 2
My thoughts on including stat blocks in adventure text are shaped by a lot of very poor examples of how to do so in the third and fourth edition era. Dungeons & Dragons fourth edition used a format that we refer to as the “delve” format. It was premiered in the final days of third edition and presented most encounters on a one or two-page … Continue reading On Stat Blocks and Adventure Presentation
In 2008, much to our surprise, Wizards of the Coast blew up the Forgotten Realms. That’s not literal. Rather, Wizards of the Coast took a setting that had been happily available as a published setting for Dungeons & Dragons since 1987, and decreed that it was now 100 years in the future. Almost everyone you cared about was dead, and the world had significantly changed. … Continue reading Once upon a time, Wizards blew up the Forgotten Realms!
The Magician’s House is an adventure for level 4 characters in which those characters explore – well, I guess you know what they explore. It’s also a 161-page pdf. Those 161 pages cover approximately 19 locations in around 110 pages (some have more than one encounter in them), and then there are a further 50 pages of appendices. It’s not that the areas are insanely … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Magician’s House
