As your small party of adventurers rounds a bend in the road, you spot a man lying face-down in the mud underneath a small copse of trees. His blue robes are charred and foul with mud and muck and his bald head sports a fresh wound that has caked his face in dried blood. Nearby tracks reveal that he must have stumbled out from the woods across a nearby field where a thin stream of smoke or steam is just visible, twisting in the wind.
.... now what?
Just a teaser for a quick adventure i hope to be running soon. Funsies!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Ingenuity
There's nothing like being level 1 again (or level 2, 3 or 4 for that matter) to really feel vulnerable. Any off chance crit from some NPC or other could easily bring your fun new character's adventuring career to a grinding halt and while this isn't exactly a bad thing, it certainly does bring out a high level of danger that just cant really be experienced at the higher levels without edging onto the ridiculous. Similarly, simple obstacles like crevasses, cliff faces, raging rivers and any number of others, can make really tough challenges without any need for horrid demons and vast armies.
Without access to key spells like stone shape, fly and any number of other utility spells available at lvl 5 and onwards, it takes a serious amount of ingenuity to pass obstacles of a non-combative sort and its an aspect of DnD that can easily be overlooked.
Inventing genius plans and strange contraptions with whatever may be handy really cements a party together, pooling aspects of everyone's skills together and enforcing ideas of teamwork. Taking a 20ft crevasse as an example, characters will need to find some sort of makeshift bridge, get it across, secure it, possibly still needing to balance if its a crappy bridge, theres no way in hell they're jumping the damn thing. Basically, fun for the whole family.
Seeing as its something that can really die out at higher levels, get in on the action as much as possible and cackle with inner glee as your players attempt to cross that deep lake with nothing but 3 pints of oil, a rope and some dead trees... and succeed.
Without access to key spells like stone shape, fly and any number of other utility spells available at lvl 5 and onwards, it takes a serious amount of ingenuity to pass obstacles of a non-combative sort and its an aspect of DnD that can easily be overlooked.
Inventing genius plans and strange contraptions with whatever may be handy really cements a party together, pooling aspects of everyone's skills together and enforcing ideas of teamwork. Taking a 20ft crevasse as an example, characters will need to find some sort of makeshift bridge, get it across, secure it, possibly still needing to balance if its a crappy bridge, theres no way in hell they're jumping the damn thing. Basically, fun for the whole family.
Seeing as its something that can really die out at higher levels, get in on the action as much as possible and cackle with inner glee as your players attempt to cross that deep lake with nothing but 3 pints of oil, a rope and some dead trees... and succeed.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Release Avenue
Right, just a minor update: I've decided on DriveThroughRPG as our release avenue. I've used their site for a while now, and always found it fairly easy to use. Having talked to one of their publisher relations people, releasing products via their site seems to be pretty easy too.
Now its just a matter of jumping through the right hoops, as well as learning the in and outs of actually making a good pdf.
Content wise, I'm trying to make Trouble Under Eisenstadt as useful as I can, with sections of leading into the adventure (i.e. generic hooks), as well as notes on playing it under alternative systems (i.e. AE, Iron Heroes, and utilising Experimental Might). Maps and such will be provided, as well as printable combat maps (Eisenstadt has fairly easily describe-able areas, but I'm fond of using minitures for tactical combat).
Now its just a matter of jumping through the right hoops, as well as learning the in and outs of actually making a good pdf.
Content wise, I'm trying to make Trouble Under Eisenstadt as useful as I can, with sections of leading into the adventure (i.e. generic hooks), as well as notes on playing it under alternative systems (i.e. AE, Iron Heroes, and utilising Experimental Might). Maps and such will be provided, as well as printable combat maps (Eisenstadt has fairly easily describe-able areas, but I'm fond of using minitures for tactical combat).
Generics
David recently introduced me to the idea that most DMs have a standard sort of adventure that they tend to tie themselves to. A style that they tend to design around. To start with i laughed off the idea in the vain hope that ALL of my adventures are unique and wonderful.
How wrong i was.
After a thoroughly enjoyable testing session of the Eisenstadt mines i thought i'd do my own little one-off adventure. Lo and behold, i instantly cracked into a staple favourite of mine; the retaken building. As an example of this, think a temple/castle/mansion/whatever that once belonged to someone else, that was used for specific purposes (ie kitchens, guard rooms, prayer halls) that have now been converted to different purposes.
The reason i like this format so much is the chance to show what the building once was as well as what it is now, hopefully in a way to be interesting to the players.
But, stepping aside from this, i feel that i'd get a richer campaign and a more rewarding experience as a DM if i decided to go against that initial desire. To bring in new and exciting elements that i'd otherwise not really thought about. As a recent example, one of my campaign arcs is set in a travelling refugee camp and mostly is about the struggle for power therein. Something different, incredibly challenging but ultimately rewarding when it works.
Find your default favourite, by all means work it hard (as you'll undoubtedly be comfortable in running it later) but try to step outside your stereotype now and again, who knows, you might even get a fancy new favourite.
How wrong i was.
After a thoroughly enjoyable testing session of the Eisenstadt mines i thought i'd do my own little one-off adventure. Lo and behold, i instantly cracked into a staple favourite of mine; the retaken building. As an example of this, think a temple/castle/mansion/whatever that once belonged to someone else, that was used for specific purposes (ie kitchens, guard rooms, prayer halls) that have now been converted to different purposes.
The reason i like this format so much is the chance to show what the building once was as well as what it is now, hopefully in a way to be interesting to the players.
But, stepping aside from this, i feel that i'd get a richer campaign and a more rewarding experience as a DM if i decided to go against that initial desire. To bring in new and exciting elements that i'd otherwise not really thought about. As a recent example, one of my campaign arcs is set in a travelling refugee camp and mostly is about the struggle for power therein. Something different, incredibly challenging but ultimately rewarding when it works.
Find your default favourite, by all means work it hard (as you'll undoubtedly be comfortable in running it later) but try to step outside your stereotype now and again, who knows, you might even get a fancy new favourite.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Trouble Below Eisenstadt
Standing on the boardwalk of the Hammer and Chisel, you scrape the mud off your boots before heading inside. It's the only bar in Eisenstadt, and while it's certainly not fancy, it is spacious, laid out with many tables and chairs to accommodate the mine workers, who make up a fair portion of the small town's population.
Gregory Hanlan, your contact and town mayor, is immediately visible - other than the bartender, he's pretty much the only patron in the bar. He's an older man, slightly overweight from living a comfy life in recent years, but his bent posture and strong shoulders hark back to his earlier days as a miner. There are dark rings around his eyes - Gregory has obviously not slept well in days.
"So, you must be the delvers we sent for" he says, in his small town drawl "I suppose I'd better fill you in. We've got a miner problem nowadays, and its no small issue. It started about a fortnight ago, with a flash in the night sky, and a small forest fire. Couple of days later, our miners breached a new cavern, and things turned to havoc - they've gone mad, we had to pull down the ladder and bracing just to stop them climbing out." Mining was the life blood of Eisenstadt, and the desperation in the mayor's voice is clear.
The bartender brings over pints of ale after a gesture from Gregory. Gregory nods his head at the dreary scene beyond the window "Adding insult to injury, this rain started a week ago, and now in every way, my town is mired. I know its been an unpleasant trip, in these conditions, but how soon can you begin?"
Trouble Below Eisenstadt is a stand-alone adventure, designed for a party of approximately 3rd level, and can be completed in about 4-5 hours (based on its playtesting session with a core party). Release plans are somewhat sketchy - as Splintercat's first adventure, there's a handful of things to sort out, such as pdf design and release avenue.
Gregory Hanlan, your contact and town mayor, is immediately visible - other than the bartender, he's pretty much the only patron in the bar. He's an older man, slightly overweight from living a comfy life in recent years, but his bent posture and strong shoulders hark back to his earlier days as a miner. There are dark rings around his eyes - Gregory has obviously not slept well in days.
"So, you must be the delvers we sent for" he says, in his small town drawl "I suppose I'd better fill you in. We've got a miner problem nowadays, and its no small issue. It started about a fortnight ago, with a flash in the night sky, and a small forest fire. Couple of days later, our miners breached a new cavern, and things turned to havoc - they've gone mad, we had to pull down the ladder and bracing just to stop them climbing out." Mining was the life blood of Eisenstadt, and the desperation in the mayor's voice is clear.
The bartender brings over pints of ale after a gesture from Gregory. Gregory nods his head at the dreary scene beyond the window "Adding insult to injury, this rain started a week ago, and now in every way, my town is mired. I know its been an unpleasant trip, in these conditions, but how soon can you begin?"
Trouble Below Eisenstadt is a stand-alone adventure, designed for a party of approximately 3rd level, and can be completed in about 4-5 hours (based on its playtesting session with a core party). Release plans are somewhat sketchy - as Splintercat's first adventure, there's a handful of things to sort out, such as pdf design and release avenue.
An Introduction
Studio Splintercat is the working name for a collaboration between myself (David), and an associate (Jetse), and is intended to be an outlet for various D&D, and D20 adventures, and alternative rules, as well as some miscellaneous projects.
On this blog, you'll find our musings on various subjects, as well as news and previews of current projects.
On this blog, you'll find our musings on various subjects, as well as news and previews of current projects.
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