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Waterdeep: Dragon Heist – Chase to the Vault
This is a summary of the second to last session for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist on my Sunday Group. It’s been a wonderful game to follow up after Icewindale.
Tensions were high as the party chased after the Little orphan that they had already met who ran off with the Stone of Golorr.
Following the kids into the sewer, the party hears the shriek of the kids and go rushing to their aid, seeing the Stone laying underneath a chair and the kids in a corner yelling that the stone is alive…
After dealing with the mimic (the chair), the party handed gold to the urchins and headed out, Stone in hand, intending on going back to the Trollskull.
What they were met with was actually a squad of 10 city guard and two Sergeants of The Watch.
Arrested for a variety of crimes, ranging from the mundane, like disturbing the peace, to more serious, like brandishing weapons without cause, assault, and murder (all of which had witnesses), the party gave up and let themselves be led into jail.
Before they were taken, a newer companion, a rogue, pocketed the Stone and kept it safe.
Split into two groups, the party were placed into their cells, across from each other to await their trial by the magistrate who was on their way.
A few hours later, who should appear, but the Watch Sergeant that came into the Zhentarim warehouse where they had dealt with the Xanathar kenku. He told them that the magistrate was corrupt and that he was going to find them guilty and sentence them to death. He opened their cells and told them to run, asking if there was anything else they needed stashed away in case they were caught. The party suspected something was amiss and refused to leave. He ran upstairs, calling alarm while cutting his brow with a dagger, tossing the dagger down the stairs, and then tossing a strangled body with it.
Then all the Nine Hells broke loose. The guard came and beat the party believing the Watch Sergeant. They found and confiscated the Stone, believing the Sergeant that it was evidence. Then the new rogue cast misty step, out of the cell, pick pocketed the Stone from the Watch Sergeant, and ran like the entirety of the Abyss was following him, trying to get as many of the guards to chase as he could.
The distraction succeeded, and the party was able to get ahold of the dagger left on the floor, use it to pick the lock of one cell, and then free their other companions, so they could retrieve their gear and help their rogue companion.
In the end, the Watch Sergeant found the rogue, was grappled while trying to run off with the Stone, and caught by the guards and Watch members that were out looking for him. The Sergeant, looking, now, equally suspicious, was taken into custody, and re-arrested the party upon coming across them.
They were taken in front of the magistrate, and a cleric was summoned to verify the stories of the party using the spells zone of truth on them, and speak with dead on the deceased guards. It also helped that the Blackstaff came and helped vouch for them. They were let off with a 100 gold piece fine.
It was then that the Watch Sergeant was found to be missing. These all had the hallmarks of a doppelganger.
Deciding that they needed to figure out what exactly was going on with the Stone, the party had one of their rogues attune to it. Inside was a dark and evil intelligence, who was more than willing to give up its secrets.
1) The party even found the keys needed to open the vault: a beholder eyestalk, a painting of a dwarven miner, and a shapechanger.
2) They found evidence that many of the nobility in Waterdeep were secretly devil-worshipers!
3) Doing some more digging, they found that the reason the Stone was being looked for by the doppelganger was that its employer wanted it: Lord Cassalanter.
4) Someone wanted the Stone to break a pact with a devil, but most wanted it for the money.
They decided to lure out the doppelganger by sending a message to it via a paper bird, a magic item found early in the adventure, to meet them at the warehouse where they faced the kenku Xanathar Guild agents to trade the Stone for 600 platinum pieces.
He came, but not alone he brought several cultists of Asmodeus, as well as a quadruplet of spined devils. Only after the party initiated combat did they find out that they also brought along a pair of imps!
Combat began and was fierce, but still rages on…
What will happen? The party defeat this group and be able to venture into the Vault? What will they find there?
Until next time, Dear Readers…
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Sorry For Ghosting
Hey, Dear Readers,
So sorry it’s been a few days since I’ve been around. It’s been a very busy last few days.
Today, for example, I have run two games and am in the middle of my weekly Discord game.
Thursday and Friday were busy with lots of errand running.
You know how it goes: adulting.
That said, I’ll have a great game summary for you tomorrow, and will have the Episode 9 preview up for our Premium Subscribers.
Lastly, I’ve got a great commission I will be starting, and I know you’ll enjoy it.
Two words: goliath barbarian.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
The Grandma Who Plays D&D
How-To DM: Strongholds & Businesses
One of the cool things about tabletop games, especially with D&D, is the idea that, during the course of adventures, the party can acquire (and sometimes “acquire” if you catch my meaning…) various things that aren’t traditionally considered treasure.
What am I talking about?
I’m talking about businesses and strongholds.
Maybe the king granted the party lands and titles in service for their deeds. Maybe they cleared out a ghost ship and now want to run a passenger or merchant business. Maybe they got given the deed to a supposedly haunted tavern as a reward for returning a kidnapped companion. Or maybe, just maybe, their uncle died and left them his keep if they can just clear it of the hobgoblins that took it over (RIP Grinkle).
However they got it, businesses and strongholds give the party a place to rest/run/play while in-between adventures. Oftentimes, they use it as a base of operations and it is a sweet thing for the DM to allow. Here’s why:
1) You never know how much things cost until you have to pay the bills.
There is a table inside the Dungeon Master’s Guide that was some activities for downtime and one of those is running a business.
So let’s use that example of the party who inherited a tavern. The first thing that they have to do is fix it up and get people to be employed to run the tavern. Sure, in the short term the party can man the tavern themselves, but they are adventurers! Eventually, they’re going to want to go out and adventure, leaving the need for somebody to pay the bills while they do their thing.
Do you know how much upkeep a stronghold requires? You need somebody to run the household, you need somebody or some people to keep up with the cleaning, you need somebody to keep up with the stables, you need somebody to man the battlements while you are gone. Oh, and pay the taxes and tithe to the local ruler/government. And that’s assuming that you actually have a stronghold to start with! We’re not even considering the concept of having to build it from scratch.
All of this is a great way to separate the party from their hard-won gold.
2) Strongholds and businesses can be great springboards for adventures.
Let me ask you this: how many adventures do you have that begin in a tavern? How many campaigns have begun with a part of adventures sitting in a tavern?
Yeah, that was what I thought.
Well, now they own a tavern or an inn, and you can use those tropes as much as often as you want.
Something threatening the local lands? Maybe there is a tribe of hobgoblins nearby that keeps threatening the local lord’s power?
Well, now they are the lord’s that need help. And you can’t just hire adventurers to go do it for you (I mean, maybe you could, but why pay somebody else to do something that you can do yourself, and probably better!). Better go deal with it.
3) It gives the players and their characters a reason to be more invested into the world around them.
When they have hired NPCs that they will most likely, if you are doing your job as a dungeon master, that they will get to know and love. Imagine having your favorite housekeeper kidnapped! Imagine your Castle being under siege while you are away and your brave men at arms are holding the line while you figure out a way to help disperse this enemy from behind.
This kind of goes along with the idea of the property being a springboard for adventure, but those adventures become much more personal when your character has a stake in the outcome.
In Conclusion
Having the party own property can be overwhelming to deal with if not done right. But if you have a plan, it can be an awesome addition to any D&D or tabletop game.
It can help mitigate overwhelming amounts of treasure, be a springboard for other adventures, and give the players yet another reason to be invested in your game world.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Die Cast Miniatures
A while back my friend happened to have been in a store and found the coolest thing. I had heard of it but I hadn’t actually gotten around to buying one. She found them on sale.
Noticed that each one comes with some sort of iconic character or creature.
The first one comes with the iconic red dragon. Nice.
The next one comes with Drizz’t Do Urden, the famous drow Ranger, as well as the iconic mind flayer.
The third one comes with Drizz’t’s companion, Cattie-Brie.
The last one comes with the iconic Minsc and his miniature-sized giant space hamster, as well as a beholder, painted suspiciously similar to the Xanathar.
I have seen these outside of their packages and they are all absolutely amazing. As I purchase them for their collector value to me, and not necessarily for their use, I will likely be keeping them in their packages for display with my other collector memorabilia.
Like so:
In any case, it adds well to my collection.
Ooh! Before I forget!
Do you remember how I told you that I have tons of old and original adventures? They include the original Village of Hommlet, the original Tomb of Horrors, etc…
Well, one of the adventures that I own is The Ghost Tower of Inverness, by Alan Hammack. Long story short, he happened to have been in town where I was invited to join a game that he would be running, namely, that very adventure. Unfortunately, it came on a day where I was not going to be able to play. A friend of mine that invited me was asked by yours truly to take the adventure and have it signed by him. He kindly obliged to me. Now check it out!
As you can see, sitting in plastic. As it will be.
Just another piece of collector memorabilia that I am proud to own.
What do you think, Dear Readers? Do you own any cool memorabilia? Share it with us in the comment section below.
Until next time, Dear Readers….
Mini Painting Update: Aasimar and Elf
You all may remember my previous post about the two mins I have been working on for the young ladies I DM for on Wednesdays.
After looking at the previous pictures, I realized that they weren’t doing them justice, really.
Here is the aasimar paladin again, with better lighting:
I think I did a good job on him, and he’s probably one of, if not THE, best jobs I have done.
Here is the elven rogue:
She’s just about done. I need to do her washes and paint her hands, which I ironically forgot to do.
Did the hands and added Citadel’s Martian Ironearth texture paint to the base. It’s a cool texture paint that cracks like a desert hard pack ground. It’s a pretty neat effect and I thought it would complement the rogue’s earthy tones.
Lastly, before I forget!
I got some stickers in as a test for the Ingrates and the Daily DM Blog. If I get enough interest I’ll put them up for sale at $2 each including domestic shipping.
As it is, I’ll be giving away one of the daily DM Blog stickers to one lucky subscriber next week, so if you haven’t subscribed, hit that subscribe button today to follow us and get updates.
Next week we will also be giving away one of our Inglorious Ingrates stickers to one lucky Premium Subscriber! So if you want to get a preview to the Inglorious Ingrates podcast as well as be in the running for regular giveaways, subscribe to our Premium Content at only $5 per month!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Don’t forget that you can support The Blog now in several ways. You can click on our support us tab above and give a one-time donation or a recurring subscription (the recurring subscription of course giving you access to all of our premium subscriber benefits as detailed above!), Or you can go HERE and HERE to get merch to support the blog!
Organized Play
Dear Readers, as you may know, or at least could have guessed, I am an organizer for Adventurers League, Wizards of the Coast organized Play for Dungeons and Dragons.
Organized Play is very different than “normal” D&D play in a variety of ways. It’s actually, in addition to being called organized play, called “standardized” play.
Here’s how it’s different:
The Cons:
1) Stats Are Standardized
All stats are standardized. This means that there are exactly two ways to generate ability scores (point buy or array) and hit points are max plus Constitution modifier at first level, but average plus Con modifier thereafter. You only have the option of equipment packages at first level, and the only gold you get is any you have from your background. Anything you roll is for the flavor items, such as flaws, bonds, and such.
2) All Play is Rules as Written
There are no homebrew rules here! Unless the season’s adventure calls for special rules for something or another, it is always Rules as Written (RaW). A good example of an exception is for Tomb of Annihilation, where all death is permadeath, and even that has an exception.
3) There Are Limits to Parts of Play
To balance the game, gold and magic items have limits. Adventurers League doles out a max gold per hour of play up to a set amount one can acquire per level based on your tier of play.
Additionally, they put limits on how many permanent magic items you can have at any one time, again based on tier.
Lastly, for those that usually prefer experience points as the method of advancement, Adventurers League now prefers to allow leveling based on the milestone method. This has its advantages, as we’ll discuss below.
Pros
1) There is Always a New “Schtick” For Each New Season
There is always some neat new mechanic that they introduce when a new season goes out. For the current season (Season 10; Rime of the Frostmaiden), it’s the entire concept of levels of cold that can kill a player that doesn’t have resistance to cold. Even then, there are things more dangerous. In previous adventures, it can be the novelty and constraints that an urban environment can provide, or, as in the previously discussed Tomb of Annihilation, the concept of permadeath.
2) It’s a Great Learning Environment
Adventurers League is a wonderful place to learn the rules and mechanics of D&D without getting confused by homebrew/house rules. It’s the concept of RaW (see above) that makes it such. It’s a wonderful place, especially, to learn action economy and to have more group diversity.
Of note, one of my League DMs and I ran a Wednesday evening game for a bunch of young people (see my previous post on that) comprised of young ladies ages 12-15 who wanted to learn how to play. We decided that, since they were such a large group, that teaching them on Sundays would be cumbersome and they would have a hard time keeping up with the story line while learning the rules as well, so we started the Wednesday Night D&D Primer event. We are now transitioning them to Sundays, and they will make a wonderful addition, continuing to learn and grow as players. Even better, is that one of them wishes to learn how to be a Dungeon Master! I plan on taking that table next season, while allowing the new DM trainee to begin cutting her teeth on running the table, under supervision.
3) It Puts Limits on Some Aspects of Play
The idea that limits are put on aspects of play, such as leveling, gold, and magic items makes things way more level when a new player comes to the table. Additionally, it keeps things fair and equitable around the table, resource-wise. It makes the next concept much easier as well.
4) It Truly Is “Drag and Drop” Play for Players and DMs Alike
Because of the standardization of play, as well as the accompanying record sheets that verify information, a player can go from table to table, as long as the table matches the tier of their character (level 1-4 for tier 1, 5-10 for tier 2, 11-16 for tier 3, and 17-20 for tier 4). This means that if they can’t show for a few sessions, even if they miss some sessions, they can join any table of their tier as long as they don’t repeat a section of the adventure.
This also makes it really easy for new players that want to join, having previously been part of another Adventurers League game or to bring your characters to a convention
Conclusion
There are several and many pros and cons to playing in Adventurers League. Personally, for me, the pros outweigh the cons, and I have a rather large group (upwards of 8-9 tables, mostly with 6-7 players!) that enjoys playing. My only real problems are table space and DM burnout, both of which are greatly manageable.
As many can attest, D&D Adventurers League is a fun experience where you can play with a diverse group of players in a good environment.
What do you think, Dear Readers? Have any of you played in Adventurers League? If so, what have your experiences been? Let me know in the comment section below!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Don’t forget that you can support The Blog now in several ways. You can click on our support us tab above and give a one-time donation or a recurring subscription (the recurring subscription of course giving you access to all of our premium subscriber benefits!), Or you can go HERE and HERE to get merch to support the blog!
Another Bunch of Shamelessly Stolen D&D Memes; Last One is For the Ingrates
TGAPP: Catastrophic Celebration
When last we followed the tales of the Inglorious Ingrates, they had received an invitation, via Dacyria’s old social pal Felicity, to a party hosted at Dacyria’s home, and this party was meant to be a celebration of a mysterious truce between House Targana and Mogumir. Seeking to learn more about what was causing the collective amnesia and unexplained burning of loved one’s property, the group accepted they would attend this function. The group had about a week, so they all sought different objectives. Several members sought to learn new and helpful skills and spells, others sought to seek out information or people, and some took to calming the nerves through hunting or shopping. A couple of days before the party, the group met a young male wood elf named Aramel who sought a group that could take him on a real adventure as long as they made use of his stealth and reconnaissance skills. As this tended to be a weak spot for the Ingrates, they gladly accepted the wood elf in their ranks.
On the day of the party, the group all dressed up in their finest attire, and made way to the party with little to no plans agreed upon beforehand. Prior to heading over to the main celebration, the group met up with Felicity to ride together as her guest, but several sharp members noticed something strange happened to the young noble lady. At some point in their ride over, Felicity had her eyes roll into the back of her head momentarily, and the next moment she seemed fine as ever. With little else to follow up on this odd behavior, our companions rode the carriage through the gates of the Targana estate, and they were welcomed by a beautiful manor decorated for the occasion. Inside was even more spectacular as a large assortment of food was spread out on a table, and the guests appeared to be dressed in fanciful gowns and robes. Though the most spectacular thing in the ballroom was a dazzling blue gemstone floating in the middle of everything, and it gave off obvious magical influences yet no one in the group could discern its nature. The group shortly went to work at finding information on the gemstone and the Baron. Idris was successful in meeting Felicity’s mother, and the mother was able to connect Idris with meeting the Baron Mogumir under the guise Idris was a maritime merchant. However, something peculiar was evident to the party as they walked around the ballroom. After they had first entered, Felicity claimed to not know who Dacyria was despite calling her name when they first rode over together. As timed passed, all the members of the Ingrates, except Dacyria and Arkon, also had forgotten about Dacyria and her entire existence!
The group tried to salvage the plan, but before any major discoveries could be made in the case of the magical gemstone, Aramel had succeeding at making a scene to where he made the guards believed he had been poisoned, and this information spread like wildfire. Next thing everyone knew, the party goers were in a panic and trying to escape, but the guards pointed the weapons at them and stated everyone needed to be questioned. Seeing no obvious culprit in the pseudo-poisoning scheme, the guards let everyone go, and the party was called to a close before any major announcements could be made. The party split and went their separate ways for the night with few leads to follow up on. Yet fate had different plans for the party.
The celebration was held inside the city walls which closed after dark, and thus, everyone was blocked from returning to Avery’s home. This situation pushed Arkon and Dacyria to visit Dacyria’s old mentor home after discovering days prior that it appeared to have been abandoned after the mentor mysteriously left. However, upon their entrance into the home, the pair soon discovered that this place was not abandoned, but in fact, the mentor laid their before the two sleeping in a pile of rags. They prodded the old man until they jolted him awake, and he glared at them with a dirty, unshaven look of someone who had seen better days. To their surprise, he instantly recognized Dacyria, and which invited Dacyria to reconnect with her mentor and figure out what the Inglorious Ingrates would do next…
What will happen next? What happened to the mentor to make him live a life of squaller? What was causing the collective amnesia at the party? Find out in our next post of the Inglorious Ingrates!
adventure D&D d&d stories d and d Dear Readers DM dm story dnd d n d dragons duneon master stories Dungeon Master dungeon master story dungeons dungeons & dragons Dungeons and Dragons dungeons and dragons story game game session game story game summary gaming how-to Inglorious Ingrates Ingrates miniature miniature painting mini painting minis painting painting minis podcast role playing role playing game RP rpg story tabletop game table top role playing game table top rpg tabletop rpg thank you ttrpg Tuesday Group you all are amazing
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The Ingrates are back at it again, this time at a ball for the nobility! What kind of shenanigans will the Ingrates get themselves into this time?!
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Short Post: Mini Update
Sorry for the short post today, but I’ve got a lot of doctors appointments and other such things.
On top of it, I have the young ladies’ group this evening that I have to prep for.
Like I said. Long day.
But that doesn’t mean I have nothing to give you today!
Do you remember this mini (the one on the left)?
Well, as you may remember, I have replaced her with a better mini that represents her:
She wields dual rapiers, so when I found this, I was stoked.
As you can see, she’s coming along quite well.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments section below.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Don’t forget that you can support The Blog now in several ways. You can click on our support us tab above and give a one-time donation or a recurring subscription (the recurring subscription of course giving you access to all of our premium subscriber benefits!), Or you can go HERE and HERE to get merch to support the blog!
Thanks again!
Miniature Painting Project: Aasimar Paladin
Have you ever gotten so caught up in a project that it just consumed you for a little while?
Yeah, that was me. Remember that Paladin I was painting?
I totally forgot to take step by step pictures.
Dear Readers, for about 2 hours, this miniature became my obsession. I was tapped by the miniature painting muse.
Voila!
Here is the backside.
This truly was a labor of love. I am so excited to show it to the young lady that I painted it for.
Of note, the white cloak ended up turning a super pale blue as I used Citadel (Dry) Chronus Blue to attempt to dry brush, nearly washing away all of the blue wash I used on the miniature.
Okay, I can recover from this, I thought.
I then used the army painter D&D Miniature Painting set Lawful White (otherwise known as Matt White), and dry brushed that over the top. It turned out spectacularly.
I then used Army Painter Oak Brown for his pants, contrasting with the Army Painter Leather Brown that I used for all the straps and belts.
Lastly, I did, with a detailed brush, the Army Painter “The Psycho” to be specific, the filigree on his shield.
It may not be perfect, but I painted all of it by hand. No shortcut techniques here.
What’s next for me? Well, there’s another little girl awaiting her own miniature to be painted. I need to have them both done before Wednesday evening.
Here’s where I stand on that one.
As you can see, I still have a ways to go. In fact, I have quite a bit of ways to go. I’m going to end up repainting all of her non-bronzy armor a darker brown, and then using a lighter brown to highlight everything with dry brushing. Since I seem to have gotten the technique, I’m going to use it. Especially since I found a good brush to do it with.
Ladies, if you happen to be reading my blog: to the one of you playing the paladin, I hope you like what you’re getting this week. To the one who is playing the rogue, just you wait, you’ll love yours as well.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Don’t forget that you can support The Blog now in several ways. You can click on our support us tab above and give a one-time donation or a recurring subscription (the recurring subscription of course giving you access to all of our premium subscriber benefits!), Or you can go HERE and HERE to get merch to support the blog!
How-To DM: Converting Old Modules/Adventures
If there’s an activity that I enjoy as much as I enjoy miniature painting, it is the act of converting old modules.
As I have detailed before, there’s an old adventure in Dungeon magazine issue 53, called “Clarshh’s Sepulchre” that is easily one of my most enjoyable modules to run. The best part of this module is that the entire thing is very easily converted to 5e. The only thing I needed to do was do a Homebrew creation of a monster that has not yet been officially converted to 5th edition. I actually found a pretty good conversion of it elsewhere on the web, then did my own conversion and posted it on D&D Beyond.
In any case, one of my daughters and her friends wanted to play and asked me to run. I decided, after much deliberation, to run Keep on the Borderlands as a sort of one shot. They would get as far as they get and all the girls would end up going off to college.
That was the plan.
Then they decided they wanted to finish playing the module and keep playing for a while. Okay, I can do that via Roll20. The only problem was that I could not find the adventure on Roll20. What I did find was a really good knockoff that was not populated. It had all the dynamic lighting and everything else already done, it just needed populating. Easy enough, I can do that.
I then began the painstaking labor of populating the entire dungeon complex. Some things were easy, like an owlbear, some things were a little more difficult. In several instances, I just used upgraded forms of the original creatures. For example, for the hobgoblin cave, I used regular hobgoblins as they were, upgraded hobgoblins as hobgoblin captains, and their leader was a hobgoblin Warlord.
For those of you that are familiar with this particular campaign, the sheer volume of creatures is sometimes… prodigiously numerous to say the least.
As I do this, I realized that I can actually write out the conversion that I am doing and put it up on the DMs Guild website. I’ll do that some other time, as I have this to run in the near future. The only thing I have left to do is the… Well, some of those players may end up reading this blog so I don’t want to post any spoilers.
Nice try, ladies.
In any case, when doing conversions, there’s a lot of options in the Monster Manual alone that enable you to put forth various critters.
For example, with hobgoblins, you have the standard hobgoblin, the hobgoblin captain, and the hobgoblin warlord. Depending on your needs for the adventure, you can utilize what you want. This way, you have fewer things that you need to create from scratch. Not that doing that is bad, but it’s much easier when doing conversions.
The only time things get a little sticky is when you can’t find a version of the monster that hasn’t been released yet, like the arcane from the aforementioned adventure “Clarshh’s Sepulchre.” Thankfully, he isn’t really needed and is not essential to the adventure. Of course, the crypt thing at the end of the adventure (sorry for any spoilers) I had to find online, then go ahead and put up in the Homebrew section of D&D Beyond. The rest of the critters are easily found in the monster manual and other such places.
Even more so when you have to improvise certain things like substituting various kinds of poisons and traps. The Dungeon Masters Guide provides a significant amount of guidance as to what kind of traps you’re looking at and how to substitute various trap DCs. Again, very vanilla.
Lastly, and I cannot stress this enough, when you have some kind of wonky sort of mechanic that worked really well in the older editions of D&D, you may have to improvise in 5e. Recently, I ran Treasure Hunt, a wonderful adventure that actually starts players at level zero. I had to improvise that particular element.
Basically, I let them have their race, and their background, and nothing else. The adventure actually begins with the party not having any equipment either. It actually turns out to be really fun. For those of you who are premium subscribers, you have heard, at least in part, this adventure at the Episode 0 of the Inglorious Ingrates. It’s a really interesting mechanic and I was forced to improvise even some of that.
I know this hasn’t been much about what I said the post was about, but it was interesting enough I thought you all would want some tips about old module conversions.
Thanks again, Dear Readers.
Until next time…
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Anything is appreciated!
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I Finally Have Them All!!
As many of you know, Dear Readers, my favorite adventure of the pre-published kind is Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. It is easily one of, if not the best pre-printed adventures that Wizards of the Coast have published.
Why?
Great Question.
It has action, mystery, adventure, dungeon delving, political intrigue, more action, incredible fight scenes and locations. It also has interesting and complex villains.
And that is our discussion today. The villains.
I have finally collected each and every miniature of the major villains from the adventure. Some of them you are familiar with, some of them you are going to get to know. These are their stories (dun dun!).
The Xanathar
First off, we have that famous, or rather infamous beholder that everyone loves to hate: The Xanathar.
As you may have seen in a previous post, this is a guy that I painted personally after assembling him with much trepidation. He was one of the D&D Collector’s Series line of miniatures.
Manshoon
This is also a miniature that I have painted. Head of the Black Network, mansion is a clone of his original self. He too comes from the D&D Collector’s Series line of miniatures.
Jarlaxle
The drow that everyone loves. Well, the second favorite drow. We all know who the first one is.
This guy is also from the D&D Collector’s Series, and I assembled him long before I did The Xanathar. Much like The Xanathar, I have been rather intimidated in painting him, mostly because of the fact that he is made of resin and is so ridiculously delicate.
Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter
These two were recent acquisitions. They come from the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist set of pre-painted miniatures.
I acquired these two off of the Miniature Market website. They were the only two that I had not yet acquired and that were not part of the D&D Collector’s Series. But with them, I finally acquired all of the main villains from that beloved adventure of mine.
There you have it. I finally have the whole set. And I’m so tickled pink about it.
What do you think, Dear Readers? Tell me in the comment section below!
Thanks, as always for reading.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Running Sooooo Many Games! & D&D Magic the Gathering
You may remember my post a long time ago about being the “Forever DM.” Yeah, that’s totally me. And I bring it upon myself.
Here are the number of games that I run:
I run my Adventurers League table on Sundays, and just picked up an online game earlier in the day, and a Discord game that evening. Monday nights I may or may not have BattleTech. Tuesday nights I run the Inglourious Ingrates. Wednesday nights, at least for now before school starts, I run the young people’s group.
Add that up, I’m playing tabletop games six times a week. 5 days a week. Something has got to give, or I will be in DM Burnout™.
This, phenomenon, too, have I posted about.
Don’t get me wrong, I love DMing, but I would like to play. Even for a one-shot.
T’would be a grand time.
I even have a character planned: Anton Evenwood, Bard Extraordinaire! Either that, or my Elven Bladesinger who wields her family’s ancestral moonblade. Or my justicar cleric of the Grave Domain, Azrael. Depending on the adventure and level. All fun (I imagine) to play.
In any case, enough of my ranting. You didn’t come here to listen to me rant.
D&D Magic the Gathering
So I used to play magic, a long time ago. It was a fun game to play. I still enjoy playing it on occasion. But I haven’t touched it in a while.
Until now.
Now, I’ve gone back into that bottomless pit. Why? Because I have to collect everything. Everything Dungeons and Dragons, apparently.
So I signed up to get a set booster box and one of those boxes that comes with, usually, and oversized counter plus 15 boosters. Can’t remember what they’re called. In any case, I have more cards on the way.
So I opened. And I opened more. And now I have Brunor Battlehammer, Acererack, Zariel, Drizz’t Do Urden, Asmodeus, and some really nice dracolich, among many other cards. It was a blast opening all of them. I have the wish spell and meteor swarm both as Magic the Gathering cards.
Will I likely make a deck out of these? Probably not. I own them for the collector value more than anything. I have a bunch of the art cards and are hoping to get more.
Above our several other cards that I got of note. You can see, I got a really nice set.
Minsc and Drizz’t are, undoubtedly, my favorites. It should also be noted, that I actually got Gwenevar’s token card.
So, yeah, good haul. And I am buying another Set Booster box.
What is wrong with me?! 😉
In any case, next month is going to be busy with some plans that hopefully pan out for Adventurers League and our Tuesday night game night, with September being very busy.
OOOOHHHH!!! BEFORE I FORGET!!!
I had been invited to an exclusive game run by Allen Hammack, the author of The Ghost Tower of Inverness, who would be running said adventure! Unfortunately it fell on a Saturday so I was unable to go, BUT!
I actually own the original adventure, and asked a buddy of mine who would be attending to have it signed by Mr. Hammack, to which he agreed. Hopefully, after next weekend, I will have that signed copy!
Well, I hope you enjoyed today’s post, Dear Readers!
Until next time…
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How-To DM: Absent Players
We’ve all been there: you either have a regular session every week, or every two weeks, or even monthly. It’s scheduled out. But come the day of or the day before, and they cancel on you. Or, they just tell you they’re going to be gone that day and they can’t make that session.
What do you do with the character? They are there, even if the player is not. Here are some suggestions.
“Magic Portal”
When the player is not available to play, the character magically disappears. It’s like an elephant in the room: they are gone but nobody talks about it. This is probably the easiest way to deal with the problem, albeit the least realistic.
The “PC turned NPC”
This one comes really easy, however it should be agreed upon by the player of said character before doing it.
The premise of this is basically that the character is still there but now under the control of the dungeon master. Things get even more sticky if something horrible happens to said character.
Sometimes, the player trusts in another player you know, the absent player will hand their character over to one of the other players to run in addition to theirs. Beware of this however, as described above if something terrible happens to that character.
The “I’m Not There So They Aren’t There”
Maybe the character has some sort of family obligation going on. Maybe they’d rather sit at the tavern and drink. Or maybe, just maybe, just don’t want to go on this little part of the quest. Whatever it is, your absence is explained away in the fact that they just are not there.
When done in the middle of an adventure, or maybe a dungeon crawl, it’s usually explained away by having them watch the camp or that they needed a break.
The Bag of Lodging
Long ago, in a basement far far away, there was a dungeon master who would one day be known as The Daily Dungeon Master. He was running a game with his friends from high school while in his early twenties, when high school wasn’t that long ago. The Daily Dungeon Master loved running Adventures found in the Dungeon magazines that he had a subscription for.
Then one day, he found it. The absolutely perfect magic item. It was unbelievable.
The item, known as the Bag of Lodging, was a cross between a Leomund’s Tiny Hut spell and a bag of holding. One would only have to use the command word, and the small bag with open to a ladder going down into what was essentially a permanent extra dimensional space that had unseen servants, unlimited water, air, and food. To get out, one would either have to speak command word on the outside, or from the inside.
Therefore: when the player was not there the character went in the bag. When they were there, they came out of the bag. It. Was. Awesome.
In Conclusion
However you do it, having players come in and out, or characters come in and out can always be problematic. That said, it happens. As long as we have a plan or a method for how they come and go things can always work out.
What do you think, Dear Readers? Do you have a method for your characters to pop in and out when needed? Did I miss something? Tell me in the comment section below.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
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TGAPP: Racing After Rumors in Red Fern
Pardon to everyone, but I was out the session prior to the writing of this post, but I will do my best to summarize events since then.
The Inglorious Ingrates faced the undead king Torgrym after unlocking the central pillar, but the undead ruler was waylaid shortly after meeting the Ingrates. The victors helped themselves to the treasure of Torgrym, and proceeded to head back to Borest. On their return back, they saw the sprigs no longer bothered them, and the town appeared to be free from the malevolent rule of the goblins. Without any leads as to what happened to the goblins, the party made their way back to Redfurn the capital of the Kingdom of Endyr as well as home of several members. After rest and rearming, the companions traveled several days north to Red Fern. Upon their arrival, the Ingrates discovered several oddities had transpired after being enslaved for six months: the orphanage several members had spent time in had burned down, Idris’ siblings had gone missing, and Dacyria was believed to have been killed.
Finding few to no leads on the cause of these developments, the Ingrates traveled to Avery’s home, but even her home had been affected. In the time since her disappearance, someone had come to Avery’s household, and the man claimed to be her biological father who had out been adventuring for all of her life. Though, Avery was not alone in finding lost family, for as the group wandered the streets of Redfurn, Idris was very lucky in noticing his sister, Elama, wandering the streets as an urchin. Elama also appeared to be suffering from some mental illness that made it difficult to recall who Idris was, but Avery offered that Elama could be taken care of at her house. Soon after rescuing the sister, several guards accosted the group to see if they had seen an escaped asylum patient.
After several hours of fruitless searching and wandering, several members required a need to relieve stress, so Sakura, formerly Gye, traveled to her old stomping grounds in the back of an alley where a small fighting group was gathered. Arkon, was the first to step into the ring with an impressively muscled half-orc, who made quick work of Arkon, and the half-orc proceeded to deal with Sakura just as efficiently after finishing Arkon. Afterwards, Avery and Dacyria fell to the half-orc quickly too. Despite seeing his companions fall one-after-the-other, Winter stepped forward to challenge the champion, and with a luckily placed shot, Winter emerged victorious from the street brawl.
The next day, Dacyria invited the Ingrates to help gather information on why her family believed her to be dead. Their investigation led them to visit Dacyria’s old social acquaintance Felicity Marleth, a friend of Dacyria’s from a House Minor who recognized her immediately and began revealing the gossip of the Redfurn. The biggest takeaway from Felicity’s revelations was the union that had magically come about soon after Dacyria’s supposed death and despite the Targana and Mogumir having a long history of hating one another. To cement this new friendship, the Duke Targana was hosting a party in which the Baron Mogumir would also be attending. This opportunity was too good to pass up, so the party prepared to crash the party…
Will they succeed? What can they learn? Find out what happens on our next blog post, and until next time, may the dice rolls ever be in your favor!
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How-To Play: Types of Games
Dear readers, as you can see, I’m starting a new series called “How to Play.” I hope you enjoy it!
Last week as well as last night I had the privilege of running a game for my daughter and several of her friends, all of whom are ladies whose ages range in age from 18 to mid-20s.
They are a blast.
My daughter is getting ready to leave for college and wanted a “last hurrah” with her friends who either played Dungeons & Dragons or wanted to learn. I was requested to dungeon master and find something to run. I decided to go with an oldie but goodie: The Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax himself. Even better? I’m converting the original adventure, which I am using as we play, on the fly using dndbeyond.com (not to put too fine a point on it, but this kind of “on the fly” conversion wouldn’t be possible without such a tool to use!).
Now, just checking through the module as written, there aren’t written too many role-playing encounters. In fact, this is back in the day where most areas had to be described by the DM and there weren’t any “gray box text”to use. It was kind of a challenge for me as a DM who is gotten used to the gray box text since it’s far back as 2nd Edition AD&D.
My dad tells me that the ability to make the descriptions vivid without being boring or sounding canned are the hallmarks of a good dungeon master. My players tell me I’m pretty good. Okay, they actually tell me I’m pretty fantastic. I don’t like to brag about this. Frankly because I think I’m an average dungeon master at best. At the very least, all of my players told me they have a lot of fun at my games.
Self aggrandizement aside, it kind of made me realize something after last night’s game: my groups’ play style determined how that game went, as did any group for those kinds of adventures back in the day. I mean, there was a keep, there were the caves, and then there were the other things like the crazy hermit, the lizardman mound, stuff like that. So overall, there wasn’t much in the way of missions or quests…per se.
A lot of it had to be self-driven. Sure, there were rumors that a merchant had been taken Ransom in the caves and that anyone who rescued him would receive a reward.
Sure, the Caves of Chaos were rumored to be filled with all sorts of monsters and treasure. But you gotta understand: back then, this was all the motivation a player character needed!
So were this group of ladies, I told them that the castellan, after they had done a different job in taking down a group of bandits that had been plaguing the roads, had asked them to clear out the evil caves of the monstrous presences there. Easy enough.
After our game session last night I realized that I had several players of different gaming styles in my group. All perfectly valid in their own right.
Role-playing
The character Edmund, of my characters last night, was the character created for role-playing. He does a lot of the talking, does a lot of the emoting, and generally is the life of the party. Can you guess what class he is?
Yeah, Bard. Go figure.
The role player wants to know motivations, and names, and backgrounds. The person who likes role play games wants to know The who and the why of people in games.
The same bard, for example, had a background where he had some, let’s say, Daddy issues. As a result, he tended to latch on to anybody who gave him approval. Unfortunately for him, the first person who he latched on to for approval was an evil cleric that the newest party member, a paladin, discovered was actually an evil cleric of Therizdun. It was an interesting fight to watch him fight them.
The discovery, the feelings of betrayal, the actual fight itself, and the delivery of the body back to the keep. All this was done through copious amounts of epic role play.
Keep an eye on these players as they can sometimes quickly take over the game, so make sure the other players get a say in the encounters!
You keep these characters happy by involving their backstories into the game and giving them colorful and vibrant non-player characters to interact with.
Hack ‘n Slash
These players absolutely love combat. These players enjoy finding groups of monsters and unleashing their horde of magical and martial abilities upon them.
These players can be martial characters or spellcasters.
Spellcaster example? One word…well, spell:
Fireball.
In the same group, I have a druid who has found a wonderfully useful event to cast the spell entangle. In fact, they came up with a tactic where the druid would cast entangle while the bard would cast shatter.
Do you even know what that does to a group of kobolds?! I mean, they have 5 hp! If they roll average damage, it will be more than twice a kobold’s hp, meaning, even if they make a successful save, they still die. Not cool, man.
Be careful, these sorts of players, when bored, can easily turn into total murder hobos.
Keep these players Happy by giving them chances to use their big cool spells, as well as hordes of small tiny creatures for those wonderful AOE (area of effect) spells. Additionally, give them awesome and fantastical locations in which to have these combat encounters!
Something In-between
Let’s face it, no campaign is one thing or another. Most Dungeons & Dragons games are a good blend of kicking indoors and talking to the townsfolk.
Talking to the keep castellan and offering your services as a world-class chef as well as using your wild shape ability to turn itself into a cat to see if the rest of the keep is on the up and up and not some weird evil trap are both awesome role-play encounters.
Going into the Caves of Chaos and waltzing into the owlbear and just slaughtering it is also a fun game, as is going into the kobold caverns of said caves and using the spell shatter to destroy 16 kobolds rushing you.
Lastly, finding out that the jovial cleric of Lathander that has been accompanying you is really an evil cleric of Therizdun, and subsequently having to fight and kill him and his three acolytes is always a lark!
In Conclusion
Whatever game style you and your players happen to engage in, just remember, that this is a cooperative game. We make sure that everybody gets a chance to shine and that everybody is having fun.
After all, if we aren’t having fun…why play?
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Short Post: Miniature Painting by Someone Else!
Hey everyone!
I figured that all of you would be tired of seeing my miniature painting, and would like to see some others’ paintings.
Here you go!
What do you think, Dear Readers? Let me know in the comments section what you think!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Artist Debut: Spider
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Some Announcements!
If you haven’t noticed, we have a new logo!
A big thank you to a very good friend of mine who made this for us!
As such, we have a new Merch store! You can now get our new merch via Teespring or via our Patreon! In either case, we would love to have your support.
Don’t forget! When we hit 100 subscribers, I’m giving away a free t-shirt!
Also, this is a great time to become a Premium Subscriber, as we are still giving previews of our Tuesday group’s podcast, The Inglorious Ingrates. In honor of this, we are also selling t-shirts with the Ingrates’ logo on them!
Check it out here!
As always, any support you give is greatly appreciated.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
TGAPP: War Echos of The Past
As the door to the unknown chamber opened up and the dark druid fell after a final bite from Gye, the Inglorious Ingrates turned to hear the echoing stomps deep in the chamber, and they were dismayed to find out a large undead accompaniment was trying to force it’s way in! Luckily, the party was quick in their response, and they shut the door holding back the undead tide giving themselves time to recuperate from the fight with the druid. Feeling their business was not yet complete, the Ingrates hobbled outside to sleep outside the burial mound with a plan going back inside to finish the undead foes before they escape into the world of the living.
As the next dawn rose to shine it’s light into our heroes’ faces, they went straight back to the chamber containing the door with the undead on the other side, and they proceeded to prepare an ambush for their mindless foes. When they welcomed the skeletal remains of an army long forgotten into their chamber, the army and all their souls were finally put to rest as the Ingrates made quick work of their numbers. After taking in their triumph, the party proceeded to investigate the chamber the skeletons came frame. The room turned out to be a staging area for loyal soldiers to lay in defense of a long lost king, for as the group kept searching deeper and deeper, they found a large antechamber with two rooms branching off.
In the midst of the antechamber was a figure armored with a rusted breastplate and adorned with a twisted iron crown, and it sat on a throne with a silver great-sword beside it. Under the throne was a set a steps with Draconic writing stating this entire tomb belonged to Torgrim. According to legends, he was a king who was the cause for a large war to grip most of the continent, but no one had known what had happened to the instigator after the war had concluded. The chamber also appeared to host two large iron switches on either side of the throne, and it was deduced that the two branching rooms possessed some connection to the switches.
The party cautiously peeked into the rooms to find a large sarcophagi was in the center of each room, and a quick translation revealed these to be the final resting place of two of the king’s most loyal guards: Draknal and Grombal. Expecting no further information would help solve the switch problem, our heroes opened each of the tombs, and each time the party quickly vanquished the malevolent spectral forms of each warrior. After a quick rest from the spectral guardians, the Ingrates flipped the switches in the antechamber, and a hidden wall slid open to reveal a staircase down further into the burial mound.
The stairway downwards was dark and even colder with dark necromantic energy emanating near the bottom of it, but our companions reached the bottom of the stairs to discover a central pillar with three doors leading from this new area. At the center of the pillar appeared to be three locks with shapes with one of the shapes belonging on a different door, and each door also had a Draconic letter that when translated and put into a meaningful order spelled “W-A-R.” With few other options left, the party opened the first door to reveal a long hall with a chest at the end of it. Sensing traps were likely in this room, Gye quickly crawled along the walls and ceiling to reach the chest, and she opened it to find one key for the pillar lock.
Next, our heroes opened the second door to reveal a room with floor-to-ceiling curtains along the entire wall of the room. Idris entered into the room and pull pack the curtain to only reveal his reflection in a large mirror. As he gazed at his handsome features, his reflection winked at him and proceeded to step out of the mirror and use his own spells against him! Soon several other party members joined in to help Idris, but their shadowy doubles also appeared and tried to fight them! Luckily, Dacyria shattered the mirrors with a mighty thunderwave, and the figures quickly dissipated. The party then proceeded to check behind the mirrors to find a room with a chest, and inside the chest was the second key to the pillar lock.
Lastly, the battered band turned to the final door which had additional Draconic writing stating, “Only the strong may enter!” Naturally, Arkon volunteered himself to enter, and as soon as he did, the door shut and locked behind him. The hulking barbarian found himself in the midst of a maze, and begins wandering to find the chest he needs. After several twists and turns through the maze, Arkon finds himself face-to-face with a skeletal minotaur which proceeds to attempt to gore him. Arkon exchanged several blows with the intimidating monster, but he was finally able to fell the beast with a well placed blow. Soon after his bout, he found the chest with the third and final key. He tracked back to the door he entered, and the group proceeded to enter each of the keys and turn them.
What did our heroes find on the other side? Find out next time in the next iteration of TGAPP! May your rolls ever be in your favor!
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Miniature Restoration Project: Mistletoe
And some of you may remember, one of my favorite projects that I do that are miniature related is to restore my parents’ old pewter miniatures.
Today, we have with us an old, what I believe, is a ranger. He might be something else, but I doubt it.
In any case, his name is Mistletoe.
At this point, I had already started working on him, and got his chainmail painted a metallic blue, and his plate mail pieces painted gunmetal. His helmet was, too.
Next I started working on his gloves, boots, and other leather parts. For his boots, I actually had to make a color because the brown used was very dark. It ended up coming out almost exactly the same color. Which of course, is my goal.
As you can tell, I also worked on the bottom of his skirt / tunic thing, which was a bright green.
His pants were a hard fit for color.
Also, you may notice that I painted the filigree on his quiver a nice silver. I used a regular brown for the shaft of the arrows, contrasting with the darker brown of the quiver.
I left the eyes and mouth which were very well painted. My dad was actually a really good painter.
I decided to leave the hair the original yellow that was there, as opposed to the previous restoration project where my dad just didn’t have a decent gold color to paint the hair of his gold elf.
The boat was an interesting project. I painted it all brown, then dry brushed it a metallic green, which actually turned it more of a metallic green. Originally, as you saw in the first pictures it was a sort of greenish Brown color. I decided here to make it more of the magical intent that was there. I added the gold filigree and fully intend on taking a thin piece of string, as was their previously (I had taken it off before the first picture), and add it at a later time.
Why am I not taking the time to do this now? Because my son is coming with me to my Tuesday night game, the Inglorious Ingrates, has a special guest. He will be carrying on the family tradition of gaming, and using a family heirloom in which to game.
I’ll tell you: I couldn’t be more proud.
Well, Dear Readers, I hope you enjoyed this edition of painting restoration. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Painting Update: Paladin
So apparently my post from three days ago didn’t upload, so I find myself this morning editing my post. Lovely.
In any case, here is what was posted originally, and you’ll get a bonus post in a few minutes…
Good afternoon, Dear Readers, and welcome to another painting update!
I finally remembered to grab the male aasimar paladin, and it is going well. Here’s my progress:
Here he is in all his glory.
He is going to be glorious when he’s done. Better than anything I’ve done so far!
The cloak is going to be a pain to paint. A lot of surface area…that said, drybrushing it will be easy.
I’m not sure if you can tell, but I’ve painted the breastplate and the shield in a bright silver color. Sorry about the lighting, by the by. It was night and all I had was my LED lamp light and the camera flash. Neither was optimal.
Here we have the cloak being worked on.
The blue I used here, Army Painter’s Ultramarine Blue, is good, but a thinner paint, that requires more than one coat. This will be an ongoing process until it looks even and looks good.
Going for white on the outside of the cape/cloak. I think it’s a nice, albeit cliche bit of paladin wear.
As I was having issues with painting around them, I carefully removed the wings, intending to re-glue them back on once I’m done painting the rest of the miniature.
Well, that’s all I got for today, folks!
Be on the lookout for another post, the one that was supposed to be posted last Friday.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Painting Update: Rogue For My Wednesday Evening Young Peoples’ Group
You may remember that I had posted about an aasimar paladin that I had been working on for a player in this group. I had also posted before that about the other miniature I had planned on working on for the same group (at the end of the post). Long story short: the paladin is supposed to be a guy, and the rogue had longer hair in a ponytail with rapiers.
Well, crud.
BUT WORRY NOT!!
I found the perfect miniatures.
Although I don’t have the paladin handy, you may remember me painting them:
And…
Both miniatures I am very proud of.
Now I get to do it again, but even better. Yay!
So I started painting without even thinking, but I still have some step-by-step pictures:
I used Leather Brown for the main part of the armor, as well as Werewolf Fur for the pauldrons, the bottom of the boots, and accent on the main armor.
Busting out my metallic colors, I used Evil Chrome on the tips of the scabbards and the spikey bits of the pauldrons.
I used Gun Metal on the swords, as they looked to be higher-end magical weapons.
I’m not sure what else I’ll be using on this mini, but I can say that it’s coming along well, and that I am excited to see where it will go!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Premium Content: The Inglorious Ingrates Episode 5
The Inglorious Ingrates are at it again, delving into the burial mound that’s the goblin lair! See what’s in store for them next!
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TGAPP: Delving Into Goblin Cave
The Inglorious Ingrates had just finished breaking through the sprig perimeter, and they had started their way over to the goblin hideout Arkon had located prior. They scouted out several goblins trails until they finally stumbled upon one that led them directly to a burial mound that had two goblin guards posted out front. The Ingrates quickly picked off the two would-be guards with little to no noise, so they stealthily peered into the entrance way of the burial mound. They noted several goblins, two goblin lieutenants, and large menacing bugbear looming over a fire with intermittent squabbles of when they would eat next. To even the odds, the party successfully lured the bugbear out by himself, and they quickly made quick work of him without raising any alarms. After setting up further killboxes, the rest of the goblins were lured outside, and our adventures laid the eight or so goblins to rest even after two bugbears came out to reinforce.
Our companions took a short rest to catch their breath, re-equip their stolen gear, and surveyed the burial mound and crypts that discovered inside. Dacyria and others heard soft hushed voices coming from down the hallway, and many party members detected magical influences throughout the crypts. These influences coalesced particularly around a door that led deeper into the crypts, but Arkon was able to detect a magical ward over the threshold of the door. Seeking to disarm the ward, Arkon tossed a javelin at it, and his efforts were welcomed with a resound boom as the javelin exploded and seemed to have dispelled the ward. On the other side there appeared to be several burial rooms strewn throughout the length of the burial mound, and several of the remains appeared humans with basic armor sets.
After quick cursory looks over the crypt, there was one hallway that led even deeper into the crypt, and a strong necromantic essence was protruded from it as well. Our heroes prepared for battle, delved down into the hallway, and gazed at the sight that stood before them. A tall figure with a dark cloak covering most of their figure proceeded to insert a key into a stone lock which proceeded to open a heavy moss covered stone door, and the figure turned to exclaim, “You’re too late! I’ve figured it out!” Seeking to stop the likely dark plot from unfolding, the Ingrates launched a strike of their own as they cast several incantations and danced a bladed ballad. However, the figure cast several druidic spells, such as summoning several sprigs and releasing thunderous energy, and he was able to fell Arkon, Dacyria, and Winter and severely injured the others. The group grew desperate, and on the other side of open door possibly contained several more dangers to them. However, Idris sought to end the spell-caster’s foul plan, so he tossed his javelin of lighting with an almost herculean effort through the dark druid and into the newly revealed room. The damage from the javelin caused fear to grip the druid, so Gye swiftly moved up and finished him with a resounding snap of the neck.
As the druid’s body fell silent to the ground, a resounding set of marching feet could be heard from the open door, and the source of this sound turned out to be several armored skeletons making their way to our badly drained and wounded adventures. Will the Inglorious Ingrates get out of the crypt alive? Will they be able to undo the dark druid’s plans? Find out our next post about the exploits of the Inglorious Ingrates!
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July 4th For a Veteran
So I had this really awesome post planned for today. I actually had a post planned for yesterday too.
Then I realized it was the 4th of July.
For those unaware, I am a combat veteran. I absolutely despise this holiday.
For reasons I won’t go into, and you can only imagine, all of the bangs, pops, ratta-tat-tats, and the like, fray my nerves and leave me a nervous wreck and with little to no sleep, and what sleep I get is medicated.
Not fun.
So I apologize, but the last couple of days have been rough for me. I’ll see you guys tomorrow!
No Post Today
Sorry folks, but I got hit with a bad migraine. As it is, I’m dictating this to my son to post for me.
I’ll see all of you Sunday!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
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Ho-To DM: DMing Young People
Sorry for the late post…it’s been a busy day. I had a number of doctor’s appointments today, so please forgive me.
Tonight, Dear Readers, was an awesome game. I’m not going to do a summary, although it would be great, but I will let you know that I am running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.
But this isn’t a normal game group. Per se.
You see, my group, and the other group, consist completely of teen and preteen girls.
Several weeks ago, a large group of girls and their folks walked into my local game store, the Lucky Dice Cafe, with the want to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons. So cool.
When it started, I wasn’t available to run it, so another DM friend of mine started it. With the help of another DM from Adventurers League he got it going well. When my wife realized that my 11-year old daughter could make friends, I signed on and brought her along.
I absolutely love it.
In my experience, running games for young people can be rewarding and tiring, but always fun.
Here are some things I learned that I want to pass on to you:
1) Treat them like adults – don’t talk down to them and treat them as you would anyone. Most All young people appreciate not being treated like they are “kids”
2) Be patient – Keeping in mind #1, understand that they aren’t quite adults, and that they will be goofy/silly at times, make random jokes/references, and act, well, like young people. Know this, be cool with it, and gently bring them back into the game
3) Be understanding – This goes along with #2 above: young people deal with an amount of stressors and difficulties that dwarf anything and everything that my generation dealt with, much in the way my generation dealt with more than the previous generation. This goes especially with teaching new players the ins and outs of the game and their character sheets. Know that it’s going to take some time for them to pick things up.
4) Help the “quiet” players find their voices – There are always the “quiet” players. You know the ones. They usually sit back, don’t say much, and generally follow along with the more vocal players. Encourage them to speak out! Ask them directly what they think or what they want to do in a situation. Do this regularly. Eventually, you will see something amazing: they will sit up and begin taking the initiative in the game. They will start discussions. They will begin encounters. Once these players find their voice, nobody will be able to take it away!
5) Encourage the vocal players, but focus them – This goes along with #4 above. These players are really into the game. They tend to be in a party leadership role, encouraging the party to go this way or not, and leading the discussions. There is nothing wrong with this, and, to a degree, should be highly encouraged. That said, keep them focused and make sure that the other players get an equal say as to what happens.
6) Say “Yes” whenever absolutely possible – Something I have learned from young people, especially those new to D&D, is that they don’t think like experienced players, or even newer adult players! They will very often come up with solutions to situations that nobody who has played for any length of time. Example: party consists of two druids and a cleric, all played by 11-year old girls. Party fighting big baddie of dungeon. Solution? One druid wild shape to an alligator. Other druid throws alligator at baddie. Jaws first. My question for that DM was “How did you even adjudicate that?!” Needless to say, a good time was had by everyone! in any case, say yes and give them the necessary checks to allow them to do what they want to try! Remember the rule of cool!
7) Have fun! – Seriously, this cannot be stressed enough. Young people are, as a rule, extremely fun to play with. Add with this the knowledge that you are being privileged enough to teach and mentor the next generation of players should both excite and humble anyone who gets this opportunity. Have fun and laugh along with them!
What do you think, Dear Readers? Do you have any other suggestions, or think that I missed something? Leave them in the comment section below!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Miniature Painting Update: Knocking Out Some of My Projects!
Just a quick update on two of my projects:
Today I worked with the aasimar paladin.
The only reason she has flesh tone on her face is that I had, a while back, accidentally poured out too much of the flesh color and pulled out a bunch of minis and started painting faces.
Then I started working on the armor:
Next, the gloves and pouches:
I know the paint job isn’t perfect, but I intend on following up later with touch-ups.
Next is the gold for the hilts and the scabbards:
It was then that I realized my brush wasn’t really doing the job, and I started looking at the brush I was using, which is a Citadel brand base coat brush that I got with the starter Space Marine paint set.
It’s pretty rough, and it’s not really holding its shape, causing pain to get places where I don’t want it to get.
So then I decided to bust out my Nolzur’s Marvelous Brush Set that I had recently purchased.
I mean, it looks like a decent brush set. And for $12 it’s not a bad bit.
As you can see it comes with a detailed brush, a base coat brush, and a dry brush. Again, not a bad catch for $12. Until, I opened up the base coat brush…
Needless to say, I am not impressed. I plan on taking them back to the store and exchanging them, hopefully to get a nice set.
As I am lacking, at the moment, a decent base coat brush, I will leave this as is.
I hope you enjoyed this painting update!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
[Insert Fill-In Post] Explanation to Follow
So my Sunday group has finished Rime of the Frostmaiden, and I looked up something for them to play, and settled on running Dragon Heist.
Due to the rather…prestigiously large number of times I’ve run this, as well as the fact that they are still in chapter 1, I won’t be recounting their adventures as I usually do, but will summarize:
The party decided not to get involved with the bar fight between the Xanathar Guild members and the Zhentarim female half-orc, other than to intimidate the other Xanathar thugs to keep them from jumping in.
After the fight, the inevitable troll appeared with the stirges. The party fought hard, and lost one member who failed their death saves. The party barely made it through.
They took the quest from Volo, and ended up at the Old Xoblob Shop. They took the info they got there and bypassed the Skewered Dragon and headed straight for Candle Lane where the warehouse is.
They took on the kenku there, found Raenar and headed to the sewers.
The party found the secret door to the Xanathar Guild hideout, faced the captors, including the illithid (who got away), and saved Floon. We ended with them heading back to the Yawning Portal.
The End (of session one!).
So now on to other news:
I’ve recently picked up a Wednesday group, as I believe I’ve mentioned, helping out for a bunch of young girls who are wanting to learn how to play Dungeons & Dragons. Thus the new projects of the aasimar paladin and elven rogue. Adding to that, yesterday I picked up a commission for a Goliath barbarian. Unfortunately, the miniatures that he bought were females! I made a deal with him that I will go find a male version and just keep the females, buying the male versions myself.
As soon as I buy it, I will get pictures. It’s going to be interesting and painting the Goliath tattoos.
Tomorrow, of course, is my Tuesday game, the Inglourious Ingrates. I am actively in the process of looking at the story arcs for my players, as they are heading towards the capitol, where they are all from. I believe that the player character story arc of Avery is going to begin, and that Dacyria will be touching on hers possibly. We’ll see.
The problem I have is that I actually haven’t done any writing past the first adventure. My health issues were getting in the way of that, but that’s okay because I have plenty of time to write today and that’s what I’m working on.
I’m just trying to figure out a way to work the former milkmaid with daddy issues into the story. I’ve already got how I’m going to work in Dacyria, but she comes in a little later.
Needless to say, I have a lot of writing and planning to do. Not sure how it’s going to turn out, but I will do what I always do when I need to and make it up as I go along. If you are a member of my Tuesday group and are reading this, yes, it happens. But you’ll never know when.
Looking at hastily written note…”Sexy Goblin”…
Yes, everything is planned out to the T… he lies right through his teeth…
In any case, it’s going to be an interesting ride.
Also of note, brandon, our contributor for Wednesday’s a Player’s Perspective, is out on vacation, so there will be a different post on Wednesday than usual. Don’t worry, it’s going to be good.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
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Miniature Painting Update: Acererak + New Project
Dear Readers,
I’m back! I’m sorry for the hiatus. I really needed to take a mental health break. As all of you or some of you may know, I deal with MS as well as chronic depression and I really needed some time to get my head back in a good place.
That said, here are some updates on our boy Acererack!
As it says on the box, they recommend the use of the undead paint set with the Adventurer’s Paint Set.
You should remember this one from when I painted Minsc.
Taking that to heart, I began painting his crown, where I used Angelic Yellow.
And then added some Treant Green…
Yes, I know it’s not perfect. I’m just trying to get a base coat on.
In addition to all this, I’ve started helping with a young girls D&D group on wednesdays. My youngest daughter, who is 11, needs friends, as any young girl is needing, so I started helping and bringing along my 11-year-old. I have a group of three (including my daughter) and they are amazing. The idea is to teach them proficiency in D&D so that we can introduce them to our Sunday Adventurers League.
Has such, I am painting each of them a miniature to use.
And before you say it, yes I am taking on a new project.
That’s all for now, folks! I’ll update you more during the week and next Sunday!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
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Hiatus
Dear Readers,
Due to a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that my MS is acting up, I am taking a hiatus this week until Sunday, when my games will all resume.
Thanks for your patience and support!
Sincerely,
The Daily DM
PS – The next Premium Content post for the next Inglorious Ingrates episode preview is getting posted in a few minutes!
Happy Father’s Day!
A very happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there that run and play games with their kids.
We love and appreciate all of you, and hope you have a wonderful day!
~The Daily DM
A Collection of Shamelessly Stolen D&D Memes for Your Viewing Pleasure
Today’s Post
Dear Readers, it’s been a busy week.
My Sunday group, as you all know, recently finished Rime of the Frostmaiden. Nice, if strange and kind of… unfulfilling ending.
My Tuesday group, the Inglorious Ingrates, had a great session last night. We’ll hear about it next week (Player’s Perspective does a summary a week in the rear). Just one word: undead.
And then there is tonight. The players further the story line, out towards an abandoned temple. It’s going to be a great time.
And I am stuck.
Writing wise, life wise, emotionally, and in just about every other way.
And, as you may have noticed, I haven’t picked up a paint brush in weeks.
I have a new project that I am working on, as you all know, Your Dork Materials.
Why am I telling all of you this? I’m not sure. I’ve really been struggling lately, just to get motivated to do just about anything. Gaming helps, but it is a conundrum, as it helps me cope with life, but it is simultaneously exhausting.
I guess I thought that maybe writing about it would help some as well. And it is, to a degree.
I’m just not sure of what else to do.
Don’t worry, Dear Readers, I’m not going anywhere any time soon. I just needed to vent, I guess.
A big thank you to the following players, represented by their character names:
Arkon, Dacyria, Avery, Mewsie, Gye, Winter, Idris, Hendel, Dell, J’Zargo, and Entir, and everyone at my monthly table (whose character names I haven’t memorized yet as we’ve played all of once!). You guys/gals are a big part of helping me keep on keeping on. Several of you play at other tables of mine (at least one of you is at all three!)
Now for some levity:
Until next time, Dear Readers…
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Rime of the Frostmaiden: The Finale
Dear Readers, due to the…decisions of the party, the campaign ended rather…abruptly. And no, it wasn’t a TPK…Also, the ranger/rogue and the fighter/rogue were gone and we had two substitute players: a halfling and a goliath barbarian.
The battle against the demilich continued, with two new allies joining the fight!
Upon joining, the goliath barbarian tossed threw the halfling at the demilich, landing blows and finding herself below.
The battle raged until the gnome wizard out-thought the demilich by using the spell telekinesis to push the demilich towards the smiting hands of the party’s paladin/barbarian!
With several well placed swings and a couple of critical rolls, the paladin smited (smote? smitten?) Iriolarthas, ending his miserable existence.
Looking around, the party began to look for clues as to the veracity of using the staff of power on the obelisk.
They found, among other things, an instruction manual on how to do just that, using half of the charges in the staff of power.
It was at this point that, while poking a moving doorway with her javelin, the halfling barbarian got sucked into a living demiplane.
Shenanigans ensued, and the plane was destroyed and thereby disgorged its contents, namely a couple of flesh golems and a trio of galven magen.
The galven magen would heal the flesh golems with their lighting attacks while the flesh golems would beat on the party. The party then realized the problem and killed off the magen then worked on taking out the golems.
After that was sorted out, the party went back to Veneranda and, although they had some reservations, agreed to check out the obelisk. The party discussed leaving, but ultimately decided to at least see the obelisk and assess it.
When the party began to get suspicious, it was then that Veneranda attacked the wizard with mind control psionic abilities, eventually getting the gnome to give the staff over to her, who activated the obelisk.
When the dust settled the obelisk was gone, and a brightly colored aarakocra stood and explained the situation to the party. Seeing their surroundings, there was no mistake: the party had been hurled backwards in time to before the fall of Ythryn, sometime around -342 DR.
The fate of the party was thus: the party would be given a ride from a skycoach to the surface to be with their respective peoples, albeit over a millennia and a half in the past. The dwarf decided to go back to his people and begin prophecies predicting the future. The cleric was in shock and awe, and was offerd to be sent to other divine spellcasters to sort out his life. The gnome wizard was offered to be allowed to stay and study with the Arcanists of Ythryn.
What do you think, Dear Readers? What do you think? Was it the kind of ending you would have guessed?
Join us next week for the beginning of our new campaign, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!
Hearing Yourself is Weird
Short post today, Dear Readers…
For those unaware, we do a podcast recording of my Tuesday group campaign. It’s a lot of fun, and we call ourselves The Inglorious Ingrates.
It’s a really fun bunch of players and we have a really good time playing.
As of now, we’ve recorded four episodes, not including our test recording of an “Episode 0” (the previews of these are, by the way, available to our Premium Subscribers, and will be available for everyone in October when we launch our YouTube channel Your Dork Materials!).
The thing is, I have a really poor memory. It’s a Multiple Sclerosis thing. Although I take good notes, I sometimes go back and listen to old episodes in order to be reminded of what happened in the previous session.
As a result, I have to listen to myself speak. This is the strangest thing in the world for me.
I listen to all of my gaffes, the times I stutter, and all of the other things that I say.
To put it plainly, I am no Matt Mercer, nor am I a Chris Perkins.
But I don’t try to be. I just try to be me.
And I sound weird.
Yes, it makes me a little self-conscious.
But, you know what Dear Readers? I still enjoy playing.
If you ever decide to record your sessions for a podcast, I highly recommend doing just what I do regardless of how horrible I think I sound. Just be you.
Thanks again for just being awesome, Dear Readers.
Until next time…
P.S. – To my premium subscribers: my video editor ended up at the doctor’s office today, resulting in a delay on the videos being done. The Episode 2 and Monthly Game previews will be posted Sunday; thanks for your patience!
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This Was Supposed to Be a Different Post..
The original plan was to write a post about running a game for young children who are brand new to dungeons & dragons. Originally, I was supposed to be doing just that tonight.
That did not happen.
When the organizer and I, for this particular event, had arrived, the store event organizer advised us that the kids that were originally supposed to be coming we’re not going to be attending this week. This made me sad for multiple reasons, but not the least of which was because I brought my own young daughter along to meet new friends and play.
Que sad gaming noises.
That said, the organizer and his girlfriend were there and were both gamers. I am a gamer. My daughter is a gamer. My daughter was coming expecting to play. What could we do?
We played. We played, and we had fun.
Sometimes, things don’t turn out the way we expect them to or want them to. I have written on this topic a number of times, and several times in recent history.
Sometimes the DM just has to improvise.
The organizer was indifferent about running or playing, so I said that I would run. I had an adventure already prepared to run for the kids I was playing with, so I ran that.
Hopefully, I will have some additional insights for running games for children next week. Particularly groups of small young girls that are teens or tweens.
For those interested, I was running the beginning of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.
Even if my daughter did not get the opportunity to make new friends her age, she did get to have some time with her dad playing dungeons and Dragons.
Not a bad evening after all.
Until next time, Dear Readers…
I’m Stuck…
Note: if you are one of my Tuesday campaign players, do not read this until after 11 pm tonight. Spoilers.
Dear Readers, I find myself in quite the quandary.
You see, I’m stuck.
I have about a half dozen projects I’m working on and I’m stuck between them.
I have to finish doing prep for tonight, that is the Inglorious Ingrates.
I have to get cracking on my monthly game and finish the next adventure for them before next Wednesday.
I am…well, let’s just say that I am exceedingly behind in my miniature painting.
Add to that, I’ve got “DM Block”©, a condition where you have a map and are struggling to decide on what to fill it with.
So I’m going to start with the most pressing of those things as I have a game to run tonight:
DM Block
Note: if you want an update as to what’s going on, make sure you read our articles called Player’s Perspective. That should get you updated as to where we are.
As is usually helpful for me, I will write this out like I’m talking it out in order to help get the old creative juices going. Here we go.
So the place for the party is heading to is a burial mound.
There’s currently inhabiting in a group of… goblinoids led by someone or something else.
Okay, so the goblins and their crew has broken into the tomb to use as a base of operations. They plundered the first few chambers. All the party’s gear and equipment as well as other treasures that have been stolen from the townsfolk and passing travelers.
The leader of this particular group will have almost opened the door to the inner chamber. Fight between heat and party ensues.
Before he dies, in a last-ditch effort, he will open the inner chamber hoping that he can either escape or that something in there will assist him. He didn’t exactly do his research.
After fight with this guy, the party will inevitably end up fighting what’s in the main chamber. Accordingly, they may want to, after getting a clue, go further into this burial mound.
I have the main person buried here as well as their two lieutenants.
While doing this, I actually came up with what I was going to do. As a cool preview of one of the things the party will find I finally been able to bring up a stylized version of a symbol they keep finding. This time they’ll find it on an old shield that doesn’t seem to have any enchantment on it other than it will not deteriorate or rust. Here’s the picture:
Believe it or not, I actually did that using PowerPoint.
I think I have enough of the dungeon completed now to get through this session at the very least. Now, I have to pack my gear pick up one of my players, and head out.
Thank you, Dear Readers, for being part of my writing process. As you can see, when you get stuck, sometimes it helps just to talk it out, or in my case, write it out!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
Rime of the Frostmaiden: The Central Spire
Dear Readers, thank you for your understanding while I took some time with my family in my absence. You all are great.
When last we left our heroes, they had just driven off Auril, and had taken a long rest.
Seeing that the force field around the central spire was still down, the party decided to head towards the spire.
Ascending the stairs, the party came to a large set of double doors, which, after opening, led to a huge and grand ballroom, with a party going on. Upon closer inspection, of course, the ball was naught but an illusion. Deciding to press forward, the party ventured further inside.
Their search led them to a chamber with several staffs, one of which was magical, and that only providing some protections against poison and fear. Taking them anyways, the party continued onward.
Eventually, they came to a room with a strange sight…
It was a helmed horror, sans helm, with a floating brain inside a jar in its place!
Interestingly, the strange being contacted them by telepathy introducing itself as Veneranda, formerly an arcanist of Netheril who took this path to save herself.
She told the party that her goal was to restore the city and that upon restoring the city she would reward the party with gold and magic items. All the way we need to do was to go up to Iriolarthas’ study and retrieve his staff. Using the staff on the obelisk in the city, she could restore the city.
The party agreed and set off to the study.
Crossing a bridge made solely of force, the party encountered yet another curiosity: a being made of magic that introduced itself as Everlast, who was created by Iriolarthas himself to help with restoring the city. When the party told them of Veneranda’s plan, he cautioned them that the obelisk was broken and that it may not work.
Seeing the entry into the tower above, the wizard cast fly on the paladin/barbarian who promptly flew up to the door above, opened it, and checked inside.
What he saw was not the entryway was covered in a dome made of some sort of force. Beyond that was a room with only one exit guarded by two sword like objects floating in front of it that seem to be made out of darkness itself. Above the doorway, there was a crystal, glowing and loose in its fitting.
Causing a loud boom, the crystal deactivated, and the party prepared for battle against the black blades. Due to their ranged attack abilities and the flying dwarf paladin/barbarian, the party made short work of them.
Proceeding further, the party came to a series of eight doors in a row before them. Each held a sigil of one of the schools of magic.
Opening two different doors (transmutation and evocation) the party was met with pure darkness and an attack by a pair of barbed devils!
Dispatching them, the party read the inscription above, and realized that they must speak the title and name of one of Iriolarthas’ eight apprentices of their chosen school of magic. Doing so, the party came to a room with eight chairs in a semicircle, in front of which was a sparkling and glittering starscape.
Deciding to look around, the party found a crumbled library, where the party found a scroll of the comet as well as instructions on how to enter Iriolarthas’ study.
Looking at the chairs, the wizards sat in chairs of their chosen school (Vellyn and the gnome wizard), and one of the party who had drank of the chalice back in the academy. Before them opened a portal.
Heading in, the party was met with what was undoubtedly Iriolarthas’ study, with Iriolarthas the demilich floating above his personal library, watching them, along with three nothics.
The party explored the room, the gnome wizard eager to see what he could find. Seeing a few vials of valuable powder, Iriolarthas’ staff of power, his spell book, and another yet unknown scroll, the wizard swept them all into his bag of holding, whereupon Iriolarthas and the nothics attacked.
The paladin/barbarian, with another fly spell upon him, engaged Iriolarthas, hammering him with all his might and using his smite ability. The demilich harassed the party with ability after ability, at one point knocking the wizard unconscious.
Will the party prevail over the demilich? Will they be able to help Veneranda restore Netheril?
Tune in next week to find out!
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Until next time, Dear Readers…
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