01 Jan 2022
A recent D&D 5e campaign brought my players to an old Dwarven mine that has
fallen into dark times, and is now crawling with undead former Dwarf miners… As I could
not find images I was happy with, I drew a few tokens.
Dwarf Skeleton Miner
Basically a Skeleton
souped-up to CR 1/2. I gave them 26 HP, a STR of 14, a Pickaxe instead of a Short Sword,
and an ability, Phalanx Formation, modeled after the Thug’s Pack Tactics.
Dwarf Skeleton Quartermaster
A Skeleton Miner souped up to CR 2, with a STR of 17, and INT of 8, and 39 HP, with
Crew Leadershiop, modeled after the Leadership from the Hobgoblin Warlord, and
a Fire in the Hole! action, attacking with Alchemist’s Fire.
Dwarf Undead Warlock
Re-skinned Deathlock.
Dwarf Undead Drill Miner
Re-skinned Duergar Screamer.
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23 Jan 2021
In a recent D&D session, we had a perfect situation for an urban chase: a hero, escaping the Watch station, running through the streets with guards hot on her tracks. I remembered the Dungeon Master Guide (DMG) had a section covering that exact topic (DMG, pp 252-255), so I figured I would give it a spin. Some elements I liked, but overall I was not impressed.
I completely agree with the DMG opening comment:
Strict application of the movement rules can turn a potentially exciting chase into a dull, predictable affair. Faster creatures always catch up to slower ones, while creatures with the same speed never close the distance.
However, applying the suggested rules lead to something which was not much better. Per the DMG,
Participants in the chase are strongly motivated to use the Dash action every round.
This is indeed exactly what happened. As a result, we ended up in a rather unexciting sequence where everyone was taking the Dash action for a while. Sure, there was a sprinkle of fun with random complications, but overall, this was not thrilling.
This got me wondering what was missing, and how to make chases more interesting.
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04 Jan 2020
More experimentation using contour lines to suggest elevation…
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24 Dec 2019
You enter a dimly lit room. At the other end, there is a large door, guarded by two large suits of armor standing still. As you approach, they both slowly animate, and speak in a deep, metallic voice.
“We serve the same god”, says the armor on your left.
“We serve different gods”, says the armor on your right.
Both extend their right hand towards you. In their open gauntlet, you see a key.
You remember now the stories. Rumors that the Mage developed an obsession about truth and lies, and built automata, dedicated to Leira, the Lady of Deception, and Savras, the Speaker of Truth.
Which key will you try?
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28 Nov 2019
After talking with some of my players, we decided it would be fun to try out short, one-shot adventures, to experiment with different characters. The idea here is to play at a reasonably high-level, say, level 5, to avoid the slog of low-level survival, and focus on interesting class abilities.
The mission
What happened to Lalia Bairnell? The fearless halfling left Athkatla, the City of Coin in Amn, and sailed on Guild business to Caer Westphal, a small town in the Moonshae Isles. That was over 6 tendays ago - and nobody has heard back from her since.
The Guild is concerned. Laila is an experienced professional, and it is quite unlike her to not report back. It also reflects poorly on the Guild to have one of its agents disappear without explanation. The Guild intends that story to stay under wraps, and reached out to experienced adventurers outside its ranks to investigate.
You have been hired by the Guild to discreetly track down Laila, figure out what happened to her, and hopefully bring her back alive. A handsome reward awaits you in Athkatla - if you successfully complete your mission.
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