D&D 5e Essential Kit.

What it is?
A boxed set available only at Target for starting out with DnD 5th edition. Includes rules, aides, and an adventure.

The Details
The rules are far more complete than the DnD Starter Kit. They describe five character classes Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard up to 6th level. An addition are rules for sidekicks which clearly not only play the role of traditional hireling but also as additional adventuring companions for smaller groups. The rules go into how to level sidekicks. There are three categories of sidekicks; Experts, Spellcasters, and Warriors.

The aides include a doubled sided poster maps of the Sword Coast around Neverwinter on one side and the village of Phandelver on the other. A set of cards that are mostly magic items but also include initiative tracking, condition tracking, sidekicks, and quests. There is a referee screen, and six character sheets.

The adventure, Dragon of Icespire Peak, takes place in and around Phandelver much like the Lost Mine adventure in the starter kit. In general it is a set one session quests combined with tables to determine where the adventure's antagonist, Cryovain, a young white dragon, is at when the party travels.

The quest structure comes off a bit like a video game however it also a structured sandbox. It start off with two quests available on the "job" board in Phandelver and then goes from there. The quest, the town descriptions, and the random tables governing the dragon all point the party to a confrontation with the Cyrovain and the conclusion of the overall adventure.

Honestly for something that trying to get a novice going, this adventure is well down for a potential sandbox adventure. If the referee doesn't get it right away the quest structure will keep things going in a way that fun and feels like progress is being made. For referees that want to branch out there is enough in adventure and the boxed set to do so.

I will say that most of the adventure location are fairly fleshed out. Many are  complete small dungeons or adventures.

Yeah but I am not a novice
While a bit pricey as an expansion, this in conjunction with the Lost Mines adventure found in the Starter set makes for a very nice campaign. With two primary antagonist and a wealth of locations to explore nobody is going to feel railroaded or hemmed with the combination.

And the digital
DnD Beyond is the official digital platform for D&D fifth edition. There is a lot not to like about the business model as it could "go away" at any time because all their content is hosted on their server. Thus when they go away, the content will go away.

But the app and website make looking up stuff convenient on your computer, tablet, or smartphone. Very convenient as I been finding out.  Enough so that there may some merit of doing something similar with the various retro-clones of the OSR.

The DnD Essential Kit comes with two codes. The first allows you to buy the 5e PHB on DnD Beyond at half price, the second gives you the Dragon of Icespire Peak for free.

In playing around with this, I learned that you can add the DnD 5e basic rules to your app or account for free. With the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure you get a substantial peak of how the functionality of DnD Beyond works.

Like looking up specific spells, abilities, or classes, I can quickly zero in on a location within the adventure. With the website I can also pull up images of not only the keyed map but also a player version that I can save and use with Roll20, Fantasy Ground, or print out for the table.

For example the map for a mine adventure

DM Map                                             Player Map

Overall I was pleased at the functionality and convenience but it definitely optional. My recommendation is to try the Basic Rules and above adventure if you get the Esstentials Kit and see if it is for you. I opted to get the PHB for half off as I know I would use it. I just got a smartphone and it proving far handier than I thought it would be. This just adds to the functionality of the device.

Wrapping it up.
I consider the Lost Mine of Phandelver one of the best DnD adventures ever made.  The Dragon of Icespire Peak isn't quite up to the level of the Lost Mine however it function very well as an expansion to that adventure.

The Essential Kits does way better on the rules presenting levels 1 to 6 of five different classes in conjunction with the various packaged aides. I would recommend this for anybody starting up with tabletop roleplaying.

On nature of Good and Evil in the Majestic Wilderlands

I haven't used alignment for a long time even back when ADnD 1st edition was still my primary fantasy RPG.

Recently the issue of good and evil came up in the last session, resulting in a major decision for one character.

What is good and evil? That is something each referee has to define. There is no right answer, my only firm recommendation is that there is answer and that it is consistent.

My personal choice is to make the issue a challenge. On one hand I don't use alignment. One consequence is that what is right and just depends on a character's point of view..  On the other absolute good and evil do exist. How can I have both in the Majestic Wilderlands?

The short answer is that when the Wilderlands absolute good was baked into the creation of Elves and Men. That it involves individuals achieving the purpose of their creation. Not in the sense of individual destiny but in achieving the potential that all sentient life have. This includes helping other achieve their potential. Absolute evil is the rejection of the above and the elevation of self above all other considerations or consequences taken to a terrible extreme. While ideal good exists it is rarely encountered due to imperfect choices made by deities and mortals exercising their free will. The difference between a deity and the a mortal is similar to the difference between an experienced parent to a young child. And like parents the various deities of the Majestic Wilderlands have developed different attitudes on how best to teach the mortals to achieve their potential.

The detailed answer is under the fold.

The storms clouds part over Phandalin

The session begins the morning after I exploded the situation in Phandalin. +Peter V. Dell'Orto joins the group as a human priest of Mitra, Alb Irex. +Douglas Cole of Gaming Ballistic has a post up with his account of the session.

The Roster

• Keyar Nailo (Dan McEntee) - an High Elven Archer seeking to keep the elven refuge of Losthain safe.
• Vognur (Chris) - a warrior armed and ready to take his place in the world and to pursue the mystery of the box left to him by his family.
• Sidwin the Sharp (Tim) - a native of the City-State, the human rogue senses opportunity in Phandelver and positioned himself to be hired as one of the caravan guards. 
• Aevin Steelhand (Ken) a former solider who doesn't back down from anything looking to make his mark in the world now that he out of the Overlord's army.
• Elder Carmina (Joshua Macy)  a human cleric of Mitra, the goddess of Justice and Honor, sent as a routine courier from the Archbishop of Modron to the temple in Tain.
• Mark Bludiell (Douglas Cole)  a half-elven paladin of Veritas, the god of Truth and the High Lord, Originally from the mixed community of Ashenshaft in the Gnome Kingdom of Lightelf he has been wandering the northeast coast region for several years following the call of the High Lord. 
• Alb Irex a human cleric of Mitra. A local itinerant priest providing religious services to rural manors and out of the way now caught up in the tumults of civil war.

In the old Redbrand Lair underneath Tresendar Manor

Early afternoon on the 2nd of Regal Serpent (1st month of autumn)

The mage steps into the crypt gesturing and chanting arcane words. Across the room Sidwin thinks "Oh shit." as he sees the mage completes the final gestures of the spell. A ball of fire begins to forms in the air. 

Sidwin shouts "Duck!" as he scrambles for the door. One of Nepthys threads of luck must be entwined with the rogue as he slams the door just before the fireball explodes. Despite the closed door, the ferocity of the flame leaks through the cracks and singes Vognur, Alb, and Mark. Despite the burn the party was spared the full burnt of the spell.

Sidwin's heart is chilled when he heard young Carp's screams from beyond the door. Opening the door he sees Alderleaf's 10 year son, whimpering on the crypt floor badly burned. 

Righteous anger raged through the rouge's mind. Sidwin was never what people would call a nice man. Nobody would call him religious. But seeing that boy on the floor with blackened skin smoldering burned away the callouses that built up over the years on his soul. With a yell he tore through the remnants of the web and charged. When he reached the other side of the crypt Sidwin leaps in the air and with a fury worthy of a storm crashed down on the mage. As the two fell to the floor, Sidwin's sword sliced through his opponent's throat and blood sprayed over him and the nearby minions of the mage.

Sidwin looked up at the three thugs around him and stabs his sword into the mage's heart. "Drop your swords" He said in a quiet voice. 

They quickly dropped their weapons and raised their hands up in surrender.

The depths of Dearthwood, several days ago.

"Rokore will go no further." The large orc warchief said to Pardan. "Neither will my ironhides." as he gestures toward the thicket of rhododendron bushes lying at the base of the slope.  "In there is death." Point up the slope, "Up there death. We stop here and will go no further." 

Pardan sighed, "I have told you, that I have come here under the protection of Pan Caulderax. You and your fellow tribesman will be safe, especially considering the magic I command." With a gesture, Pardan produces a small flame from his fingertip.

The orc chieftain looks slyly at Pardan. "You are magic-user, you bear token of black master. You don't need protection. You powerful enough."

Pardan blinked a few times and thought, "Great, I had to get a smart orc for a guide.". The mage spoke"Very well, my men and I will proceed on from here. By the will of the black master wait here for my return."

All the orcs began chuckling at this, the warchief answered Pardan, "You have until sun reaches there" he points to a position in the tree canopy. "Then we will leave."

Pardan looks irked. "Very well, but you best be here until then or the black master will know." Pardan turns to the seven men accompanying him. "Let's go." 

One of them steps forward. "Look we agreed to come with you on the order of Herone. If the orcs are worried about that place maybe you should go alone. We didn't sign up to provoke a dragon." 

Pardan stops and looks at the thug. The mage answers, "You know perhaps you should stay.". And before the thug could react sheets of flame erupt from Pardan's hands. The thug falls to the ground screaming and writhing. Pardan turns to the warchief, gesturing at the fallen thug, "If you need something for your pot tonight. You may have him.". Turning the remaining six. "Do any of you wish to stay?". 

The remaining thugs vigorously shook their head no and the group proceeded into the thicket.

In the Stonehill Inn, Phandalin, the morning of the 2nd of Regal Serpent.

The party wakes up and has breakfast courtesy of Innkeeper Toblin and the village. After about an hour of eating and small talk. Elder Gisele comes and tells the party that she leaving Phandalin to talk to the elders and reeves of the other nearby villages. She thanked Sidwin for giving her much to think about and informs him that after talking with the village council that this was the best thing to do. She introduces Elder Alb Irex to the group and explains that he is an itinerant priest of Mitra and arrived in Phandalin late last night. After the introductions she leaves and Elder Alb sits down and has breakfast.

The group debates their options through the morning. Among the raised questions was whether the revolution in City-State has ended with the bishops in control, how long before the Sheriff and the Overlord notices the loss of revenue from the miners and village, and what will Sildar Hallwinter being doing during all this. The various enterprises of Halia Thorton are discussed as well and whether Sir Varius of Highgarden will be doing something since he is apparently in her pay.

During this discussion, Linene Graywind of the Lionshield Coster enters the inn. An acerbic personality on her good days sparks immediately flew between her and Mark Bludiell. However she was quickly put in her place when Mark revealed he was a Paladin of the High Lord Veritas. During the run up to this confrontation she offered her support to the group's efforts to find a way out of Elder Gisele and village's impetuous declaration of support for the rebellion.

In the Stonehill Inn, Phandalin, noontime.

With breakfast long over the party is slowly working their way to a course of action when they were interrupted by Pip, innkeeper's son. "Tim... err Carp has fall... errr the Redbrands have returned beneath the manor and have captured Carp. We were exploring and they just appeared."

The group gathered their gear and quickly marched to Tresender Manor. Based on Pip's account the group decided to enter through the secret entrance in the forest rather than the basement entrance up in the hilltop ruins.

The party found themselves in the main cavern and as they made their way north heard voice of Carp pleading with several angry men. Vognur excitedly pulled out a map he drew but put the parchment away when he realized it was for Wind Echo Caves not the old Redbrand Lair.

With the voices coming from the northeast, the party moved into the northern storeroom. Sidwin made his way through the secret door and down the corridor. There he spotted the mage Pardan interrogating Carp along with four thugs with swords and crossbows. Deciding that it was best to act quickly he shoots one of the thug with short bow. The arrow plunges into the thug's kidney and his staggers backwards shocked by the pain.

Unfortunately for Sidwin and the party, the mage reacts quickly and with his wand fills the corridor and the doorway where Sidwin is at with webs. Pardan then ducks out of the crypt through its southern entrance. Sidwin manages to hit with another arrow on the same thug he hit earlier but lacking surprise it doesn't do nearly as much damage. The four thugs bring up their crossbow and three of them manage to sink bolts into Sidwin. Hindered by the webs, Sidwin is running out of options.

Vognur flails at the webs with his sword and doesn't achieve much progress until Lanar steps up with his torch. Vognur tells Carmina that there is a passage south that loops around, the priestess starts running down the cavern. Mark Bludiell raises his shield and attempts to run through the web and is immediately ensnared. 

The Pardan steps back into the crypt and with a word and gesture sends five magic missiles at Sidwin. However the rogue is no ordinary thief but a arcane trickster who has the shield spell memorizes. The mage is stunned when the bright shimmer of the spell stops his missiles and ducks back out of the crypt.

Sidwin yells "Your mage is powerless against me! What are you going to do?" Seeing this display of Sidwin's prowess the thugs take a final shot at Sidwin and run. Two of the bolts hit causing Sidwin to stagger. With multiple injuries and his lifeblood spilling out on the floor, darkness begins to encroach on his vision. 

Vognur tries to free Mark from the web with his swords but his efforts prove useless. Lanar is ready with his torch but uncertain to his course of action. He looks to Vognur for answers.

Carmina runs through the southern passage and sees a lighted room ahead with two thugs. Calling on Mitra, she unleashes the Scared Flames of the Red Maiden on the unsuspecting villain.

It was at this moment that Pardan steps back into the crypt and unleashes a fireball. Despite his injuries Sidwin reacts with superhuman speed and manages to shut the door (roll a natural 20 on his save). Greatly mitigating the damage of the spells (1/2 damage on a failed save, and 1/4 damage on a successful save).  But as recounted earlier his heart chilled when he heard Carp screams. 

One of the four thugs with Pardan manages to jump across the pit blocking the way to the entrances. At that moment Sidwin charges across the room and leaps on Pardan and with a single blows downs the mage. Mark Bludiell rushes into the room and interposes himself to shield Carp from any further attacks. Elder Alb reaches Carp and with the aid of Mitra and a Cure Wounds spell was able to fully heal Carp. 

With their leader dead and Sidwin standing on top of the mage looking like an bloody angel of vengenace the three thugs surrendered. The fourth ran down the hall yelling to warn the two thugs at the entrance. Carmina continues to duel the two remaining thugs calling down repeated strikes of Sacred Flame.

The thugs retreated leaving by the basement stairs of Tsendar Manor. Inspired Sidwin used a spell to give him the semblance of Pardan and proceeded to run after the thugs. Once outside, the three remaining thugs turned to Sidwin/Pardan asked what the plan was.

"Surrender is the only option." replied Sidwin/Pardan.

The thugs kneeled in surrender when the rest of the party caught up

The verge of Deathwood, one day ago

It was night and a fire was lit as twilight deepened. Seven men sit around flames eating their dinner. One of them is Pardan a well dressed mage, and other are thugs equipped with swords and crossbows.

Looking around at the six thugs, "We won't be heading back to Tain to report to Herone right away." Pardan spoke. "We need to take a detour to the ruins of Thundertree."

"Why that my lord?" asked one of thug "Is there anything special we need to prepare for?" He added quickly remember what happened a few days ago. 

"We need to keep out an eye out for druids." answered the mage looking sternly at the thug who questioned him. "They have taken an interest in Thundertree. It seems that Vermian, Mori's child, has taken up residence and we are tell the young dragon that his mother wants him to come home."

Another thug chuckled "Well I guess even dragons have mommy issues." Everybody laughed including Pardan.

After the laughter died down, Pardan continued, "We will stop to see Glasstaff in Phandalin to resupply and see if he has any information for Pan Caulderax on what the Black Spider is up too. So everybody get a good night's rest."

In the Stonehill Inn, Phandalin, late afternoon.

The group rereads the parchment Sidwin found on the dead mage. Everybody discusses who and what Pan Caulderax is. Mark Bludiell explains that this, not the civil war, is the reason he has been called her. He states that it is obvious that the dragon is going to attempt to take advantage of the war to gain more territory and power. 

After talking through dinner, the party decides that they lack enough information and that the best way is to obtain it is to head to Tain. But first see what Sir Varius of Highgarden is up too in case his planning to get a jump on the situation and attack Phandalin. While the knight could only muster at best a company of men (20 troops). Trained soldiers can defeat a far larger force if they are only village militia. 

Having formulated a plan the party retires for the night.

Commentary

Lassie! Timmy fell down a well! Yeah that is a discredited trope. In my defense what happened is exactly the type of situation that would occur with Pardan arriving and the characters of Pip and Carp being what they are. A pair of 10 year old boys known for getting in trouble.

One things I like to is establish cultures. Not always capital C culture like Western Europe, China, etc but little 'c' cultures like a neighborhood or a small town. In this particular case is the idea that the "bad" guys have their own little social network going on. I feel this makes them more than just stock villains to be beaten and forgotten. And for most of the bad guys I don't try to make them tragic or misunderstood. They are evil and are making the wrong choices that harm. Something that I hope th first vignette of Pardan illustrates. Even the evil overlord has a life in the Majestic Wilderlands.  In this case I thought it would be interesting to have Glasstaff be more than just the Black Spider's flunky. 

This intersection of events also introduces in the two remaining major plot threads. The idea that Dreathwood holds things of interest and reveals the threat behind the paladin's vision.

Now understand that I implement all of these "plots" as actions of specific NPCs. That while Divolic, Pan Caulderax, and others have their plots and schemes, they have to use their followers and supporters to see them through to fruition. Which means their plans get mixed up with their followers plans and result is never as a cut and dry as it appears at first glance. 

This is my secret in using "grand plots". Always to implement things through specific NPCs doing specific things as if they existed as flesh and blood people. 

For each NPC I ask myself, 

a) what they do for those they are loyal too

b) who else they are loyal too

c) what they want for themselves. 

I try not to get much more complex than that as I don't want to have to use a charting program to keep track of everything. Which is what would happen if you tried to make things as complex as they are in real life. For some NPCs, details get piled on due to PCs exploring logical connection or a character is used over multiple campaigns. But in general I start with the above three for any particular NPC.

Another trick I try to do is impose variety on myself. It not easy to see at the moment as we are only two session into this phase of the campaign. So far the most sympathetic characters have been the rebel villagers. All those in authority, except for Sildar Hallwinter, have been pretty unlikable.

However I try to have a mix of personality types on both sides. In the Gold Star Anime campaign, the characters have met Duke Divolic and he was not what the players expected for being a feared Myrmidon of Set. He was quite polite, almost unassuming. Although towards the end of the dinner, their evasiveness towards his offers caused the Duke to show a little of how he treats his enemies.

Enjoy your plundering expeditions, but understand the day is coming when you nwill eed to make a choice. And if you decide to go against me and what's mine,  I know who you are, what you have, who your friends are, and where you live.

Divolic continues

I have threatened you with nothing but the truth. As High Regent and a Duke of City-State I hold both authority and power. What I stated are the facts of the situation. And know that the line between the Overlord and the pretenders to his crown grows smaller. Soon it will be so thin that you will find your feet on one side or the other. I am giving you the opportunity to decide now before it is decided for you later.

Divolic not stupid and while devoted to Set has his Myrmidon realizes that the larger world is not painted in black and white. That much can be gain using the carrot first before wielding the stick.

Then there is Sir Varius, slovenly, stupid, and thinking little beyond of his own needs. The very flower of the Tharian Horselords.

Notes and comments on exploding Phandalin

The Lost Mine of Phandelver found in the 5e Starter Set is an excellent adventure and easily one of my top ten Dungeons and Dragons adventure of all time. But now it over with only a few loose ends not tied up as outlined in the previous post.

So what to do next?

I could design or re-purpose an existing purpose to make what I call an event adventure. like I do with the twice a month games at Gold Star Anime. Or I could just give the group a full dose of the Majestic Wilderlands.

One problem is that we would be starting in the middle of a campaign with established characters along with a total novice, Doug, and a relative newcomer Joshua. One thing I learned over the years that the best way to introduce newcomer to how I run the Majestic Wilderlands is to manipulate how they want to start out into a very basic straight forward situation.

This post is typical of how I start things out in a campaign. This one with two experienced characters +Tim Shorts, +Dwayne Gillingham, and one novice +Ken H

With the J Squad at Gold Star Anime I can only play once or twice a month. So the campaign is more of a series of episodic adventures involving mega dungeons and killing thousands of orcs.

But you know what, fuck it. Both +Joshua Macy  and +Douglas Cole  are experienced roleplayers and published authors to boot. Douglas has plumbed the intricacies of grappling and totally revamped how it handled in GURPS. Joshua not only has played several sessions under me but also written not one but four RPGs that are highly evocative of their respective genres.

Pretty sure that they will be able to handle it.

I opted for a in media res introduction to their characters.

Also I proposed elements of their character background to them that would make them outsiders to the immediate region. This would make there out of game learning curve match their in-game learning curve. A variant of this was used by by M.A.R. Barker to introduce the details of his early Tekumel campaigns.

Now comes the part where I decide what to present and focus on. My view is that the Majestic Wilderlands is a living breathing world and I strive to present it such. However I don't have a use of a Holodeck or magical A.I. so I am forced to be selective about what to present. This is where the referee ingenuity gets pushed to the max in a a sandbox campaign.

You can't just present one aspect of the setting or its is little better than a railroad. You also need to work on things that are of potential interest to the players. This gets a little easier later as the campaign unfolds and the players develops plots, plans, and schemes involving their characters. However it is on  the referee to develop interesting things to start out with.

So with that in mind I fleshed out several items in my notes. I can't get into a whole lot of detail because this is the start of the campaign with many things left undiscovered.

• The ongoing civil war in City-State
• The orc infested Dearthwood and associated ruins i.e. dungeons
• The dark storm of the paladin's vision that the factions of the civil war are ignoring.

For each I develop a timeline of events. This timeline is what would happen if the PCs did not exist. Furthermore it is only a plan, that gets altered in light of what the PCs do or don't do. For example the civil war timeline got a minor alteration to accounted for the fact that Elder Gisele is leaving Phandalin to talk to the surrounding village and possibly organize them. This resulted from the conversation that occurred between Sidwin, Carmina, and Gisele.

Not much happened in-game on the other two plot lines yet because only one game day passed last session. And likely the issues resulting of the civil war will be front and center.

The Civil War

By now I bet some of you are wondering about my warning about focusing on a single aspect of the setting and the fact that the first session started out with me putting the PCs right into the middle of it. 

First off some things no matters how you set it up is going to be loud, noisy, and at the center of attention the moment it occurs. A village rebelling is one those noisy events. The thing to remember it is plausible in the larger context of things. In this case it is barely over the line of plausibility. 

The focus of the first sessions has been getting through Phandelver and trying out 5e. While I set it in the Majestic Wilderlands it was with a light touch. However I did successfully established the following facts

• Elder Gisele is a cleric of Mitra
• Halia Thorton was a follower of Set
• That the Tharian Horselords were the noble class i.e. Sir Varius of Highgarden
• That Set and Mitra are rival religions.
• That many of my details are based off of common fantasy stereotypes. 

In my opinion this was sufficient to allow the players to make informed choices for their characters. 

However the most important thing is that I established that I am willing to go with whatever the player decide even if it means a complete shift in what the campaign focuses on.

For example the Nomar campaign I ran a few years back had three major shifts in direction. Mercenary Band in the employ of a noble, Mercenary band in the employ of the Brotherhood of the Wyrm, to a group of friends building an inn in the wilderness.

Nomar Part 1

Nomar Part 2

So I prepared if the group walking into Phandalin, looking at the rebellion, say "Fuck it!" and continued down the road. 

The Forest of Dearthwood

Basically a big orc infested forest with dozens of elven ruins and other locales waiting to be explored. Along with a various groups attempting to clear it so it can be settled and domains carved out of it.

The Paladin's Vision

One trick to make a setting feel like a living breathing place is to have some diversity. While the civil war is the big noisy thing happening right now everybody's else life continues. Including what they are doing to realize their hopes, dreams, and goals. And apparently somebody's dreams is enough to have Veritas send a vision to one of his paladins.

Tim should have a lot of fun with this as this involve events that occurred in previous campaigns. Also it has been effected by what the PCs have done at different times over multiple campaigns. In a sense it is playtested and I seen how PCs react.

Other Stuff

All of the character have details that could spin the campaign in directions other than what I listed above. For example Sidwin, +Tim Shorts, character asked about returning to City-State. Vognur is a arcane knight developing his skills, Keyar is an elf passionate about restoring his people to glory.

I will keep you posted about how things develop.

The playtesting of 5e is over, Phandalin explodes

Over the summery and into the fall I ran the Lost Mine of Phandelver for the group to get our feet wet with DnD 5e. The only major change I made was to set it in a region of the Majestic Wilderlands. In October the group successfully deal with the Black Spider and the denizens of Wind Echo Cave. The only goal they didn't achieve was the capture of Glasstaff who managed to escape despite his boss' demise.

Flash forward to February and  Ken of the Rusty Battle Axe is ready for a break. Joining us was +Douglas Cole of Gaming Ballistic along with +Joshua Macy  making up a new character to replace Ara, his elven wizard.

You can read Doug's account of the session in his post over on Gaming Ballistic.

Since we are no longer playtesting 5e. I decided to integrate the campaign fully into my Majestic Wilderlands.


The Roster

• Keyar Nailo (Dan McEntee) - an High Elven Archer seeking to keep the elven refuge of Losthain safe.
• Vognur (Chris) - a warrior armed and ready to take his place in the world and to pursue the mystery of the box left to him by his family.
• Sidwin the Sharp (Tim) - a native of the City-State, the human rogue senses opportunity in Phandelver and positioned himself to be hired as one of the caravan guards. 
• Aevin Steelhand (Ken) a former solider who doesn't back down from anything looking to make his mark in the world now that he out of the Overlord's army.
• Elder Carmina (Joshua Macy)  a human cleric of Mitra, the goddess of Justice and Honor, sent as a routine courier from the Archbishop of Modron to the temple in Tain.
• Mark Bludiell (Douglas Cole)  a half-elven paladin of Veritas, the god of Truth and the High Lord, Originally from the mixed community of Ashenshaft in the Gnome Kingdom of Lightelf he has been wandering the northeast coast region for several years following the call of the High Lord. 

The Hirelings

• Lanar - a down on his luck miner who was hired as a torchbearer by the party.
• Martha - with her debt to a unpleasant manor.
• Mirna - wife of the slain woodcrafter, hired to manage the party latest acquisition the Sleepin Giant Tavern. 

General Note: In the Roman Catholic Church the most commonly used honorfic for a priest is father. In the Church of Mitra the equivalent is elder. 

Background
All hell has broken out in City-State. With the death of the Archbishop of Mitra, the goddess of justice and honor. The bishops have colluded with the Duke of Dearthmead (a believer in Mitra) to rebel against the underage Tharian Overlord of City-State and his High Regent Duke Divolic. Divolic is widely known to be a Myrmidon of Set and a major leader of the Church of Set. Mitra's traditional enemy.  Duke Divolic already has been fighting his rival Duke Draco-lindus for three years to keep him from overthrowing the Tharian Overlord.

The followers of Mitra are nearly a majority of the population of the territory controlled by City-State. Most are peasants and sharecroppers toiling under the Tharian Horselords.  To raise the forces they need the bishops and Duke of Dearthmead have sent out a call for them to rise up and overthrow their lords. To join in a holy cause to rid the land of the vile followers of the Dragon God Set.

One of those messengers reached Phandalin.

At Wind Echo Cave
The party emerges from the cave victorious. The killed the Black Spider, dealt with the doppelganger, and rescued one of Gundren Rockseeker's brother. The only loose end was that Glasstaff escaped.

On the Limerick Trail in the Troll Hills.
As night falls, Sildar Hallwinter leads a dozen miners to shelter in the wilderness northeast of Phandalin. As the group huddles around the fire, Hallwinter thinks back on the events that drove him and the miners into the wilderness.

Phandalin one day ago
Sildar heard the roar of a crowd outside in the square. He put down the account books that he been toiling on ever since magistrate Iarno Allbek decided to go rouge and play at being "Glasstaff". Sildar hoped that Vognur, Silwin and the rest their group were successful in capturing him and returning the Rockseers back alive.

Sildar walked out the door and saw a herald in the livery of the Church of Mitra standing with Elder Gisele, the local priestess of Mitra. The herald was delivering some news that was getting everybody excited. The more he listened the more he became concerned. The fool priests and bishops of Mitra have launched a revolution in City-State to overthrow the Overlord and the regents. The herald spoke openly of supporting the treason of Duke Draco-lindus, and what amounted to genocide against the follower of Set.

When Elder Gisele then started preaching about Halia Thorton and her unholy control over the miner, Sildar could only think, "Fuck! This is not going to end well.". He quickly returned to the town hall shouting for Reeve Westin. The fat "leader" of Phandalin was sitting in a plush chair eating apricots from a bowl.

"Get up Westin, a riot is about to break loose." yelled Sildar.

"Whaaa?" replied the reeve. "What going on?"

Sildar jerked Westin out of his chair. "Get out there now or Elder Gisele is going to led a mob to lynch Halia Thorton for being a worshiper of Set along with any miner that gets in their way. The fool bishops in City-State have declared their allegiance to the Dragon Overlord Draco-lindus and now issued a call to arms."

"How I am supposed to stop her?" Reeve Westin asked as he hurriedly wiped apricot juices off his hands.

"You are the damn reeve, act like it!" as Sildar shoved Westin out the door into the village square.

Running towards the miner exchange, he could hear Elder Gisele and Reeve Westin arguing. "Good", Sildar thought, "I may just have enough time."

Sildar tore through the Miner Exchange building looking for Halia Thorton. She was nowhere to be found although he managed to rouse up a dozen miners. Looking out the exchange door, he saw Reeve Westing being forced into the Town hall, escorted by several angry villagers. To the west he heard a women's shout and ugly sound of a mob.

"Wait here" he told the miners.

Making his way quietly across the village, he found Halia Thorton surrounded by three dozen angry villagers about to lynch her. However before he could decide what to do, Elder Gisele was there. He heard her proclaim that Halia Thorton was under arrest for being a follower of Set and that she was to be imprisoned until her trial. Then heard the priestess command the mob to make sure that the Miner Exchange was secure.

Quickly making his back to the Miners Exchange, Sildar gathered the miners around him.
"We need to go, it is not safe here for you. Halia Thorton has been arrested for being a follower of Set." The rest of the village is on their way to arrest all of you. The miner are started muttering angrily and pick up clubs.

"No time for that, we are outnumbered, we must flee into the Wilderness and then head to the Sheriff in Tain." Sildar said quickly. The group gathered what they could and left by the back entrance. Ten minutes later the village burst into an empty building.

Somewhere on the Limerick Trail in the Troll Hills
Mark Bludiell, a paladin of Veritas, and his travelling companion Karmina, a priestess of Mitra were on their way to Tain.

Throughout the summer Mark aided the Halflings of Limerick in hunting for a pack of Ankhegs tearing up local farms. Now that the harvest was starting to be brought in safely, he began to dream of a dark cloud hanging over the lands to the west. Of two armies warring underneath it oblivious to the storm building up overhead. It was time to leave.

Eldar Karmina reasons for travelling were much simpler. She was commanded by her superiors in Modron, deliver various packages and message to the temple of Mitra in Tain. Merely one of dozens of couriers used by the hierarchy to bind the church together. While a seemingly mundane task, it was an important one for a young women on the rise within the church. It allowed her to visit churches throughout the land, to get to know her fellow elder, and how the follower of the Red Maiden fared in other lands.

Elder Karmina needed an escort to safely cross the Troll Hills, Mark Bludiel happened to be going that way. The journey went well until a half day out from Phandalin when Mark heard the sound of battle.

On the Limerick Trail in the Troll Hills
After leaving the Wind Echo Cave in the morning, the party made their way down to Limerick Trial. Just before they were to get on the trail, Sidwn called a halt. There was a party of men 30 yards away on the other side of the trail. Sildar sneaked up and immediately spotted Sildar Hallwinter. Revealing himself, Sildar greeted Sidwin and the rest of the group enthusiastically.

After explaining the situation in Phandalin, the conversation was interrupted by a band of marauding orcs! Not noticing the party on the other side of the trails, the orcs went after the miners, and cut two of them down.

Image thanks to Doug at Gaming Ballistic

The two sides quickly engaged each other. Hearing the noise of battle, Mark Bludiell and Eldar Carmina rushed up the trail and joined in. At first the battle looked bad as miner after miner were being cut down by the orcs. Mark was almost crushed by a single blow of the Orc leader's morningstar and Aevin Steelhand was quickly surrounded by four wearing heavy armor.

However the two warrior were able to withstand the blows of the orcs. With the help of timely backstabs from Sidwin, Keyar's arrow shots, and Carminas spells the orc leader was downed. With the fall of their leader, the morale of the orcs broke and half of them ran. The remaining orcs were cut down. With a priestess of Mitra on hand, only two miners could not be saved.

On the Limerick Trail in the Troll Hills
Despite their gratitude at being saved there was considerable tension between Elder Karmina, the miners, and Sildar Hallwinter. Sildar and the Miner refused to return to Phandalin, insisting they need to push on to Tain. The group ultimately decided to send Gundren Rockseer and his brother to Phandalin with Mark Bludiell and Elder Carmina. The rest would escort Sildar and the Miners to the estate of Sir Various a local knight that the party has had dealing with in the past.

Phandalin (two hours later)
When Mark and Elder Carmina approached Phandalin the road into the village was blocked by a barricade guarded by two peasants wielding spears. Mark used the mantle of authority from his paladinhood to convince the guard to quickly let them pass. Tired and weary from travelling and combat, it wasn't that impressive. However it was just enough to convince the peasant guards to let them pass into the village.

There they met Elder Gisele. She was excited to see Elder Carmina but was soon a bit crestfallen when see realized that she was on a mission to Tain and not to organize Phandelver's role in the rebellion. The three retried to the Stonehill Inn where they secured Gundren and his brother some quaters to rest. Afterwards they talked about the situation as they eat awaiting the arrival the rest of the group.

Highgarden Manor
Sidwin, Keyar, Aevin Steelhand, Vognur, Sildar, and the miners arrived at the outskirts of Highgarden Manor. They were spotted coming in, and Sir Varius rode up to them looking as slovenly as he did at their last meeting. The Knight challenged them and was plainly not listening to their explanations and requests for refuge.  Then Sildar stepped up and showed the knight a token out of view of the rest of the group. Sildar could see enough to recognize that it was a symbol of authority carried by agents of the Black Lotus, the Overlord's secret police.

Immediately the knight's manner changed and he promised Sildar and the miners full assistant. Before leaving with the Miners, Sildar promised the group that he won't forget this. And while he was  only a "acting magistrate" he would do what he can to make sure they are recognized for the good deeds they have done.

A hour later and well out of earshot of anybody at the mnor, Sidwin the let the group know that Sildar was a member of the Black Lotus and that if his story about what happened at Phandalin was true there was trouble coming.

Phandalin (several hours later)
The group with Sidwin, Vognur, Aevin, Keynar, and Lanar the torchbearer finally made it back to Phandalins. The guards at the barricade recognized them and waved them through with a smile and a cheer. Outside of the Stonehill Inn they found another group of spear armed peasants roasting sausages and they also greeted the group with a cheer. The party went inside and were reunited with Mark and Elder Carmina.

From Elder Gisele they found that the Sleeping Giant tavern was still intact and that Maltida, Mirna, and Mirna's two children were safe. Elder Gisele left to leave the group to their dinner and soon the party fell into animated discussion over the situation. One thing that was obvious that Elder Gisele and the village elders that backed her were in way over their head.

It was decided that Halia Thorton needed to be investigated and with Elder Carmina taking the lead they when over to Elder Gisele quarters and asked to look at the leader of miner's guild papers. After several hours it was obvious that Halia was a devout member of the Church of Set. That she never concealed that fact. What wasn't as obviously is that she had a system going involving paying various local lords and magistrates for the criminals and outlaws they captured. Then she would send them to City-State to sell at a profit as slave. Sidwin also was able to compile a separate list of people that she was sending money too. A list that included Sir Various of Highgarden Manor.

As the group readied themselves to leave, Elder Gisele and Sidwin got into an animated discussion over the wisdom of what was going on. For the most part Elder Carmina supported the priestess positions. But there was no getting around Sidwin's points about how all quickly this happened. How there was little planning and that most of the villagers could not withstand trained soldiers. Elder Gisele then decided that in the morning she will talk to the village council and make haste to the other village to see what everybody else is up to and start to organize things for when troops arrive from the bishops in control of City-State. Sidwin look skeptical at the remark about troops arrived but with the evening being late decided not to press it.

The group retired to the Stone Giant tavern and bedded down for the night.

Next post will have commentary and notes..

Back to Phandalin, Majestic Wilderlands and 5e

So I am on deck after we hit a natural pause point in the latest run with the Rusty BattleAx's Monteporte campaign. After conquering the final dungeon of the Phandelver campaign, Wind Echo Cave, what will our intrepid heroes be doing next?

For one thing, Glasstaff lives! We will see how much that complicates their lives.

Now that I have access to all the books, I am firming up the way I intend to run 5e in the future.

Sandboxes and Character Background
I try to run things as a sandbox where the players set the course of the campaign. The use of Phandelver was to get started with 5e while we were waiting for the other books to come out. Luckily Phandelver is pretty much a sandbox so it worked well with how I like to run things. But now the general course of the campaign depends on what you want to do with your characters. Don't worry about what I have prepared or not prepared just go what feel natural even it means a total change in direction.

It helps to have some ideas of what to do and where to go. To this end I am working on a summary and a recap that I will send to everybody. All the blog posts helped me remember what went down. Thanks to everybody for writing them. If you want feel free to flesh out your own backgrounds. For those not familiar with the Majestic Wilderlands, I use a lot of generic fantasy tropes. So use that to come with some ideas, let me know, and I will give you a choice of specifics. I am not overly worried about "balance" if it make sense in terms of the setting, I will work with you to make it work. Hopefully this result for each of you something interesting to pursue in the course of adventuring.

With that being said, there are things that happen that out of your control. Things and event that result from what other PCs did in past campaigns, plus plots I have set in motions. Like in real life these things can be ignored or dealt with. There are areas of the world where different circumstances hold sway. I will say that at the moment there are no events going on that effect the entirety of the Wilderlands. There are however major events going on that effect regions like the two separate civil wars in Viridistan and City-State. In fact in the eastern half of Viridistan (the part nearest City-State) the civil war has pretty wound down because of the campaign I ran with Tim, Dwayne, and Ken. While in City-State the violence of its civil war has been increasing.

So if you want to ignore them, there are option to do so. Plenty of NPCs in the Wilderlands do anyway. If you want to get involved there that path as well. Remember there are always options and I try to incorporate as many as I can in my roleplaying. If you think of one and it make sense as if you were really there as that character then likely I will go with it. You don't even have to spend a fate point or whimsy card.
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Some of the rules options I will be using.

Money
I use a silver base economy. All this means that the main coin is a silver penny equal to 1 silver piece. I denote the value in pennies as d. 10d mean ten pennies or ten silver pieces. There is 250 silver pennies in a pound of weight. There is a 1 oz gold coin called a Crown and it is worth 320d. 16 crowns equal a pound of weight. Rare coinage are a gold penny worth 20d and weight 250 to a pound. Typically they are found in old elven or dwarven treasure hoards. The vikings use a silver mark which is a 1 lb bar of silver worth 240d.

Slow Natural Healing (DMG 267)
Instead of regaining all your hit points you spend hit dice like on a short rest. However you still regain half your hit dice back as a result of your long rest. Makes long rest a tad less generous and the campaign little more gritty.

Lingering Injuries 
if you roll a death save of 5 or less (DMG page 272).
Note not all of these are permanent disfigurement.15% chance of a major disfigurement (lose of an eye, hand, etc), 15% chance of a scar. The rest is cured by the use of a healing spell. Note I am NOT using massive damage.

Attack Options: 
Climb on top of Bigger Creature, Disarm, Mark, Overrun, Shove Aside, Tumble. (DMG, page 271).
Stuff I would allows you guys to do anyway, just we now have mechanics that everybody can read up on.

Morale (DMG 273)
This for NPCs and monsters. I used something similar before but like the above now there is mechanics for everybody to read.

Experience Points 
I will award monster xp and milestone XP (DMG 261).

Milestones are personal and party oriented. I basically try to pay attention to what you guys are trying to do and when it seems you guys accomplish some goal individually or as a group I will award milestone XP. For example gaining the Sleeping Giant would have earned the party a minor milestone. Bagging Glasstaff in a future session would be a major milestone for the party.The better I understand what you are trying to accomplish as your character the more opportunities I will have to award milestones.

Chases
DMG (page 253)
I want try this when chases ensue. The Chase Card are too metagame at times like Whimsy cards so I want to see if this does any better. I may incorporate some of chase cards with this in the future.

Miniatures and Grids
I will be using the rules for miniatures, grids, and facing from page 250 to 252 as guidelines. No major change from what we been doing except now there are rules to reference. For example if you flank a target with an ally you both get advantage on your attack. The main difference will be from page 250 where the DMG has useful method to determine the difference between the different levels of cover.

Downtime Activities
Starting on page 127 of the DMG these are available for those who are interested. The party has ownership of the Sleeping Giant in Phandalin. For now I am going with crafting magic items on page 129 until I am ready to roll my own. My version will in general have lower prices.

Attunement
Per my Majestic Wilderlands Swords & Wizardry rules, two rings, two bracers, one hat, one belt, one cloak, one suit of armor, one medallion, two items grasped (one in each hand). . You can switch freely out of combat. In combat you can use your interaction for easily accessible items or take a Use and Object action.

While attunement is not required, spending a long rest to understand how to activate an item is with activated powers is. Requires a arcana check 15 or better to succeed. Items with inherent powers simply just work. If you get a +1 sword with fireball 1/day. You can use it a +1 sword until a long rest. Note that a character with a high arcana can figure out an item for another character. One item per character per long rest.

Training to Gain Levels
I am using Training gain levels on page 131. It is no where near as onerous as AD&D 1st edition it does force some amount of downtime. For 5th level it will be 20 days of upkeep and 400d. You do immediately gain any increase in proficiency bonus. The rest of your class abilities have to be trained.

Starting Characters.
This is for Doug and possibly Peter if he joins us.
You start halfway beyond 4th level at 4,600 xp.
Your starting money is 5,000d plus 1d10 x 250d. (1 d= 1sp)
You can buy a common magic item at 1,000d
You can buy a uncommon magic item at 5,000d

Buying and Selling Magic Items
I am the kind of DM that answer yes to magic shops in my campaign. Remember magic items is a luxury trade. The most valuable items are held for limited access auctions. Keep this in mind when you sell a rare items it may take a while to get the gold for it.

At present I will be using the 5e prices as is. I think they are too expensive compared to what I did in the past. But I haven't worked through adapting what I use for Swords & Wizardry.

Showdown at the Orc Corral, this week's exciting 5e episode.

This is a report on the last two session. The search for the Lost Mine of Phandelver was continued. The group is up to six players +Tim Shorts , +Daniel McEntee, +Chris C., +Joshua Macy, +Ken H, and Josh +Rhandom A.

The Ongoing Story
We last left the party outside the Redbrand Hideout having escaped the dungeon of Iarno Allbek/Glasstaff. They are clad only in loincloths and some rusty weapons liberated from skeleton. Along with a 500d (sp) gem in the skeleton crypt. Squirrel, one of the party's two elven wizards, lies dead inside.

The Roster

• Ara (Joshua Macy) - an Elven wizard dwelling in human lands in order to return to his people's lost cities that lies in ruins within Dearthwood. 
• Keyar Nailo (Dan McEntee) - an High Elven Archer seeking to keep the elven refuge of Losthain safe.
• Vognur (Chris) - a warrior armed and ready to take his place in the world and to pursue the mystery of the box left to him by his family.
• Sidwin the Sharp (Tim) - a native of the City-State, the human rogue senses opportunity in Phandelver and positioned himself to be hired as one of the caravan guards. 
• Aevin Steelhand (Ken) a former solider who doesn't back down from anything looking to make his mark in the world now that he out of the Overlord's army.

The Hirelings

• Lanar - a down on his luck miner who was hired as a torchbearer by the party.
• Martha - with her debt to a unpleasant manor.
• Mirna - wife of the slain woodcrafter, hired to manage the party latest acquisition the Sleepin Giant Tavern. 

The Majestic Wilderlands

I elected to set the game within my Majestic Wilderlands. I am more familiar with the setting and by taking the original adventure apart and reassembling allows me to master the adventure better. On the map below each small hex is one league and takes one hour to walk. Each large hex is 5 leagues.

Session

After the zombie attack, the party bedded down for the night. Fully rested everybody awoke and debated their options.

From the hilltop that Old Owl Well was on they could see Wyvern Tor rising out Dearthwood 10 miles away. It was decided to complete the last of their mission and take out the orcs there.

Just before reaching the rivers they found evidence of striges in the area.  Sending Sidwin out ahead to scout while the group made their down the slope to the river. A good thing they did because they found a flock of 8 stirges feasting on a slain deer and elected to swing around them.

The river crossing was made without incident and in the early afternoon they came across the orc encampment on the slopes of Wyvern Tor. It was a cave entrance buried into the steep slope of the Tor.

There was a single orc standing watch outside.

With the time on their side the party planned an ambush. With the group fully healed and ready with all spells, it went off without a hitch. There was a surprise with a Ogre bursting forth from the cave but the orc leader fell within two rounds.

The following shows the last of the orcs being killed.

 After the fight the party ransacked the cave and found 500d (sp) in supplies, along with a check with a brass plate labeled DK. In the chest was 300d, 3 vials of perfume worth 100d each, and a single 1 gold crown. A 1 oz gold coin worth 320d.

They also had one live orc. Under intense questioning by Sidwin and the rest of the group, the orc broke and starting blabbing. He was a member of the Death Head Tribe and the main encampment was a half day travel east. His chief was Mogoth Ironhide. After a brief discussion, the group elected not to check out the encampment and kill the orc to prevent him from warning anybody.

The group then used the remaining daylight hours to journey west towards the ruins of Coynberry on their way back to Phandalin. They set watch for the night. Unfortunately around 11 pm during first watch the party was ambushed by goblins!

To be continued next week...

Comments
After the previous two sessions which ended between 10pm and 11pm this one ended after 9. Everybody was tired and elected to stop right here at the beginning of the fight.

The session was a good example of when the party was well prepared and executed flawlessly their plan. They never lost control of the Orc battle and even the unexpected appearance of the far tougher Ogre didn't change things much.

I felt that as abstract combat is in 5e that it reflects real life considerations better than 3rd edition and 4th edition. The raw power of the Ogre and the bonus moves of the Orcs could not overcome the fact the party held a superior tactical position.

The Stirges and Goblin attack were the results of the random monster encounters found on page 27. I felt I was able to make the Strige encounter particularly evocative.  One nice thing about 5e is that for now the mystery is back as to what the monster can do. It not like they been totally reworked from their classic counterparts but the addition of one or extras is enough to give them a different spin. This probably contributed to why the party elected to avoid the striges.

Finally I do have Roll20 tip for those you planning to use Phandelver. This will work with any other system with wandering monsters.

I have a wilderness map setup.  I went through the wandering monster charted and added maximum number of monsters for each encounter on the hidden GM layer. That way when an encounter occurs I can just move the right number to the token area and everything is setup.

It is a Mad Mad 5e World

This is a report on the last two session. The search for the Lost Mine of Phandelver was continued. The group is up to six players +Tim Shorts , +Daniel McEntee, +Chris C., +Joshua Macy, +Ken H, and Josh +Rhandom A.

The Ongoing Story
We last left the party outside the Redbrand Hideout having escaped the dungeon of Iarno Allbek/Glasstaff. They are clad only in loincloths and some rusty weapons liberated from skeleton. Along with a 500d (sp) gem in the skeleton crypt. Squirrel, one of the party's two elven wizards, lies dead inside.

The Roster

• Ara (Joshua Macy) - an Elven wizard dwelling in human lands in order to return to his people's lost cities that lies in ruins within Dearthwood. 
• Keyar Nailo (Dan McEntee) - an High Elven Archer seeking to keep the elven refuge of Losthain safe.
• Vognur (Chris) - a warrior armed and ready to take his place in the world and to pursue the mystery of the box left to him by his family.
• Sidwin the Sharp (Tim) - a native of the City-State, the human rogue senses opportunity in Phandelver and positioned himself to be hired as one of the caravan guards. 
• Aevin Steelhand (Ken) a former solider who doesn't back down from anything looking to make his mark in the world now that he out of the Overlord's army.
• Fosco Chubb (Josh) a gentlemen halfling from Limerick Shire. When asked about his business, he will give you a 24 point dissertation on the varieties of mutton. 

The Hirelings

• Lanar - a down on his luck miner who was hired as a torchbearer by the party.
• Martha - with her debt to a unpleasant manor.

The Majestic Wilderlands

I elected to set the game within my Majestic Wilderlands. I am more familiar with the setting and by taking the original adventure apart and reassembling allows me to master the adventure better. On the map below each small hex is one league and takes one hour to walk. Each large hex is 5 leagues.

Session 9/8/14

Hearing of opportunities for guarding mines and shipments, Aerin Steelhand heads to Phandalin. Along the way he met Fosco Chubb, a gentlemen halfling from Limerick Shire. The two travelled together to Phandalin and stopped at the Stonehill Inn to get some lunch.

Vognur, Keyar, and Ara emerged from the Redbrand Hideout into the ruins of Tessander Manor. Accompanying them was Mirna and her two children. Mirna is the wife of the woodcarver that was murdered by the Redbrands and was kidnapped. The group rescued her from being sold into slavery, along with themselves. Squirrel's body remained in the hideout.

The group headed down the hill to the secret tunnel entrance where they found Sidwin in the midst of constipation trouble. Appears the injuries he sustained and the food he ate was not a good mix. The group checked for pursuers and headed back to the village.

There they stumbled into the Stonehill Inn. Toblen and his wife Trilena quickly called for Elder Gisela, a priestess of Mitra residing in Phandalin. As the group was getting healed and patched up they discussed what to do next. Their fortunes were greatly boosted when Fosco Chubb and Aerin Steelhand offer to join and help them. Feyar was the only one of the group unable to continue so he stayed behind at the inn.

After a quick trip to Barathan's Provision to reequip themselves, the party decided to collapse the south tunnel entrances and seal up the basement stairs in the manor ruins. Then wait for Glasstaff to try to leave.

By late afternoon they returned to the manor. While checking the tunnel area for traffic they found evidence of a hasty retreat. Sidwin and Fosco scouted the hideout and found it abandoned. Iarno Allbeck aka Glasstaff had fled! Luckily they found some better equipment in the gear and stores left behind and gave chase.

Heading east from Phandalin, the brave party entered the orc infested Forest of Dearthwood. They made their way through a forest fire. avoided a snake infested thicket, and resisted the lure of sleep in a ancient grove of elven standing stones. Here they found one of the Redbrand bandits fast asleep and quickly dispatched him. But alas while following the wizard's trail through a ravine, one of the side collapsed in a avalanche! The party managed to get out of there without any permanent harm but the trial was lost.

After camping out for the night, the party elected to continue to head in the last known direction of the trail. By mid morning, they heard noise, A very large creature was ahead, grunting and groaning. The group slowly made their way closer by stealth. And spotted an solitary ogre doing his err business. (Point O)

After a brief discussion, the group decided to grant the ogre some release. Arrows, bolts, and magic spells were unleashed. After a fiery eruption from its behind, the ogre indeed found release his final release. The party found 30d (sp) in the Ogre's sporran. Luckily since the fiery burst erupted out of the other business end it was in touched. Well untouched by fire that is.

Afterwards the party continued to head north until they ran into the Limerick Trails without any luck in finding the Wizard's Track. At this point the group decided to head back to Phandalin.

Comments

I used Pazio's chase cards to handle the tracking of Glasstaff. I need to work on my delivery but it was smoother than the last time I used them.

Session 9/15/14

One the return to Phandalin, Fosco immediately dove into supper. While the rest welcomed Feyar back, who is now fully recuperated. Mirna stopped by to thank the group and told them of valuable heirloom of her family that could be found in the ruins of the village of Thundertree to the north. At first the party thought she wanted them to retrieve it for them but instead she was offering all her claims on it as a form of repayment. Everybody was left a bit speechless.

Later after the party got the title to the Sleeping Giant from the town for their aid, Fosco understood her desire to avoid charity and offered her a job to work with Martha to rehabilitate the tavern.

Elder Gisela came by to check on the group. She also had a proposal for them. To ask a question of the Banshee Oracle Agatha near the ruins of the village of Coynberry. Her superiors needed to know the location of the spellbooks of a mage named Bowgentle. The banshee would not speak to her. While directly looking at Sidwin (18 charisma) she thinks the group can get her to answer the question. She offers three healing potions for the job (1,500d!). Sidwin turned on the charm and got her to agree to turn over one as down payment. Gisela also gave Sidwin a jeweled comb to use.

After breakfast the group decided to talk to Sildar Hallwinter who is staying over at the town hall with the Reeve Hedrin Westrin. There was some trepidation as they know Sildar Hallwinter was in the employ of Iarno Allbeck, the real name of Glasstaff. But their fears were unfounded as Sildar quickly condemned Iarno's actions as Glasstaff. Sildar talked with the Reeve Westrin, they decided to grant the party 2,000d out of the money the Overlord gave Iarno for his budget. Sildar also told the group if they found out where the Troll Skull's castle was, rescued Gundren Rockseer and eliminated the Troll Skulls, that there a 5,000d bounty that they were authorized to grant. The Reeve, Hedrin Westerin also offered the group a 1,000d to rout out a group of orcs near Wyvern's Tor.

That night the town give the group a party and in a feast at the Stonehill Inn, something that pleased Fosco to no end. During the party the group learned from Qellan Alderleaf, a local farmer, that if they were going find Gundren they best to seek out his friend Reidoth, a Trehaen (MW druid) that been exploring the area. He was last seen heading to Thundertree. He could help with Mirn'a heirloom. They also learned from Daran Eldermath that there was some undead seen near an old ruined tower known as Old Owl Well near Coynberry.

After sleeping off the party, the group met around breakfast. It was decided that the first thing to do was head out toward Coynberry, as three of the tips they got were all in the vicinity.  (Banshee, Old Owl Well, and Wyvern Tor). The party gather their supplies and headed out.

They arrived at the ruins of Coynberry (point C) by noon and found the track to Agatha's lair. (point A) They drew their cloak closer as the air chilled when they arrived at the grove containing the Banshee's hut. As Sidwin carefully looked around he noticed that everybody else in the group was staring at him.

With a sigh, Sidwin entered the hut and within moments his breath came out in ragged fog as the chill deepened. The banshee Agatha manifested in front of him demanding to know why he has disturbed her.

With his disarming smile and clever wit. Sidwin was able to present her with the jeweled comb Elder Gisela gave him. Pleased the Banshee answered.

A necromancer virdiian named Tsernoth in the City of Gormmah

As she dismissed Sidwin to leave, the rogue asked her if can have her answer one more question. Angrily she retorted that she only answers one of anybody who seek her and that he used his chance. Again putting his best smile and turning on the charm. He replied that his question is one that she wants to her. Temporarily mollified she gave him permission to ask. Giving no promise that she will answer. With the party collectively shaking their head no, waving negatively, and several getting reay to run. Sidwin asked

What will free you?

Stunned, the banshee was left speechless. The party stopped in mid gesture. After a long moment, the the air warmed and the banshee replied.

I will never be free again until they sing in the silver halls again.

After a somber pause, Sidwin looker her in the eyes.

Will I ever be able to return home again?

She started to fade through the walls and leaving a whisper of her voice in the air.

You will be able to. But there will be two paths; one of power or one of sacrifice.

With a collective sigh of relief the party left the grove and returned to the ruins of Coynberry. The group proceeded eastward along the Limerick Trail until they spotted the tower of Old Owl Well to the north and Wyvern Tor to the south. After a very brief discussion the group decided to check out Old Owl Well. Fosco stated, "That sound OK"

When the group got there, (point T) from a distance they noticed that there was a large tent pitched outside of the tower. Feyar decided to scout it out. While sneaking around the tent. The mage heard him, fortunately Feyar heard the mage moving out as well and was able to attack first. The mage grunted in pain as Feyar's arrow sunk into his thigh.

Seeing this the rest of the group started to sprint towards the camp and Old Owl Well. Unfortunately the mage held out a small straight piece of iron towards Feyar who felt a iron grip wrap around his body and limbs. The mage shouted

Attack, my minions!

Summoning his mental reserve, the elven ranger fights through and strings an arrow. Keyar aim is true as the arrow pierces the mage's heart downing him. But as the elf turn his head towards the ruined tower, to his horror a dozen zombies come shambling out after him.

Running back, Keyar made his stand with the group. At first the zombie appeared to be going down under the skill attacks of the party. However to their horror many just got back up and continued to attack. They surround Fosco, and while the halfling showed surprising agility it wasn't enough to beat off a horde of shoving and clawing zombies.

Aerin tried to beat zombies off from Fosco but was surrounded himself. The rest broke and ran, taking shots at the zombie as the undead started their relentless pursuit. The fight took most of the afternoon, with each zombie requiring several arrow or bolts shots to be put down. The group despaired when they heard Aerin screams as he fell against his opponents.

But when things were at their bleakest, Fosco recovered and was able to run away drawing the zombies off of Aerin. Soon after Aerin recovered. By this time the rest of the party managed to down the last of their pursuers and was able to make their way back to Fosco and Aerin. Together the group downed the last remaining zombies.

After a quick search of the mage's tent yielded some decent treasure, the party camped down for the night. Keeping careful watch for any more of the undead.

Comments

So far I refereed Phandalin like I do most of my campaigns. The players are in a sandbox free to choose to do whatever they like. The initial portion of the module worked out because the starting circumstances was that the group were hired as Gundren Rockseer's bodyguards. Most of the ensuing events resulted from the group natural responses to what was happening.

As it worked out, their victory over the Redbrands was done in a spectacular fashion. While the party may have suffered a lot of material loss, it was obvious to the villagers they gave it their all. And with the rescue of Mirna, the group have won the hearts and minds of the locals.

The only back effect of all this is that all the subsequent information came in a rush due to everybody wanting to talk to them a once. Between what the party was doing in the town and the subsequent party and feast, the hooks has a bit of World of Robquest feel. Everybody agreed it made sense but given today awarness of tropes and long experience with MMORPGs, the Robquest jokes went flying. I laughed just as hard with everyone and the game moved on.

The choice of going after the stuff around Coynberry was the party's decision. The whole Agatha's encounter was a blast to run and Tim really did an outstanding job of roleplaying. Especially at how he managed to parlay his one question into three with the final one the one he really wanted answer. It should be interesting to see how he handles the answer.

Now the zombie fight, at first I thought it was going to be a cakewalk. When I ran this encounter for the Gold Star Anime crew they had it down cold with clever use of fire and the party's cleric. That group, because of 10 PCs, faced a much larger group of 30 zombies. The Monday night crew got to face the book number of 12 zombie and 1 mage.

Well Dan's character, Keyar, took out the mage character easily enough. But OMG the zombies were killer. Their ability to return to 1 hp if they made a con save of DC 5 + damage suffered that round made this ordinary monster that we dealt since OD&D into something out of a horror film.

The basic tactic I used was that if more than one zombie attacked, the first one would shove the target PC. If that didn't work I went down the line until half of the zombie tried to shove. Then the rest would just attack. But if a shove was successful this meant the remaining zombie's attacks were at an advantage. And this in combination with the damage save is what put terror in the hearts of the PCs.

It also dragged the combat out forever because with a +3 on their con save and the party doing 8 or 9 damage on average the zombies were not going down fast. I am not sure how I would handled this at a physical table as I had to keep expanding the map in Roll20. In the end the party was victorious and now zombie are not longer the 2 HD chumps they were in ADnD.

It started with this.

And ended up with this. 

The Great Escape of 5e

This week the search for the Lost Mine of Phandelver was continued.  +Tim Shorts  wasn't able to make it but Josh returned. He joined +Daniel McEntee , +Chris C., and +Joshua Macy in their adventures around the mining village of Phandelver.

The Ongoing Story
We last left the party inside the Redbrand Hideout debating over whether to take a short rest to recuperate or run down Glasstaff. In addition the murdered woodcraver's family hasn't been located yet.

The Roster

• Ara (Joshua Macy) - an Elven wizard dwelling in human lands in order to return to his people's lost cities that lies in ruins within Dearthwood. 
• Keyar Nailo (Dan McEntee) - an High Elven Archer seeking to keep the elven refuge of Losthain safe.
• Squirrel (Josh)  - by all appearance a no-account street rat, but his cunning intelligence and a chance encounter with the possessions of a unlucky mage has allowed him to master arcane powers.  
• Vognur (Chris) - a warrior armed and ready to take his place in the world and to pursue the mystery of the box left to him by his family.

The Hirelings

• Lanar - a down on his luck miner who was hired as a torchbearer by the party.
• Martha - with her debt to a unpleasant mano0r.

The Majestic Wilderlands

I elected to set the game within my Majestic Wilderlands. I am more familiar with the setting and by taking the original adventure apart and reassembling allows me to master the adventure better. On the map below each small hex is one league and takes one hour to walk. Each large hex is 5 leagues.

Thoughts on the Session
 +Chris C.  has a post with thoughts on the party splitting up.

The Game

Having waken up from his long night's rest at the Stonehill Inn, Squirrel learned that the party has entered the hideout of the Redbrands through a secret tunnel in the forest south of the ruined manor. The elf mage wasted no time in throwing his gear together and rushing out to join the rest of the party.

As Squirrel made his way through the tunnel, Ara, Keyar, and Vognur debated whether to take a short rest. (point A). The group decided that with the woodcraver's family yet to be found and the mage still running around that it would be best not to take a short rest and continuing exploring. Stepping out into the cavern area, Keyar decided it would be best to climb down into the chasm. Ara went ahead to the wizard's quarters to see what could be found. Vognur stayed at top to guard.

Squirrel meanwhile was stealthly moving from the tunnel and checking out the body of the wierd creatures that was slain along with dead bodies of Redbrand Ruffians. (point B)

Recognizing his companions, the elf mage revealed himself to Vognur and Keyar. Continuing his investigation Keyar found the murdered remains of the woodcraver along with a old wooden chest. (point C) At this point Vognur heads to the Wizards Quarter to see what Ara was up too.

Rob Note: I have what I feel is a very effective technique to get the players to act naturally out of combat. It starts with me going round robin around the table asking each player individually what they are doing. Unless the group has a strong leadership, more often and not it results in the group milling around doing whatever catches the individual players eye. After a minute or two of interacting with a player there generally comes a pause point where I can move on to the next player. The general effect is to keep everybody involved but in this particular case it had some unpleasant consequences in-game. 

While Keyar and Squirrel were wrestling the chest up to the chasm, Ara was systemically searching the Wizard's quarters. (various point Cs) Along with valuable alchemical components, the elf wizard found an interesting letter written in a elvish hand.

Keyar carefully opened the chest. Lying on a pile of coins was a strange and beautiful swords with a hilt in the shape of a bird of prey with the wings outstretched. Inscribed on its blade was the runes for Talon. Taking hold of the blade, Keyar could feel it magical nature. In addition over a thousand silver pennies were found along with a scroll, and two healing potions.

Keyar gathered the treasure and Squirrel headed down the quarter. Keyar soon joined Vognur standing in the hallway just outside of the Wizard's quarter. (various point Ds). Ara gave the alchemical equipment another look over and determined that Glasstaff was making invisibility potions. Squirrel investigated the room to the south and found the table with the remains of a card game and a poker pot amounting to several hundred silver.

By this time Glasstaff and the remaining Redbrands have regrouped and reorganized. Collecting Redbrands from other areas of the hideout, the wizard decided on a counter attack. The gang moved to the cavern (point E). There was Glasstaff and seven ruffians. Knowing about the rigged southeren bridge (point G) Glasstaff had two of the ruffians leap across the chasm to the otherside. They easily made the jump and made their way to the south hallway (point F). Unfortunately they ran into Squirrel investigating the slain bodies of orcs and ruffians from last session's fight.

Rob Note: What actually happened is that I was tracking time while the party was search and executing moves and actions for Glasstaff and the ruffians. I just rolls for the ruffians jump and placing the two in their final position when Josh announced he was moving to explore while simultaneously moving his token to the southern hallway. Because I was using the LoS feature of Roll 20 he didn't see anything until he dropped his token. His next words were. Hey Rob, do I see those? I replied "Yup, roll initiative." Both sides were effectively surprised. 

While both sides were surprised at the encounter, the ruffians were quicker to recover. The one closest to the mage launched a vicious strike, cutting open the elf upper arm and then on the backhand swing driving the point of his sword into the elf's belly. Squirrel immediately collapsed to the floor.

Squirrel's screams alerted the rest of the group along with Glassstaff and the remaining Ruffians. Their cover blown the ruffians in the southern hallway bolted to the Cavern and attempted to leap the chasm. One made it, the other tripped and fell head first into the chasm. The fall didn't kill him but left the Redbrand battered and bruised.

Hearing his friends' cries Vognur quaffs a healing potion and rushes into the southern corridor (point F)  Seeing Vognur explode out of the southern hallway, Glasstaff shouted for two of men to head to the armory (point H).

Vognur continued his charge right across the southern bridge which promptly broke underneath. Glasstaff having rigged it to collapse as precaution against invaders. Vognur feel 20 feet to land in front of the Redbrand below. The Redbrand missed his blow as the warrior thrusts straight through the ruffian's chest. Keyar runs out of the northern corridor and shoots at the Ruffians. Unfortunately the shoot was wide and bounces harmlessly off the cavern walls.

As this point Glasstaff steps up and unleashes a full volley of magic missiles on Vognur who collapses onto the chasm floor.  In the meantime Ara comes across Squirrel and attempts to bandages him. With the fallen mage's lifeblood pouring through his hands there was nothing he could do to save him.

Seeing Vognur fall, Keyar scrambles down to the chasm floor and successfully administers a healing potion to the warrior. Vognur tries to scramble up the chasm to charge Glasstaff while Keyar scrambles up to use the cavern as cover. But a vicious attack by a ruffian downs the warrior again. Keyar's plans are defeated by the arrival of the two Redbrands from the armory (point H) armed with Light Crossbows. They quickly overwhelm the elf and the ranger falls. Ara attempt to use what magic he has left after seeing his friends fall. But Glasstaff's final volley of magic missles convinces the elven mage that he had no alternative but to surrender.

Ara was quickly bound and gagged by the four surviving ruffians. Strangely, Glasstaff ordered Ara not to be harmed and administers first aid to save the elven ranger. When reminded of Vognur values as a gladitor slave, Glasstaff allowed the fighter to save. The party's torchbearer Lanar was also captured.

The party was taken to the cells (point I). Keyar, Vognur, and Lanar thrown in with the woodcarver's wife, Minar and her two children Nilsa and Nars. Ara was left in the southern cell bound and gagged. The ruffians locked the outer door and slightly later the sounded of spikes being driven into the crypt doors could be heard.

After several hours, Keyar and Vognur came too, some what rested but stripped of everything but their underclothes. Quickly taking stock their situation, Keyar revealed that he some magic powers of his own. He used Mage's hand to free Ara. Unfortunately the wizards had little in the way of any spells useful to the situation. However after a quick discussion the Ranger and Warrior determined that the cell door was just old enough to be pried loose. After several tries both cell doors were wrenched free.

In a minor miracle none of the Redbrands came to investigate. Investigation of the outer door (point J) showed it be locked. But with some brute force and judicious use of Ara's Ray of Frost the lock was shattered.  However thanks to Keyar exploration from last session the party knew there were some undead skeletons out in the crypt.

A plan was devises where Area opens the door, steps out into the crypt then retreats. Vognur and Keyar will pick up a cell door and hold it against the open doorway as a barrier. Ara will then use his cantrip to take out the skeletons one by one.

The plan was put into actions and despite the determined effort of the first skeleton it was quickly killed. Ara revealed that he still had more than just cantrips in him and unleashed Burning Hands severely damaging the remaining skeletons. However he got too close to the doorway and a skeleton managed to pushed his way into the room landing a vicious slice of his sword on Ara.

Rob Note: Although the monster stats said shortsword and short bows, the room description clearly indicates the skeletons rises with only swords in their hands. 

However Vognur and Keyar pushed with all their might and managed to barricade the doorway again. Ara's Ray of Frost managed to finished off remaining two skeletons.

Emerging into the crypt they find both the northern door and the southern door to have been spiked shut.

Rob Note: The redbrands are down to a depleted mage and four ruffians one of them injured. They simply don't have the manpower to effectly guard their prisoners. Glasstaff elected to so what he can to shut the group into the cells and hole up elsewhere. What he didn't count is Keyar having magic spells nor the party being able rip the cell doors off.

Keyar searched the crypt and found a platinum ring worth 500 sp. After discussing their options the party elected to open the southern door. (point K). Using a cell door as a battering door they busted down the double doors. In fact one of the door flew far and wide enough to activate the hidden pit trap down the hallway (Rob Note: Chris rolled a natural 20 for Vognur's Athletics check.)

Making their way to Manor's celler (point L) they quickly investigated the surrounded area. They found a backpack with the discarded remains of a healing potion. After finding the secret door in the southwest corner the group determined this is where Glasstaff regrouped.

Despite their desire for revenge, the group thought that discretion was the better part of valor and left the manor via the cellar stairways.

Comments
I need to stop refereeing 5e. Oh there is nothing wrong with the group, the game, or the campaign. But I am rolling hot, so hot that it is draining the luck out of the rest of my life. Namely due the fact that in the space of one week I went from two well operating cars to zero. The first lost on the way to the airport with a busted front axle gear. My wife and I decided to scrap it due it having over 200,000 miles on it. Then on the way way home, I rolled a natural 1 and the left rear tire shredded all over the highway. Like Kelly Anne, my wife, rolls a natural 20 and manages to get the van safely to the side of the highway. In fact she did so well that the rim remained undamaged and ultimately only needed a new tire put on. And kudos to +Daniel McEntee for going above the call of friendship to fetch us and take us home after the tow.

As for 5e, now that I am five session in already, I have to say this is an awesome edition. The way that characters and monsters are stated makes it very easy to master them both in terms of roleplaying and combat. More importantly they work the way I prefer them to work. You think of action as if you are there and rules seamlessly translate that into specific die rolls and details.

For example at first glance you still got the D&D funkiness with hit points. But they really emphasize that hit points represent fatigue and experience as well. And more I used he whole hit point/healing system, I can go "Yeah I see what they are getting at.".

So with Squirrel's death +Rhandom A is making up a new character. From our discussion it looks like one of the first pieces of a Majestic Wilderlands supplement for 5e will emerge. We see how it works out for next week and share some details.