A BETTER SESSION ITHIS SESSION HAS 3 SEQUENCES:
Micah's Pronunciations (not definitive) Almiraj - AWL-meer-ahj I'jin - EE-gin Fort Beluarian - FORT bell-oo-AIR-ian Port Nyanzaru - PORT NAI-an-ZAH-roo Syndra Silvane - SIN-druh sill-VANE Wakanga O’tamu - wuh-KAWN-gah oh-TAH-moo Zindar - ZIN-dar SEQUENCE 1 - HIRED BY SYNDRA SILVANEThe best way to start the game is just as the book describes on pages 8-9 (NOTE: I have altered the text in places as I would read it; it doesn't match the book). For the past twenty days, the only topic on anyone's lips has been the "death curse": a wasting disease affecting everyone who's ever been raised from the dead. Those who have been resurrected now grow thinner and weaker each day, slowly but steadily sliding toward the graves they once dodged. When they finally succumb, they can't be raised. Also, neither can anyone else! Resurrections and revivifications seem to not be possible anymore, even from the most powerful of clerics! The scholars of the Sword Coast are at a loss to explain this curse that has affected--according to reports--the entire world. The book says you can "invite the players to explain why their characters are together," but don't bother. Instead, assume they don't know each other (unless they put something together themselves during character generation) and jump right into it. You have each been invited to the mansion of Syndra Silvane, a retired--and beloved--adventurer-turned-merchant. Her major domo leads you up a grand staircase to the third floor, then ushers you into a wood-paneled room with a fireplace, velveteen furniture, and a heavy table bearing goblets and bottles of wine. The walls are hung with maps and sea charts. On the east wall: racks hold hundreds of scrolls. When I prep an adventure, I create character shortcuts for my NPCs. It's hard to keep track of traditional character notes that outline flaws, foibles, quirks, and so on. They overwhelm me. I spend my time figuring out a character shortcut--what I call the "basis" of an NPC. This is a few words that remind me how to play a character. Sometimes--if it seems appropriate and if I feel capable--this would include an accent or "funny voice" I'd use when running them. Other times, it is a reminder of the "who" of the character. Yes, I also write up important notes about the NPCs, but having that quick-reference is valuable. I use a spreadsheet for this. Here's a screen-grab of what that sort of information looks like: Nerdy, right? Anyway, In the case of Syndra Silvane, it's important that the players are on-board with helping her early. Being mysterious and dark is no good for that. We need to do as much "save the cat" work on her as possible. I rewrote the flavor text above to mention that she is a beloved adventurer, but I also wanted to drive that home. In MY game, my son's character is her adopted ward--so I needed someone nurturing and motherly. Dolly Parton. Everyone loves Dolly Parton! Plus, I can pull off her twang pretty well. So here's my NPC note for her: Syndra Silvane | Dolly Parton | Human archmage stricken by the death curse Add on a bit of sickliness to the voice to make her sympathetic and we're golden. Syndra needs to drop a lot of exposition on the players here. Handle this anyway that's comfortable for you, but I like to give my NPC something else to be engaged with so that the information drops are spread out organically. A workable idea is to have her spending a lot of time ensuring that her major domo, Francis [Francis | Duckworth/Lurch], is providing the most appropriate refreshments for each character. A drink here, a snack there, don't your people love this delicacy back home?, whatever. Then, between each request and step of service, she can return to the primary topic and share more information or answer a question. The book gives us a list of things for her to tell the characters before they go, but it's a lot of text. Here's the same information in bulletpoints. Syndra Information:
Feel free to use these "other teams" as sources for the backup characters the players will need to introduce throughout the adventure. The book mentions treasure that she may offer for their success, but it seems moot to me. More likely your players will start a whole new campaign if they finish this one. Instead, feel free to have Syndra give them stuff NOW. Minor magic items, pendants, passes, etc. She gave one of my players (her ward) a sending stone so she could talk to him every day on the quest. But she could hand out anything a la the of Wizard of OZ. It's more important that your players LIKE her and want to save her than for them to have a bit too much loot early on (they'll likely lose it falling off a cliff anyway). Be sure the players get the map. I gave mine this one, but the one that came in the book works fine too (get it laminated). I just liked the idea of a stitched together map to give them: This is the player's map, but you'll need to use the DM's map to plan your hexcrawls, etc. IMPORTANT: I highly advise that you download, bookmark, and use the NUMBERED MAP OF CHULT that was put together by /u/revderrick over at /r/TombofAnnihilation. Be sure to upvote his post and thank him for his hard work! I'll mark locations in these blog pages by their hex-numbers on /u/revderrick' maps. I've backed up his files here in case, for whatever reason, his get removed or something. Whenever your players have role played this scenario enough, have Syndra Silvane teleport them to Port Nyanzaru. SEQUENCE 2 - ARRIVAL AT PORT NYANZARUHEX 4120 Feel free to read the descriptive text for "Arrival" on page 16 of the adventure. I chose to ad-lib the section, using my own language--for a few reasons. 1. I hate reading text to my players. It breaks mood and doesn't sound like me. 2. I don't like the stuff in that text about "voices shouting and cursing in an unfamiliar language filled with clicks, inhalations, and singsongy words that make it sound almost musical." Not just the gesture at the Khoisan languages (ew), but I decided early on not to mess with having a Chultan language (or languages) for players to deal with. If dealing with language barriers is fun for you guys, then go for it. But it seemed like a drag to me. Chultans all speak common in my game. 3. The "minstrels in bright clothing." Had to skip it. 4. I like the pop of the environment, but I wanted to hammer home that this is an advanced culture with interesting technologies--so I went on about various hydro-powered mechanics that crane ships in and out of port, load goods on and off them to the piers, and so on. 5. Calling the dinosaurs "giant reptiles" is only clever if the players can see that they are actually dinosaurs. They can't, so saying "there's a brachiosaurus (you guys have no idea what it is, of course!) with giant chains yoked on its chest dragging a ship into the bay!" works much better. Elements to Emphasize in "Arrival"
This last point deserves a comment. It's possible to run Port Nyanzaru with all the underhanded darkness you would expect in any city D&D game. I'd avoid that. Instead, remind yourself that one day soon, these people are going to be out in the jungle--where it's deadly. Keep Port Nyanzaru very friendly. Keep it positive! Get them to lower their guards. Make everyone in Port Nyanzaru helpful! Make the contrast bold, so that when they get outside those walls--whether into the jungle itself or off to Fort Beluarian or sailing a ship into pirate waters--they realize it is way-bad out there! It's Noon. The players find themselves standing on the pier of Port Nyanzaru, after being teleported there. They are halfway between the Lighthouse (14) and the Harbormaster's Office (13). They arrive and see the spectacle of the Harbor Ward, then turn to the "HO HO HO!" of a golden dragon-man striding towards them from the west! It is the harbormaster, Zindar. [Zindar | Santa Clause | Half-dragon harbormaster is offering 2k gp for each pirate ship and 500 gp per captured captain] He barks orders at the harbor workers and sailors as he makes his way to greet Syndra. He seems very loving and powerful--and concerned about her death curse affliction. She pets him away. Zindar makes sure to check everyone's identities. If there is a rogue in the group, he likely calls them out and warns them that Port Nyanzaru has little tolerance for theft!--but good-naturedly. Nothing gets past Zindar! After introductions, Zindar begins to escort Syndra down the pier. He says that he assumes Merchant Prince Wakanga O’tamu is waiting for her up on the hill. She agrees and says she is off to rest in his villa; she is very tired. She wishes the team luck, and suggests they find a good place to sleep for the night. They'll need their rest to take on the quest ahead of them. They are standing next to the Harbormaster's Office as he sends them off. The Harbormaster's Office is a sturdy building with vaulted windows, but you get the sense that Zindar spends little time in it. You can see clerks moving about, moving customs papers and the like inside. If they dawdle, Zindar will tell them that he will answer any letter left with the clerks inside within 1d6 hours. He takes every list and checks it twice! (See how I do this?) Otherwise, he welcomes them to Port Nyanzaru and must get back to work. Here is my bulletin board for the Harbormaster's Office: BULLETIN BOARD EXPLAINER: I designed three bulletin boards for Port Nyanzaru (none are printer friendly; we were on Roll20 for COVID lockdown at the time). Each is different and have contents based on the types of guides that would opt to advertise on it (none of which include the illegal guides that can be found outside the city--like the Tabaxi guides or in Fort Beluarian). This one at the Harbormaster's has advertisements for:
It also has a sticker promoting Volo's Guide to Monsters (which players can buy from the man himself, if they meet him). It also has a brochure for the city, which has the following map inside: Finally, this bulletin board, since it is on official property (as opposed to the others in town) has a warning from Merchant Prince Jobal on it: "ALL GUIDES MUST BE REGISTERED WITH MERCHANT PRINCE JOBAL OR B.B.B." If the characters do much research, they will eventually learn that the B.B.B. is commonly understood: beaten, blinded, beheaded. Three strikes, you're out. What do the players do?The players only have a few options for lodging in Port Nyanzaru.
In the meantime, they'll find themselves in some variation of the Triceratops Encounter. SEQUENCE 3 - TRICERATOPS ATTACKS AN ALMIRAJ!To finish off the session, a little action sequence is good. This will give the players a bit of combat to enjoy after so much talky-talky, give them a sense of the CR of the dinos they'll be dealing with in the campaign, and introduce your first bit of weird Gygaxian lore to the adventure. REMEMBER: if they die, they die. Don't chicken out on this. I based the encounter on the old cartoon trope of an elephant freaking out about a mouse--only swapped the creatures out for an almiraj and a triceratops. Whatever the players decide to do above, they'll start heading to wherever they're going in the streets of Port Nyanzaru. Find yourself a good battle map to use--maybe a market street leading into a plaza, with some stuff to climb on around--and have the characters stumble upon a suddenly rampaging triceratops! Here's the one I used, made by /u/AfternoonMaps (go thank them and upvote if you use it!) that I found at their reddit post. I was playing online, so this map worked well. If I were running this in-person, I would probably use my roll-out Chessex mat, some wet-erase markers, and scatter terrain--but whatever you like is fine. The characters hear a crazed elephantine trumpeting! The crowd around them begins scattering and freaking out! Someone in the crowd screams, "A TRICERATOPS HAS GONE MAD!" As is typical, WotC does not include the dinosaur stat blocks in the adventure itself (lame) so here's its information: ROLL INITIATIVE Whether the triceratops or the players get the drop, the dino is not going to be in range to hit one of them--yet. Start it off at least 30 feet away from the party. On its turn, the dino will use its trampling charge to probably kill a nearby civilian--a merchant or a juggler or something. Roll its attack out in the open. It can deal up to 74 HP DAMAGE in a single turn! The players need to see and understand this. Example DMing: Some 30 feet ahead, you see this massive three-horned monster rushing down the alley! It goes straight for a balloon vendor and -- rolls a 1d20+9 to hit against and AC 10 -- that's a hit! He takes -- rolls a 4d8+6 piercing damage -- whoah. You're pretty sure the guy is immediately gored to death on the horns He rolls a DC13 STR saving throw...and fails.. His body falls to the ground prone. The beast takes a bonus action and stomps the body -- rolls a 1d20+9 to hit with advantage for being prone -- and that hits, which is going to be -- rolls a 3d10+6 bludgeoning damage -- aaand...that is (adding up the HP totals) FIFTY-ONE HIT POINTS OF DAMAGE! The balloon salesman seems entirely destroyed, just crushed bones and flesh on the pavement. This should scare the crap out of your first level players. Little do they know, this monster isn't interested in any of them at all. It's after an almiraj! So cute, right? Your players are probably going to want to keep it. DO NOT TELL THEM ABOUT IT YET. Once the civilian gets attacked by the triceratops, do two things: 1. Roll a 1d8 every round to determine which direction the almiraj will run. 1___2___3 4___a___5 6___7___8 The critter has a movement of 50 FEET so use it how you like. 2. Also roll a +5 stealth check against the passive perception of whichever character is nearest to the critter to see if they notice it. Once its spotted, the group can see it easily. The triceratops will charge directly toward the almiraj at the beginning of its turn, trying to kill it. It's likely that they'll try to catch it, so let it use its actions to dodge and evade, etc. Be sure to have someone in the crowd shout to them, "I'jin the Almiraj is never in the same place twice!" This is a clue for how to solve the trap room in the Tomb itself, but your players will almost certainly forget this unless you hit on it multiple times in the campaign.
Only have the triceratops trampling charge a player character if the character is adjacent to or sharing a space with the almiraj. Make it easy for them to avoid the monster. Once the situation is resolved, call it a night! Next Up: Port Nyanzaru - A 30,000 Foot View
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A SUMMARY OF GAME PLAY - READ AT YOUR OWN TEDIOUS RISKAn Analysis of this Session will follow, in which I will critique and complain about how I opened this game this way called "Session I - Better to Skip It." I have preserved it here for our group's own posterity and as a mild cautionary tale. Session 1 - Baldur's Gate |
AuthorMicah Faulkner first started playing D&D back in 1985. He took many years off after high school, but came back in 2016 to find everything new and changed. Now he plays with his wife, son, and sisters every couple weeks. Archives
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IN DEVELOPMENT:
The Playa's Handbook (working title) A supplement for your campaigns with mechanics for romance! Fall in love! Get sticky! Stay tuned! |