On the black tar veld,
Surrounded by beasts
And wavering heat.
We travel the path:
Forever southward,
Across lost lands,
‘Neath forgotten stars.
Here, Hand-in-hand,
Ear to the wind,
Avoiding pitfalls
And predators
That might bring us low,
Wary yet unawares,
Forever on, we go.
Because we are lost
In each other’s tales
And each other’s minds
And each other’s souls;
And from here on in,
We will always
Share this road.
Hi all,
I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017. It was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s the follow up campaign – 2018’s ‘Tomb of Annihilation’. We used experience points rather than milestones/level-based progression, which led to some ‘xp grinding’ along the way. Each session was 4 hours long. Some of the summaries may be amusing; don’t forget these are unedited emails, so please forgive their somewhat chaotic nature and poor sentence structure/grammar. If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.
Game on!
Steve 🙂
The Tomb of the Nine Gods – Level 3!
The wet corridor, a crawlspace leading to a dead end, a magic curtain of water that exploded like a tidal wave if you walked through without a trident, and two more eyeball things on pedestals.
Another crawlspace to a dusty room and then a huge area with floating platforms, a skeleton with a pentagonal head (William’s Druid recovered that one), a demonic statue clutching two more eyeballs, a lever that made huge winds and drove William’s druid and Daniel’s bard temporarily crazy (although the bard managed to swipe the eyes and get away, while William’s druid fell off the balcony – doh!)
Splitting the party is always such fun! A fight with a Tomb Guardian, a plaque with hints about the current level (it’s so nice when nasty wizardy bad guys leave hints lying around), another crawlspace with a steel trapdoor, a revolving room that ended up killing Clinton’s Fighter/Rogue, with Dan’s Warlock and Morgan’s Rogue (cool wall running, man!) escaping to the next room.
A big pit with a statue, a treasure chest and a silver key in the bottom, shielded by a wall of force, two statues up top and an empty plinth. No one could work out what to do with this one (more party member heads required). A corridor leading to a mirrored disco door that gradually turns your reflection undead when you load eyeballs in the slots.
Daniel’s bard saved William’s druid by skewering him with roped crossbow bolts and dragging his sore carcass out of the crazy, windy room. William’s druid drank his healing potion and found out it was poison – aghhhh! The party joined up again and are now facing two tomb guardians previously attached at the neck by a chain (no longer, thanks to Daniel’s Bard’s judicious use of a heat metal spell at 4th level).
Next week: Finishing that battle! Finding five more eyes! What lies beyond the mirror door?
The Tomb of the Nine Gods – Level 3!
The party finished off the Tomb Guardians in the corridor. Clinton’s new fighter appeared, keen for a fight and genuinely Lawful Evil. Welcome back Clinton!
Into the tomb of spirit guardian Kubazan, where Daniel’s Bard (possessed by I’Jin), tucked one of the special masks into her pack, lit the candle on the shrine and raised four Wraiths. One big fight later, Mark’s Cleric and William’s Druid turned into frogs. Mark’s frog decided to eat the ceremonial cockroaches and four wraiths appeared again. Everybody had to change their pants, the big Dao the party befriended previously decided to intervene and the wraiths were eventually vanquished, but not before a few party members almost died. “That’s two times I’ve assisted you,” the Dao said to Mark’s Cleric. “One left.” During the battle, Dan’s Warlock decided to Thunderstep, which teleported her to the refuse room and an Otyugh! Just escaping with the Otyugh in tow, Dan’s warlock leapt through a grate into the river below, swam to safety and long rested on a ledge.
A long rest for the rest of the party later, they returned to the tomb, worked out the correct sequence and Mark’s Cleric got himself some nice Bracers of Archery (and held off a possession by Kubazan).
William’s druid found a secret door, picked up a hitchhiking golden skull called Yaka who used to be the court fool to the royal family of Omu and is now cursed to follow and insult William’s druid (and everyone around him). Another tomb guardian killed by Daniel’s bard and Dan’s warlock (who found the party again) was lost in a crawlspace.
A spiral staircase and the party headed up to level 2, where they found a room full of ghoulish equipment and a bunch of Tomb Dwarves in the process of creating something. Yaka lived up to his name—it looks like surprise is forever off the table. That’s one loud skull. “Hey,” said Yaka. “I’ve had no one to talk to for hundreds of years, gimme a break.”
Next week: The secrets of the tomb revealed!! Or not.
At the tomb lab, the party defeated a bunch of tomb dwarves and a hot-off-the-presses just-created tomb guardian. Mark’s Cleric turned some of the tomb dwarves and ended up getting a ghost lantern. Dan’s Warlock pursued the tomb dwarves up the staircase and through the secret door to level 1, where he ran into the lovely Otyugh he let lose from the waste room. Then the tomb dwarves showed up, and the fight was on in a tight corridor. Davor’s ranger proved he could do the splits Jean-Claude Van Damme style, Morgan’s rogue got killed (much to Morgan’s delight as he can now use a new character) and Clinton’s fighter got mashed by the Otyugh but also managed to kill it when it ran in fear from Daniel’s bard’s fear spell.
While they were resting Daniel’s bard went to the alternate tomb in search of easy experience points and ended up (just) besting a wraith, with a good use of the curse spell and some decent rolls!
Down to Withers’ office, where the party fought some wraiths and crawling claws, but Withers escaped (gasp!). William’s druid got his hands on the manual of golems (“thanks bard, for loaning me that, it’s mine now—bwah ha ha!”) and Davor’s ranger received the bracers of archery (and fended off the spirit).
Off to the leftover rooms to find more eye keys. A room of yucky veils and a big nasty, chomping boar head. Dan’s warlock got scared and ran away. Mark’s cleric almost lost a few fingers…
Off to the rotating corridor, where another eye was recovered from the body of a dead adventurer.
Then back to the room with the golem in the pit!
Next week: The golem in the pit! More eyes! The big room with the mirror ball disco door!
For more Laidback DM, click here.
For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.
Here we are
Two souls enshrouded
Caught between dunes
Of desert seas
Twin oases in bloom
Beckoning between mirages
And unsubtle forays
Into dated wilderness
To join as one
And cast aside doubts
In nascent fires
Of pleasure and pain
If only this heart could recognise
The thousand tiny diamonds
Of light, the albedo so
Slick and knowing
And revealing,
And realised
In a single
Lonely
Teardrop
Hi all,
I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017. It was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s the follow up campaign – 2018’s ‘Tomb of Annihilation’. We used experience points rather than milestones/level-based progression, which led to some ‘xp grinding’ along the way. Each session was 4 hours long. Some of the summaries may be amusing; don’t forget these are unedited emails, so please forgive their somewhat chaotic nature and poor sentence structure/grammar. If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.
Game on!
Steve 🙂
The Tomb of the Nine Gods – Level 2!
Meanwhile, in the secret corridor, Mark’s Cleric opened the Genie bottle there and now has a Dao who will help him three times (or will she…). She doesn’t like Acererak, either. That Lich really knows how to make friends and influence people.
In the next chamber, a shield that threw magic spears and six glass cauldrons full of bones that spouted skeletons, a chariot with treasure and a sarcophagus. Dan’s Halfling Warlock took to the cart to swipe some treasure and activated the trap! One big battle later, and Daniel’s Bard was taken over by the spirit of Papzotl after handling an amulet. What is that mysterious amulet? Only time (or a long rest attuning to it) will tell…
While the party was short resting, Daniel’s Bard wandered off to the mirror tomb and set off the trap in the wine tomb. Why not, I guess?
William’s Druid found a secret door in the corridor and a scrying pool, where he could see through the eyes of some wandering monster. Suddenly, a tomb guardian erupted from the pool and another battle ensued.
The Tomb of the Nine Gods – Level 2!
The party decided to go around the circular dimensional corridor to the alternate tomb and check out the pentagram room again (the one they did earlier, but a different one). The invisible Grey Slaad fireballed their asses – twice! Then they creamed it. Nothing in the sarcophagus (gasp!), so they decided against revisiting the skeleton room and headed back to the actual tomb, over to the devil’s head floor hole and down to the next level through the magical darkness…
The Tomb of the Nine Gods – Level 3!
Down to I’Jinn’s tomb, where they couldn’t touch the floor. Daniel’s Bard (with the spirit of Papazotl in him, protecting him from falling damage), decided to dive head first into the darkness and hit a floor tile, activating the trap and being shredded by locusts! Clinton’s Fighter/Rogue also got eaten by locusts. Chloe’s Sorcerer ingeniously used lightning lure to save both Daniel’s Bard and Clinton’s Fighter/Rogue and they were healed by Mark’s Cleric.
After a lot of tile testing (and lots of locust swarms), William’s Druid changed into a tiny spider, crawled through a peep hole in the door, discovered a disc with symbols on it on the other side, found another peephole which allowed him to see the symbols in the right order and telepathically tell the dudes and dudettes in the other room which tiles to press in order, and so the sarcophagus was opened. Daniel’s Bard got the Almiraj horn before anyone else, and I’jinn displaced Papazotl. She also got a cool wand of wonder.
Next room: a shadow thingie (a version of the character who entered) and a font of green soup! Chloe’s Sorcerer controlled the shadow to drink the soup and find an orange eyeball (strange…) – thank you Davor’s Ranger, for the drinking suggestion. William’s Druid and Morgan’s Rogue both got scared sh%@less by the shadow’s front end.
Daniel’s Bard and Dan’s warlock found an uneventful crawlspace. Or was it…
William’s Druid located a new room with wet floors and a water curtain…
Next week: Watery room! Other rooms! Some nice corridors. Furniture. Perhaps a kitchen suite or bedroom ensemble.
For more Laidback DM, click here.
For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.
I love to take photographs and write poetry.
And show them to you right here.
Steve 🙂
Sunset Screened. A poem.
Light peeks gingerly
From behind feathered lines
Burnished in the Autumn light
From whence the night
Seeks the gentle touch
Of its spurned lover
Hidden, yet revealed
For all the world to see
About a year back (has it been that long?) I played a few games of Dragon Warriors, a cool OSR game by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson, which features some annoyingly inconsistent systems lol. Despite that, the combat was fast moving and the atmosphere was great! For a full review of Dragon Warriors, click here.
I play all my games on Roll20 at the moment, and for one of the adventures I decided to make a bigger map (because the tiny B&W one just wasn’t doing it for me lol). The map below is a slightly revamped version of The Tomb of Vallandar from The King Under The Forest in Sleeping Gods (I did it pretty quickly so please excuse the mistakes).
This map is based on the original by Andrew Law, published in Sleeping Gods, Serpent King Games edition.
Below is an old school map of the village square in Maiden’s Vale, from The Darkness Before the Dawn, the introductory adventure in the rule book. It’s perfectly sized for Roll20 (1750×1750), so it can just be dropped straight in (and yes, this was a rush job, too lol).
I also made up a couple of other maps, one of which is The First Ambush from The Darkness Before the Dawn – I posted in on this site about a year ago. You can find it here.
Here is Queen Fhionn’s House from that same adventure. It’s perfectly sized for Roll20 (1750×1750) so it can be dropped straight in. Yes, it was a rush job. Hey, I was playing a lot of games online during lockdown and didn’t have a lot of time to prep lol.
Of course, you don’t have to use these maps for Dragon Warriors – they will work perfectly well with any other fantasy Table Top Role Playing Game (TTRPG).
The interesting thing about playing an old school TTRPG written before the miniatures craze and the advent of the Virtual Table Top (VTT), is that you need to interpret some rules in a different way when you play via VTT. It’s fine if you’re playing ‘theater of the mind’, but VTT requires a bit extra, like dynamic lighting and movement. Luckily, I’ve done the hard work for you. Here are the VTT rules I made for Dragon Warriors on Roll20. By the way, I used hexes in place of the standard squares on Roll20 with a distance of 1 meter per square and they worked really well.
Combat Range
Movement
Light Sources
While I was playing the game I was recommended some Dragon Warriors zines that were available for free on DrivethruRPG (cheers, Simon!). I did, and they’re great! Heaps of ancillary materials, mini-adventures, fleshed out NPCs. They are ideal for anyone getting into the game, and can be found here.
I hope you like this Dragon Warriors stuff! I may eventually play a few more games in the future, as we all had a great time playing (and interpreting the spell rules lol).
Onwards!
Steve 🙂
We are pieces
Scattered
Jigsaw pieces
Pieces of
trauma
love
anger
joy
longing
pain
Pieces
To connect
Maybe
Find ourselves
Again
You and I
Are brakeless cars
Feted to crash and burn
On this roundabout
And laugh
At the inevitability
Of it all
Hi all,
FiveE Magazine is available NOW in PDF on DrivethruRPG – you can download a PDF copy for FREE! Or you can get a PRINT copy for FREE (all you pay for is the base print cost + postage – I don’t make any profit from the magazine). https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/391814/FiveE-Magazine–April-2022
FiveE Magazine is a semi-regular periodical dedicated to content for the World’s Most Popular Fantasy Role Playing Game! 78 pages of amazing content, gorgeous art, free maps, new monsters, new magic items, new class, full adventure and village setting, new stories, articles and hints for new DMs, plus loads more! And it’s FREE!
With articles by a host of contributors, including Laidback DM, Chloe the Cartographer, Milosz Gawecki, F.H Stevens, W.M Deluca and others.
You can download or order your FREE PDF or PRINT copy (all you pay for is the base print cost + postage – I don’t make any profit from the magazine) at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/391814/FiveE-Magazine–April-2022
Game on!
Steve 🙂
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/stevestillstand
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaidbackDM
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevestillstanding/
DrivethruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/13989/Laidback-DM
SHOTGLASS ROUNDS One-Shots for 5e & OSR are flexible, convenient, super-charged adventures that won’t have you sitting up for hours doing prep for your next game session! Run them as a One-Shot, or pop them into your ongoing campaign as an exciting side mission! Each adventure is designed for 1-2 x 4-5 hour game sessions, with DM’s map and key, new monsters & new magic items, a full-size player’s map with grid & a full-size grid-less player’s map, plus lots of cool art!
Previously released in PDF, all 10 adventures in the SHOTGLASS ROUNDS series are now available in an awesome hardcover edition, available in print and PDF! In the book:
Plus, for the first time:
Get it now at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/13989/
Onward!
Steve 🙂
And all at once,
That special someone
Will keep you
Hanging on their every word
As if they were the last branch
On the last tree
On the very last island
In the very last sea
And your hopes and dreams
Will be fathomless
Then you’ll f$&@ it up
I cheer you on into the abyss
From whence we come and go
Always waiting for our turn
To be shot down in mid-flight
Target practice for the aimless
And the weary, worn out souls
Who capitulate to inevitability
And take their place
On the merry-go-round
Circling like vultures
For whatever scraps remain
Until the ride comes to an end
And each is deposited
(With all the rest)
Into a sea of islands,
Too remote and too far
Awaiting one last shipwreck
To rescue us from ourselves
(As long as we can endure
The inevitable weight
of each other’s baggage)
I cheer you on into the abyss
From whence we come and go
If the void is so intent
On being my friend
It could at least
Speak
And then
Neither of us
Would be so alone
Containing newly edited versions of the poems from The All or the Nothing (2017) and Poetry for the Sad, Lonely and Hopelessly Endangered (2018), Dark Minds & Bright Souls is a 160-page hardcover collection for all the bright souls and dark minds out there.
Available at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/389015/Dark-Minds–Bright-Souls
Time for a free map! I love drawing maps by hand for Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy TTRPG adventures. I have far too many, so I like to give away my maps whenever I can.
This map comes with a grid sized at 30 x 21 squares and can be used for face-to-face games or Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, or Foundry!
Rumor in town is a huge dragon died in some caverns outside of town a long time ago and left its hoard to be collected by anyone who wants it! Of course, no one happened to mention that the mushroom forest within the caves gives off poisonous fumes, or that the wraith-like spirit of the dragon still jealously protects its hoard…
This map is free to use for non-commercial purposes, as long as you acknowledge me and my website stevestillstanding.com. If you want to use it commercially, please send me an email and we can talk terms.
Onward!
Steve 😊
For more Laidback DM, click here.
For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.
Time for a free map! I love drawing maps by hand for Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy TTRPG adventures. I have far too many, so I like to give away my maps whenever I can.
This 44 squares x 31 squares map comes with a grid and can be used for face-to-face games or Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, or Foundry!
This lovely waterfall grove may be home to inconsiderate and troublesome fey, treacherous goblins or the lair of an ancient Green Dragon! It’s all up to you. And what about that standing stones encircling that strange green pyre? Time for some PCs to investigate…
This map is free to use for non-commercial purposes, as long as you acknowledge me and my website stevestillstanding.com. If you want to use it commercially, please send me an email and we can talk terms.
Onward!
Steve 😊
For more Laidback DM, click here.
For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.
Time for a free map! I love drawing maps by hand for Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy TTRPG adventures. I have far too many, so I like to give away my maps whenever I can.
This map comes with a grid and can be used for face-to-face games or Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, or Foundry!
I’ve been experimenting with different ways of drawing cavern floors and here’s one of the examples! This is a big map – twice the usual Roll20 space (so either double the size in Roll20 to 3500 pixels OR halve the size of the squares from 70 to 35 pixels) but once you’ve done that it will fit perfectly with no need to align the grid. I bet you’re already thinking about what you can put there to keep your adventurers on their toes…
This map is free to use for non-commercial purposes, as long as you acknowledge me and my website stevestillstanding.com. If you want to use it commercially, please send me an email and we can talk terms.
Onward!
Steve 😊
For more Laidback DM, click here.
For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.
Laidback DM’s Maps for Fantasy RPGs 3 is a collection of 20 hand-drawn, full color maps (2 zip files, totaling 100 digital image files, in CMYK Print format, RGB Screen format, full size A3 & A4 grid and grid-less and grid-less VTT size). These maps come with a limited commercial license allowing you, the purchaser, to use them royalty-free in your own commercial or private publication projects.
Dungeons, mines, temples, ruins, lairs, tombs, fey wilderness and more! All map images are high quality 600DPI (print quality is 300DPI) full color JPEGS and are unlabeled, so you can add your own as needed.
These maps are system-neutral and can be used with any fantasy game. Available now at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/387203/Maps-for-Fantasy-RPGs-3
Time for a free map! I love drawing maps by hand for Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy TTRPG adventures. I have far too many, so I like to give away my maps whenever I can.
This map comes with a grid and can be used for face-to-face games or Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, or Foundry!
So why is this called “Rushed Dungeon”? Because I drew it really quickly, colored it pretty quickly and thus: Rushed Dungeon. I think it still came out pretty good, all things considered lol. So, here you go – rush in where fools dare to tread and stock it already!
This map is free to use for non-commercial purposes, as long as you acknowledge me and my website stevestillstanding.com. If you want to use it commercially, please send me an email and we can talk terms.
Onward!
Steve 😊
For more Laidback DM, click here.
For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.
Time for a free map! I love drawing maps by hand for Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy TTRPG adventures. I have far too many, so I like to give away my maps whenever I can.
This map is grid-less, is 1750 x 1750 pixels (25 x 25 squares) and is perfect for use in face-to-face games or on Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, or Foundry!
Every party has a rogue, and pretty well every rogue wants to do some shoplifting in the dead of night, don’t they? Never be unprepared again. Here’s a middle class merchant/trader with lots of goods (and no doubt lots of protection…). Enjoy!
This map is free to use for non-commercial purposes, as long as you acknowledge me and my website stevestillstanding.com. If you want to use it commercially, please send me an email and we can talk terms.
Onward!
Steve 😊
For more Laidback DM, click here.
For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.
Hi all,
I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017. It was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s the follow up campaign – 2018’s ‘Tomb of Annihilation’. We used experience points rather than milestones/level-based progression, which led to some ‘xp grinding’ along the way. Each session was 4 hours long. Some of the summaries may be amusing; don’t forget these are unedited emails, so please forgive their somewhat chaotic nature and poor sentence structure/grammar. If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.
Game on!
Steve 🙂
Note: There is no week 26 – we missed that week due to other commitments
The Tomb of the Nine Gods! Welcome back Steve K, who was away at uni, but re-joined the party with a new Monk.
The party rested after Daniel’s Bard decided to slice and dice poor old Orvex’s body for food(!), still unwilling to admit that she was, in fact, a serial killer of epic proportions and undoubtedly evil. I’m sure she won’t put that on her Tinder profile.
The party found a room with a gaping mouth that could be passed twice before it chomped them, a sarcophagus, a young daughter of the Last Queen of Omu in the form of a telepathic skull, hordes of undead tarantulas and some nifty teamwork (including an incredible bow shot by Morgan’s Rogue that took out the swarm with one arrow – ricochets, I’m sure!). And gained a nice Staff of the Serpents for Mark’s Cleric.
Onto a corridor with a giant propeller blade and a pressure plate! Dan’s Halfling Warlock boarded William’s Druid who had turned into a Giant Wolf Spider and crawled across the walls and past the blades to the room beyond, where three chests and a 20-foot deep pit with a sarcophagus lay. Dan’s Warlock got stuck in one of the chests and lost all his metal possessions (including all his money). Steve K’s Monk was persuaded by William’s Druid to enter a chest and got disintegrated. DOH!
William’s Druid, Dan’s Warlock and Morgan’s Rogue (without his weapons – long story) confronted a mummy from the sarcophagus. Mark’s Cleric decided to Dimension Door himself, Daniel’s Bard and Morgan’s weapons (long story) to the room to help out but ended up in another room fighting an Otyugh. They eventually got out after defeating the beastie, getting a nasty disease and later healing it.
They gained a nice Mace of Terror for William’s Druid, plus he was possessed by the Trickster God Wongo, who gave him a psionic power and a nice psychological flaw…
The party rested at the front door, then headed off to level two and a room with a devil’s face and a deep, blackness-enshrouded pit, a corridor (possibly leading to an alternate tomb), a dead goat man body with a staff and spell book, the story of a previous party caught in the tomb, and finally a new room that smelled of wine (with a sarcophagus – how unexpected).
Next week: The winey-smelling room! Other stuff!
The Tomb of the Nine Gods!
Into the false tomb! William’s druid, inhabited by Wongo, went all Wongo on that sh%t and decided to open the sarcophagus lid, exposing the illusionary light to the wooden plaque, which triggered the block falling slowly to seal off the room, which led to everyone leaving except for Chloe’s Sorcerer and Daniel’s Bard (hey, thanks heaps, party of supportive friends). While the rest were sealed off outside, wine started to fill the room and three Wine Weirds (like Water Weirds, but with…well, wine) attacked the brave and soon-to-be-dead heroines!
Mark’s Cleric, Davor’s Ranger and Morgan’s Rogue headed off to the circular corridor to the alternate tomb, triggering the trap in the duplicate room and rushing back. Nice try, guys.
Chloe’s sorcerer found the hidden escape tunnel, Daniel’s bard followed and they ended up in another tomb room with a sarcophagus (ho hum) and a pentagram in salt. Ten minutes later the door rose and the wine rushed out. The party found the crawl space, Daniel’s Bard pretended to be a demon and told them to f%ck off. The party joined up and William’s Wongo-mad Druid decided to break the salt circle. A Grey Slaad went wild on the team and after a lovely, spell-ridden battle, succumbed to the pointy bits of their weapons.
After a long rest in the demonic tomb (as you do), the party located a secret door to a secret room…
Next Week: DOH! Or something that sounds like that. Or something else.
For more Laidback DM, click here.
For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.
Hi all,
I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017. It was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s the follow up campaign – 2018’s ‘Tomb of Annihilation’. We used experience points rather than milestones/level-based progression, which led to some ‘xp grinding’ along the way. Each session was 4 hours long. Some of the summaries may be amusing; don’t forget these are unedited emails, so please forgive their somewhat chaotic nature and poor sentence structure/grammar. If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.
Game on!
Steve 🙂
OMU! The last shrines! (Thank the Lord, they were getting tiresome lol)
Off to the amphitheatre went the party. An impromptu performance by Daniel’s Bard, and a number of deinonychus were awakened (and then fireballed by Jake’s new Wizard, who just happened to be at the amphitheatre to join the party). Then a couple of Tyrannosaurs, who made mincemeat of Davor’s Ranger. Then Daniel’s Bard remembered he had the mask of beasts. One friended and the other killed. Williams’s Druid tried on his Allosaurus wildshape form.
I’Jinn’s Shrine
William’s Druid in Allosaurus form decided to eat the Almiraj – yum! How to cross a complex floor pattern without getting stuck with poisonous arrows: Davor’s ranger just ran across, William’s Druid just spider-shaped it, Daniel’s Bard tried a door on the floor and then worked out the pattern. At the end of a maze, a room with a puzzle cube. Mark’s Cleric searched for secret doors and got a hidden swinging blade for his troubles. Davor’s ranger grabbed the cube.
Unkh’s Shrine
A shed full of keys! An almost dead Wizard of Thay! A convenient plot-device story about the last puzzle cube being taken by the Yuan Ti! The puzzle solved, but not before the Wizard was zapped by the Unkh statue.
Off to the Fane of the Yuan Ti! Some basilisks protecting the back door! Chloe’s Cleric bit the big one (that’s petrification, in layman’s terms) and so she’ll need a new character for next week (that makes six characters stoned in this campaign, so far). The only good basilisk is a dead basilisk! Why am I using so many exclamation points!
Next week: The Fane of the Deathly Serpent of Devious and Deadly Means! Sounds very Potter-esque…
Into the back door of the Fane of the Serpent, secret hideaway of the Yuan Ti and Ras Nsi!
At first, the party successfully deceived several guards and slavers to get to a storeroom with a giant intelligent snake. William’s Druid, who squeezed through a number of large tunnels to retain his Allosaur beast shape, couldn’t fit into the smaller internal tunnels and so the party backtracked to discuss how they would sneak in.
Jake’s Wizard decided to upset the applecart (what’s new). Never much of a team player, he got fed up with the party discussion, headed back into the caves and fireballed the Broodguards.
The big battle raged on! The party fought Yuan Ti Broodguards, a Yuan Ti Mallison and a Hydra. Now, resting in the slaver’s cave, they heard the noise of more approaching guards. Mark’s Cleric locked the doors and broke the key in the lock.
Next week: Fight the coming guards or exit the lair and try the front door? Or something else involving boats? Who knows…
The party tried to sneak out the back door of the Fane of the Night Serpent and ran into Ras Nsi and his many Yuan Ti followers.
After a quick change of underwear, the party negotiated a truce after learning that Ras Nsi was affected by an unknown wasting disease. Deducing that it was the Soulmonger curse, they were ‘hired’ by Ras Nsi to go to the Tomb of the Nine Gods (which he’s been protecting for Acererak without realising what the arch-Lich was up to) and stop the Soulmonger.
Each party member was given a magic item and they received the final puzzle cube. They all achieved 7th level!
Off to the Tomb of the Nine Gods, where they found an obelisk with a strange message and two entrances. After solving a puzzle, they found an amulet that took them to a hidden entrance. They solved the puzzle door, got past the floor trap (nice work, Morgan’s Rogue), killed a shadow demon hiding in a dark devil’s mouth (some great shots there, Davor’s Ranger), explored, got through a tomb and found a ring of protection (in which Dan’s halfling successfully avoided being possessed by…something), Mark’s Cleric lost his armour (rusted to bits on a magical statue), Dan’s halfling drank some necrotic water, Daniel’s psychotic Bard finally went all the way and turned Chaotic Evil, Orvex decided he’d had enough and nicked off, everyone pursued him, fought a bunch of wights and finally poor old Orvex met his maker when the Bard decided to go even further and turn cannibal (didn’t see that coming!). Phew! A lot happened this week!
Next Week: Deeper into the Tomb…
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My senses crucified
My weary soul
Your goal
To tear me down
Like posts at
A football riot
To pierce my veins
And brain
And heart
And leave me
Wallowing
A fish without
A sea or coast
So I might
Lose all sight
The blind amongst
The blind
Wandering
Nonsensically
On a whim
Or on a breeze
Listing aimlessly
Into the bay
Where this boy
Will rest
At piers
Annoyed
And anxious
Another toy
For you to
Cast aside
Into the Wild
And stormy sea
Along with
All the other
Mixed metaphors
Next to you
Far from you
Like parallel
Dimensions
Existing
In quantum flux
Beside and yet
Aside
And never but
Always Distant
You thought you’d drop round and visit me
Bringing clouds and misery
To rain upon my weary door
And highlight my bleak history
You thought you’d walk here by my side
And plum the depths, right here inside
To cast a shadow over me
To drown me in the deepening tide
A visitor, that comes and goes
That wracks my thoughts with heady blows
And burns me like a funeral pyre
And leaves me spent, from head to toe
You thought you’d get away with this
By stealing all my heartfelt bliss
A pseudonym for hurt and pain
A sorry state that won’t be missed
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Onward!
Steve 🙂
You were here, then gone
A muse for just a while
A bittersweet, infuriating
Aftertaste
That lingers on my tongue
And in my thoughts
And lines
A subtle conclusion
To remonstrate
And redefine
An acidic fingertip
Dipped in ink
Burning tattooed lines
In heart and skin
In remembrance
Bygones be bygones
A dear song, loved long
My bittersweet
Infuriating
Aftertaste
You linger on
Use this template: build
And make it your starting place
To reignite joy
Have we forgotten
That which brought us to this place
So we might rebuild
Laidback DM: SteveStillStanding.com 