The Sylvan Harp is an adventure by Simon Collins for level 1-4 characters. It has a suggested playing time of 8 hours. The adventure concerns a Hag who has stolen a magic harp and wishes to overthrow the Elf Queen. The adventure is mostly set in the wilderness – a sylvan forest – with a few dungeon encounters. The adventure prioritises combat and role-playing, as … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Sylvan Harp
Bedlam at the Benefit is a 2-hour D&D Adventurers League-legal adventure for Tier 1 characters released as part of the CCC program. The adventurers are sent to raise money for a children’s hospital, but things go wrong, and they must rescue the guests and themselves from a chaotic incursion. This adventure is brilliant. The role-playing section that begins the adventure is glorious; it structures the … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Bedlam at the Benefit
The Dragon’s Secret is a 52-page adventure written for the Swords & Wizardry system by Jennell Jaquays, one of the great game designers who started in the early days of role-playing games. Swords & Wizardry is a variant of the original D&D rules published by Frog God Games, and as such, I’ve chosen to tag this review with the Original D&D tag. Conversion to 5E … Continue reading OD&D Review: The Dragon’s Secret
The Moonshae Isles Regional Guide presents an introduction to the folk (or Ffolk) and factions of the Moonshae Isles, a storied part of the Forgotten Realms. The Moonshae Isles are an archipelago inspired by British Isles mythology: Druids, fey and a lot of invasions. I was first introduced to them, as were many others, by Douglas Niles’ book Darkwalker on Moonshae. I revisited it a … Continue reading 5E Supplement Review: Moonshae Isles Regional Guide
Over the last four years, I’ve been running hardcover adventures using Adventurers League rules in our local store. Mostly weekly, though for a bit over a year, I was running twice a week. There’s not that much that would be *too* different if I was running them for home play. For the most part, the groups playing those hardcovers were constant throughout. Occasionally, a new … Continue reading On the Importance and Challenges of Organised Play
Adventures I don’t design for publication? They don’t need so much text! The premise? Goblins are raiding from an old keep (the upper floor is destroyed). However, the goblins are plagued by an old summoning circle in the basement, which keeps letting loose Abyssal Maws! They’ve got a deal with some ogres to keep the maws in, but they’d prefer to get rid of them … Continue reading A Home Adventure
Some things you learn through experience. When I first played Dungeons & Dragons, while AD&D 1st Edition was the main edition, I got very frustrated by the magic item creation rules. Too vague! The DM had to do too much work! Where do you get those ingredients anyway? I understood that crafting magic items was an important part of the magic-user’s abilities – the book … Continue reading Crafting Magic Items – and the Effect on the Campaign
Cauldron of Sapphire, the penultimate Tier 4 adventure of Season 7, is a superb adventure. Robert Adducci crafted what I believe is the first regular-series DDAL adventure to get Tier 4 right – and yes, I do include my own efforts in that. (I don’t include the special Epics or Author-Only adventures, as I haven’t run those yet!) Cauldron, like my Eye of Xxiphu, mostly takes … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Cauldron of Sapphire
The Waterdeep Primer is a 24-page document compiled by Jason Hardin that introduces the reader to key facts about the City of Waterdeep, an important city in the Forgotten Realms. With the upcoming adventure season revolving around this city, this is a way to learn some lore before the official release. The primer covers the history of the city in four pages, the geography in … Continue reading 5E Supplement Review: Waterdeep Primer
Ghost of the Mere is an adventure for 12th-level characters, set during the time of the Tyranny of Dragons. It’s designed so it can be run as an additional quest during Rise of Tiamat. You’d benefit from owning Hoard of the Dragon Queen for information on Castle Naerytar. The adventure sets up an interesting situation where the characters are sent to stop the black dragon … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Ghost of the Mere
