Merry Christmas and happy holidays, readers! Today I'm giving you an early present. This year's holiday adventure, The Chaining of Krampus, is now available to download for free right HERE on my patreon!
Long-time readers know that this is part two of a three-part Christmas-themed adventure sereis that began with Escape from the Lair of the Krampus. The Chaining of Krampus is a light-hearted and humerous adventure for 4-6 ninth level characters using the pfrpg system. Eight pre-made characters are provided, plus guidelines for creating your own custom characters for this adventure. It features my own monsters, including the ice cube and snegurochka, plus tons of ridiculous references to classic holiday mythology and TV Christmas specials. It was a real treat to make; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Showing posts with label dungeon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dungeon. Show all posts
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Friday, December 26, 2014
Escape from the Lair of the Krampus - A Holiday D&D Adventure
Happy Boxing Day, everyone! My Boxing Day present to you is my holiday adventure, "Escape from the Lair of the Krampus!" It is available to download for free from my Patreon page.
"Escape from the Lair of the Krampus" is a short dungeon-crawl for four to six 7th level characters. The adventure comes with eight pre-generated characters for your group to choose from, but I have also included guidelines for creating your own characters to run through the game with. Last night, I ran (part of) the adventure for some very cool friends and family members, some of whom played the pre-generated characters and some of whom played their own characters - it works fine either way.
"Escape from the Lair of the Krampus" is the first part of a trilogy of Christmas adventures I have planned. "The Chaining of Krampus" will come out for Christmas 2015, and "Assault on the Fortress of Christmas" will come out the following year. They will use the same characters advanced to 10th and then to 13th level. I'll try to have them out sooner next time.
I should note that one of the reasons it took so much longer than I anticipated to get this adventure ready for you is that I created five original monsters specifically for this dungeon, including the figgy pudding and the frostjack. Expect more original holiday monsters in adventures to come!
-your holly-jolly d20 despot
"Escape from the Lair of the Krampus" is a short dungeon-crawl for four to six 7th level characters. The adventure comes with eight pre-generated characters for your group to choose from, but I have also included guidelines for creating your own characters to run through the game with. Last night, I ran (part of) the adventure for some very cool friends and family members, some of whom played the pre-generated characters and some of whom played their own characters - it works fine either way.
"Escape from the Lair of the Krampus" is the first part of a trilogy of Christmas adventures I have planned. "The Chaining of Krampus" will come out for Christmas 2015, and "Assault on the Fortress of Christmas" will come out the following year. They will use the same characters advanced to 10th and then to 13th level. I'll try to have them out sooner next time.
I should note that one of the reasons it took so much longer than I anticipated to get this adventure ready for you is that I created five original monsters specifically for this dungeon, including the figgy pudding and the frostjack. Expect more original holiday monsters in adventures to come!
-your holly-jolly d20 despot
Monday, December 9, 2013
A Playtest of Trials of the Mad Mage
Two weeks ago, I wrote a post intended to introduce new players to D&D. Last week, I posted a short introductory dungeon called Trials of the Mad Mage. This week, as the final part of this bizarre triptych, I will post an account of the time that I ran this adventure for a group of new players. Did it function as I had hoped? Did it get them excited about their characters and about the game? To find out ...read on.
I should note that the adventuring party consisted more than the four characters set out in the adventure as you see it on my blog: the fighter/ranger, the rogue, the sorcerer, and the cleric. There were instead:
The cleric - Idissa Halga. The cleric was played by my girlfriend, who had played in several other D&D campaigns but had never played a cleric. She decided to go for a North African theme, and really enjoyed playing a cleric.
The rogue - Rrrrr. A 12-year-old thief from the ice-fisher people of the north, and worshiper of the squirrel-god of thieves. She was basically a magpie, hoarder of shiny things.
The sorceress - Angaia. She said she pictured her character as sort of a pyromaniac, so I gave her predominantly fire spells.
The fighter/ranger - Dover Madbury. He was open to anything and wanted to play whatever character I made for him. He decided that his favoured enemy should be dragons without knowing that there was a dragon in this dungeon.
The ranger - Wulfric Nettlebrook. A swashbuckling adventuresome ranger who fights the good fight against oppression and tyranny.
The bard - Bob the Bard. He decided that he wanted to be the most painfully boring bard ever, so I gave him a selection of spells including sleep and oppressive boredom.
The barbarian - Suomi. An elderly barbarian who could still kick ass despite her advanced age.
I should note that the adventuring party consisted more than the four characters set out in the adventure as you see it on my blog: the fighter/ranger, the rogue, the sorcerer, and the cleric. There were instead:
The cleric - Idissa Halga. The cleric was played by my girlfriend, who had played in several other D&D campaigns but had never played a cleric. She decided to go for a North African theme, and really enjoyed playing a cleric.
The rogue - Rrrrr. A 12-year-old thief from the ice-fisher people of the north, and worshiper of the squirrel-god of thieves. She was basically a magpie, hoarder of shiny things.
The sorceress - Angaia. She said she pictured her character as sort of a pyromaniac, so I gave her predominantly fire spells.
The fighter/ranger - Dover Madbury. He was open to anything and wanted to play whatever character I made for him. He decided that his favoured enemy should be dragons without knowing that there was a dragon in this dungeon.
The ranger - Wulfric Nettlebrook. A swashbuckling adventuresome ranger who fights the good fight against oppression and tyranny.
The bard - Bob the Bard. He decided that he wanted to be the most painfully boring bard ever, so I gave him a selection of spells including sleep and oppressive boredom.
The barbarian - Suomi. An elderly barbarian who could still kick ass despite her advanced age.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Trials of the Mad Mage: A Beginners' Adventure for Level 5 Characters
Okay, I'm a day late, but there was a lot to write this week:
As part two of my ongoing mission to introduce new players to D&D, I'm posting here a complete adventure of my own device, intended to introduce new (or lapsed) players to Dungeons & Dragons. I tried to give it a very 'old school' feel, with plenty of traps, puzzles, and strange things you would only find in... well, in the lair of a mad mage. I also tried to inject some humour in there to help more reluctant players stay engaged with the group. I made the adventure for level 5 characters because I wanted to give the players a sense of power. Although I am a big fan of starting off at a low power level, it can be quite discouraging for a new player to come into this incredible world of fantasy and magic, only to realize that he or she can be easily killed by a kobold with a sling. Starting at a higher level gives players - especially spellcasters - more exciting powers to play with (hopefully without overwhelming them), and can thereby get them more invested in the game and their characters. For the same reason, many of the combat encounters will be quite easy by the standards of regular D&D players, but I want to take into account the lack of experience of the new players, and I do not want combats to drag on.
Well, enough stalling. Without further ado, here is the adventure: Trials of the Mad Mage!
The following text (even though it isn't yellow) is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. (c) 2013 Jonah Bomgaars.
As part two of my ongoing mission to introduce new players to D&D, I'm posting here a complete adventure of my own device, intended to introduce new (or lapsed) players to Dungeons & Dragons. I tried to give it a very 'old school' feel, with plenty of traps, puzzles, and strange things you would only find in... well, in the lair of a mad mage. I also tried to inject some humour in there to help more reluctant players stay engaged with the group. I made the adventure for level 5 characters because I wanted to give the players a sense of power. Although I am a big fan of starting off at a low power level, it can be quite discouraging for a new player to come into this incredible world of fantasy and magic, only to realize that he or she can be easily killed by a kobold with a sling. Starting at a higher level gives players - especially spellcasters - more exciting powers to play with (hopefully without overwhelming them), and can thereby get them more invested in the game and their characters. For the same reason, many of the combat encounters will be quite easy by the standards of regular D&D players, but I want to take into account the lack of experience of the new players, and I do not want combats to drag on.
Well, enough stalling. Without further ado, here is the adventure: Trials of the Mad Mage!
The following text (even though it isn't yellow) is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. (c) 2013 Jonah Bomgaars.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Sandbox Campaign Part 10: Nemeses
This is part 10 of my ongoing account of the sandbox campaign I am currently running. Updates are frequent, if irregular, and at the end of each post I talk about one or more subjects pertaining to the adventure but more broadly applicable to all campaigns. You can find the previous parts here.
Monty, Sigrid, Kat, and Daphne set out into the wilderness in search of Grothmagog, or Greypeak, supposed location of the dreaded Blackhide's camp. After a day or two of trekking, with early autumn snow falling around them and catching in the trees, they saw in the distance a mountain peak comprised mostly of sheer stone faces which rejected heavy snow accumulation. A grey peak amongst white ones. They headed toward it. The trees began to shake rhythmically with tremendous footsteps, more and more snow sloughing off the branches as the source drew nearer. Soon, they heard two voices speaking in slurred, booming words:
"Oy, Filk, 'ow much longer we gotta haul deeze little guys around for?"
"Buck up, Wallitz, it's ee-sen-shull for da war effort!" the second voice replied.
"But our back 'urtz!"
"Well dat's da price we'ze gotta pay in order not to get jumped by packs of greasy, disgusting 'umans, innit?"
Then there was a loud sniffing sound, and a third voice cut in, "Quiet, you two! I smell sommat wot I 'aven't smelt in years..."
"Wuzzat, boss?"
"Turnips!"
At that, Monty charged toward the sound of the voices and footsteps. As he broke out into the clearing made by a dry streambed, he saw a hunch-backed, two-headed giant brandishing twin flails and with a crude wooden howdah strapped to its back from which three goblin scouts peered over the trees, surveying the land. Two ogres marched at its side, and leading them all was a brutish, orcish-looking giant in splint mail armour.
"Grathwar!" shouted Monty. "You'll pay for what you did to my family!"
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Sandbox Campaign Part 6: "This is no mine. It's a tomb"
After resting up from their encounter with the flail snail, the party crossed the stone bridge over the chasm and found a chamber abutting a stone wall, featuring a door flanked by two dwarven statues. After dispatching a trio of cave scorpions, they were able to make out a dwarfish inscription above the door that read:
Into this place let no enemy creep
douse all lamps and into darkness leap
Into this place let no enemy creep
douse all lamps and into darkness leap
Friday, August 9, 2013
Sandbox Campaign Part 5: Dungeon Denizens and DMPCs
This is part 5 of my ongoing account of the sandbox campaign I am currently running. Updates are frequent, if irregular, and at the end of each post I talk about one or more subjects pertaining to the adventure but more broadly applicable to all campaigns. You can find the previous parts here.
After checking out several villages, the party returned to Castle Morbis for some R&R. Monty, meanwhile, had abandoned Crow Dance to his barbarian wanderings and finally reached the castle as well. After offending the guards at the main entrance, he bluffed his way into a postern gate. He wandered around the town, searching for his party, and ended up taking a liking to the Buxom Witch.
The rest of the party (sans Zel and Rikkit) also bummed around town, searching for a venue for Kat's bardic stylings after she rolled two natural 1s in a row on perform checks in the Rusty Glaive. They returned to the Buxom Witch - Kat in disguise since she had punched the barkeep last time - and met up with Monty. Soon, the barkeep offered to sell Monty a map to a treasure guarded by an orc horde. Monty, not realizing that this was the same map that sent Sir Hardrig to his doom, and also not wanting to pay for the treasure map, punched the barkeep, threw down a smokestick, and tried but failed to steal the map. He ended up fleeing down the street pursued by the barkeep's hired thugs, where he ran into Guy de la Rue. Guy was a seasoned fighter who had served with Sigrid's oldest brother Ranulf and had come up in search of Sigrid with her middle brother Bjorn. Now that that situation was resolved, he was just bumming around Castle Morbis looking for work. He helped Monty dispatch the thugs while the rest of the party stole the map, failed to remain unnoticed, and failed to convince the barmaids that they were just rescuing the map from a fire. The whole party fled to the dwarven smithy, where they told their side of the story to Dorninn the armourer, who promised to pass it on to the guards. The party decided to head out to the mountains in search of the rumored underground pass while the situation in town cooled down.
After checking out several villages, the party returned to Castle Morbis for some R&R. Monty, meanwhile, had abandoned Crow Dance to his barbarian wanderings and finally reached the castle as well. After offending the guards at the main entrance, he bluffed his way into a postern gate. He wandered around the town, searching for his party, and ended up taking a liking to the Buxom Witch.
The rest of the party (sans Zel and Rikkit) also bummed around town, searching for a venue for Kat's bardic stylings after she rolled two natural 1s in a row on perform checks in the Rusty Glaive. They returned to the Buxom Witch - Kat in disguise since she had punched the barkeep last time - and met up with Monty. Soon, the barkeep offered to sell Monty a map to a treasure guarded by an orc horde. Monty, not realizing that this was the same map that sent Sir Hardrig to his doom, and also not wanting to pay for the treasure map, punched the barkeep, threw down a smokestick, and tried but failed to steal the map. He ended up fleeing down the street pursued by the barkeep's hired thugs, where he ran into Guy de la Rue. Guy was a seasoned fighter who had served with Sigrid's oldest brother Ranulf and had come up in search of Sigrid with her middle brother Bjorn. Now that that situation was resolved, he was just bumming around Castle Morbis looking for work. He helped Monty dispatch the thugs while the rest of the party stole the map, failed to remain unnoticed, and failed to convince the barmaids that they were just rescuing the map from a fire. The whole party fled to the dwarven smithy, where they told their side of the story to Dorninn the armourer, who promised to pass it on to the guards. The party decided to head out to the mountains in search of the rumored underground pass while the situation in town cooled down.
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