Curse of Strahd, D&D, D&D 5E, D&D Adventurers League

Running the Curse of Strahd season under Season 8 DDAL rules

One of the challenges in any Organised Play system is to see how series of adventures work after the rules change… In 2018, the D&D Adventurers League moved from awarding Experience Points (XP) to awarding Advancement Checkpoints. For older adventures, each hour played gives 1 ACP (to the maximum playing time). The Curse of Strahd season is particularly challenging to run, because all the adventures … Continue reading Running the Curse of Strahd season under Season 8 DDAL rules

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D&D

What to Play After Finishing Dragon Heist

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is an enjoyable adventure set in the City of Waterdeep, where you get to work for some of the factions of the City whilst stopping other factions from looting a great hoard of gold from a hidden vault. The adventure takes you from first to fifth level, much as does the D&D Starter Set adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver. So, what do you … Continue reading What to Play After Finishing Dragon Heist

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D&D 5E, Review

5E Adventure Review: Handful of Heists

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

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

5E Adventure Review: Tyrant of the Forgotten Forge

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

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D&D, D&D 5E, Review

5E Supplement Review: Black Road Report: The Night Shift

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

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

5E Adventure Review: Dark Waters of Hate

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

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D&D, Design

Encounter Writing: Introductory Paragraphs and Room Descriptions

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

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Greyhawk cover
AD&D, D&D, Greyhawk

A Short Introduction to Greyhawk, part 3

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

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D&D, Greyhawk

A Short Introduction to Greyhawk, part 2

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

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D&D

5E Adventure Review: Haunted Memories

Haunted Memories (CCC-MACE01-03) is a Tier 1 CCC adventure for the D&D Adventurers League program. It is the third in a series of adventures revolving around missions for Lord Geoffrey of the Smiths, a rich noble in Hulburg. This adventure sends the heroes into a haunted house to solve a decade-old murder mystery. The adventure uses the conventions of horror stories very effectively. It is … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Haunted Memories

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