D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League, Descent into Avernus, Session Report

Running Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, part 1

My local group has just started playing Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. We began with an hour or so of character creation and background determination before moving into the adventure proper. I consider it fairly important to determine the party’s makeup together. You want a party that can handle the threats that a published adventure throws at them, because you don’t have the same flexibility … Continue reading Running Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, part 1

merricb@yahoo.co.ukJanuary 17, 2020May 20, 20201 Comment

D&D, D&D 5E

On Using Published Campaign Settings

The new official D&D Campaign Setting book has been announced – and it is part of the Critical Role campaign world! The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount is its name, and I know almost nothing about it, except that a lot of people that I have a lot of respect for worked on it. So, it’s likely to be very good. That said, I probably won’t … Continue reading On Using Published Campaign Settings

merricb@yahoo.co.ukJanuary 15, 2020January 14, 20201 Comment

D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League, Review

5E Adventure Review: Infernal Insurgency

Infernal Insurgency is an adventure for level 5 to 10 characters set in Avernus and part of the official DDAL line of scenarios. It continues the story from Faces of Fortune. The characters, now they have a base in Avernus, must scout a nearby research and weapons facility run by goblins and lesser devils and then cause enough damage there to draw away forces from … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Infernal Insurgency

merricb@yahoo.co.ukJanuary 14, 2020January 13, 20204 Comments

D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League, Review

5E Adventure Review: Faces of Fortune

Faces of Fortune is an adventure for level 5-10 characters set in Avernus, the first layer of Hell. As the first of the DDAL Season 9 adventures at Tier 2, it has the job of introducing you to Hell and the place that will be your home base for the next few adventures: Mahadi’s Travelling Emporium. Along the way, you get chased by Infernal War … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Faces of Fortune

merricb@yahoo.co.ukJanuary 5, 2020January 6, 2020Leave a comment

D&D, Play Advice

How Immersive is Your Game?

The wonderful James Introcaso recently wrote a blog post in which he discussed the situation where a player primarily engaged with the game through the mechanics. One example he gave was this: A player tries to buy a suit of armour from a merchant. The player says, “Can I roll a Persuasion check to see if this lady will give me a deal on the … Continue reading How Immersive is Your Game?

merricb@yahoo.co.ukJanuary 3, 2020January 3, 20203 Comments

D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League, Design

On the Importance of Clarity

It’s tricky writing adventures that are easy to prepare. M. T. Black recently posted on Twitter that he wanted to allow DMs to prepare DDAL09-04 in as little as 15 minutes. While most DMs should spend an hour or more prepping a four-hour adventure before they run it, the reality of running adventures in a convention or store setting often means that the DM is … Continue reading On the Importance of Clarity

merricb@yahoo.co.ukDecember 30, 2019December 30, 2019Leave a comment

AD&D, Review

AD&D Adventure Review: Conan Unchained!

Back in 1984, Conan was hot. The Arnold Schwarzenegger movies had come out to the general acclaim of – well – fantasy fans. (The first movie found a more general audience, but the second did not). And TSR somehow gained the license to do Conan-based RPGs. There was an actual Conan RPG, plus three AD&D adventures – two Conan adventures and one Red Sonja adventure … Continue reading AD&D Adventure Review: Conan Unchained!

merricb@yahoo.co.ukDecember 28, 2019December 28, 2019Leave a comment

D&D, D&D 5E, Review

5E Adventure Review: The Absent-Minded Alchemist

The Absent-Minded Alchemist is a one-session adventure for first- or second-level characters in an urban setting. The players are hired to deal with rats in a cellar. Unfortunately, they’re not told that the alchemist whose cellar it is has been pouring his failed concoctions down the drain, and that the rats have been magically mutated! The idea of dealing with giant rats in a cellar … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Absent-Minded Alchemist

merricb@yahoo.co.ukDecember 26, 2019December 26, 2019Leave a comment

D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League, Review

5E Adventure Review: Precious Cargo

Precious Cargo is a four-hour adventure set in the Moonshae Isles for characters level 1 to 4. It is a DDAL-legal adventure produced by Baldman Games. In the adventure, the characters are asked to help deal with fey bandits active on the High King’s Road. After repulsing the initial attack, the characters travel into the nearby forest, where they must face the hag responsible for … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Precious Cargo

merricb@yahoo.co.ukDecember 25, 2019December 25, 2019Leave a comment

D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League, Review

5E Adventure Review: Rise of the Sea Dragon

Rise of the Sea Dragon is a sea-based adventure set in the Forgotten Realms for level 5-10 characters, taking two to four hours to play. The adventure begins with the characters’ ship being wrecked by an attack from some monster, and – upon being rescued – seeking the identity of that monster so they can stop it from further preying on the ships of the … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Rise of the Sea Dragon

merricb@yahoo.co.ukDecember 25, 2019December 25, 2019Leave a comment