The Slumbering Tsar Saga, Session 1

Welcome to the Edge of Oblivion

The party arrived at the Camp, just in time to notice a maddened hill giant rampaging through town, with the PCs right in the way. After dispatching him, Thorgrim used his knowledge of the environment to track down his last movements, along with Arliden's brief mental connection to get a sense of the giant's fate. It turns out that the giant was the leader of a mercenary band of ogres, offering to escort representatives from Bard's Gate to a fissure in the Chaos Rift, only to be ambushed by gargoyles. The giant said some things in his native tongue, a language none of the party knew but could remember a few choice words for later reference.

Following the trail, the party set sight on the Chaos Rift, a deep series of trenches seemingly slashed into the land itself. Although their attempt at sneaking into the gargoyle aerie failed, the party's fast reflexes got the drop on several of the winged monsters. After wiping out 8 of their number without suffering any casualties, the gargoyles offered a truce. They not only will stop fighting and give their only prisoner (an elf from Bard's Gate named Holcolm), they would give one piece of hidden treasure to the party if they can find their lost leader. The party accepted, venturing deeper into the cave, only to find the gargoyle leader's fate at the hands of a fungal slime colony. After readily dispatching it and a close call with an infestation of said fungus, the party returned. Alexis conjured up a wild tale of heroism to the assembled gargoyles, explaining how after valiantly dying in battle, the gargoyle passed on leadership of the tribe was granted to him. Amazingly the gargoyles fell for it, and from then on became loyal minions. The party decided to use their knowledge of the Rift first, deciding to call upon them for battle only when the time is right.

Arliden offered to take Holcolm back to the relative safety of the Camp, while the rest of the party followed up on rumors of a monster named Old Death who managed to do in a few of the gargoyles. They also heard word of two stony pillars where green lightning pulses from on a plateau in the middle of the canyon, but first came the monster.

The party hardly entered Old Death's canyon before coming into view of legions of petrified adventures, and was promptly attacked by an abyssal basilisk. Using spell-conjured mud and fog to blind it they kept the fiend's foul gaze at bay while they slowly worn down its defenses. Afterwards the group came into contact with a giant spider corpse made to look like a living being in the middle of a giant web and killed its two ettercap architects. But at this point the day was growing late, and so the party decided to retreat and make camp.

The Slumbering Tsar Saga, Cast of Characters

Aside from Northlands, my other weekly game is Slumbering Tsar with an entirely different group. It started about a month earlier than Northlands, and the adventure has a very different feel to it which keeps things interesting. A dark fantasy vibe in a desolate region scarred by the lingering taint of evil, where the only major center of civilization is a tent-city of outcasts and refugees. The central feature is the city of Tsar, once a grand and evil temple-city of the demon god Orcus now dusty ruins from a long-ago battle.

This post focuses on the PCs, our possibly-doomed, possibly-victorious heroes who dare to set foot in Orcus' once-greatest domain!

Meet the Cast

Nobu Itoma: An ascetic exile who trained in a Stoneheart Mountains monastery, his wanderings brought him to Tsar, driven by both personal motivation to master his elemental talents and to rid the world of the Desolation's spreading vileness.

Mechanical Information: Kineticist from Occult Adventures.  Calls upon the powers of stone and fire to barrage enemies in a hail of elemental fury.

Alexis Karamazov: An exile from the Wizarding Academy of Endholme no longer welcome due to his participation in conspiring to overthrow a noble dynasty (thus violating Endholme's policy of political neutrality). Aside from his fellow PCs, his other steadfast companion is his faerie dragon familiar who oddly seems to be as magically powerful as its master.

Mechanical Information: Sorcerer specializing in area of effect and debuffing spells. Fond of creating pits, summoning monkey swarms, and using telekinetic water-filled barrels as cover and the occasional siege weapon.

Arliden (Arl) Penthe: an Orange-ranked cleric of Solanus (god of healing), Arliden was dissatisfied with his higher-ranking peers' reactive measures against plague, maladies, and other causes of suffering. Hearing of the Desolation's reputation, he sought to travel to this region to stem the tide of foul magics and cleanse the hapless souls trapped there. But unlike many healers of the cloth, is more than willing to turn an enemy's own life force against them in a near-vampiric fashion.

Mechanical Information: a psychic Vitalist, Arliden is the primary provider of the silent telepathic network the group uses to communicate with each other. He is fond of delving into the minds of enemies and aiding the party with healing and morale boosts. Can fire off a bolt of energy in a cinch.

Thorgrim Stoneborn: a duergar veteran of the deep realms of the earth, Thorgrim's original reason for coming to the Camp was rumors of a Silverhelm Clan war party searching for the bones of their former king who fell during the Battle of Tsar. His frosty demeanor makes him a peculiar ally, but such a mindset has served the party well in this dreadful land.

Mechanical Information: Hunter with a penchant for physical combat and a mighty giant lizard animal companion. Is the most physically-inclined member of the party, Nobu coming in second. Use of teamwork feats and Eternal Guardian maneuvers (Path of War Expanded) allows him to exploit enemy movements and attacks by turning threatened squares into difficult terrain and provoking attacks of opportunity for those who try to fight him or his trusty lizard.

Dragons of Renewal, DL6: Dragons of Ice

Dragons of Ice Cover by Larry Elmore

Note: The original DL5 was a setting overview of the world of Krynn before there was a full campaign setting. Since future up-to-date books adequately cover this ground, I "skipped" that sourcebook.

Dragons of Ice is the first appropriately-named chapter in the Winter arc, and also marks the splitting of the party as well as the inclusion of a DMPC for an appreciable segment of the campaign.

Overview

The PCs makes their way to the City of Tarsis, once a thriving port now a land-locked shanty due to the ravages of the Cataclysm. Looking for safe passages for the Abanasinian refugees, it becomes clear that Tarsis' port is of no use. Thus the must stay in Thorbadin and only an end to the wars will things return to normalcy. The party meets up with a detachment of the Knights of Solamnia seeking to research of ways to defeat the Dragonarmies. During this time the PCs learn of the Dragon Orbs in the hidden Library of Khrystann, and Tarsis falls under siege by the Blue Dragonarmies. Escaping with Derek Crownguard and the Solamnic Knights, the PCs flee the city and get word to head south to Icewall Glacier from an old couple advising them to follow "the path of the white bear."

While traveling south to Icewall Glacier, the PCs find and save a polar bear being tortured by minotaurs and camp out in a shipwreck during a storm. They are later found by a tribe of Ice Folk, who offers them hospitality and explain their recent troubles with thanoi (walrus-men) and minotaurs. If the PCs accompany them back to their village, Derek Crownguard shows the PCs a map of Ansalon. He explains that the free peoples of Krynn are gathering at the isle of Sancrist to discuss an organized resistance against the Dragon Empire. The White Dragonarmy attacks the Camp, and the PCs take part in mass combat. After the battle the Ice Folk seek vengeance at Icewall Castle, the headquarters of the White Dragonarmy.

After entering, the PCs have opportunities to discover a Dragonlance-bearing knight (now dead) encased in ice; fight the White Dragon Highlord Feal-Thas and recover his personal journals; and possibly discover the Dragon Orb guarded by his draconic mount Sleet in the lower reaches. Having dealt a great blow to the Dragonarmies, the PCs head to the nearby Ice Mountain Bay with grateful Ice Folk to find and unearth a sea-worthy vessel. Their trials over in southern Ansalon for the time being, the PCs take off for Sancrist only to encounter stormy conditions and possibly a dragon attack which leaves them shipwrecked.

Things to Change/Look Out For

Siege of Tarsis

Dragon Attack from Pathfinder: Burnt Offerings

Originally, the PCs' main headquarters in Tarsis is the Red Dragon Inn. Splitting up to investigate, the Winter team headed for the Library while the Spring team stayed behind. When the Blue Dragonarmy invades, the Spring team escapes thanks to the timely arrival of Alhana Starbreeze shortly after an aerial assault levels the Inn. In both teams' cases, the adventure encourages the PCs to flee the city.

This will be covered in Spring, but given that Alhana Starbreeze is literally a character they never met before and the PCs might be heroic types who don't want to abandon innocents, I propose a few changes.

First, have both Alhana Starbreeze and Derek Crownguard meet the Autumn PCs (along with any new PCs) before the adventure proper, using the Inn as a sort of informal "war room." That way nobody will be taken aback at an elf appearing out of nowhere demanding the PCs flee without their comrades.

Secondly, provide for a way for the Winter and Spring teams to let each other know that the other side is safe, or prepared drills beforehand in case of an invasion (which the adventure points to as likely given the mayor's appeasement to the Dragonarmies). In my campaign I had Khrystann's local chronicler, a gnome journalist of my own creation by the name of Widge Pathwarder deliver a message to the Spring team. Depending on the system you're using, and if using a smaller 4 person party, it's likely that the PCs have access to scrying magic at this point, too.

Thirdly, place an emphasis on evacuating civilians. Tarsis is unready for a full-on siege, but the PCs are likely to want to help in whatever way they can. The base adventure includes an encounter where the party can rescue an old couple from opportunistic looters, but otherwise most of the events do not provide opportunities for the PCs to feel like Big Damn Heroes. In my own campaign I included an encounter where the PCs had to break apart a Dragonarmy barrier in the middle of the street to free captured citizens. They also had the opportunity to help guide civilians into nearby sewer entrances while blue dragons rained lightning from the skies. I modified the kapak assassin encounter to occur in the tunnels with civilians below so that the PCs needed to play things smart (kapaks release a cloud of poison gas upon death).

Splitting the Party

Back in the Character Creation post I discussed this upcoming eventuality, but as of now there are some more things to add.

The original Chronicles party was a whopping 8 person band, and the addition of DMPCs over the adventures swells this number even further. Thus a party split in these circumstances is manageable. However, if your gaming group is a more reasonable 3 to 5 group, making new PCs is likely in order. For my own campaign the new PCs more or less comprised the Spring team, fellow folk who suffered losses at the Dragonarmy's hands. The Winter team was the original Autumn PCs. Granted, you may prefer a mixture of old and new PCs in each team, but for maximum role-play potential consider assigning PCs to one of two teams based on their backstories and character concepts:

Winter Team:

Solamnic Knight: This chivalrous order plays a huge part in the later adventures of this arc, and can make for some nice contrast with Derek Crownguard.

Kagonesti/Qualinesti Elf: The Qualinesti made a colony on the Isle of Sancrist, as did the Silvanesti. The two groups are on poor terms with the native Kagonesti.

Politician/Commander Types: From the Battle of the High Clerist Tower to the Whitestone Council, Dragons of Winter is full of opportunities for leaders of men to decide the fate of Krynn.

Dragonarmy Deserters/Turncoats: The final chapter in Winter involves infiltrating the heart of the Dragon Empire in its largest city. Naturally heroes with a connection to this fell bastion of evil will be invaluable.

Craftsmen/Artisans/Tinkers: Although the base adventure assumes that Theros Ironfeld will craft the Dragonlances once their secret is discovered in Foghaven Vale, this role can just as easily be filled by a PC, especially if they lost an arm at some point in the adventure. The proximity of Mount Nevermind in Sancrist can be a good place for a gnomish tinker to meet up with colleagues.

Spring Team:

Silvanesti Elf: The first chapter involves venturing into the nightmare landscape of Silvanesti with its princess to restore it to its former glory. Enough said.

Clerics and Religious Types: Ideal for both, but this adventure particularly explores the legacy of the Cataclysm in Dragons of Faith where the PCs explore the undersea ruins of Istar. In Dragons of Truth the PCs venture to the Glitterpalace where they may speak with the Gods of Light

Kender/Guerrilla Types: Virtually all of eastern Ansalon lies under the Dragon Empire's dominion, the kender of the Goodlund Peninsula and the Nightmare Lands of Silvanesti the only places more or less unclaimed but still suffering. Dragons of Shadow (3.5) or Faith (AD&D) extensively detail these environs, and may give the PCs opportunity to ally with the Silver Fox and make inroads against the Dragonarmies on their home turf.

Derek Crownguard

Derek Crownguard fanart by Sticko

The follies and potential troubles of DMPCs have been discussed in many forums. But the other major thing to address is Derek Crownguard's personality. Although I haven't read this far into the novels, his personality is rather well-known for being perpetually hostile and unlikable. In the books he was constantly at odds with Sturm Brightblade and mostly on the quest for hopes of personal promotion by bringing the Dragon Orbs to the Whitestone Council. He's representative of an old and fallen knightly order more concerned with the letter than the spirit of the code; Sturm is the more moderate contrast who will eventually bring the Knights back to glory.

Naturally, one might ask why the PCs should bother at all with him. And that is indeed a good question. The simplest explanation is to dispense with him, having any existing knightly PCs assigned to Tarsis to research the Dragon Orbs. But in my own 13th Age campaign, I not only kept him, but altered his personality a bit. In combat he was more of a supplementary role, less a full NPC and more a "stunt tactic" or element the PCs can use to trigger combined assaults with and distractions. Personality-wise, I played him more as a slightly cantankerous yet well-meaning knight. the weight of the war and its stakes darkening his mood at times. He was still obsessed with the Dragon Orbs, viewing them as an ultimate trump card. The examples of the PC Paladin (who was also the role of Prophet) encouraged him to righteousness at the Battle of the High Clerist Tower, effectively becoming the leader of the Solamnic Knights during the war.

For those reasons, my own group did not mind him as much, but I can't say for sure if this will work for your own.

Incentive to Go South

Feal-Thas, White Dragon Highlord by JL Meyer

Both versions of Dragons of Ice use the old "wise elder with vague knowledge" trope to guide the PCs to Icewall Glacier. This, combined with Crownguard's revelation of Sancrist later at the Ice Folk Camp, makes the adventure feel extremely railroady due to the fact that the PCs are finding out the next location right after the other instead of a gradual organic planning. Even more so, the PCs might decide that heading to Sancrist is more important than the assault at Icewall Castle, which can be problematic.

For my own campaign, I baked the plot hook right into the adventure's first chapter: the texts within the Library of Khrystann not only revealed the history of the Dragon Orbs, but the revelation that long ago the Wizards of High Sorcery "went far south, to a land of snow and ice to hide them from the world due to their power." And contacts within the Knights of Solamnia revealed that the Dragonarmies were conducting an excavation in the Glacier itself, apparently searching for something.

I also made it so that Icewall Castle was actually close to the ocean, near the western section of the Glacier. The Castle had a harbor with sea-worthy boats, giving the PCs even more reason to go there for a proper boat to take to Sancrist.

In Conclusion

Dragons of Ice is an overall fair beginning to the Winter arc. It starts off with a bang as the city's besieged, includes a battle against the White Dragonarmy forces on the tundra, and climaxes with the discovery of a real Dragonlance to use against the dragon Sleet. Its weakest areas involve plot hooks and incentives, but hopefully this advice should shape this up into an even greater adventure!

The Northlands Saga, Part One: Spring Rites

Note: At this point in the campaign Syrasi and Vigbjorn have yet to join until the next adventure. The current party is Askeladden, Amund, and Grackleback.

Our tale begins in the region of Halfstead, a relatively prosperous realm home to Silvermeade Hall and Jarl Olaf Henrikson. A single father with three daughters, the oldest one Runa is set to marry calling for celebrations. The PCs, trusted huscarls and confidants of the jarl's social circle, are entrusted with looking over them as they set off to pick flowers in a nearby field.

The daughters are quite a handful. Inga, the eldest, is very arrogant and treats the PCs like servants. Fastvi hopes to one day be a warrior and is enamored of Askeladden's status as skald. Runa, on the other hand, is reserved and carries on a conversation with an imaginary friend (or is it???).

While going to the field, and preventing Fastvi from overruning a farmer's crops in an ill-thought out horse dash, the party comes across a rather friendly hound who Runa desires to keep. Unfortunately, a witch by the name of Sibbe the Unkempt, indeed the very woman who helped deliver Runa's birth 9 years ago, seeks the girls to perform a blood sacrifice and enacts a powerful sleep spell on the field's occupants. The PCs fight for a bit as two of her henchmen, a berserker by the name of Njarni the Traitor and a scoundrel known as Clever Gufti attack. The dog bites Njarni in the genitals before it succumbs to sleep, earning the mutt a throat-slitting both for revenge and to make sure their scent can't be tracked down.

When the party comes to, the group sends Cecile (a paladin DMPC played by me for just this adventure) to inform the jarl of what happened, while the rest of the group rides off to save the girls. Along the way they meet a swamp-dwelling troll who's won over by Grackleback's offering of meat, sneak by some drunken cattle raiders and steal a cow for the aforementioned troll-blooded to eat, trek across the undead-haunted Barrow Lands, and come face to face with the dead dog whose spirit motivates him from beyond the grave and joins the party!

The PCs also meet Styr the Ugly, an outlaw who noticed Sibbe's group and tried to attack them, thinking them easy marks and to use the jarl's daughters as ransom. They did not count on a mind-controlled Runa or Sibbe to take out half his bandit crew with magical flames, and thus they had to huddle up and lick their losses. Askeladden convinces them to ambush Sibbe for revenge if nothing else. He accepts, and the PCs (plus a dog and 3 bandits) head up to tor. The sky is dark and stormy as Sibbe gets ready for her ritual. The PCs climb up the back, avoiding the easy to spot main pathways, and attack!

Sibbe is felled in one strike by Grackleback, interrupting her ritual. Coughing up blood she orders Runa to avenge her, and an already enlarged (11 feet tall) and berserking Njarni attacks Amund. Styr's bandits use the tor's standing stones as cover, taking shots at the villains, while Askeladden rushes to unbind Fastvi and Inga. Meanwhile Amund finishes off Njarni with one punch knocking him to his knees, then another square in the jaw.

Just in time the Jarl's war party ascends as Styr makes a speedy getaway. Olaf Henrikson is overjoyed to see his daughters safe and sound, and awards the party gold arm-rings as a sign of favor and trust. But unexpectedly, a legion of undead warriors meet the group as they head back. One of their leaders steps up, gesturing to the party for a necklace which Sibbe apparently stole from him. Askeladden gives it back, and in returns is granted an artifact blade as a gift.

Back at the hall the PCs are the talk of the town, with people asking them to retell their deeds, something the skald is all too happy to do. Alas, the undead hound refuses to go any farther and watches from the town's edges before heading off into the woods. Grackleback decides to follow him, and is looking to this day (and possibly to live among the swamp trolls, one of the few who shown her kindness).

The Northlands Saga, Cast of Characters

So around mid to late 2016 I snagged a PDF copy of the Northlands Saga Complete for Pathfinder. During this time I noticed an increasing crop of Nordic-themed RPG supplements as of late, and the idea of a full adventure path in a cold land of viking warriors was quite appealing. Yet gaming priorities prevented me from running this until early this year. As of now we're very far into the 2nd of 10 adventures within this book, and are having quite a bit of fun. I decided to chronicle our exploits in a campaign journal here.

This first covers the heroes of the North, both past and present. In other words, the PCs. As of this posting, all of the PCs save Grackleback are part of the current party.

Meet the Cast

Amund: An ingarsuk (giant from Inuit folklore), as a young boy Amund was captured in a Northlander raid and taken south to the domain of Halfstead. He spent his childhood in the town of Silvermeade Hall, earning a living as a hunter's apprentice and earned a place at the jarl's table in spite of his oft-distrusted heritage. A man of few words, he is still technically a boy in giant years, but for the time being he is assumed to be merely giant-blooded (humans with a distant touch of giantish heritage) by other villagers.

Mechanical Information: Jotunn Racial Paragon Class from Rite Publishing. Amund serves as a mix of melee and ranged support, alternating between spears, fists, and boulders. He's an accomplished hunter, and helped the party track down quarries and weathered the worst of the Northlands' climate.

Askeladden of the North: Raised alone by a mother who never spoke of his father, Askeladden heard many heroic sagas from her later forming his aptitude for skaldship. But a tragic storm at sea changed his fate, taking away the one person he respected more than anyone else in the world. He lived an itinerant life as a bandit, before meeting his match against a man he calls only "the Shieldstorm." A short yet fast friendship was formed out of this unlikely circumstance, but one day Askeladden's friend, disappeared, leaving but a handwritten recommendation to Jarl Olaf Henrikson to train Askeladden as a huscarl. Jarl Henrikson accepted, albeit grudgingly, and the skald isn't exactly happy about the situation either.

Mechanical Information: Skald hybrid class from Paizo Publishing. Although capable in melee combat, Askeladden is very heavy on using heroic ballads and minor magics to enhance the rest of the party's combat prowess. He's an experienced metalsmith and crafted more than a few magical arms for the party.

Grackleback: A troll-blooded woman of Silvermeade Hall, Grackleback is a rather friendly if gluttonous associate of Jarl Henrikson. She is not well-liked by the other inhabitants due to her heritage, although she and Amund got along well enough.

Grackleback's player bowed out of the campaign, and so the troll-blooded left the quaint village of Silvermeade Hall to search for an old friend...

Mechanical Information: a Rogue through and through, Grackleback fights with her claws, taking advantage on ambushes and openings in enemy defenses to bring down foes before they can strike back.

Syrasi the Curious: An elf whose people ventured north fleeing religious persecution, Syrasi is an accomplished worker of the magical arts. Jarl Henrikson was the one who requested she travel to his town to help consult him in supernatural affairs, although her other reason was that his departed wife contacted her from beyond the grave to help their daughter Runa control her magical heritage. Currently a free agent, Syrasi accompanies the party on their travels, motivated out of altruism to fight the many evils arrayed against them and the people she loves.

Mechanical Information: An elf Witch with variant racial traits suitable for cold travel, Syrasi focuses heavily on hexes and curses to debilitate enemies. She knows a variety of magical spells useful in and out of combat, and can craft magical scrolls.

Vigbjorn: A troll-blooded warrior of Silvermeade Hall, Vigbjorn displays great intelligence and mind's worth the envy of any warrior, which causes more than a few opponents to underestimate what they view as a "monster." Originally meant to serve as expendable cannon fodder in battle who managed to survive, he's now a steadfast companion of the other party members.

Mechanical Information: Multi-class Barbarian/Rogue with the Scout archetype, allowing for Sneak Attack damage to be applied during a charge attack. Hit fast and hit hard is the name of the game for Vigbjorn.

Aluki: An Ulnat woman from the village of Laquirv in the Far North. Aluki first met the party when her kayak was set adrift by a storm and crossed paths with their ship. She helped them fight against the Children of Althunak, a demonic cult terrorizing her people, and later on became smitten with Syrasi and volunteered to travel with them for a time.

Mechanical Information: Is an outdoors survival expert, capable of drawing upon magic to help the party better brave the harshness of nature. Specialized in ranged archery, able to shower foes with arrows from across the battlefield.

Dragons of Renewal DL4: Dragons of Desolation

Dragons of Desolation Cover by Keith Parkinson

The finale to the Autumn Twilight arc takes place entirely within the dwarven kingdom of Thorbadin. Now that the PCs have the Helm of Grallen, they possess a surefire way to get the dwarves to listen to them and possibly provide shelter for the refugees.

Overview

The Heroes of the Lance find the way into Thorbadin, and while there meet the noble Arman Kharas. After fighting their way out of Northgate with Theiwar dwarves in pursuit, they are brought to the Life-Tree of the Hylar where the Council of Thorbadin holds court. After the council debates, the PCs are sent on a quest to recover the Hammer of Kharas in the Valley of Thanes.

Venturing to the Valley, the PCs find a tomb on top of a floating mountain. While there a pranksterish copper dragon disguised as a dwarf acts as a guide. Before they can claim the Hammer, they fight Verminaard's draconic mount, Ember, at the top of the tomb.

Rushing back to Thorbadin, it turns out that the Daegar and Theiwar clans are in league with the Dragonarmies. By letting their forces into the mountain kingdom, a civil war occurs with the purpose of overthrowing the ruling Hylar and gaining possession of the Hammer for themselves. Amid the prisoners is Berem the Green Gemstone Man and Eben Shatterstone, the latter still posing as a loyal comrade if the PCs haven't found him out yet. The PCs are escorted or taken prisoner to the Temple of Stars, where Verminaard awaits. A grand battle occurs dramatically near a pit, which Verminaard is likely to tumble into should he be slain. Regardless of the battle's events, Arman is dealt a grievous injury and dies a hero. With the Hammer, the Hylar leader Hornfel is crowned King and order is restored.

Depending on how long the heroes took, the refugees' fate is either safe from or massacred by the Dragonarmies. Riverwind and Goldmoon have the option to marry if they're PCs in the adventure. The quest ends on a note that although the heroes struck a decisive victory against the Dragonarmy's forces, the battle for Krynn's freedom is far from over.

Things to Change/Look Out For

Maps: The AD&D adventure's strong suit is that it had more detailed maps of Thorbadin and its districts than the 3.5 adventure. Although knowing where the PCs are is not a necessity, given that most encounters are event-based than dungeon-room-based, it can be a nice visual aid to have.

Verminaard's Offer: This is only in the AD&D version, but I advise that you excise this. It's basically an opportunity for the villain to show up, gloat, and make an offer to the party to betray the refugees. While this can work in a book, show, or similar medium, in a tabletop game it's far more likely that the players will try to attack. Given that random nature of die rolls, it's possible that a lucky party might knock the Dragon Highlord off his mount and kill him right then and there.

Northgate: Overall, this section is fine as-is. The PCs meet Arman Kharas, who knows the way better than they do, and provides some good opportunity to do heroic stuff and save prisoners. However, the party is motivated to retreat as an onslaught of theiwar soldiers, dozens at a time, come to assault the party. Regardless of gaming system, running 30+ enemies at once can be a real slog unless you're using a singular "mob" template. I suggest keeping the theiwar army encounters more descriptive, and have a half dozen fight the PCs at a time when they're running.

Dark Dwarves and Derro: In the later RPG supplements, the evil dwarven clans of the theiwar and daergar are their own subrace of dwarves, but not the classic duergar and derro in other settings. In the original AD&D game, the theiwar dwarves are derro.

Personally speaking, I prefer having the dark dwarves physically and mechanically indistinguishable from the other dwarven clans. It plays up the "civil war" factor and makes it seem more subtle in having the Theiwar thane being a secret Dragonarmy agent. Unless the party has a dwarven PC, to an outside observer the feuding of council politics comes off as a less-established clan jockeying for power, rather than an obvious Evil McTraitorface trying to play the part of a villain with good publicity. It also avoids the question of why the council would tolerate and trust a thane from a subrace who are on the whole afflicted with murderous insanity.

Life-Tree of the Hylar

The Council: The Council is currently unsure of the Dragonarmy's true threat, and their isolationist policy will make them reluctant to open up their gates for refugees. After the Council debates, they will send off the PCs to find the legendary Hammer of Kharas as a token of goodwill, given that the Hammer plays a decisive role in determining which clan's thane becomes king of the nation. As a token of ensuring the party's cooperation, the council keeps Eben Shatterstone as a hostage (which is Raelgar, the Theiwar Thane's, idea). If the PCs refuse, they are imprisoned to await trial for trespassing on Theiwar territory and murder if they killed at least one dark dwarf in Northgate.

Holding off the "Lady in the Lake" Monty Python jokes, this is the next best way for the PCs to go on a dungeon crawl. However, the default example's a bit forced. Have the scene play out normally, but instead of making it the reward an open-ended "whosoever recovers the Hammer of Kharas, that person will the dwarves of Thorbardin befriend," attach a more tangible reward. Most likely shelter for the refugees, or agreement to refuse the Dragonarmy's offers (which the Theiwar and Daegar have been advocating for).

Another thing to consider is that in the AD&D version, the PCs have a chance of realizing that Verminaard is telepathically dominating Raelgar's speech during the meeting by noticing his mannerisms are similar to the Highlord. This is not present in the 3.5 version, but either way things don't change much on whether you include it or not. Even if a free agent, Raelgar's condemnation of the PCs still sets him up as a person the PCs shouldn't trust.

Battle Against Ember

Duncan's Tomb: There are precious few monsters and traps in this dungeon, and the main inhabitant is the copper dragon Evenstar. Emphasize the few encounters, traps, and Evenstar's trials in packed general areas instead of planning out the entire dungeon or doing a room-by-room search. Otherwise it will just feel empty and featureless.

The battle against Ember should be climactic, although like previous dragon encounters he is extremely powerful in 3rd Edition. Using the stats of a Juvenile Red Dragon, but increasing the size category to Gargantuan (without the Strength and Constitution increase) makes for a more reasonable encounter. Additionally, I also turned the flagpole into a mostly-depowered dragonlance which breaks after the battle. This helps demonstrate the power of the campaign's namesake and gives the players a taste of things to come.

For 13th Age, I used a modified Large White Dragon's statistics, save that cold damage is converted to fire and I switched around the vulnerabilities as appropriate.

Both versions of the game have smaller encounters afterwards: in AD&D's case kapak scouts, and in 3.5 six of Ember's children. I personally discarded any encounters in this chapter after Ember, for she served well enough as a climactic battle for this sub-section.

Return to Thorbadin: While the PCs were gone, the Theiwar and Daegar clans helped Verminaard and the Dragonarmies gain access to the kingdom, plunging the realm into civil war. This portion of the adventure involves the party fighting their way through soldiers to the Temple of Stars. One of the encounter locations includes a Daegar prison holding Eben Shatterstone and Berem the Green Gemstone Man. I personally did not include Berem in this adventure; on the contrary, one of the PCs bore the mantle of the Green Gemstone Woman for a 13th Age background. This worked better, as otherwise Berem is an easily forgettable NPC. I'd personally not have him in this adventure, and if he must show up in the campaign have it be during Dragons of Spring.

Capture: In the 3.5 version of the adventure, the PCs are supposed to go to the Temple of Stars after encountering Thane Rance of the Daegar, who demands the PCs surrender (albeit the PC bearing the Hammer of Kharas is allowed to keep it). If not, they must fight a total succession of 93 dwarves and draconians altogether. This is a form of rail-roading I despise.

Instead, allow the PCs to find out the Temple of Stars' location from enemy soldiers, Hylar allies, Arman Kharas himself, or likewise. It feels more satisfying for the party to walk in of their own accord and confront Verminaard once and for all.

The Fall of Verminaard

Final Battle: The climactic battle in the Temple of Stars is  easily one of the high points of the Autumn Twilight arc. Even so, there are a few things to change to make it better.

First, discard the forced handing of the Hammer of Kharas to Verminaard. Be it via the traitor Eben or telepathic mind control, these both take away agency from the PCs with little change in the endgame (Verminaard fights the PCs).

Second, there's a lot of enemies to keep track of. Verminaard, Arman Kharas, the fireshadow, Eben Shatterstone (potentially), and the dark dwarf and Dragonarmy soldiers. When running this battle, I had Thane Raelgar as an enemy NPC which Arman was busy fighting, and the dwarves and Dragonarmy soldiers as a sort of "mob" template which the PCs could attack as a whole.

In the default adventure, the two dark dwarven clans turn on each other when the Theiwar side with Verminaard, as the Daegar thane Rance had a deal that the Dragonarmies would hand him the Hammer instead (Verminaard seeks to take it for himself). This makes for some nice internal treachery, but another idea is to have valiant Hylar soldiers come rushing in to help, particularly if Arman is not with the party. Either way, the pitched battle makes for a chaotic background.

Thirdly, the standard adventure has Arman die regardless of the course of battle from a poisoned blade. This is meant to be a valiant sacrifice, but instead allow the PCs the option to change this. In my games I had Arman and Raelgar fighting in the background, describing how the heroic dwarf was starting to lose, as he lost his footing and the treacherous Thane raised a poison dagger to plunge into his chest...

At that point, one of my PCs rushed forth to save him in the nick of time, taking Raelgar out with a critical hit. Naturally your own campaign's conflict will be different, but granting the PCs the choice to momentarily disengage to save Arman at the risk of leaving their party open has more narrative and tactical impact.

Finally, there is the matter of the giant pit of death in the center of the Temple. It's a given that one or more PCs may get the idea to push Verminaard into it. Indeed this is how the Dragon Highlord met his end in the novels, but it can be anti-climactic system-wise if a PC uses a single bull rush, spell, or opposed Strength check to knock him in on the first or second round.

One idea is to place Verminaard a fair distance from the pit, or to give him a spell such as levitate to have him come back up. But this is quite obviously meant to mitigate a valid tactic with minimal dramatic impact. Another idea is to have him fall in when shoved or at the brink of death, but have him summon the fireshadow to lift him back up out of the pit with a blazing vengeance! This makes the battle feel like a nice evolution from a "first form"to "final stage" boss, to borrow video game terminology.

In Conclusion

Dragons of Desolation requires a few adjustments, but individually take little effort to change and fix.

I'm happy to have completed the first arc of the Dragonlance saga. I plan to begin writing for the Winter Night arc sometime next week. This will also be the first time the saga's two-party split-up is addressed in detail!

State of the Union: New campaigns, a Tenkar's Tavern pick, and more

Slumbering Tsar Cover Art

I have horrible organization skills. The only two constants in my life are my day job and my tabletop games, and even the latter is subject to change based on players' real life concerns. Aside from this, I am scatterbrained even when it comes to my entertainment. Video games played for dozens of hours lay uncompleted to gather dust when another catches my interest. I share news of cool happenings in geek culture with friends on Steam, only to forget who I told what and end up repeating myself. I got so engrossed in the Witcher 3 the last month I neglected my blog, my writing, and scheduled events.

I bought a weekly planner to get my life back in order, and after noticing my last blog post and undone projects like Dragons of Renewal and Arcana High, I set out to start working again on the things I feel passionate about and want to release into the world for viewers' enjoyment. This blog post is a sort of news update of sorts, to let you know what's been going on while I've been gone.

Two New Campaigns: Way of the Wicked, the Dragonlance Chronicles, Slumbering Tsar, and more. I own a fair share of adventure paths and epic sagas, but many of them go unplayed as mere reading material. I'm pleased to note that my Saturday and Sunday groups settled on two Frog God Games mega-adventures to try out: Slumbering Tsar and Northlands Saga respectively. Amusingly this was mere coincidence that they were of the same publisher; I presented both groups with 4 or 5 adventures I was keen on running, and let them decide. The Northlands game has been going for a month now, 4 sessions in, and Slumbering Tsar just began last week. We're having fun with both, and I may keep a campaign journal of both if the gaming groups are fine with me sharing on the blog.

A Tenkar's Tavern OSR Pick: Yesterday Erik Tenkar shared Part One of several products part of the GM's Day weekly sale. My latest book, Larius Firetongue's School of Sorcery, was among the choices. Although I did my part to spread awareness of the sale, it's humbling to see one's own work as a recommended pick on one of the most popular OSR blogs. For a time I was afraid that my book would get hardly any notice, that a magic school campaign style wasn't as popular as I thought it would be, a not uncommon fear I have whenever making a new product. It's nice to see that the time and effort I put in to it has not gone unrewarded.