I’ve started running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist as part of my Roll20/Discord D&D games during the lockdown, but this is the first time that I’m doing so not as a D&D Adventurers League game. As a result, I’m going to be changing things up a bit. The fact is that the first chapter is as about as good as I want an opening chapter in an … Continue reading Running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist – again!
By the time the characters enter Elturel, they should have two NPCs with them: Lulu, the winged hollyphant, and Reya, the Hellrider of Elturel who has been doomed (with the rest of Elturel’s defenders) to Hell. As noted in my last instalment, the reasons for them descending are muddy in the adventure-as-written, but I suggest that they have already learned of the need to gain … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus, part 6: Entering Elturel
I’m going to keep this relatively short. I’ve had problems running Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus that began when the characters reached Candlekeep. Some of these are easily overcome. But others require more reworking. Candlekeep’s chief function is to move the characters down into Avernus, the first layer of hell. They have in their possession the infernal puzzle box, and they have a contact: a … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus, part 5: Candlekeep
In the fourth session of our play of Descent into Avernus, the characters continued their investigation into the underground sewer hideout of the devil cultists – as opposed to the Dead Three cultists found in their previous expedition. They were investigating the sewer complex below the manor of Duke Valthampur, as detailed in the previous instalment. In addition to the player characters, Reya Mantlemorn, a … Continue reading Running Descent into Avernus, part 4
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
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?
One of the additions to the Dungeons & Dragons game during the 3E era was the prestige class of the Shadowdancer. They were pretty popular, and it was the goal of one of my players to become one. That led to some pretty amusing and entertaining game play. And, though the prestige class no longer exists, Monks who follow the Way of the Shadow can … Continue reading Shadow Dancers in the World of Greyhawk
Last weekend, I managed to panic members of my Call of Cthulhu table. During the Christmas period, we’re not running D&D Adventurers League games as normal, as people (and DMs) are away, but we’re instead running any old game that amuses the available DMs. Which means that I’m running Call of Cthulhu, Josh is running D&D: Acquisitions Incorporated, and Fynn is running Star Wars (the … Continue reading Panicked Players and Planning
Salvage Operation is, in essence, a simple little adventure until the final act. You explore an unusual dungeon – a wrecked ship! – fighting the foes aboard, until you reach your objective: a treasure in the hold. The tricky bit about the adventure is running the final section, where your group needs to escape with the treasure! Your players may want to discover what happened … Continue reading Running Ghosts of Saltmarsh: Salvage Operation
The rules for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition are quite clear (although often misinterpreted) about surprise attacks. Let’s restate them using other language: At the beginning of combat, each combatant that is unaware of all opposing forces is SURPRISED. Combat then starts as normal with initiative, and the normal initiative order. However, any character that is SURPRISED has these restrictions: A SURPRISED character may not … Continue reading Surprise Attack!
