My Monday campaign took an interesting turn this week. The heroes were settling accounts with the Horned Alliance (a tiefling thieves' guild) when they pushed two villains into the gears of a gargantuan contraption called a time prison (an arcane device built by a dragonborn mage for the Dragovar Empire — think of it as a creative alternative to the empire's current prison system). The contraption began to malfunction, causing "stutters" in time that wreaked havoc with the initiative order. Despite valiant efforts to stabilize the machine (read: skill challenge), it exploded with chronomantic energy and hurtled heroes and villains alike three years into the future.
This isn't my first use of time travel in the campaign, but it's the first time a group has traveled to the future. On top of that, there's a good chance they'll be stuck there for the rest of the campaign. It's afforded me a rare opportunity to imagine what has transpired in the heroes' absence and to surprise the players by challenging their perceptions of where the campaign is headed. The revelation is compounded by the fact that Jeremy Crawford's character was not present for the session. Ergo, his character was not blasted into the future.
I've said this before in many forums: No Dungeon Master should contemplate using time travel without tremendous forethought and a poopload of prep work. It can seriously eff up your campaign. If it's not telegraphed, your first reward will be the wide-eyed "oh sh*t" look on the players' faces. Then comes the reward of pulling back the curtain and showing what happens to a world deprived of the adventurers' interference.
Here are a few spoilers for those who enjoy reading the campaign chronicles:
The Sea Kings United: To ensure their survival, the feuding Sea Kings have united under a single flag . . . the first time this has happened since Draeken Malios briefly united the Sea Kings at the Battle of the Roiling Cauldron. So who's the One King To Rule Them All? Here's a hint: He just got out of prison.
The Black Curtain Parted: The biggest mystery of the campaign is what lies beyond the Black Curtain — an impenetrable barrier of darkness that has been slowly engulfing the world. While the Dragovar Empire struggles to hold itself together, a secret kingdom wiped from the annals of history sends fleets of ships through the barrier to wipe the Dragovar Empire off the map.
The Knights Divided: The Knights of Ardyn, once viewed as the greatest threat to the imperial throne, have become the Dragovar Empire's best hope of survival. However, Ardyn's knights are stretched thin holding back the ravenous tide of the Far Realm-corrupted Myrthon Regency to the west, the conquering fleets to the east, and the evergrowing kingdom of Skaravostrym.
The Baronies Betrayed: The eight barons of Bael Nerath have put aside their petty squabbles and conceded to a fateful meeting that will ensure the survival of humanity. However, one of them has forged a secret alliance that could destroy his rivals in one fell swoop.
I look forward to seeing which plotlines get the characters hooked and which ones fall by the wayside!
I spent Sunday afternoon putting the finishing touches on a new map for the Iomandra campaign, specifically the capital city of the Dragovar empire. I had a clear vision of Io'calioth at the very start of the campaign — a city built on the ridges of a sunken volcanic caldera — and held true to that vision, thanks to the magic of Photoshop. Ah, Photoshop . . . is there anything you can't do?
My Monday group arrived in Io'calioth somewhat unexpectedly, courtesy of a 1,000-foot-high water cyclone—check out the campaign episode wiki for details, if you're curious. My challenge to myself was to create a city that surpassed my previous city-building effort (the cave city of Io'galaroth) and had its own unique character. I also needed Io'calioth to incorporate everything I'd written about the Dragovar empire to date, including sections of the city devoted to each of the six castes (arcane caste, divine caste, martial caste, commoner caste, expert caste, and noble caste).
Unlike Io'galaroth, which I hand-drew and then scanned and colored, Io'calioth was built entirely on screen, using the mouse as my "pen." The reason was scale — I didn't have a piece of paper large enough to draw the city in its entirety. I cheated whenever I could; for example, to get the circular shape of the city just right, I started by creating a large gray circle, traced around it with the pen tool, and then deleted the circle.
Anyway, you're probably bored, so I'll stop typing now. Enjoy the map! You'll find it in the Iomandra group's public gallery.
This past Wednesday, I treated my players to a Very Special Halloween episode of the Iomandra campaign. Apart from the scares and bloody battles, this particular episode (titled "Death's Door") brought two different character arcs to a crossroads. One of the characters, Vargas (played by Rodney Thompson), is a deva avenger of the Raven Queen. The other is Garrot (played by Mat Smith), a human fighter and clod.
At the very start of the campaign (before the first adventure, even), Garrot stole a unique magic item known as a ring of the raven. This magic item created by the Raven Queen attaches and binds to its wearer, raising him from the dead a certain number of times before its magic expires. By drawing upon the ring's power, the wearer also pledges his eternal soul to the Raven Queen. Given Mat's propensity for getting into trouble, it's no surprise that Garrot used the ring on several occasions without knowing exactly how many "lives" he had remaining.
Some time ago, during a particularly tough heroic-tier encounter, both Garrot and Vargas were killed. Vargas's spirit languished for a time in the Shadowfell, where he encountered the spirit of a smiling gnome. The gnome claimed to be a special emissary of the Raven Queen and told Vargas that the god of death had a special mission for him—that he was being sent back to the world to "deliver a message" to Garrot when the time was right.
Advance ahead several months, to this past Wednesday. The heroes have joined forces with a trio of shadar-kai to hunt down the leaders of an evil cult called the Shroud of Nerull, who are dedicated to the resurrection of Nerull, the former god of death (whom the Raven Queen deposed and slew). The heroes vanquish their quarry in a manor overlooking the village of Drazenhurst—a sleepy burg of Raven Queen worshipers haunted by the ghost of its former defender, a paladin named Lukas Drazen. Unfortunately, the party cleric (played by Curt Gould) falls in battle, and while the other characters perform a ritual to bring poor Divin back from the dead, Vargas heads back into the village. There, in the village graveyard, he sees the ghost of the smiling gnome waving at him. Vargas enters the cemetery and feels a dark chill as he steps through a shadow crossing into the Shadowfell, where the gnome says to him, "I bring a message from the Raven Queen."
"The Raven Queen has summoned Lord Drazen to Her court, as a reward for his years of faithful service," the gnome tells Vargas. "However, Drazen's spirit is not at rest. You must see to that, so that he finds his way to Her side. Once Lord Drazen's spirit is gone, Drazenhurst will need a new eternal defender. That can be you, or it can be Garrot. You must decide."
And that's how the session ended, with Vargas forced to contemplate who must stay behind to protect the village—him or Garrot—with the added implication that he must kill Garrot if he chooses the latter. To the best of my recollection, this is the first time I've ever set one character against another, and I have no assumptions about how the situation will play out. Will Vargas betray the Raven Queen and leave Drazenhurst with his dim-witted companion? Will he do what She commands and slay Garrot? Will he leave his friends behind and spend the rest of his life (and death) as Drazenhurst's eternal defender?
I guess we'll have to tune in next week to find out! Mwah-ha-ha.
The final episode of the Series 3 Penny Arcade/PvP podcast went live last Friday. Yes, I killed Wil Wheaton's character with a very mean acid pit trap, but Wil broke the cardinal rule of Dungeons & Dragons: Never split the party. Fortunately, Wil was kind enough to focus his ire on Scott Kurtz instead of me. If you haven't heard his spectacular rant, you NEED to listen to the podcast. Like, now. Just don't do it while driving.
If you're wondering why the Series 3 podcasts are shorter than the previous series (30 minutes, down from 45 minutes), it's because Aeofel died unexpectedly and we wanted to end with a bit of a dramatic cliffhanger. What will become of Acquisitions Incorporated without their faithful intern? Will Binwin's father ever start drinking again? These are deep questions, my friends. Deep, serious questions.
One of the ideas we're considering for Series 4 is getting Wil behind the DM's screen. Aoefel's demise has left an empty desk at Acquisitions Incorporated, and although I would love to see Wil return as a vengeful revenant or something equally cool, I think Wil would have a blast playing the Dungeon Master. Let me know what you think of this idea . . . as well as any other ideas you have for Series 4!
Episode 5 of the Penny Arcade/PvP podcast went live today, and a few days ago we posted a new cartoon promoting DMG2 and featuring the Lady of Pain.
When we were discussing the script for the latest toon, we knew that the DMG2 had a bunch of stuff on running skill challenges as well as a chapter on Sigil, so we thought it would be funny to have our intrepid announcer, Mike, make a skill challenge to get the Lady of Pain's phone number. The toon doesn't pull off the concept with as much hilarity as I'd hoped, although the "bags of holding" gag rocks. We had no idea that Adam Phillips would go nuts with the animation, but wow! He really went all-out. First bit of useless trivia: The design of the Styx Oarsman tavern was based on a map I'd designed for Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (2007).
This week, the heroes of Acquisitions Incorporated fight their way into Ambershard Manor and encounter a helpful ghost that haunts the halls. Second bit of useless trivia: For the voice of the elf ghost Sethir, I tried to channel a little bit of actor Andrew J. Robinson ("Garak" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Like the Garak character, Sethir's intentions are somewhat ambiguous, but there's also something trustworthy about him; the idea didn't even pop into my head until the ghost appeared. It's a poor imitation to be sure, but the ghost needed a bit of character, and I was desperate.
