Handful of Heists is a collection of five short adventures for third-level characters, potentially set during Chapter 3 of Dragon Heist, but adaptable for use elsewhere. Each adventure, as indicated in the title, is a “heist” of some sort, where the characters are sent to retrieve something valuable. In Cavern of the Sunken Queen, the characters venture underwater into a temple of Umberlee, the evil … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Handful of Heists
The third part of the Tenets of Bane series, Tyrant of the Forgotten Forge, is a two-hour adventure for level 1-4 characters. Set in an old dwarven mine, the adventure features oppressed kobolds, tyrannical derro, and some traps and puzzles for the party to navigate. There is a nice mix of challenges in the adventure, with some role-playing opportunities and quite a bit of puzzle-solving. … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Tyrant of the Forgotten Forge
I have no idea who the “Black Road Report” is for. Here’s the blurb: Ever wonder why the Harpers can’t seem to quash the Zhentarim? It’s because the Zhents keep excellent notes. Think I’m kidding? Check out this edition the first ever unearthed notes from the Zhentarim’s Black Road Report, Faerun’s only glimpse into the inner workings of the Zhentarim spy network. This edition is … Continue reading 5E Supplement Review: Black Road Report: The Night Shift
Dark Waters of Hate is the second adventure in the Tenets of Bane quadrology for level 1-4 characters. It’s a D&D Adventurers League-legal adventure. The task for the characters is simple: Retrieve the second platinum disk created by Bane that embodies Hate. To do this, all they have to do is descend into the depths of the Moonsea, fight underwater creatures, meet merfolk, enter the … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Dark Waters of Hate
Here are two encounters from Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Interestingly, they appear next to each other in the book. Which do you find easier to parse? In my case, it’s the first one. And it’s for a simple reason: the opening paragraph tells me what to expect in the room. For the second example, the empty classroom, my initial thought is that the … Continue reading Encounter Writing: Introductory Paragraphs and Room Descriptions
The World of Greyhawk is one of the oldest fantasy RPG settings, and grew out of the personal campaign of Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons. In previous articles, I’ve discussed its origins, and the updates to the setting. In this article, I’ll discuss its adventures. Many campaign settings are defined by their sourcebooks. Greyhawk rarely had a sourcebook, although some came out … Continue reading A Short Introduction to Greyhawk, part 3
I talked in part one of this series about the main themes of the Greyhawk boxed set released in 1983, which described the world in the year 576 CY . Over the next couple of decades of publication, several major events occurred in the World of Greyhawk, which led to the release in 2000 of the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (591 CY in the campaign), the … Continue reading A Short Introduction to Greyhawk, part 2
Into the Dark (DDAL08-07) is the first of the Tier 2 adventures of Season 8 of the D&D Adventurers League. In it, Artor Morlin, the Vampire Lord of Waterdeep, recruits the characters to remove a vampire nest in Undermountain. It’s very definitely aimed at characters that have played the first Tier 1 trilogy of this season, but it works with other characters as well. This … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Into the Dark
Dungeon Mayhem is a small card game released by Wizards of the Coast that allows two to four players to attempt to defeat each other in an everyone-for-themselves brawl in the D&D world. It’s fast, furious, and quite random, playing in about 10 minutes or less. It’s entirely the sort of filler game I tend not to play. However, upon watching my younger friends playing … Continue reading Board Game Review: Dungeon Mayhem
I had a chance to play the new D&D-themed game Vault of Dragons from Gale Force Nine on the weekend; some friends played it just before. All of us found it a tremendously frustrating experience, partly due to a poor rulebook, but mostly due to tedious game play. The concept of the game is that you control one of four factions racing to find a … Continue reading Board Game Review: Vault of Dragons
