Getting Into D&D 5e Adventures

The Dwarven Excavation mission consists of multiple hidden passages and rooms.  I decided to make all of these separate from the main battle map so the players wouldn’t realize that there was more to the temple.  I decided to use the thin cardboard from a cereal box as the base to the secret passages and rooms.

I started by using black spray paint on the printed side of the cardboard.  After the paint dried, I grabbed a glue stick for the next step.  I’ve learned that glue sticks are great for this process because other glues will soak in or bubble the paper.   After spreading the glue over a section I applied the paper by laying a corner down and running a finger along the paper in small sections to make sure it adhered smoothly.  I repeated this process until the entire cardboard was covered in the paper.

Next, I began outlining the rooms and passages by following my same process with the larger battle map.  I did double check the sizes before drawing because I knew this section needed to be very accurate so the dungeon passages and rooms would line up.

I used a chalk marker to number the rooms and passages based on the map in the book.  This was so I’d be able to pull out the right piece hidden under the table when the characters discovered them.  I double checked the layout and then i was ready for my project…creating the wilderness encounter.

I needed to find something suitable to use for an Ochre Jelly and statues.  In our area we have a department store called “Ollie’s” and they had a large assortment of D&D boxes and games for extremely low prices (only a few dollars!).  I was lucky enough to grab a D&D Campaign Case with creatures.  In this case are tokens that you can stick vinyl images of monster too.  It happened to have an ochre jelly.  I prepared the large token for the encounters and some small numbered tokens in case the adventurers cut them in half.

I also picked out some old D&D pre-painted minis that I thought would work for statues of dwarves throughout the temple

One thing I really enjoy doing as a new DM is making battle maps for encounters and scenarios.  I also think it really helps some of the players since they’re fairly young by giving them a physical and visual reference of what is going on in the game (two of the players are 10 years old).

I knew I wanted to have the players deal with an encounter in the woods while traveling to the Dwarven Excavation.  I decided that I needed to create the map of the excavation site and temple first and then I’d set up the woodland encounter afterwards.

I started by getting my “go-to” supplies ready for map making and counting out the 5ft squares on the adventure map. My usually supplies are cheap wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree, markers we have laying around the house, and a pencil.  My inspiration for making the battle maps this way comes from a YouTube channel, Zipperon Disney, when I prepping for Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.  I decided that I would create separate tiles for all the hidden rooms and passages.  This plan gave me the basic size of paper I needed.

I sometimes sketch out the area in pencil and then trace it with a black marker.  I started by sketching out most of the temple space and then went straight to the black marker for the rest of the map and interiors.  Next, began to highlight and color my maps to give it some character and help everyone visual the look of the area.  I think adding some color looks a lot better than plain lines.  I went with different shades of gray markers I had to differentiate from rubble and walls.  I would use these markers to hash out solid walls too.

I think the look of the map made it so the players wouldn’t suspect that there were hidden passages and rooms.  If I mapped out the entire adventure they’d wonder what was under the hidden areas of the maps and know to search.

I set up the map and put it under the plastic “glass” from a cheap poster frame to keep it flat. I later realized I forgot to fill in the details of the temple courtyard and had to pull it out and draw in that section.  Live an learn.

Next up…the hidden passages and rooms.

I’ve been doing some reading and basic prep work for the second game session, the Dwarven Excavation. Yesterday I decided to commit to a date…this Sunday!

A friend of mine came over earlier this week to play a game of Warhammer: The Old World. He brought over some Vampires and I dusted off my old Dwarf army.  It was a great game and I’m looking forward to playing again.

But, why are you talking about Warhammer: The Old World when you’re prepping for a D&D session?  Well, I’ve always had Miners in my Dwarf Army.  This game reminded me that I had a bunch of Dwarf bits that included mining equipment from these boxes.

I was able to quickly put together a mining cart and other tools to use for table dressing at the excavation site.  I also pulled out two of my Miners to use as the NPCs.  I never finished painting these minis because the Old World exploded, but now I might be able to get them done before the game on Sunday.

After setting up the table and everyone coming back into the room, I asked if the knights retainers were going with them or staying in town. They decided they should stay in town and gather information and rumors.  I thought that was very creative.  After the PCs started traveling, I gave them a description of the area that included a hill with cairns atop it and in the distance they could make out the windmill on another hill.  They spotted some humanoid foot prints that appeared to go in the direction of the cairn.  The adventurers decided to approach the windmill first since their quest was to have the woman that lived in the windmill return to the village due to dragon sightings in the area.

I ran the windmill similar to the written quest.  They saw the Manticore, but one change was that it appeared to be very skinny, and Adabra yelled for help from the windmills upper window.  The PCs spent some time deciding the best course of action and actually rolled a nat 20 on insight, so I read the manticore description to them.  This helped them know that a Manticore can be “bribed”.  After convincing the knight not to attack, they offered the Manticore enough food for it to leave (this will be great as a future encounter later in the campaign). The characters were able to help Adabra and convinced her to come back to town.  This differed from the written quest, but why wouldn’t she come back to town after having a manticore try to eat her?  She rewarded them with a potion of healing.  They asked her to pack up her belongings and supplies while they explored the cairns.

I added a small encounter with orcs at the cairns.  I wanted to let the kids have a chance to kill some bad guys since I knew the manticore was not going to end up being a combat.  As they explored the cairns and old ruins the orcs were able to successfully hide and catch them by surprise.  This was a dangerous encounter due to how bunched up the characters were.  The first orc charged the halfling druid and rolled a 1, falling down.  The second and third orcs charged the knight and both missed their attacks.  The orcs took their second round with one standing, another moving to engage the Gnome warlock, and the knight taking 7hp of damage.  The knight and druid were able to kill one of the orcs that turn.  In the next turn the Gnome Warlock took some damage and after some successful attacks in that round and the next the heroes were able to slay the three orcs.  They discovered that these orcs appeared to be starving and saw that they were gathering mushrooms growing near the cairns.  The PCs healed themselves and then returned to get Adabra and bring her back to town.

In town they collected their reward of 25 GPs and decided to travel to the Dwarven Excavation as their next mission from the job board.  Next up for me is making the maps!

I wrote up an introduction for the player’s first game.  I wanted to give them a reason why they characters were coming together and why they were traveling to Phandalin.  Also, I wanted to tie this back to the first adventure they played and their characters from Dragon’s of Stormwreck Isle (DOSI).  I thought this would be fun for my son and his friend to think about their last campaign before starting this one.  I mentioned this in the last post, but there is a Human Fighter (A knight with his 3 retainers), a Halfling Druid, and a Gnome Warlock as the PCs for this campaign.

Below is what I basically read to them.  A few things to know if you want to read my introduction is that the only surviving enemy from DOSI was one of the winged Kobolds, Mek, that served the blue wyrmling Sparkrender.  My thought was that Mek feld to the mainland and came across a young White Dragon being driven from it’s territory.  Mek is now scouting ahead for his new master, Cryovain, for food shelter and new territory, now settling in the Icespire Peak region of the Sword Mountains.

You’ve been traveling many days and nights from your homeland. On a sunny fall day you come across fork in the road. As you contemplate the direction you should go, you feel a brisk and chilly wind begin to push you toward the left. You decide that fate has chosen the way to go. After a few more hours of walking you find yourself in a small village built in the shadow of a school of magic.

Walking to a nearby tavern you sit, thinking about what life has in store and begin to wait out the day. You begin speaking with fellow travelers and discover that a few are like you. These travelers would make wonderful companions. As the sun begins to set you all gather at a small table near the fireplace.

Now it’s time for everyone to share about themselves, what do you look like, why have you decided to become an adventurer and what do you hope to accomplish? Anything else?

After getting to know one another the tavern keeper approaches your small group. “I hear that you all are seeking adventure. After a good nights rest you should travel to school of magic. There is a group of adventurers there that might be able to send you on the path you seek.”

You all head to your rooms for a good nights rest. Some of you can’t sleep due to the excitement of adventures to come and other fall fast asleep, knowing that tomorrow will bring what the gods decide.

You awake as the sun begins shining into your room through the clouded glass of your window. You ready yourself to meet your new companions downstairs, and once gathered you head to the school of magic. As you approach, you see all manner of people walking with urgency around the campus. All of them seem to ignore you as if busy in thought and only thinking of their destination.

What do you do?(After asking around a student points them to a small building)

You approach a small stone building with stained glass windows. They glitter in the morning light and you can see them casting colorful random shapes on the floor inside the building through an open door. As you get closer, you notice a large pile of worked wood laying against the building. Parts of this wood pile looke like a large bow (Let them choose a proficiency check to see if they can determine that this is the ballista the group found on DOSI). As you enter the building you hear a group talking and laughing. They look like seasoned warriors and seem to be talking about a recent adventure. The group turns toward you. You see a human wizard clutching a book, a small halfling with a hand sliding toward a dagger at his side, a dwarf dressed in holy vestments gripping an ornate mace, a large man made of meta resting a hand on a gleaming ax, and a slim human sitting next to a long bow propped against the wall next to him. What do you do? Segway into the tale and mission.

The adventurers regale you with the most unbelievable story. One fraught with danger while on a quest to end the Famine of the Black Drakes, a frenzied breeding of these foul creatures across the countryside. They tell you of shipwrecks and strange creatures, friends, and monsters they came across on an island known as StormWreck Isle. You listen closely to their exploits.

Have each player recount an event from the game

After defeating the evil blue wyrmling, Sparkrender, they returned to the mainland. They share that they’ve recently come home from stopping the drakes with the help of a wise and powerful Bronze dragon, called Runara. During their travels with Runara, they began hearing rumors of a small red winged creature traveling through the countryside followed by rumors of a White Dragon killing and devouring many in it’s path as it moved south from a region far to the north. A region called Icewind Dale and a mountain range known as the Spine of the World. Runara shared that White dragons prefer violence and destruction to magic and cunning. She was concerned that a more dangerous creature had driven the dragon from it’s territory in the north in search of new hunting grounds.

One of the heroes leans forward and says to your group. “If you seek adventure, you should all travel South and seek out this vile creature. The horror and death it has brought to new lands need to be stopped.”

What do you do?

Share how they’ve been called to help nearby and can’t help. Perhaps they’ll be meet again in the future…. After agreeing to help,

You begin traveling south along the Sword Coast, taking the High Road past Neverwinter. You hear rumors a red winged creature followed by accounts of white dragon attacks, leading to the Triboar Trail…end

There was a little bit of roleplay as they traveled south.  I had them come across merchants with wagons of goods as they neared the Triboar Trail.  They asked a merchant if they could escort them to their next stop.  I had the merchant pay them each 2 SP and they made it to Phandalin.  After exploring the town and renting beds for the night, the party looked over the job the board.  They decided to take on the Umbrage Hill Quest.  This was absolutely perfect because I didn’t need to railroad them into going to that location!  My original plan was to have the Townmaster encourage them to swing by Umbrage Hill on the way to one of the other quests if they chose those.  I then had them all leave the room while I set up the board for the Umbrage Hill encounters (setup pictures attached)

I was super excited Sunday morning to kick off this game.  I even pulled out an old t-shirt my wife got me when my son was born to wear as I DM’d the session (it felt very fitting). I’m super impressed with the contents of the Essential’s box and used it to set up my DM “command center” and put out the box as decor on the nearby shelf.  When my son’s friend and his friend’s dad arrived they all started talking about their characters. I had them find a suitable mini from my collection of 3rd ed minis and newer 2d standees.  My son’s friend is running a Halfling Druid and his father is running a Gnome Warlock.

My son (age 10) wanted a figure to represent his first created D&D character (the first campaign I ran for him used pre-gens).  He picked out a Human Paladin figure to represent his Fighter with a Knight background.  I was excited to paint this up for him with some new speed paints I received over Christmas.  It was great that the figure was already primed because we’ve had some very cold weather come through.  He picked out the colors and I asked him if he wanted anything on the shield.  At first he wanted an “R” to represent the character’s name, Sir Richard.  I decided to dig into some old decal slides and he decided to go with a wolf from an old Space Wolf sheet.   I was able to finish the figure the night before the first session of the campaign.

I had a set date for hosting the D&D game and I was setting up some of the terrain I wanted to use.  I realized that the windmill terrain tiles didn’t fit in well with the rest of the items I was going to put on the table.  I suddenly remembered that a friend of mine had given me a large box of foam blocks.  I glued them together to make basic walls for the windmill.  My son wandered into the room and commented that he thought they should be gray.  After the glue dried overnight, I did a quick dry brush over the walls and set them near the window to the catch the sun (hoping they’d dry before the game started that afternoon).