The adventurers had, by this stage, basically cleared the Air, Earth and Water temples. The Air Prophet was dead, and the Earth and Water Prophets were somewhere else – current locations unknown. Not that the players were paying that much attention to the location of the prophets. Their current location was the Fane of the Eye, the twisting caverns that linked the four temples – … Continue reading Princes of the Apocalypse, sessions 28-31
Over the course of running Princes of the Apocalypse, the characters spent a lot of time in the Temple of Black Earth and its connected outpost, the Sacred Stone Monastery. When my group first encountered the Monastery, they weren’t powerful enough. They could defeat the gate guards, but that fight left them hurt and needing to rest. So, they would retreat and come back the … Continue reading Running Princes of the Apocalypse: Temple of Black Earth
The town of Womford was made (somewhat) famous to my players by its tales of the “Womford Bat” in Princes of the Apocalypse. The bat, unfortunately, does not make an appearance in Banquet of the Damned, a new adventure by Benoit de Bernady, save in an appendix, but you do get two feuding bakers, a mysterious fire, and a demonic corruptor. The early stages of … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Banquet of the Damned
In Dire Need is the fourth adventure of the Storm King’s Thunder series of D&D Adventurers League adventures. It’s a two-hour adventure for level 5-10 characters. As such, it’s short and to the point: A group of dwarves is trapped by a group of ogres and giants, and the adventurers need to rescue them! The adventure structure includes the briefing, the travel to the dwarves … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: In Dire Need
Life has been a bit crazy recently, with work, more work, and even more work conspiring to take me away from blogging and reviewing. However, with a few projects now on pause for a few days, I’m getting the chance to return to the blog and have a few updates (and, with luck, more than a few reviews). One of the odder circumstances that recently … Continue reading Running Out of the Abyss: Gauntlgrym
Well, this is interesting! Wizards of the Coast and OneBookShelf have enabled print-on-demand for a initial range of titles on the DMs Guild. This is fantastic news for people who want hard copies of those older products. However, it does come with a few caveats… The main thing to consider is that those products won’t be printed exactly like the original printing. A single softcover or … Continue reading Print-on-Demand versions of classic Dungeons & Dragons titles
The second of the Unearthed Arcana series on expanding options available to characters is now out. Its topic? Bards! The two colleges included in the Player’s Handbook are both excellent and providing interesting variations on the basic topic. For me, it’s hard to top them – both represent character types that I enjoy playing. So, how do the new colleges stand up? College of Glamour … Continue reading Thoughts on Unearthed Arcana: Bardic Colleges
Barbarian primal paths have a problem, and that’s the Totem Warrior path. When one ability (the Bear Totem) is so good – gaining resistance to ALL damage except psychic – it’s hard to compete against that. With that in mind, here’s a few notes on the new Primal Paths that are spotlighted in playtest form in a recent Unearthed Arcana column. Path of the Ancestral … Continue reading Thoughts on the Unearthed Arcana Barbarian Primal Paths
Uninvited Guests, the third release of this season of D&D Adventurers League adventures, is a gem. It is one of the most impressive adventures I have DMed over the years. It is designed for 3-7 characters of levels 1-4, and plays in about two hours; it is also a masterclass in how to write short adventures. Short adventures, especially for organised play, are often very … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Uninvited Guests
Dungeons & Dragons is an amazing game. It’s one of the most enjoyable pastimes you can have and, especially for Dungeon Masters, can require varying amounts of your time: from just a couple of hours running a session, to many, many hours preparing, designing and planning your world and future adventures. These days, I typically use published adventures for most of my games. They allow … Continue reading Adventure Complexity and the New Dungeon Master
