Update???

I finished Innistrad campaign and got charged up on the feedback. I was psyched that people were actually playing dumb stuff I wrote down. I boldly announced the next adventure: Zendikar, baby! Coming just in time for the Battle for Zendikar release date! Woo!

And then... nothing.

Sorry about that.

Plans changed. I'm a full-time student in a masters program, plus I was working. Then I stopped working in mid-July, freeing up some time to play... Witcher 3. And now that I've beaten that glorious game, I sat down to write... non-Zendikar adventures. D'oh!

Again, sorry about that.

Good news, however: I am writing more D&D adventures. I don't want to reveal to much, not yet, but I'm pumped about this new project. The Innistrad project taught me a lot -- everything I know about adventure writing, actually, since it was my first endeavor. First time writing in an "official" adventure-y style, first time ever using Adobe InDesign and making a PDF. I can do much better now. So if you liked my previous stuff, I think you'll enjoy what I have in store!

I haven't completely shelved Zendikar adventure though. I still really want to do it, but now it's a secondary goal for me, something to work on when I need a break from writing other adventures. I've read all the "Planeswalker's Guide to Zendikar," looked over wikis, still getting through all related Uncharted Realms but I feel comfortable with the world and its people at this point.

Here's what I'm thinking for Zendikar:

• The adventure will start at level 1 and end probably around 4. It takes place during the events of Zendikar / Worldwake and ends with Rise of the Eldrazi, shortly after Jace/Chandra/Sarkhan free the Eldrazi and Shit Gets Real. 
• This is a time-based adventure: the final chapter begins after X days, when the planeswalker trio unleashes the Eldrazi. The PCs do not know about this time frame.
• New playable races: Kor, Merfolk, Goblins, along with PHB Humans and Elves. Maybe vampires too.
• New PC variant: planeswalker! Essentially planeswalker PCs are like normal PCs, except they have the ability to inherently cast a personal-only version of the Planeshift spell once per long rest. Tack this on to PCs if you want to run a planeshopping Magic campaign.
• Main hub: The Perch (or some cooler name, The [Noun] is what the cool kids use); a massive floating hedron sliced in half, basically a floating inverted pyramid with a small adventuring settlement built on top. This is where the PCs pick up the initial quests. The NPCs here are all adventurers or running the settlement: each has hooks, motivations, relationships with others. PCs can get quests, hire companions, catch the attention of rival groups or Anowon's spies, and more. Rinuk the Iron Belly, a boisterous goblin heavy in debt, wagers his wine-skinned vellum map of a secret passage into Ior, the well-known yet unexplored ruins submerged under Glasspool. Do the PCs take his bet and win? Do they steal the map from him? If they get the map, do they sell it off to one of Anowon's emissaries, or do they launch an expedition to seek out the treasure? If they launch an expedition, do they hire any companions? Maybe Rinuk, the Five-Fingered, a legendary trapsmith of renown who has orders to betray the party and steal the map? And on and on
• Teleport Gimmick: Zendikar is a huge place. It doesn't make sense to have PCs trekking through entire continents to get to the next adventure -- that'd be tedious. Early on in the adventure they will uncover a magical way to transport themselves to teleportation circles scattered all over the continents. There will still be travelling and random encounters, but not months of travel to get from Point A to B.
• This is a sandbox campaign: there are hooks to multiple locations, there are a limited number of days, and the PCs are free to choose where to go. There is no true "main storyline": the PCs can get involved the the Eldrazi's awakening, or they might not even hear about it depending on what leads they follow. They choose the adventure! The PCs can launch expeditions to any of the continents, or they can help Gideon track down a mysterious woman named Chandra.
• The Perch floats above the Guum Wilds of Bala Geld. Journeying down into the thick jungle, the PCs may run into vicious beasts, including the Surrakar. They may also encounter elves: the xenophobic Joraga, which may end in bloodshed; the Tajuru, friendlier folk that may act as guides and companions; and the Mul Daya, who recognize one of the PCs as a Child of Destiny and usher them to their leader, Hazzan.
• Seven Continents, Seven Quests. Each Continent has its own Chapter, each Chapter will have random encounters and one set thing to explore. I may shorten this to less continents. Err.. probably definitely.
• Ior will be explored. Underground dungeon with an eldrazi spawn, you betcha. Scaling the floating ruins of Emeria with the kor, being attacked by giant wasps, yes yes. Murasa is the most exciting for me, and if I focus the story on one thing, it will be this. Multiple methods to enter the continent, including bumping into Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs.

See? I got stuff. Lots of stuff. It'll be done eventually! Soonish!

Witcher 3, Zendikar Adventure, Random Musings

Bad News: I haven't made that much progress on the Zendikar adventure yet. I got Witcher 3 and... well, I destroyed my free time with that game.

Good News: I beat Witcher 3! I'm free of its glorious immersive world! Hooray!

Holy crap did I enjoy Witcher 3. It's one of my favorite games ever, top 5 for sure. While it's a gorgeous game and the battle system felt great, the real draw for me that will last for years to come is its fantastic, immersive world, filled with people that have fleshed out personalities and motivations. The people have culture, depth of character, flaws, agendas, hopes, fears; it's all so wonderful.

Though I wasted a lot of time playing it, I did walk away with lots of pointers for future writing. Even jotted down particularly cool character developments, themes, and quests for future reference.

As for the Zendikar adventure, I have a good idea on the main parts to it but none of the details yet. Still need to read more of the lore to figure stuff out, like where to stick the adventure in the first place!

I can share my current musings, however:

• the adventure will start at level 1. A lot of feedback from my Innistrad adventure indicates people are using this as a stepping stone into D&D, so it's best to keep these crossover adventures at the introductory levels. I will keep it shorter than Army of the Damned, so maybe levels 1-3
• the timeline of the story will start in Zendikar but quickly progress into the events happening in Worldwake, when the roil gets especially rowdy, and finally end during the beginnings of Rise of the Eldrazi
• tone is action, adventure, suspense, with a wee bit of horror from the eldrazi/vampires
• I'm going for a more sandbox adventure this time around: the PCs will reach a home base early on, and from there they are free to explore the surrounding areas/dungeons as they see fit
• the home base this time around is an explorer's settlement built upon a floating hedron piece: it's the bottom half a hedron, cut in half horizontally right through the middle so it's basically a floating inverted pyramid. It's a popular meeting place for explorers from all parts of the world to meet and form expeditions for riches: all races and walks of life are here.
• the home base will be similar to Shadowgrange in that it will be the place to stock up on equipment and quests, but I want to flesh out the NPCs there further -- add relationships, motivations, recruitment opportunities for hirelings, etc. (may need to make a sort of NPC sheet for the DM) -- so that it feels more like a living breathing place that (hopefully) the PCs get more attached to
• One hook I really want to do is winning a treasure map off an NPC. If the PCs don't win it, they can blackmail to get it, or other diplomacy, or steal it
• Haven't worked out dungeons yet, but they can be literally anywhere... in the swamps of Malakir, an underwater cavern that is an ancient temple to Ula, jungle dungeon guarded viciously by the Joraga, real easy to come up with. The only snag is I get the impression that Zendikar is BIG: their diverse regions are continents, which is kind of lame -- Akoum is the place of mountains / volcanoes / red stuff and it's a CONTINENT of just that, so exploring it would be tedious amounts of travel
• I like the idea of an expedition going wrong and loosening the bonds of the Eldrazi, causing them to shift in their prison and release some brood. Either the PCs do it, or they're sent to check up on a missing expedition that did it. They have their first taste of the eldrazi brood underground.
• My idea is home base acquire quests ---> dungeons, resolve faction conflits ---> bump into the Eldrazi. End the adventure there, then continue the adventure in BfZ with recurring NPCs

Alright, that's enough rambling for now!

 

Army of the Damned fixes

Quick changelog:

• fixed tons of typos
• "Rineta Smitt" has been fixed to "Rinelda"
• "The Thing" is "The Monster"
• "Experiment Ones" is "Schmelzmen"
• added numbers to each page (finally figured out how to do it!)
• added the Message Bottle wondrous item in Appendix A

Researching Zendikar

I'm leaning towards Zendikar for the next D&D adventure. Now is the time for research into the world; probably the longest process for me. Gotta be well-versed in the lore, the setting, the major places / people / cultures etc. 

From what I can gather, there are only two spots I know of to find Zendikar lore:

1) Planeswalker's Guide to Zendikar and the Savor the Flavor articles in between them.

2) The book Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum, which I hear is terrible.

I'm seriously tempted to get the book for research purposes, but the reviews say it's really, really bad. Decisions!

Next Projects

Army of the Damned is, for the most part, complete. I will still tweak and edit the adventure as needed but I won't be adding new chapters.

I've learned a lot from this project. It took an embarrassingly long time from start to finish -- especially the beginning, where I clumsily copied the lingo of D&D adventures and second-guessed myself at every step. By the last Chapter, however, I felt like I finally hit my stride, and the pages were filled at a much more reasonable pace.

I'm hoping to keep this momentum going with more D&D adventures. I have two mini-adventures on the horizon that are meant to be played in one or two sessions: they aren't setting-specific, so they can slipped in anywhere. I also intend to flesh out NPCs and release them as stand-alone "Interesting NPCs" that can be inserted into campaigns, like Sir Delandel.

The next big project will be one set in Magic again in either Zendikar or Ravnica. From the feedback I've gathered, it seems like lots of folk would like to see a Ravnica adventure. I have the feeling once we enter spoiler season for Battle for Zendikar, however, this will change!

I'm leaning towards making the Zendikar adventure next. It would be sweet to have that done when BfZ comes out, right when people are most hyped for the setting.

Army of the Damned: COMPLETE!

It's finished!

Army of the Damned is a free D&D 5e adventure set in Magic: the Gathering's world "Innistrad." It takes level 1 adventurers all the way to level 5. All the maps are drawn by Sean Ellison.

Complete Adventure

Map of Stensia 
Map of Shadowgrange
Map of Mauer Estate

Innistrad's civilized populace are all human. If you choose to stick with the lore and only allow human adventurers, you're in luck! Sean Ellison also created new variant humans specifically for Innistrad, offering the variety of different racial mechanics while also providing a guide to players about the different character backgrounds.

Innistrad Human Variants

One last thing! I created this NPC that the adventurers might find at the end of Chapter 5 as a possible hook to continue the story, but you can insert him anywhere. I think he's pretty cool!

Sir Delandel, the Undead Paladin

That's about it! If there are any other updates, they'll be posted on this blog.

If you find any errors, or have any tips on how I can improve, please let me know and I'll do my best to update the file with changes.

Army of the Damned: Chapter 4 complete!

CHAPTER 4 IS DONE!

Well, done-ish. All the writing is done but I'll comb it over for edits and tweaking the layout and pictures.

Chapter 5 is the end of our story. Maybe. Probably. I might expand the adventure to start dealing with the vampire families head on now that it's an appropriate level to do so, but this adventure is getting looooong as-is.

Anyway, it's 3:30 am and I have work tomorrow. Silly me. Good morning!