Despite the way Wizards of the Coast has positioned them, I don't think that Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage really pair together very well. One is an urban intrigue and investigation campaign, and the other is a chthonic megadungeon. These have very different tones and structures, and many players will … Continue reading Dungeon of the Mad Mage lead-in alternatives
I recently concluded two long-running campaigns, both of which started in late 2017. After some reflection and discussion with the players, I realized that I could extract some lessons to improve my future role-playing games. This post isn't really a review of the source material, just an overview of what I learned from running this campaign. … Continue reading Out of the Abyss campaign review
Introduction In Sunless Citadel, one of the major pieces of loot is a magic weapon called Shatterspike. It has a special ability that doesn't necessarily translate well into Fifth Edition without a bit of extra thought. In this post, I'm going to take a look at the guidance we have and how I have decided to handle … Continue reading Shatterspike in 5e
My group has now wrapped up the Sunless Citadel. I may run it again for a future group; actually, that would be fantastic as this is really a lovely adventure. Here are some notes for my use. Maybe you can find some use for some of them as inspiration for your own campaign! I also … Continue reading Running the Sunless Citadel
This post will have spoilers for the first level of Sunless Citadel. If you don't want that for any reason, then don't read. I strongly urge anyone planning to play in this adventure to avoid spoilers. Preserve the fun for yourself! But if you have already played it or otherwise don't mind, this session included … Continue reading Sunless Citadel: Dragon Rodeo
As I recently launched a Tales from the Yawning Portal campaign, I thought I'd evaluate the Sunless Citadel encounters according to the difficulty guidelines in the Dungeon Masters Guide page 82. My encounter difficulty analysis for Lost Mine of Phandelver did basically the same thing. In this case, I work from the assumption that the group … Continue reading Encounter Difficulty in the Sunless Citadel
Technoskald's Forge 