One-Shot: Orbital Vampire Tower (solo)

Posted on April 17, 2021 by Joseph

Play time: 3 hours

Hero: Amaranth the Warlock (6)

Note: This one-shot adventure was written for low-level play, but since we only had one player for this session I allowed him to super-charge his solo character to level 6. This had… interesting results.

Fire in the Sky

Lonely warlock (of undeath and plants) Amaranth was making his evening camp when a mass of flaming debris appeared in the sky above him. He quickly dug a bunker and ducked underground just before the cataclysmic impact. After digging himself out, he found himself standing in a huge impact crater full of burning wreckage and one strangely intact white platform. Amaranth looked around, and then touched the hand-shaped indent on the pillar at the center of the platform. And everything changed.

Blades in the Dark

Amaranth found himself in a dark room. Chipped murals on the ceiling, torn portraits on the walls. He was standing on another white platform, but the central pillar was broken, and missing.

Out in the hall, he saw several doorways, mostly dark or flickering. As he approached one, a giant wing of metal blades burst through the wall, screeching and flailing at him. He unleashed his undead vines (eldritch blasts) and shattered the wing to pieces.

In the next room, he found a large glass hatch looking out at the stars. Stars in every direction, up and down. He was IN SPAAACE!!!

Strange Survivors

The door to the Private room was shredded to pieces, and the interior was flooded with blue fluids and shattered glass. Inside four huge broken tubes, he found a headless man’s corpse, an elephantine man’s corpse, and a reptilian man’s corpse. In the fourth tube was a young man named Rev, shivering and terrified. He had no idea where he was or what was happening, but he was naked and covered in blue goo. Amaranth collected a few potions and then revived the red reptilian man as his zombie servant, Scaly.

Amaranth led the young man (and Scaly) to the Medical bay and tried to pry the door open with a crowbar. A voice called from inside, and Amaranth convinced the stranger to let them in. Squinting into the bright sterile lights, they found a small operating theater, the white walls spattered with blood. The skeleton surgeon, Dr Mahkoi, explained that his bandaged patient, the maid Griselle, was dying of extraordinary slash wounds. 

Amaranth demanded exposition! Dr Mahkoi explained that this tower was the Manse of Onar, the home of a vampire alchemist. And yes, they were in space above the world Harth. But one of the master’s creatures had escaped and destroyed much of the tower. 

Leaving the naked gooy man Rev with the doctor (and a pair of pants), Amaranth and Scaly moved on. They poked around the staff quarters, finding some work clothes and a skittish cat. Then it was time to head upstairs.

Suite Life

The Master suite was locked, so Amaranth poked around the dark luxury of the Guest suite, picking up a little gold and some vampire sunglasses. Then he went through a shredded door into the Recreation suite, where he found three curtains. 

Behind curtain 1 was a flickering illusion of a tropical beach, where a tsunami of turtles caused him psychic damage. Curtain 2 revealed a snowy mountain, also a flickering illusion, and he retreated from a sudden blizzard. Beyond Curtain 3 he found an illusory bar full of ruffians, and had to run for his life as a violent brawl broke out. Despite the stranger danger, Amaranth emerged with two magic rings and a magic dagger.

The warlock then ventured into the Observatory, which appeared unharmed. He sat at a massive telescope and started pushing gems in his chair’s arm. The first button revealed a golden tower floating among the stars, and a woman’s voice erupted from the chair. When Amaranth claimed that he had taken over the Manse of Onar, the woman was amused and said he wouldn’t enjoy it for long. He then summoned a view of a red moon covered in red tentacles, and horrific screams burst from the chair’s arm. Lastly he looked at a silver moon covered in glowing people and heard them chanting.

Herbicidal Maniac

Amaranth continued up to the Greenhouse and found a lush jungle beneath a glass dome, full of colorful creatures. He quickly set to work killing the flora, transforming the vibrant rainforest into a decaying landscape of browns and grays covered in moss and lichen. This made it easy to spot the blue parrots and red monkeys, as well as a giant green sleeping serpent. 

He also found a swarm of fire ants (ants on fire) attacking a red octopus in a tree. The octopus protested the destruction of the jungle, because he was so hungry and wanted to eat everything. Then he begged Amaranth to help him escape from the tower. Amaranth agreed and the octopus climbed on top of the zombie Scaly.

Master of the House

Back at the Master suite, Amaranth met the vampire alchemist Revelius Onar in his Iron Skull armor. Revelius explained that he was trying to cure his allergy to sunlight by studying two immortal creatures: a red horror and a metal celestial. Then he spotted a fragment of the red horror, the octopus! After a brief battle, Revelius slaughtered the small horror while Amaranth watched in amusement.

Revelius then hired Amaranth to find and “deal with” the metal celestial hidden somewhere in the tower. Just then, they heard a sound from downstairs…

Cleaning Crew

Amaranth went downstairs to find a voidship had docked at the large glass hatch and three grizzled warriors had arrived. These mercenaries worked for the vampire in the golden tower, the woman who Amaranth talked to in the Observatory. They were here to loot the place!

After a brutal battle, Amaranth killed all three mercenaries (mostly by sucking the life out of them with his eldritch vines) and took their weapons. 

What’s in the Basement?

Downstairs, the warlock examined two corridors. One ended in a red resin cell, and one ended in a wire mesh cell. The metal cell was splashed with blood and a butchered body lay on the floor. He assumed this was one of the servants who let the celestial out.

In the Machine shop, Amaranth tried to free a small construct from under a fallen beam, but a clumsy misstep accidentally smashed the little guy to pieces. But he did grab a cool knife and a powerful orb. The floor of the Alchemical lab hissed with bubbling acids, so he didn’t go in. The Animal lab had been torn to pieces and bodies lay everywhere. He spotted a creature in the shadows feeding on the corpses, believed it to be another red octopus, and left it alone.

After a brief battle with some mechanical hall monitors, the warlock found the Sub-basement.

In the Reservoir, Amaranth spotted yet another fragment of the red octopus horror swimming in the dark water, and left. He then entered the Compost heap and battled some Mycotic Zombies to acquire wand made from a golden raven’s talon.

Escapes Galore!

After a short rest in the Guest suite, Amaranth noticed a vampiric woman floating outside the window. Using gestures, they agreed to meet at the glass hatch. Amaranth nudged the Cleaning Crew’s voidship away from the tower and the vampire came inside. She was Skarlet Anzi, assistant to Revelius Onar. Amaranth tried to convince her that the celestial was gone, but she didn’t believe him and chose to take the voidship and fly down to the dying world of Harth.

Amaranth then went upstairs and told Revelius that all was well. He was suspicious and went to investigate. While he was gone, the warlock discovered an ivory wand in the Master suite, and then stole his personal voidship. What followed could only be described as a harrowing free-fall flight back down to Harth, complete with two last-ditch teleports to escape from the fiery explosion as the ship impacted the desert. 

But our hero survived!

DM Notes

This one-player one-shot was tons of fun. I definitely found a number of places where I want to streamline the written adventure because I found myself a bit overwhelmed with all the rooms, NPCs, and options. But the player had a great time, and really enjoyed discovering that the adventure was a survival-horror session IN SPAAACE!!! 

There was tons of interactivity, and the mood was solid. He said it felt a little too sci-fi instead of fantasy, so I will tweak the language accordingly. But all in all, a great game night!

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New campaign on DTRPG: Witches of Frostwyck

Posted on April 15, 2021 by Joseph

Well, it only took a month of writing, three months of playtesting, and another month of writing to bring you… Witches of Frostwyck!

Who wants to fight my Baba Yaga?

The ancient world of Harth is dying, but you’re going to die even sooner if you can’t escape from Frostwyck.

You’re lost in a frozen forest of deadly predators and mysterious recluses. Your only refuge is the tiny village of Frostwyck, where metal is rare and kindness is rarer. And there are worse things in the shadows than mere bloodthirsty beasts.

Witches haunt the groves of the north. Most keep to themselves, content to guard their secrets and powers. But one torments them all.

Dama Zhadna has cursed the village so that none can escape. And now you’re trapped here. You’re going to die here.

Unless you find a way to defeat the Witches of Frostwyck.

Specifics

Witches of Frostwyck is a low-level campaign designed to run from Level 1 to Level 4 or 5. I ran it for about 48 hours (12 sessions, 4 hours each). I suspect your mileage will vary depending on playstyle.

This campaign includes 18 wintry wilderness locations (ancient ruins, wizard towers, cabins, and sacred groves) as well as Frostwyck itself. Players can encounter dozens of NPCs, including cannibal witches, forthright druids, grim hunters, zealous Templar warriors, sad ghosts, and lots of grouchy villagers just trying to survive.

In addition to the numerous original creatures, the campaign includes over 30 original magical items and weapons. These include eight “cunning items” imbued with household witchcraft, and four “eldritch weapons” that can be empowered by eight other hidden magical power sources (they’re plug-and-play!).

Faction play

Will your players side with the clerics and paladins of the Temple of Virune against the “unholy” forces trapped in Frostwyck? Or will their own unholy magical gifts brand them as enemies of the Temple, trapping them between the witches and the witch-hunters?

Maybe they will forge an alliance with the druids? They guard an ancient power in the eastern forest that not even they understand…

Or perhaps they will free the undead servants of the witch-lord herself and turn them against the cruel Dama Zhadna?

In closing…

I loved researching, writing, and running this campaign as an homage to Russo-Slavic folklore, including such iconic characters as Baba Yaga and Koschei the Deathless, as well as monsters like the vodnik and rusalka. The grim Siberian forest, the isolated village, the vicious predators, the hardy villagers, and the strange forces all came together to create a great game.

I hope you like it.

On DriveThruRPG: Witches of Frostwyck

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Fangs of Vulgoth: Session #11

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Joseph

The adventure continues! Last time, Ward became a were-wyvern, the group defeated the vampire knight Lucien, tried to tame a dread wyvern, and discovered the remains of a Shifter village destroyed by the Dark Queen Lerazia…

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Asmund the Divine Soul Sorcerer (6)
  • Drew the Eldritch Knight (6)
  • Hugo the Time Wizard (5), Cleric (1)
  • Rainen the Beast Master Ranger (5), Druid (1)
  • Ward the Gloom Stalker Ranger (5), Rogue (1)

A long cold night

As the snow fell, the group huddled in the abandoned cottages. Asmund dreamed of a dark tower where clerics of Virune huddled in fear and the angel commanded him to save them. During Drew’s watch, his friend Wyoma One-Eye came to him and begged him to run away with her, but he refused and she left in tears. Hugo dreamed of his mother and saw a vision of her last night alive, when she ran into a local girl: Rainen Thicket!

A colder morning

Hugo immediately confronted Rainen about her meeting with his mother. She barely remembered the incident, only that a kind woman came to her aid after she was robbed by a stranger. Hugo stormed off in a huff.

Then they heard footsteps approaching in the heavy snow. An old man leapt through the trees and landed by Ward, and tried to make Ward flee with him. This man, Ivan, said that the Dark Queen was coming and they needed to run. He started dragging Ward with great power, and revealed that he too was a wyvern shifter. Ward refused to leave his friends, and Ivan fled on his own.

A warm reception

Believing that the Dark Queen was on her way, the party prepared an ambush. They dug a trench, built a snow berm, set fire to one cottage, and created an illusion of a giant werewolf, hoping to lure Lerazia to them. And she soon arrived.

Asmund tried to convince Lerazia to return to her grave and leave the shifters in peace. But Lerazia insisted that the shifters were killers, as bad as the vampires. Asmund offered to destroy the Wyld Altar, and she encouraged him to do so, offering him a safe home in her lands if he did so. Asmund…started to agree with her point of view. But Rainen insisted on the humanity of the shifters and Lerazia attacked.

Silver reaver

Ward immediately lost control of his powers and transformed into a were-wyvern. Lerazia ran straight for him and stabbed him with her silver reaver, dropping him unconscious. The rest of the party rushed into the fray, reviving Ward and manipulating the field with all manner of spells. The tide turned, and Ward slaughtered the Dark Queen Lerazia, reducing her to ashes and her deadly silver rapier.

Shenanigans

Their task complete, the party returned to the Angel Tears Falls to rest and recover. Drew cleaned the gore from his weapons. Hugo studied his book. Rainen taught her ravenwolf puppy how to hunt and brought back a vicious wolverine.

Ward tried to hunt a sacrifice for his angel Kasimah, and failing that tried to go fishing. But when he fell in the river, the current swept him away. Rainen and Drew ran to his aid, but Drew was swept away as well. Finally Rainen summoned her spectral ravenwolves to pull them both from the water. And so, for the third time, the party’s deadliest foe was a mundane body of water.

Altered altar

The next morning, Asmund climbed to the Wyld Altar and placed his holy hand upon it. The radiant light quickly reduced the huge block to a pile of gravel, and another half-finger vanished from Asmund’s hand. Ward confirmed that he could still transform into a were-wyvern, even without the altar, and everyone got ready to move out.

And that’s where we ended!

DM Notes

This was a very good session. It was a bit packed full of plot points and guest stars, but there was something for everyone. As an episode of a TV show, it would probably feel weirdly contrived, but it worked fine in the game. Personal interactions with Wyoma, Ivan, and Hugo and Rainen were all interesting. The shenanigans at the river were completely unexpected, but very fun.

The battle with Lerazia was a good proof of concept for my new monster design principles. She was definitely a deadly threat at the beginning, and downed a character in round 1, and she presented some cool abilities, but then she died in spectacular fashion in round 4 after everyone had a couple chances to show off their cool ideas and abilities in return. It only took an hour and never felt like a slog.

All in all, a solid session, if a little over-stuffed. From here on out, I expect to see a more linear run as the group takes on the vampires once and for all.

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Homebrew: How to beat 5E’s CR and design better monsters

Posted on March 27, 2021 by Joseph

I’m running a Fifth Edition campaign (see “Nemesis Queens”), and we are having a lot of fun. But as the DM, I am struggling more and more to run combat. The players are all level 6 now, so they have extra attacks, and powerful spells, and a trunk full of magic items. And the big problem is that my players are all very creative and insightful people, meaning that they are very good at killing my monsters.

They say they are having fun, and I believe them. But a couple of things are starting to happen, and I think they are Bad Things. First, the combats are taking longer, which I think is somewhat boring if there isn’t much dialog or plot moving forward. Second, the players rarely get injured, much less killed. So while there is always a small danger of something bad happening to them… it never does. And third, the players are brilliant at neutralizing my monsters to prevent their Special Abilities from working… so “interesting” things rarely happen.

Now, I understand the action economy, and I’ve studied Colville’s Action Oriented Design, and I have been retooling my monsters to try to keep up with my players. But the math (and the dice) just aren’t going my way. So I need to do better math.

Analysis

I went over my players’ character sheets and figured out that together they can do an average of 100 points of damage to a creature with 18 AC per round. That’s without action surges and Haste and other powers that they have. So I need a challenging monster to have 20 or 22 AC to at least stay alive for a few rounds.

My PCs also have an average of 16 AC and 54 HP. So I need my monster’s attack rolls to be at least +6 to hit, and do around 21 (6d6) damage just to make the players flinch.

Also, the PC spellcasters have an average spell save DC of 16, so my generic monster needs a general saving throw of +6 to avoid being held or blinded or stunned.

Result

It would seem that, to fight my party of Level 6 heroes, my generic monster needs 22 AC, +6 to hit, 6d6 damage, and +6 to saves.

Notice all those sixes? That’s pretty convenient. Let’s make a table!

Level 1 | 12 AC | 10 HP | +1 to hit | 1d6 damage | +1 to save

Level 2 | 14 AC | 20 HP | +2 to hit | 2d6 damage | +2 to save

Level 3 | 16 AC | 30 HP | +3 to hit | 3d6 damage | +3 to save

Level 4 | 18 AC | 40 HP | +4 to hit | 4d6 damage | +4 to save

Level 5 | 20 AC | 50 HP | +5 to hit | 5d6 damage | +5 to save

Level 6 | 22 AC | 60 HP | +6 to hit | 6d6 damage | +6 to save

Level 7 | 24 AC | 70 HP | +7 to hit | 7d6 damage | +7 to save

Thoughts

Obviously, this system is only meant to work for a certain type of challenging monster. You probably wouldn’t be scaling up your normal goblins and skeletons with this. Also, this is a reflection of what’s happening in my current campaign. It’s based on what my particular players are capable of right now.

Combined with some interesting environments, Reactions, and minions, I think this approach will help me out. But I will report back on how it goes.

What tricks have you tried to better challenge your mid-level players?

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Fangs of Vulgoth: Session #10

Posted on March 27, 2021 by Joseph

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes returned south, crossed a deadly stream of icy rocks, dug a medium hole, and fought a pitched battle against two deadly Apex Werewolves before discovering the ancient cave of the Wyld Altar, where Ward is about to go through some serious changes…

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Asmund the Divine Soul Sorcerer (6)
  • Drew the Eldritch Knight (6)
  • Hugo the Time Wizard (5), Cleric (1)
  • Rainen the Beast Master Ranger (5), Druid (1)
  • Ward the Gloom Stalker Ranger (5), Rogue (1)

Where was Hugo?

After helping Asmund to kill the Oracle, Hugo had gone off alone into the woods. Now, as Rainen sat beside the waterfall with her wolves, she saw Hugo returning with a stranger in tow. Hugo rejoined the group, apparently no worse for wear, except that his left eye was now an arcane sphere of solid gold (the Oracle’s Eye of Truth). His companion was Miranda, the silversmith from Rukesti. She had blue skin from self-administered doses of liquid silver to protect herself from the vampires and shifters, following the death of her husband Orson seven years ago.

Hugo revealed that Miranda had described the destruction of Rukesti. At least one vampire knight on a dread wyvern had burned the town and turned many people into vampires. Also, Hugo admitted that he had also met another vampire knight the previous day, Lucien. This Lucien had created an army of Man-Bats and was looking for someone to teach the monsters how to fly. Hugo had suggested Rainen for the job. So, heads up! Lucien might be on his way!

Meanwhile, in the cave of the Wyld Altar…

As the animal spirit entered his body, Ward was hurled backward. He quickly doubled in size, tearing through his clothing, as his flesh was covered in dark blue scales. He was a were-wyvern! Hugo came running to fetch the boys, but Ward leapt off the cliff and drifted down to Rainen on his pseudo-wings. He scared the little ravenwolf puppy Bud, and the other wolves ran off to find the puppy. Just then, Rainen spotted the winged horror of a dread wyvern swooping down to land beside them.

The boys came running, but it would take them a few minutes to climb down the steep mountain path from the cave. Ward picked up Rainen and ran for cover in the trees.

Hallo, hallo, hallo!

The vampire knight Lucien made a dramatic landing on his dread wyvern, Sir Hiss. The portly gentleman fumbled and tumbled out of his saddle, hopped back to his feet, and called out to the hiding heroes. “You there! I am Lucien, the most handsome vampire you will ever see. And I’d like to offer you a job.”

Unfortunately, Ward was overwhelmed by his new animal spirit, which hated the undead. Unable to control himself, Ward rushed out to attack the vampire and his mount.

A really, really long fight

With Ward a rampaging were-wyvern, the team had little choice but to leap into battle. Again!

Ward’s huge claws did massive damage to Lucien, but the vampire knight healed rapidly. Lucien summoned swarms of bats, and his dread wyvern could hurl half the party across the field with a wave of a wing. Sir Hiss spewed long curtains of acid over the heroes, and things were looking bleak.

But then Drew cast Fear on the dread wyvern, weakening its ability to attack. Hugo used the Bitter End sword to freeze the enemy, further weakening their attacks. And then Rainen summoned her two spectral ravenwolves to carry her up onto the back of Sir Hiss!

Drew dealt huge damage with his eldritch spear, Asmund unleashed holy spells from a safe distance, and Hugo used the Wand of Screams to make Lucien wail in terror.

Then Hugo blinded Lucien, and the miserable screaming vampire finally tried to escape on his dread wyvern. But Rainen blasted him back onto his backside, and then Ward tore the vampire knight to pieces! Freed of his master, Sir Hiss leapt into the sky with Rainen clinging to the saddle. He spewed more acid onto the battlefield as Rainen pleaded with him to become their ally. The wyvern landed on a rocky cliff face, grabbed Rainen’s leg, and hurled her away. She landed safely and watched the monster fly off into the mountains.

Over the river and through the woods

Resolved to defeat the dark queen Lerazia and possibly recruit the shifters to fight the vampires, the team crossed behind the waterfall to the eastern shore. Miranda refused to join them, and wandered off into the western woods. Asmund’s third persona, Vogna, also spoke for the first time, creeping everyone out. Also, Hugo found Lucien’s (pink gold and chocolate diamond) engagement ring for Nicoletta, which allows the wearer to control bat-type creatures.

On the far side of the River Moroz, Ward followed a thin trail down into the pines. There they discovered two bodies, an old man and woman with silver hair, naked, stabbed three times in the chest. Suspecting that these were the Apex Werewolves from last night, and that they were killed by Lerazia, the team buried the bodies.

Farther on, they found a clearing containing four rotting cabins covered in moss and saplings. Inside, they found rough natural bedding and a few old blankets. And the body of a young man, naked, stabbed three times through the chest.

Fearing that they might be too late to stop Lerazia, the team resolved to continue east in the hopes of saving the shifters.

And that’s where we ended!

DM Notes

This session was a lot of fun, although it felt uneven to me. Ward’s transformation into a were-wyvern went well, and I think I wrote up some solid abilities and weaknesses for that new feature. I love playing Lucien. He was loud and pompous and silly. Combat started a little sooner than I had hoped. For a moment, I thought I had actually given the team a challenge, but then Fifth Edition smacked my hopes back down.

I made a bunch of technical errors. The wyvern didn’t retry its saving throws, so it stayed a-Feared too long. The bat swarms did not attack at first. And I forgot to adjust damage properly per Lucien’s resistances. Etcetera.

Part of the problem, I feel, is that high-level creatures simply have too many features. Too many abilities, too many actions, too many resistances and saving throws and blah blah blah. I could certainly have slowed down and re-read the stat block every turn to make sure I was doing everything possible, but that isn’t fun for anyone. A computer could easily manage it all, but I can’t. Clearly I need to continue to try to refine my stat blocks to be more effective during play (I thought I had made them pretty simple already, but oh well). More and more, I wish we were running a more narrative and less simulationist combat system. Food for thought!

Actually, now that I think about it, I’m a little grumpy. I was trying very hard to “run the 5E combat simulation” so I felt trapped in that box of rules. But when one player tried to start a conversation with Lucien in mid-combat, I only let a few words be exchanged because the turn has to fit in 6 seconds of action, right? But I also wanted Lucien to talk. So we both wanted to have a conversation, but I let my interpretation of the rules squash that. That’s not good. Hm.

It was still a fun session, and I’m looking forward to the confrontations with the shifters and Lerazia. Now that Ward has graduated from an impulsive human to an out-of-control shifter, I assume there is more chaos in our future!

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Quest for the Forest Gems: Session #1

Posted on March 24, 2021 by Joseph

My youngest daughter loves to play one-on-one D&D with me (she also likes playing with the rest of the family, but we do that less often). This week we started a mini campaign together. She wanted to try playing a druid, and I welded together a bunch of Disney princesses movies and fairy tales for her campaign story. 

This was our first session.

Play time: 1 hour

Characters: Rose the Druid (2)

Call to Action!

Rose awoke to a scratch at the door. It was her friend, Mittens the jaguar. Mittens told Rose that there was a problem in the forest and led her to the Heart Grove where she showed her that the five Forest Gems had been stolen. Mittens said there were five suspicious places to investigate and Rose chose the Gem Mines.

Fairy Tale Shenanigans

As she headed east to the mines, Rose discovered a huge bean stalk in a clearing. She climbed up into the sky and found a giant angry goose paddling through the clouds. Rose observed the goose for a while, and then carefully started a conversation. She learned that Hank the goose had been attacked by some mean dwarves who lived in the Gem Mines. They threw gold nuggets at him to steal his giant eggs (I guess boy geese can lay eggs in this world?). Rose healed Hank’s wing and got a gold nugget from the wound, and then Hank agreed to fly her to the mines.

Into the Mines

Rose struck a torch and headed into the dark mines, the walls sparkling with gems. When she came to a fork, she turned right and discovered a pair of giant moles. They said the dwarves were using the power of the Forest Gem to make them dig tunnels and mine gems for them, so Rose left them alone and headed back.

Returning to the fork, she took the left tunnel and found the dark cavern home of the evil dwarves: Merry, Pippin, and Sam! Rose hid herself in a cloud of fog and stole the Forest Gem right out of Sam’s hand. While the dwarves argued about who lost the gem, Rose discovered a woman sleeping in a glass box. It was her school friend, Neve! 

The Big Escape

Just then, Rose’s fog spell ended and the dwarves spotted her. The chase was on! Rose picked up the sleeping Neve and ran through the mines. When she got outside, Rose used her powers to make a landslide cover the entrance and seal the dwarves inside.

Finally, Rose used the Forest Gem to break the curse and wake Neve, who agreed to return the gem to the Heart Grove while Rose went to find the next gem. 

And that’s where we ended!

DM Notes

Playing with young kids is a mixed bag. On the one hand, they have already consumed a lot of media and can quickly recognize some tropes, like a giant bean stalk, and know how to interact with them. On the other hand, they can sometimes be overwhelmed by an open-ended question like, “What do you do next?” 

I try to talk my daughter through these situations to give her a general sense of her options, like sneaking versus talking, or being friendly versus being bossy, without explicitly telling her to choose from three specific courses of action. As always, I was very proud of the moments when my daughter explained her analysis of a situation and made a thoughtful choice. 

We played for about an hour and had a great time, and she is looking forward to the next game when she gets to look for the next Forest Gem! 

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Welcome to the new site

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Joseph

It probably looks a lot like the old site. But it will change eventually. For right now, I’ve moved all the posts over from the old site, so everything is here.

Why the change? Because it’s time for some spring cleaning in my little publishing operation. I’m clearing out a bunch of silly and messy things that a Younger Joe put in his books and websites, trying to be clever and cool. I want to make everything simple and clean for both of us. So, new URL, new start, same stories.

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Fangs of Vulgoth: Session #9

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes journeyed north, defeated a tentacle monster, met with the fabled Oracle, and received visions of their future and places of power…

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Drew the Eldritch Knight (6)
  • Ward the Gloom Stalker Ranger (5), Rogue (1)
  • Rainen the Beast Master Ranger (5), Druid (1)
  • Asmund the Divine Soul Sorcerer (6)

Rough Morning

Rainen dreamed of a wounded tiger bleeding out across the winter snow. Drew dreamed of being tormented by the dead witch Baba Kruska. And Rainen saw strange fires to the southwest on her watch. But in the morning, the strangest sight was that Hugo was missing.

Asmund revealed that he and Hugo had gone back to the Oracle. After a confusing discussion of good and evil, they killed the Oracle and hurried back to camp. Asmund felt this was a good outcome because the Oracle revealed that she worshipped Shernavoth (the eldritch horror) and Asmund’s holy hand was able to incinerate her. But then Hugo had gone off into the woods to study his book alone.

Drew revealed that the Dark Queen Lerazia was killing Shifters on the east side of the river, though he did not explain how he had learned this.

The team had been planning to return to the town of Rukesti, which had clearly been attacked by wyvern-riding vampires during the night. But they quickly changed their minds. Instead they would hurry south to find the Wyld Altar. They would try to ally with the Shifters on the east side of the river, and save them from the Dark Queen Lerazia. Hopefully the Shifters would help them defeat the vampires!

Cold Creek Crossing

The party followed the river south. They passed the site of their battle with the tentacle monster, and passed the ruins of the bridge to Castle Dalca. As night fell, they came to a creek blocking their path. A new part of the same creek that almost wiped them out several days ago. Their old nemesis, Little Fang Creek!

Drew waded out into the freezing waters and almost lost his balance, but then he teleported to the far bank. Ward also made the crossing, getting cold and soaked in the process. So he stripped down and tried to get dry and warm before his clothing froze solid.

Then Rainen used her feathered cloak to summon a pair of ravenwolves from the forest and commanded them to carry Asmund across the river. The monsters ran shoulder-to-shoulder and carried the sorcerer across the water, leaping and gliding from rock to rock, and dumped him safely on the south side.

Lastly, Rainen rode Sasha across the creek, but the dire wolf was swept away! Drew leapt into action and used a magic whip to yank Sasha onto solid ground. The team was across!

Shovel Knight

Soon after, the party made camp for the night. Drew took out his gleaming shovel to dig a quick shelter, but the shovel instantly dug a massive pit for them. It was the Master Shovel! A magical tool that could cast the Mold Earth cantrip.

Fanged Fury

During Ward’s watch, he spied seven creatures crossing over from the east bank to the west bank by climbing the rock wall behind a huge waterfall. Then he saw two larger creatures tearing the smaller creatures apart. Not sure what any of them were, Ward chose to shoot the large creatures. He landed a massive critical sharpshooter flaming arrow on one of them, and discovered that he had just attacked a pair of Apex werewolves. The werewolves finished killing the vampire wretches and then came running to kill Ward!

Rainen roused the team to come to Ward’s aid, just as the first werewolf arrived. It was twelve feet tall, all in silver fur, and started tearing Ward to pieces. Ward tried to throw down his bow and apologize for attacking them, but the enraged hunters were not interested in his pleas.

Soon the second Apex werewolf arrived, and they summoned four more common wolves. Rainen ran to Ward and shielded him with the Silver Staff of Korvilus, which can cast an immovable “panic bubble” shield. Drew used his powers to frighten one Apex, and Rainen used her powers to Suggest that the second Apex “run home”. Despite a few rounds of terrible damage, the two huge werewolves turned to leave.

Drew killed one of the regular wolves and Rainen told the others to leave. But she befriended the last one, which was hungry and eager for affection.

The group moved camp and then rested late into the morning.

Wyld Altar

By the weak light of day, the team approached the waterfall and found an ancient stone stair leading up to a cave. Drew raced up the climb, with Ward and Asmund trailing. Rainen stayed below to keep watch with her three pack-mates: Sasha the direwolf, Bud the ravenwolf pup, and the nameless wild wolf.

In the cave, the boys found an ancient stone altar with a stone spike on top. The whole thing was covered in layers of old dry blood. Ward placed his hand on the spike and a strange wind began to blow as his blood ran down onto the altar. Then he shoved his hand down, spilling blood across the stone, and a whirl wind of animal ghosts surrounded him. Ward rolled the dice, and one of the spirits entered his body, knocking him away from the altar.

Ward felt his blood boiling as his senses grew sharper and the wound on his hand closed before his eyes.

And that’s where we ended!

DM Notes

This was a wonderful session. So much fun! It started off a little slow as the players described their side-session adventures with the Oracle. And then there was a solid debate about what to do next. I had assumed they would go back to town and experience the effects of their attacks on the vampires, but instead they decided to focus on the Shifters and Lerazia. So we dumped all the encounters and locations that I had prepped and leapfrogged to another part of the map!

This was fine, I also had these encounters and locations written, they were just much farther down in my notes. We got to battle the evil power of Little Fang Creek again (the true villain of the campaign) and then discovered the wonders of the Master Shovel. I think the magical shovel is now everyone’s favorite item. There were many Shovel Knight jokes, it was excellent. Rainen also got to use a bunch of her cool new powers, including summoning ravenwolves.

And then there was Ward. I like how Ward’s enthusiasm for the moment overwhelms his other thoughts and instincts. So we got a very exciting battle with two Apex werewolves, which could have easily turned into a TPK if not for some good spellcraft and good rolls. But the team survived! And we got to the Wyld Altar, and Ward decided to go full furry! I’m extremely excited to see how this unfolds next time. Although I do have to update and rearrange my notes a lot!

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Homebrew Monster: Solar Zombie

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Joe

Introduction

Ever since first reading Dune (long, long ago), one of my favorite fantasy settings has been the desert. It’s a hostile landscape that can physically shift beneath your feet, while also hiding life-saving oases or lost cities or giant burrowing worms. 

When I first created the Dungeon Age world of Harth, I started in a desert region and began filling it with fantastical versions of vipers, scorpions, and lions. But my favorite fantasy monsters tend to be either aberrations or undead, and my deserts absolutely needed some undead. Certainly some mummy lords and warriors, but what about the common folk? What do they become in the undead desert? Solar Zombies.

Appearances

Lore

As the sun has aged, darkened, and bloated in the skies above Harth, the land has withered…and changed. Infused with the horrific energies of the dying sun, human corpses have emerged from the Great Sand Sea and begun to roam the shifting dunes. Powered by the heat of the sun, these solar zombies shuffle about the deserts in small mindless groups from dawn to dusk, and then collapse on the cold sand, too weak to move by the feeble light of the ancient stars. 

Travelers know of these solar zombies and simply give them a wide berth during the day, knowing they are slow and stupid, and harmless at night. The greatest danger would be to make camp in the darkness and then discover in the morning that you are surrounded by flaming corpses!

Physical Description

Desiccated human bodies crusted over with fragile chunks of coal-like material. During the day, they resemble people armored in lumpy black rock, burning with bright red and yellow flames as thin channels of red magma pulse under their charred flesh. During the night, they resemble black and gray charcoal lying in human-like shapes, smoking faintly and smelling of scorched wood and bone.

Tactics

Solar zombies are utterly mindless. They wander the pathless desert without purpose. Their only instinct is to approach cold objects or creatures and attempt to heat them up with their flaming embrace. Unfortunately, tents and camels and people all seem cold to the burning solar zombies.

Stat Block (5E)

SOLAR ZOMBIE – 50 XP

  • A corpse covered in charcoal and flame. Animated by sunlight. Lies helpless in the dark. Mindless.
  • Medium undead, neutral
  • AC 10, HP 10, MOVE 20 ft.
STRDEXCONINTWISCHA
12 (+1)6 (-2)14 (+2)2 (-4)2 (-4)4 (-3)
  • IMMUNITY. Fire.
  • COLLIDE. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d6) fire damage.
  • OVERLOAD. When the zombie is struck by multiple light sources, it overheats and explodes. All creatures within 5 ft. take 3 (1d6) fire damage.
  • FREEZE. When the zombie is in darkness, it falls prone and cannot move or act.

Stat Block (Old School)

Solar Zombie. HD 1. HP 3. AC unarmored. Move 20. Immune to fire. Attack 1. Collide +3, 3 (1d6) fire. Explode in bright light, 5 ft, 3 (1d6) fire. Freeze and fall prone in darkness.

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Fangs of Vulgoth: Session #8

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes delved to the bottom of the catacombs under Castle Dalca, battling the undead, completing bizarre angelic rituals, discovering pillaged tombs, and collecting powerful relics and weapons…

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Drew the Eldritch Knight – Level 5
  • Ward the Gloom Stalker – Level 5
  • Rainen the Beast Master – Level 5
  • Hugo the Knowledge Cleric/Time Wizard – Level 1/4
  • Tiodhloc (Asmund) the Divine Soul Sorcerer – Level 5

Abridged Interlude

From the safety of the west end of the bridge, Drew summoned the silver staff to his hand. A moment later, the ruins of Castle Dalca collapsed into the catacombs beneath it. A huge cloud of ash and dust billowed into the sky and over the castle walls.

Meanwhile, the young ranger Gavril jogged up. He was glad to see the party was still alive, and pleased as punch to meet the famous Yakov Vanator. After a quick chat, Gavril and Yakov decided to head home to Rukesti while the party went north to find the mysterious Oracle.

But then a figure emerged from the dust cloud, a corpse dragging a sword on the cobblestones, yelling out threats… it was Irina the Inescapable, yet again! But just as the revenant templar shambled out onto the bridge, a second figure appeared. A woman in black strode up and tore Irina’s head off and hurled the corpse into the river below.

The party recognized the now-living corpse of Dark Queen Lerazia Dalca, who had vanished from her tomb. She thanked the party for destroying the undead in the catacombs. Then she told the party to stay on the western side of the river, and that she would protect the eastern side from evil. Then she smashed the bridge, and vanished into the mist.

Tentacle Time

The party headed north, following the River Moroz in search of the tower of the Oracle. Along the way, Ward spotted a strange mass of tentacles on the river bank, digging into the earth and eating vermin and fish. He told the group, and Drew went to see for himself, making no effort to hide himself. The monster sensed him, and attacked!

Hugo and Drew took point, trying to beat the tentacles into submission, but they only managed to slice off a few of the hundred tendrils. The monster tried repeated to shove a tentacle into Hugo’s mouth, but the wizard used his time magic to escape.

Then Rainen used her magic helmet to connect with the creature and sense its thoughts: “Feed. Enter. Control.” This got the monster’s attention and it raced toward her, plunged a tentacle into her mouth and into her direwolf Sasha’s mouth. They both instantly lost control of their bodies, and the monster puppeted them around to attack Drew.

Now the whole team ran up to encircle the beast. Asmund tried countless times to grab the tentacles away from his friends, but couldn’t connect. When Ward dealt some vicious damage, the monster freed Rainen and took control of him instead, using his Crone’s Claw to magically wound Asmund.

Drew jumped into the creature to free Ward, and then Hugo plunged in to free Drew. Hugo whirled his holy chain-sickle and finally cut the abomination to pieces. Rainen quickly cauterized Asmund’s wound before it could fester and kill him.

Everyone was disgusted. But alive!

Rolling on the River

As night fell, the team found the island and saw the Oracle’s tower. Drew swam the river and tied a rope for the others to use. Ward and Asmund sat on a log and pulled themselves across. Hugo used his new Bitter End sword to freeze a path for him and Rainen, though Sasha had to repeatedly save the wizard from slipping off.

On the far shore, they were greeted by several tall tree-people, the Knights Timber. They demanded the party leave their weapons, and the party agreed. At the top of the hill they entered the twisted white tower.

Vision for a Price

Inside, they met the oracle Dreymondi, a gold-skinned woman with tentacle hair and tentacle fingers. She commanded thousands of floating mirror shards and offered visions of power, for a price.

Hugo accepted the price, and she placed a small wriggling creature in his bellybutton. Then she showed him a special mirror that revealed visions of his own past and future. Hugo exchanged notes with his older self and learned that Old Hugo had failed to find “her” and that the solution to their personal mystery was something “older”, not found in any book.

Drew also accepted the price, got a bug shoved in his tummy, and saw a vision of “justice”. He saw the Crossroads, where ghostly wraiths clawed at a large circular stone beneath a frayed noose.

During this exchange, Asmund left the tower.

Rainen and Ward had a thoughtful discussion with Dreymondi about power and faith, Chaos and Law, and the difference between the angels they serve and the creature Shernavoth that the oracle serves.

Heading Out

Hugo returned to the riverside and had one of the Knights Timber hurl him over the river, where he landed gently and resumed studying his book to better understand his meeting with his older self.

Meanwhile, the Knights Timber offered Drew his pick of the weapons they had collected over the years, and he got himself a shiny shovel and a smith’s hammer for Rainen.

Then the rest of the team spent two hours assembling a rickety sled. Drew used the Bitter End sword to freeze the river and Ward guided Sasha to push the sled across the ice. They slipped and slid at terrifying speed, and crashed safely on the far shore.

And that’s where we ended!

DM Notes

This was a great session. We got a quick cameo from Irina, and then met the undead queen Lerazia. What’s her deal? The combat with the tentacle monster was dynamic and crazy, and I think it was one of my better designed solo monsters. Crossing the river was fun shenanigans, and then the meeting with the Oracle brought in some fantastic roleplaying from the whole group. Exciting choices, interesting insights, strange possibilities.

And then we wrapped up with more river-related shenanigans. I wouldn’t change a thing. Hopefully some of my players will want to use the upcoming Long Rest as a chance for a little solo-questing, or perhaps a return to talk more with the Oracle. We shall see!

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