The land around Pinching rises steeply to a barren highland that runs for 20 miles from the coast to the mountains. This moor is full of steep dells and bowls that break up its otherwise flat appearance. These give access to numerous cave systems, which have attracted all manner of bandits. Little happens on these moors by day, but under the cover of darkness, it crawls with activity.
This is a bleak area of the world, stuck in the middle of hotbeds of activity. The Iron Teeth are an ominous barrier, and only marginally accessible, yet they are a doorway to riches through their mines. The sea is a ready conduit for cargo and men, but the great moor lies bleakly between. It is a region that must be crossed and often, and yet is so porous and concealing that it is far to dangerous to cross safely. It is a mix that factors into any campaign.
The mountains themselves form a wall along much of the southern coast of the moor, with only the narrow valleys carved by rivers over time allowing access into them. Yet the dominate feature of them is the mountain towering over them all, Scarred Peak. In all likelihood, the entire region is part of a giant super volcano, with the hot springs and thermal pools of Aron's Bowl the caldera of the giant. Of the ring surrounding it, Scarred Peak sits atop the highest slopes as a vulture on its high perch, threatening all in its shadow.
From the west and the north, the walls of the Iron Teeth rise so sharply and steeply that no passage can be found to the Peak. From the plain of Aron's Bowl, the slopes step broadly up toward the high peaks in dangerously inviting fashion. The slag from the weeping scars of lava giving the peak its name creep down these steps, mingling with the waters feeding the Flushing River, to create a hazy, sulfurous quagmire above the plain known as the Molten Hills.
The river itself starts high on the slopes of the southern face of Scarred Peak, snaking south and east around much of the Molten Hills, then turning north to cut through them and drop onto the plain of Aron's Bowl, then on to the sea. The eastern mountains of the ring can be scaled fairly easily, as well as those to the south. Their danger lies in their wild, untamed ways, and the extreme conditions that pervade the north once you get away from the thermal vents of Scarred Peak and Aron's Bowl.
The approach to Scarred Peak from the east and south is gentle by comparison to most of the other mountains of the range. This invites ascent, which risks the wrath of the dragon lairing within the volcano. Mostly dormant, the great wyrm within has become active of late, and begun reigning terror down upon the whole region, mountain, moor, and sea.
Tomorrow, we will consider rumors of the great beast itself.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Driscoll Vale
Pinching is a town at the mouth of the Flushing River. The Flushing cuts a gorge out of the moors running along the southern coast of Glacier Bay. There are many roads running out from Pinching to the north and south toward other settlements along the coast. The river gradually rises onto the moor and across it toward the east. As the river reaches the wall of mountains, it winds its way up into them through a deep valley cut by the water through long years of erosion. This is Driscoll Vale.
This is a hotbed area of activity for all sorts. Traders and miners use it to travel between the coast and Aron's Bowl, a broad plain high in the mountains cradled within the surrounding, towering peaks of the high mountains and Scarred Ring. This is an area of volcanic slag running down from the restless volcanoes in the high peaks.
Driscoll Vale, particularly near the moor, is rich in caves. These caves harbor all manner of creatures - from goblins to drow. This combination of travelers and monsters make the vale a common place for encounters. There is a great danger of kidnapping, banditry and general ambushes while traveling the trails up into Aron's Bowl. Most parties travel in groups for safety.
There are increasing rumors of organized activity by goblins and bandits kidnapping people to force into the mines as workers. Some believe they are being sold into slavery with the drow, others think the goblins themselves are beginning to exploit the mineral wealth of the hills and capturing people to do the work for them.
All that is know for sure is that Driscoll Vale has become a difficult stretch of road to pass through, and people have been disappearing from caravans and local towns and farms.
This is a hotbed area of activity for all sorts. Traders and miners use it to travel between the coast and Aron's Bowl, a broad plain high in the mountains cradled within the surrounding, towering peaks of the high mountains and Scarred Ring. This is an area of volcanic slag running down from the restless volcanoes in the high peaks.
Driscoll Vale, particularly near the moor, is rich in caves. These caves harbor all manner of creatures - from goblins to drow. This combination of travelers and monsters make the vale a common place for encounters. There is a great danger of kidnapping, banditry and general ambushes while traveling the trails up into Aron's Bowl. Most parties travel in groups for safety.
There are increasing rumors of organized activity by goblins and bandits kidnapping people to force into the mines as workers. Some believe they are being sold into slavery with the drow, others think the goblins themselves are beginning to exploit the mineral wealth of the hills and capturing people to do the work for them.
All that is know for sure is that Driscoll Vale has become a difficult stretch of road to pass through, and people have been disappearing from caravans and local towns and farms.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Mapping the Far North
North of Bayport, the mountains are wild, and nearly impassable. At least, they are extremely difficult to cross from the south. Swinging wide around the peninsulas extending from Kiel and Anspeth into the Glacier Bay, past the major port of Clear Harbor to Pinching, you can find easier access.
A river runs east and south down from the mountains to Pinching. The Iron Teeth are much easier to access from the north. Dwarves have opened mines throughout the mountains between the sea and Aron's Bowl. Aron's Bowl is a broad plain high on a mountain plateau within a ring of particularly high peaks. These are dominated to the southwest by a towering volcanic peak, generally referred to as Scarred Peak for the many jagged clefts and ravines splitting it apart. These have come from the many eruptions through the years.
It is believed that the mountain is home to an ancient red dragon. Access to the mountain is hindered by an area of swampy, brackish horrors known as the Molten Hills for its combination of lava, swamp and fetid pools.
A river runs east and south down from the mountains to Pinching. The Iron Teeth are much easier to access from the north. Dwarves have opened mines throughout the mountains between the sea and Aron's Bowl. Aron's Bowl is a broad plain high on a mountain plateau within a ring of particularly high peaks. These are dominated to the southwest by a towering volcanic peak, generally referred to as Scarred Peak for the many jagged clefts and ravines splitting it apart. These have come from the many eruptions through the years.
It is believed that the mountain is home to an ancient red dragon. Access to the mountain is hindered by an area of swampy, brackish horrors known as the Molten Hills for its combination of lava, swamp and fetid pools.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
New Starts
It is a new year, and a chance for new beginnings. It is always tempting at this time of year to start a journal or a diary, begin some project or diet, etc. I've been neglecting this blog of late, but not the concept. I've been able to do something with D&D on a daily basis for some time, although the holidays have slipped a wrinkle into that. The bonus is that when I haven't been able to work on a game, I've generally been able to play in one.
The Christmas holiday means a busy two weeks of jumbled schedules and relatives in town, which means less time online, less time developing any of my games or ideas, but compensates by giving us a chance to sit at the table with real dice and play. That is the best distraction.
Now, the holidays are passed, and the new year has begun. So it is time to start fresh. I've been having trouble focusing on one thing over the last few weeks. Our regular online game has been interrupted, and with separate face to face encounters filling the space, it is easy to get distracted by all the other projects that have been floating in my head. I thought this would be a good way to combine several elements to mutual benefit.
I'll be back to regular play in another week at the most, which will tie my attention to that one campaign for a while. Taking advantage of the urge to journal with the new year, I can develop other concerns concurrently, and use the forum to focus my energies on them. I think for this project I want to develop a dragon adventure, The Expedition to Scarred Peak. This was the basis for my NaNoWriMo project this past November, and has some good features to it that will make a good game. That was a story, and this is a game, but it gives me a framework to start with.
Today is an introductory piece, a planning session. I'm not fully sure of how this will work or develop, but I needed to start with an idea. I have several locations sketched out, and that will make a good opening. There may be a week's worth of entries related to that, starting with an overview of the location, key points along the campaign's journey, featured groups and monsters, and magical items. Subsequent entries can explore some of these more deeply. The key isn't to drag it out unnecessarily, but to give everything the space it needs to be explained and developed without trying to cram too much into any one post.
For now, the adventure is set in the far north, beyond the Iron Teeth Mountains, and features a red dragon living in a temperamental volcano towering over the mountains at the edge of the sea. Unfortunately, the route to the dragon's lair is by land, and runs through a more circuitous route. Tomorrow, we'll start with the geography of the area, and highlight some of the key locations.
The Christmas holiday means a busy two weeks of jumbled schedules and relatives in town, which means less time online, less time developing any of my games or ideas, but compensates by giving us a chance to sit at the table with real dice and play. That is the best distraction.
Now, the holidays are passed, and the new year has begun. So it is time to start fresh. I've been having trouble focusing on one thing over the last few weeks. Our regular online game has been interrupted, and with separate face to face encounters filling the space, it is easy to get distracted by all the other projects that have been floating in my head. I thought this would be a good way to combine several elements to mutual benefit.
I'll be back to regular play in another week at the most, which will tie my attention to that one campaign for a while. Taking advantage of the urge to journal with the new year, I can develop other concerns concurrently, and use the forum to focus my energies on them. I think for this project I want to develop a dragon adventure, The Expedition to Scarred Peak. This was the basis for my NaNoWriMo project this past November, and has some good features to it that will make a good game. That was a story, and this is a game, but it gives me a framework to start with.
Today is an introductory piece, a planning session. I'm not fully sure of how this will work or develop, but I needed to start with an idea. I have several locations sketched out, and that will make a good opening. There may be a week's worth of entries related to that, starting with an overview of the location, key points along the campaign's journey, featured groups and monsters, and magical items. Subsequent entries can explore some of these more deeply. The key isn't to drag it out unnecessarily, but to give everything the space it needs to be explained and developed without trying to cram too much into any one post.
For now, the adventure is set in the far north, beyond the Iron Teeth Mountains, and features a red dragon living in a temperamental volcano towering over the mountains at the edge of the sea. Unfortunately, the route to the dragon's lair is by land, and runs through a more circuitous route. Tomorrow, we'll start with the geography of the area, and highlight some of the key locations.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Still Here!
Six weeks after talking about regular play... In fairness, I spent November making daily D&D posts of a different kind. For NaNoWriMo, I wrote over 50,000 words for a novel with D&D at its heart. This is the fifth or sixth time I've tried writing for NaNoWriMo, and the first time I've successfully finished the 50,000 words. It was a great experience, and now I need to continue the novel, and convert it to an adventure campaign.
That was actually the seed behind the novel, the route I saw to completing the challenge. I have been playing D&D for over thirty years, and constantly working on campaigns and ideas during that time. We've been wanting to play a proper dragon quest for years, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on that. Usually we talk about dragons or giants until we decide to just plop down a map and a monster and play out the encounter. With the new edition, there are added rules for lairs that felt like they would be fun to incorporate. It also seemed important to build to a final encounter of that magnitude, rather than just skip the preliminaries.
Against this was the successful completion of an adventure that had seen our characters work from 1st level to 5th level over a series of connected adventures. I had gotten an idea, and fully worked out a campaign arc to cover it. I actually typed it all up with maps and tables and directions for running with the intent of using it as a sellable PDF adventure online. This worked out very nicely for the preparation and execution. For the dragon quest, I decided to work it out in the same way, but by telling it as a story of how I expected it to develop, I could succeed in the novel challenge as well.
It worked... for completing the story challenge. Now, I need to go back to game mode and convert the story into a campaign. Stories take a life of their own, and the novel became more about character development than game progression, but I think it serves well as a prelude to the adventure. I can set up an arc for our characters that shadows the novel's events. That is the beauty of the book, it fleshes out a background that I can set the adventure within, for locations, motivations, interacting groups, etc.
What I wasn't prepared for was the lack of focus that came once I finished November and stopped writing every day. I wanted to break from the story to get back into game mode, but it was a different discipline, and I struggled with the transition. This post is about getting back on track and redirecting energy into game development.
I started by looking at maps. I found one I like with a courtyard and stable areas, that also had a tower with stairs descending into a basement. I could tell at a glance that it was "abandoned", probably by force. But the suggestion of a basement left me thinking that something was left behind. They came looking for someone or something, and they carried them away, but missed their objective. It was still in the basement. While the characters investigate, the raiders return to recover it. The party takes defensive positions and holds off the attack. They find the artifact, and realize they are in a bigger story.
It's a start, and it's rough, but it works. I like the idea of the party defending a building instead of storming one for a change. In terms of the novel, I left the party crossing a moor with a powerful magic item in their care, looking for information from a wizard on the item's function. The plan was for them to get captured and carted off to a mining community near the dragon's lair. This allows me to switch those characters out for the party made up by our players. The novel party got captured (maybe their rescue can play into the story of the adventure later on), and the artifact got left behind.
Now our party has the item, and can pick up the quest by visiting the wizard and learning what they have found. I think in terms of daily dungeoneering, it is helpful to spend time each day working on the puzzle, even if it just fits one piece. This break for November meant distancing myself from the pieces, but gave me a nice framework. Maybe it was clearing the table for the puzzle, counting the pieces, turning them all face up, even setting the edge pieces together. It seemed external to building the puzzle, and at the end of the month it didn't look like much yet, but it let me put myself in a position to go forward and build an actual dragon quest that will be fully developed and detailed.
That was actually the seed behind the novel, the route I saw to completing the challenge. I have been playing D&D for over thirty years, and constantly working on campaigns and ideas during that time. We've been wanting to play a proper dragon quest for years, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on that. Usually we talk about dragons or giants until we decide to just plop down a map and a monster and play out the encounter. With the new edition, there are added rules for lairs that felt like they would be fun to incorporate. It also seemed important to build to a final encounter of that magnitude, rather than just skip the preliminaries.
Against this was the successful completion of an adventure that had seen our characters work from 1st level to 5th level over a series of connected adventures. I had gotten an idea, and fully worked out a campaign arc to cover it. I actually typed it all up with maps and tables and directions for running with the intent of using it as a sellable PDF adventure online. This worked out very nicely for the preparation and execution. For the dragon quest, I decided to work it out in the same way, but by telling it as a story of how I expected it to develop, I could succeed in the novel challenge as well.
It worked... for completing the story challenge. Now, I need to go back to game mode and convert the story into a campaign. Stories take a life of their own, and the novel became more about character development than game progression, but I think it serves well as a prelude to the adventure. I can set up an arc for our characters that shadows the novel's events. That is the beauty of the book, it fleshes out a background that I can set the adventure within, for locations, motivations, interacting groups, etc.
What I wasn't prepared for was the lack of focus that came once I finished November and stopped writing every day. I wanted to break from the story to get back into game mode, but it was a different discipline, and I struggled with the transition. This post is about getting back on track and redirecting energy into game development.
I started by looking at maps. I found one I like with a courtyard and stable areas, that also had a tower with stairs descending into a basement. I could tell at a glance that it was "abandoned", probably by force. But the suggestion of a basement left me thinking that something was left behind. They came looking for someone or something, and they carried them away, but missed their objective. It was still in the basement. While the characters investigate, the raiders return to recover it. The party takes defensive positions and holds off the attack. They find the artifact, and realize they are in a bigger story.
It's a start, and it's rough, but it works. I like the idea of the party defending a building instead of storming one for a change. In terms of the novel, I left the party crossing a moor with a powerful magic item in their care, looking for information from a wizard on the item's function. The plan was for them to get captured and carted off to a mining community near the dragon's lair. This allows me to switch those characters out for the party made up by our players. The novel party got captured (maybe their rescue can play into the story of the adventure later on), and the artifact got left behind.
Now our party has the item, and can pick up the quest by visiting the wizard and learning what they have found. I think in terms of daily dungeoneering, it is helpful to spend time each day working on the puzzle, even if it just fits one piece. This break for November meant distancing myself from the pieces, but gave me a nice framework. Maybe it was clearing the table for the puzzle, counting the pieces, turning them all face up, even setting the edge pieces together. It seemed external to building the puzzle, and at the end of the month it didn't look like much yet, but it let me put myself in a position to go forward and build an actual dragon quest that will be fully developed and detailed.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Regular Play
Four months have passed since we began playing 5e D&D on Roll20. It has been an interesting process. Those first awkward moments trying to learn how to find anything through the interface, let alone roll a dice have morphed into pretty sophisticated use of all the system has to offer. It has been a process, but it has been fun.
There are several facets of the experience that are noteworthy. For years, we have spoken of the need to play more often. With Roll20 we have been able to play four or five sessions of one campaign, and three more in a second. Eight sessions in 16 weeks you say... not a great percentage... On the face, the numbers are deceptive. There are vacations, concerts, moving, and general coordination of schedules involved that have influenced the whole. We have forced this situation upon ourselves, and fought to make it more regular. While it took time to get into a rhythm, it has paid off in allowing us to play more in these few months than we can usually find in the course of a year. It is a great way to get together when distance keeps you separate.
Another advantage of playing regularly shows in the flow of play once engaged. Some weeks we've been able to play consecutively, others have been after a week or two of inactivity. Those can take 30 minutes or more to get everyone together, get settled, and remember where we left off. When you only allot two hours a week for play, that is a significant loss. Playing regularly helps keep everyone engaged in the game, and able to spring back into the gameplay quickly.
It is also helpful in terms of role playing. Each encounter allows the nuances of the character to emerge, and regular play lets you find that playable element and develop it consistently. This is an interesting and critical part of the game. We've often fallen into pretty narrow types with our characters because of the infrequent game sessions we have, and it has been jarring at times to break out of that routine. At times we've been able to play in consecutive weeks, and the out of combat moments have blossomed into some more memorable actions and sessions as a result. It has allowed for better interaction within the party as well.
There is a weird dynamic within any D&D game, and one of the aspects of this is that each session can take on the personality of one of the players. Even when you try to account for this by designing elements to focus on one character, it is often another that steps out to dominate that moment. It is a fascinating part of the interplay within the game. I've found that the more fractured the scheduling, the more disparate these moments become. With longer breaks, it is more difficult for everyone to fall into character. When there is better continuity of play, the party dynamic rises on the individual styles and provides a more balanced, harmonic session.
I'm looking forward to learning more from continuing to play in this fashion, and hope to add further insight as it comes.
There are several facets of the experience that are noteworthy. For years, we have spoken of the need to play more often. With Roll20 we have been able to play four or five sessions of one campaign, and three more in a second. Eight sessions in 16 weeks you say... not a great percentage... On the face, the numbers are deceptive. There are vacations, concerts, moving, and general coordination of schedules involved that have influenced the whole. We have forced this situation upon ourselves, and fought to make it more regular. While it took time to get into a rhythm, it has paid off in allowing us to play more in these few months than we can usually find in the course of a year. It is a great way to get together when distance keeps you separate.
Another advantage of playing regularly shows in the flow of play once engaged. Some weeks we've been able to play consecutively, others have been after a week or two of inactivity. Those can take 30 minutes or more to get everyone together, get settled, and remember where we left off. When you only allot two hours a week for play, that is a significant loss. Playing regularly helps keep everyone engaged in the game, and able to spring back into the gameplay quickly.
It is also helpful in terms of role playing. Each encounter allows the nuances of the character to emerge, and regular play lets you find that playable element and develop it consistently. This is an interesting and critical part of the game. We've often fallen into pretty narrow types with our characters because of the infrequent game sessions we have, and it has been jarring at times to break out of that routine. At times we've been able to play in consecutive weeks, and the out of combat moments have blossomed into some more memorable actions and sessions as a result. It has allowed for better interaction within the party as well.
There is a weird dynamic within any D&D game, and one of the aspects of this is that each session can take on the personality of one of the players. Even when you try to account for this by designing elements to focus on one character, it is often another that steps out to dominate that moment. It is a fascinating part of the interplay within the game. I've found that the more fractured the scheduling, the more disparate these moments become. With longer breaks, it is more difficult for everyone to fall into character. When there is better continuity of play, the party dynamic rises on the individual styles and provides a more balanced, harmonic session.
I'm looking forward to learning more from continuing to play in this fashion, and hope to add further insight as it comes.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Begin Again
Two years into the new edition, and we've reached a sort of balance. I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post, but interestingly, it came just as the first campaign sourcebook, Princes of the Apocalypse, was being released (this doesn't include the two part starter setting released in concert with the rulebooks, The Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and The Rise of Tiamet). At this time, the fourth since then has just come out, Storm King's Thunder. There has been a dramatic shift in that time within the game, particularly the last six months.
On the other hand, many of the initial criticisms of the game still hold true, and in a sad twist, have returned to that point from a more evolved platform. There were nice strides from the company following Princes, with fairly regular releases on the website covering rules, variant gaming elements, and profiles of the game. They also began producing a "monthly" webzine, Dragon (about 10 per year), that gathers the website pieces and pads them with longer pieces of fiction, art and commentary. Unfortunately, the last few months have seen a return to an empty, static site.
Let's focus on the positive. In March, they released The Curse of Strahd to great acclaim. A popular module from the old days, the reboot came with the usual publicity, but seemed to touch an extra nerve, sending an energetic charge through the D&D community that reaped rich dividends. Everyone was talking about the setting, and looking forward to its release. But the game changer came with a more subtle opening. Dice, Camera, Action! was an official play-through of the Strahd campaign live on Twitch.tv. After a few sluggish sessions finding their way, and adjusting to the form, the game took off, drawing huge weekly viewers, and spawning many similar games. Roll20 began an Adventurers League series that showcased that form and the virtual tabletop Roll20 offers. Matt Mercer was brought into the fold to promote the new giant campaign, Acquisitions Inc. added a series. There was a time in the summer where I was watching a D&D game played online 4 nights of the week!
Most importantly, I made the decision to play online! I've been toying with Roll20 since 2013, and with their series, I was finally able to mount the learning curve and begin setting up encounters. It was never difficult, but time made me tentative. This summer, I thought, we're only going to start if someone just does it. We're playing on this date in this campaign. It worked! It has been a learning process, and we're still trying to find a regular time, but the game works, and with each session, the ease of the process grows.
It is an exciting new world for D&D with online streaming and gameplay, and will be fascinating in the coming months to see how it continues to expand and grow.
On the other hand, many of the initial criticisms of the game still hold true, and in a sad twist, have returned to that point from a more evolved platform. There were nice strides from the company following Princes, with fairly regular releases on the website covering rules, variant gaming elements, and profiles of the game. They also began producing a "monthly" webzine, Dragon (about 10 per year), that gathers the website pieces and pads them with longer pieces of fiction, art and commentary. Unfortunately, the last few months have seen a return to an empty, static site.
Let's focus on the positive. In March, they released The Curse of Strahd to great acclaim. A popular module from the old days, the reboot came with the usual publicity, but seemed to touch an extra nerve, sending an energetic charge through the D&D community that reaped rich dividends. Everyone was talking about the setting, and looking forward to its release. But the game changer came with a more subtle opening. Dice, Camera, Action! was an official play-through of the Strahd campaign live on Twitch.tv. After a few sluggish sessions finding their way, and adjusting to the form, the game took off, drawing huge weekly viewers, and spawning many similar games. Roll20 began an Adventurers League series that showcased that form and the virtual tabletop Roll20 offers. Matt Mercer was brought into the fold to promote the new giant campaign, Acquisitions Inc. added a series. There was a time in the summer where I was watching a D&D game played online 4 nights of the week!
Most importantly, I made the decision to play online! I've been toying with Roll20 since 2013, and with their series, I was finally able to mount the learning curve and begin setting up encounters. It was never difficult, but time made me tentative. This summer, I thought, we're only going to start if someone just does it. We're playing on this date in this campaign. It worked! It has been a learning process, and we're still trying to find a regular time, but the game works, and with each session, the ease of the process grows.
It is an exciting new world for D&D with online streaming and gameplay, and will be fascinating in the coming months to see how it continues to expand and grow.
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