How often do your characters rest? Where do they rest? Do your characters always fight to the death? Further to my last article on the effects that the availability of healing has on the game, I was considering how other mechanics change the flow of the game. To some extent, the mechanics are elements of the old-style dungeon explorations that I still enjoy very much … Continue reading Wandering Monsters, Pursuit and Resting
I recently ran a session of Tomb of Horrors. Not the new version from Tales from the Yawning Portal, but the old version. The AD&D first edition version. With the pregenerated characters included in the adventure. Seven players, seven heroes. In a two-hour session they reached about half-way through. The dwarven fighter began the session on 90 hit points, a very good total in those … Continue reading More Thoughts on Healing
The D&D Adventurers League is an organisation that provides a shared campaign where players can take their characters from one game to the next, playing wherever suits their fancy. The players can play any of the official D&D hardcover campaigns as part of the Adventurers League campaign, or any of the one-shot adventures that are available on the DMs Guild and tagged as AL-legal. Most … Continue reading What You Need to Know to be a Dungeon Master in the Adventurers League
I organise regular games of the D&D Adventurers League at Guf Ballarat. We use the Warhorn site to organise games – you can see the upcoming schedule there. Spaces are limited, unfortunately, so signing up in advance is advised. See below for games you can join! If you’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons before, we have pregenerated characters, dice and helpful people that will explain how … Continue reading September D&D at Guf Ballarat
I had a great game of D&D tonight. We were playing Quelling the Horde, an adventure from the 3rd season of the Adventurers League by Ron Lundeen. The adventure has its flaws; the combats, in particular, are often far too difficult for a party of Tier 1 characters. It also has too much content, which is a problem when you’re trying to run a game … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Quelling the Horde
The first volume of the Creature Feature Quarterly contains 13 monsters, illustrated and designed by Jeremy Hart. A second volume is also available. Each monster is presented on two landscape pages that detail its statistics, description, ecology, lore and potential adventures featuring the creature. The monsters tend towards the strange and bizarre. I’m glad to say there isn’t a humanoid amongst them – although there … Continue reading 5E Supplement Review: Creature Feature Quarterly, vol. 1
We Eat in the Dark is a dungeon adventure for 3rd or 4th-level characters by Alex Clippinger. The dungeon is dangerous, and the characters might not survive the experience. It is recommended for use as a one-shot rather than as part of campaign play. Part of the danger of the dungeon comes from its set-up: the adventurers have been captured and begin with limited equipment. … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: We Eat in the Dark
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
