Shadowdark: Trolls are Dangerous Again

 If you were paying attention to this blog (unlikely) then you know that both of my Dungeons & Dragons campaigns stopped abruptly a little over three years ago. The two groups were using 5th edition D&D, one group in a homebrew world, transitioning to Ptolus, and the other already in Ptolus. I am now preparing to start a new campaign using the Shadowdark RPG. 

There is an interesting mechanic for driving activity in the game by giving light an even greater importance to survival than in many other games, especially 5e D&D. Torches burn out after about an hour of real time, with variance and depending on other factors. Delving is risky in the light, but becomes terrifying in the dark. Characters have limited encumbrance and space meaning choices of what to carry and how much can be the difference between life and death. Characters in Shadowdark do not have darkvision, unlike almost all of the species in Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. When they run out of light sources the real fight for survival begins.

This is where trolls enter the discussion. We all know that fire is one of two certain ways to finish off a troll and prevent their regeneration. Acid is the second method, but it comes with the risk of exposure and damage if the vessel it is carried in breaks. Fire is therefore the most likely resource at hand for combatting trolls. Using up torches battling trolls depletes that very valuable resource. Now trolls aren't just deadly in combat, they're deadly afterward as well. 

Many of the creatures inhabiting dungeons will make an extra effort to douse light sources and trolls have more reason to snuff torches. So, when your players chuckle at the thought of trolls, smile and watch their expressions when the light goes out.

 

Satanic Panic

 

D&D For Sale - update

 This seems to be the most accurate information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSMThxKiQUk

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/tencent-is-reportedly-seeking-to-acquire-dungeons-dragons-from-hasbro/?fbclid=IwAR2M7hu_bjNLKPa7mQPObK5Zj2d-_pvvjGuBxyJvLEdtHciNMiM8ud_tq70

D&D For Sale

 Waiting for more details and confirmation, but rumors are that Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast are in talks to sell the Dungeons and Dragons IP to Tencent. 

50 Years of Dungeons and Dragons

 I've been playing for 43 of the 50 years D&D has existed. 

MCDM RPG - 4th Edition on Steroids???

 If you have watched enough videos by Mathew Colville you may know he is quite fond of D&D 4th edition. To him 4e represented heroic high fantasy with a tight focus on tactics. Unfortunately for D&D, most of the existing audience was expecting to continue on with a mostly dungeon crawling, exploring, resource tracking style of system, and Wizards did nothing to advertise or explain this shift. So is the MCDM RPG 4e reborn?

I signed up to the MCDM Patreon for $8/month to get my hands on the playtest packet. It turns out that the games will have many aspects in common, but I feel from what little I have seen that the new RPG dice mechanics and design will separate it from the predecessor in all the right ways.  

The core mechanics in the playtest docs and as described in videos about the game have me intrigued enough that I will likely remain a backer despite my dislike of 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons. Note: I bought a lot of 4e books to give it a thorough chance before determining it just wasn't my thing.

Fourth Edition had too much of a video gamey, button pushing, Magic: The Gathering tap/untap/burn feel. I can still see some of that here, but the design choices so far have not fallen into that same repetitive rut. Unlike 4e the characters become more badass as play proceeds instead of wearing down to where the boss fight will be a slog, hitting the same at-will button every round.

Among the pre-generated characters in the playtest packet is a Conduit (cleric). This character is unarmed, carries no melee weapon of any sort, instead relying on a ranged cantrip. What happens if the enemy is in the Conduit's face? I do find this jarring since I would prefer to tone down the starting capabilities of these characters just a little.  Not everything needs to be conveniently solved with an overabundance of magic, even if the 1st level characters are already heroes.

I won't be able to pass judgement on this yet, though I will be watching closely till just before the crowd funding campaign on Backerkit ends.

 

Interactive Ptolus City Map

There is a great website resource available for both DMs and players in a Ptolus campaign. It is the Ptolus City by the Spire Fully Interactive Map. It is not an official product of Monte Cook Games, but does have their blessing as I understand things.

I highly recommend viewing the interactive map on a laptop or PC. I find it unwieldy on my phone.

Ptolus Interactive Map

If you own the setting book, and can prove it to the site owner, you can access the book details about the locations pinned on the map. However, you can still make great use of this as a player without spoiling the secrets about the locations. 

Finding your way around the city and becoming familiar with the districts is very helpful. This map can take the confusion out of knowing where you are in relation to everything else. Need to get from the Guildsman district to the Docks? You can use this to plan your  route if that much detail is desired.

The important street names are on the map and you can make up your own for other short streets, and alleys if you choose. 

I use this most often when placing scenario locations for the player characters to visit. I can't add pins to the map, but I can note street names in my notes along with landmarks they are close to so players can match them to the map.

Check the site out. 

Cool New Endeavor - The Griffin & Gargoyle

The fiftieth anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons is fast approaching and there are plans by a large contingent of companies to celebrate the birth of this great hobby. One of those is the restaurant, lounge, retail gift shop/game store, and play space known as The Griffin & Gargoyle.

Conceptually the aim is to provide an immersive experience with not only the various settings, it will also have a story behind it within which patrons and visitors can participate. I hope to have more on this aspect in the future, because what I know already makes this sound like an opportunity for role-players to engage with the world history behind The Griffin & Gargoyle in a fun way.

Intended to become a destination spot for fans of role-playing and Dungeons and Dragons in particular, the developers are not lumping everything in that one basket. Of course the goal is to bring in customers from all over, including the locals and to make the business viable all year long. To that end the restaurant will have in their words, a unique and extensive menu. This establishment will not be for gamers on a pilgrimage alone, it will cater to everyone.

Speaking of catering, I heard that catering is something they might also handle, and weddings too.

Themed areas within the building are not just limited to The Griffin and Gargoyle Tavern (restaurant), they also include Curated Curiosities (retail space), The Gnome Alchemist (bar/lounge with all sorts of interesting concoctions), and a sequestered area for private role-playing sessions on custom built tables.

There are a number of gaming luminaries that are being tapped to contribute. Hammered Game Tables (if you've followed the blog you may known I own one of the early prototype HGT builds), and Stefan Pokorny of Dwarven Forge among them.

The Griffin & Gargoyle people have a lot more planned and a single blog post is insufficient to handle all of the information. With luck maybe the developers will spare a little time to provide us with occasional tidbits and updates as we get closer to March 2024.

Here is a link directly to the source!  https://griffinandgargoyle.com/   <---- Link

Thursday Knights

 I'm part of a D&D game played over Roll20 on occasional Thursday evenings. We're currently adventuring in the Eberron: Rising From the Last War setting. The Eberron setting is not really that appealing to me, but the group and DM are great fun. I know half of the other participants personally and have gamed with them for a long time. I'm having fun trying to figure out where the story is heading. As I type this it is an hour before start time of another session.

Let me tell you about my character (insert eye roll emoji here).

Ennark is a level 4 cleric of the Silver Flame, Light Domain. He is the party's primary healer, although a couple of other characters contribute to the magical healing routine. 

The Light Domain gives the cleric access to various fire and light spells as the character advances including eventually accessing FIREBALL! Unlike an Evocation wizard the cleric cannot sculpt the spell to avoid torching party members in the area of effect. 

Ennark was a bit spoiled before getting sent off to an adventuring career. He was used to the finer things that come with being around the central church environs and attending to some ranking officials. Someone higher up decided that Ennark should go off in search of relics and artifacts that could be of relevance to the church. 

The adventuring life so far has been filthy and all-to-violent.

His arrival on the continent was frightening. He was immediately set upon by four members of a criminal gang intent on throwing him off the docks to drown in the harbor. Fortunately 5 other fairly new arrivals stepped in to defend him.

Two of the thugs were slain by the party in an act of self defense. This did not solve the problem. Later the party discovered there was a hefty price on their heads offered by the gang known as the Bilge Rats. 

After some communication a meeting was arranged with a neutral adjudicator so negotiations could allow both groups to avoid violence and for the Bilge Rats to get paid off and save face.

I really enjoyed the role play of the negotiation and some verbal sparring that session. I rarely get to do that as a player and it was nice for that side of the character to be involved.

Other adventures have been had. A magical box was recovered from lizardmen, kobolds etc. Snake people ambushed the party trying to get the box. We got paid for that recovery and it was from that money that we paid off the Bilge Rats.

We also owed the Rats a favor as part of buying them off. They called it in quickly and down into the sewers we went. 

Some of their members had been butchered and all they knew was one word - claws - spoken by a dying man. Zombies were encountered, we rescued a missing party member from some Bilge Rat members that apparently had not received the hands off memo, we met more zombies including an undead ogre, and we also got chopped up pretty bad by a War Forged assailant with razor sharp claws on its hands. 

The war forged and his companions had more urgent business and because of that we survived. We discovered more dead victims of Razor as we discovered he was called. There was a portal device down in the adjacent cave system that they had sabotaged and it eventually exploded. We got away from that as well.

We followed the war forged whose group had grown to nearly 20 members and along the way got ambushed by a wyvern that tried to fly off with a party member. It figured out it needed to hunt easier prey and flew off.

At the shoreline we discovered that it wasn't just war forged we were dealing with, but an equally large group of snake people. We observed from hiding as they swapped another magical box for a book of some importance and both groups went their own ways. We then returned to the city to report some of what happened.

The Rats put on a demonstration of what they do to members that break agreements by having one of the goons that kidnapped our fellow adventurer eaten alive by giant rats. Then they heard our report and actually paid us handsomely while trying to get us to work for them. We politely left our options open after that demonstration.

A powerful wizard went missing and we got tasked with finding him. We're about to have some divinations done to give us better clues. 

And now for a salad and some role playing. Game on!

Bob's Your NPC aka Name Stealing

I, like many Dungeon Masters have a hard time naming non-player characters. The struggle is real when your players decide to talk to someone that you had not expected them to pay attention to. Naming an NPC Bob when caught unprepared is its own trope in RPG history.

That's a reality, but what can be done about it?

About 20 years ago I became increasingly frustrated by my seeming inability to come up with names, not just on the spot, but during preparation for the game and creation of adventure scenarios. My solution came not from RPGs, but during a space combat board game. Desperate for ship names I stumbled on some horse racing forms while randomly browsing the web. Conveniently the list had a dozen or more appropriate sounding military and noble titles with the names. That was the revelation I needed. Existing resources are everywhere and mine has most often come from my junk email folder.

Don't limit yourself to racing forms or junk email. Use NPC names from adventures you're not going to work into your campaign. There are thousands of free or inexpensive adventures on the internet. Fan sites often host a catalog of resources to borrow from. 

One friend of mine used to name members of ship crews or combat squads in computer games after people he knew. I don't know how many times characters with my name got slaughtered during his game play, but at least he had his resource for NPC names.

If you're watching streaming shows keep a notepad handy. You can write down actor and character names to smash together later to form new names to use in your game. Keep that notepad handy at the table and cross off the names you use as it comes into play. Make a new note to remind yourself of just who and what that NPC is because player characters will return to people they've met for more information or other needs. That notepad will be a great time saver.

It's also perfectly fine if two NPCs share a name. There might be two people named Alexander or with the same last name. Real life is full of instances like that and we muddle through mostly ok.

So the basic advice here is to steal names. Steal them from anywhere and everywhere. At least the NPCs won't all be named Bob.

Bob the Limner

Players Guide to Ptolus

For those unfamiliar with the setting the campaign is moving to, here is a link to the Players Guide to Ptolus. 

You can buy the dead tree version or you can download the free .pdf

https://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/a-players-guide-to-ptolus/  <---- Link. You may need to copy and paste because Blogger is being difficult as I write this post.

This 32 page guide will give you a solid understanding of the setting without spoiling the secrets and true depth of detail within the setting.

The setting was originally released in 2006 for the D&D 3.5 edition. It had been used by Monte Cook as a playtest bed for D&D 3.0 and was part of his campaign world prior to that time. Recently updated to D&D 5e it retained all of the detail of the original, just converted stats to match the later system.

TM and © 2021 Monte Cook Games, LLC

A Change of Systems and Settings

During the down time of the last two plus years (thanks effing Covid) the decision was made to convert from using the Lamentations system to D&D 5e. Part of the reasoning involved the vast pile of 5e resources I own and that are readily available.

The campaign is headed in the direction of transitioning settings from a West Marches style environment to playing in Monte Cook's Ptolus which has been converted for use with fifth edition d&d. I am greatly enamored with Ptolus. Having run a campaign when it originally released in 2006 for 3.5 edition, I have wanted to run it again, but find 3.5 too ponderous and full of exploits. So onward to Ptolus we go.

We still have the same core group of players minus one that sadly passed away just after Thanksgiving unexpectedly. Her husband is one of the core and has decided that her character should remain available as a spare character for any of the rotating cast of extra players that drop in from time to time or for any new player to use while getting familiar with the game. Just yesterday he asked to have the miniature she used so he could place it and some of her dice next to her urn. 

So far the players have been adjusting to the different system very comfortably. They are a creative bunch and are finding new ways to address situations in game using their new found capabilities. Two sessions in and all is well with 5e.

Upcoming posts will discuss sessions 1 & 2.

Taking a short break from blogging.

The blog has been rolling along quite well sine November 11th of 2018. I'm still enthusiastic about maintaining it and will be posting more in the near future. For now I want to take a short break to build up my list of blog subjects before returning to regular posting.

Thanks!

Magic Item: Gong of the Herald

Gong of the Herald

Struck to announce the arrival of a person of importance, this enchanted gong works to pacify potentially hostile audiences. The gong can be heard to a distance of 200 feet when struck, and causes non-elves and creatures above intelligence 5 to be charmed into peacefulness for 1 round on a failed save vs magic item. Attacking a charmed subject immediately breaks the effect.

The user and allies are unaffected by use of the gong.

Magic Item: Jeffry's Sock of Filtering

Jeffry's Sock of Filtering

This unique item is the long lost sock belonging to the halfling, Jeffry. It has become imbued with the ability to filter harmful toxins from anything poured through it such as making coffee through it. Any poisons of significance will be removed by the sock.

Drawback: All liquids filtered through the dirty sock smell like sweaty feet.

Jeffry doesn't miss the sock, he has more, and  continues making coffee with them when travelling on adventures.

New Spell: Sandstone

Sandstone

Level: 1
Range: 30'
Duration: 1 round per caster level

The caster throws a small piece of sandstone at the target. On a hit the target takes 1d3 damage and suffers penalties of -1 to armor class, attack rolls, and a 5' reduction of movement due to the severe discomfort of sand within its clothing or caked to its skin.

The penalties are ineffective against oozes, elementals, undead, and constructs.

Sepulchre of the Bronze Legion: Room 6

Room 6:
Laid to rest here is the majority of the Legion's swordsman and officers. The sarcophagus contains the remains of the commander, waiting for the time when the Legion is called to fight again.

The commander is wearing bronze breast plate, grieves and bracers in perfect condition. He is wielding a bronze long sword and bears a bronze shield.

Upon the sarcophagus is the Legion Seal, a symbol of a bronze shield crossed by sword and spear. If this is taken from the lid skeletons from every room will begin to rise to pursue and slay the thieves.

In the Southwest corner is a door with a clockwork mechanism. It can be opened once the procedure is determined (easy task).

In the Southeast corner is a secret door leading south.

Full Map:

Sepulchre of the Bronze Legion: Rooms 4 & 5

Rooms 4 & 5:
Interred here are the Legion's spear men. Found in two niches are bronze bladed spears (2).

Full Map:

Sepulchre of the Bronze Legion: Room 3

Room 3:
This small chamber holds the remains of the Legion's archers. In one nook can be found a short bow made of horn.

Full Map:

Sepulchre of the Bronze Legion: Room 2

Room 2:
In the secluded corner of this room is a burial niche containing a bronze shield in perfect condition. Beneath the shield of a trap that will launch a poisonous powder at anyone disturbing the shield. The trap will affect anyone in the secluded corner.

Full Map: