All right Game Fans, we’re back with another look at the first season of Dungeons and Dragons organized play, The Tyranny of Dragons. We are looking at this from the perspective of participating in the Adventurer’s League organized play campaign, so we’ll focus on it from that and go from there. Today we’re going to check out DDEX 1-4 Dues for the Dead, and DDEX 1-5 The Courting of Fire.
DDEX 1-4 Dues for the Dead
Dues for the Dead is the fourth adventure in the Tyranny of Dragons season for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. Continuing their efforts to free Phlan from the oppressive regime of the Cult of the Dragon, our brave adventurers are tasked with dealing with a new threat. Something has disturbed the ancient graveyard of Valinghen, and now the restless dead are rising, will you be the brave heroes to end this threat?
This adventure is written for characters between levels 1 and 4, (and if you’ve read the other articles in this series) Adventurer’s League puts this as a hard cap (so you’ll have to find something else for your 5th level hero to do). Adventurer’s League is for a group of three to seven players, with five being the optimal number.
Now that we’ve got the number crunching out of the way, let’s talk about the story you’re looking at. This is the first of these adventures that really looks like a traditional dungeon crawl. The church of Kelemvor (God of the Dead) has sought the assistance of local heroes to help them restore the peace to their ancient graveyard of Valinghen. This adventure takes place in three parts, so we’ll take it by the numbers.
Part 1: The Valinghen Graveyard
This part of the adventure focuses on getting the players to interact with the story and get them moving right along into the adventure. They encounter the NPC that’s supplying them with the quest (this is an NPC they’ve encountered before if your character has played through DDEX1-3). The important part of this adventure is to supply background information about the Graveyard and what the overall threat for the adventure looks like.
For a new group of Dungeons and Dragons players, this adventure sets up an excellent first encounter with dungeon delving. The NPC quest giver offers payment, the loan of an item that will help them complete the quest, and if necessary, a guide to help them find their way through the dungeon. It also gives them some guidelines for what not to do while in the dungeon (No Grave Robbing). Once the players have accepted the quest, it’s time to move on to the second part.
Part 2: The Upper Catacombs
This is the first part of the actual underground dungeon, and a new DM running this adventure should pay extra close attention to the General Features listed on page 9. Immersing your players in the environment will draw them deeper into the game, and being able to describe the way sound and light interact with this underground structure is one of the easiest ways to do that.
This section of the adventure features some classic monsters and time honored traditions in adventure building. For a first or second time experience with a dungeon, this one certainly fits the bill. Take your time playing through the adventure, explore, look around. Adventures are meant to be experienced, so enjoy it. Once the players have finished navigating their way through this section, they’re ready for the last part of the adventure.
Part 3: The Lower Catacombs
The Lower Catacombs is where the climax of this adventure takes place. After discovering the entrance to this level of the dungeon, the players have some different opportunities to interact with the dungeon and its denizens. This level has some interesting architecture and a boss battle for the ages. If the players can overcome the threats to the Valinghen Graveyard, they will come out richer and wiser for the experience.
Aftermath: So as a character in the adventurer’s league, you have three primary rewards you’re aiming for, and the occasional extra bit of stuff. Let’s go over your Downtime Days, your Experience Points, Your Gold Pieces, and your renown. If you’re not playing in an Adventurer’s League group, you don’t need to track these on your log sheet, but keep an eye on your numbers.
- Experience Points: Experience points for this adventure will vary depending on the path you take through it. The minimum amount of experience you’ll earn for this expedition is 450 experience points, while the maximum is 600 points. If you’re a brand new character, the minimum experience points you earned will get you into level 2 with 150 to spare, while the maximum will do that and get you half way to level 3. If you are continuing this adventure season after playing DDEX 1-3, you’ll be somewhere between 1750 experience points and 2150 experience points, which puts you firmly in level 3.
- Gold Pieces: This ones’ a little trickier, because GP is calculated based off of the number of players at a table. There’s enough treasure available that you should certainly be able to pick up some extra supplies or replace ones that you expended during the adventure. Keep an eye out for any handy magical items that may show up. One of the offered rewards for this adventure is a permanent magical item, so your group will have to decide a fair way to share it.
- Downtime Days: This one’s easy. Everyone gets 10 downtime days for playing through this adventure. If this is your fourth Tyranny of Dragons adventure, (and you’re playing them in order) you should have 55 downtime days.
- Renown: Everybody should earn a point of renown if you are a member of a faction.
So now that you’ve completed Dues for the Dead, check your character, level up if you need to, pick up additional gear and get ready for the next adventure.
DDEX1-5 The Courting of Fire
The Courting of Fire is the fifth adventure in the Tyranny of Dragons season for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. An exiled cultist and his nefarious minions have been spotted in nearby mountains. They say he seeks a powerful item and courts the favor of an ancient power. Can your heroes stop this alliance before it destroys Phlan?
This adventure is written for characters between levels 1 and 4, (and if you’ve read the other articles in this series) Adventurer’s League puts this as a hard cap (so you’ll have to find something else for your 5th level hero to do). Adventurer’s League is for a group of three to seven players, with five being the optimal number.
This is an adventure in two parts, and the two parts are fairly typical of how i remembered most adventures going. The first part of the adventure is an investigation, where the players are trying to find out every scrap of information about the rumored problem causers so they can be found and dealt with. The second half focuses on getting to where those problem causers are, and making sure they aren’t causing problems any more.
Part 1: Studies, Interrupted.
The first half of this adventure is a search for information about the cultist and the trouble he’s likely to cause if he’s allowed to finish his plans. There are several different potential directions for player characters to go in their investigation, and there are a couple of potential jobs that they could seek out while they’re on this adventure.
Put on your thinking caps and see if you can find different ways of getting the information you’re looking for. You, as a player character, have three different social interaction skills that you can use during the game. If you frequently use the same one over and over again, try out a different one and see what the results look like.
Part 2: The Temple of the Scale
The second half of this adventure is a site based exploration with some dungeon dressing. IT’s the ruins of an old temple that has seen better days (before a Dragon). Recent inhabitants have made some improvements while they excavate and look for shiny things. As a party of adventurers, you should help them by taking over their excavations and keeping their treasure. This one’s got some interesting features, but we won’t spoil the surprises for you.
Aftermath:
So as a character in the adventurer’s league, you have three primary rewards you’re aiming for, and the occasional extra bit of stuff. Let’s go over your Downtime Days, your Experience Points, Your Gold Pieces, and your renown. If you’re not playing in an Adventurer’s League group, you don’t need to track these on your log sheet, but keep an eye on your numbers. (If you’re playing Adventurer’s League, you might be starting your second log sheet, if you don’t have one, ask the DM)
- Experience Points: Experience points for this adventure will vary depending on the path you take through it. The minimum amount of experience you’ll earn for this expedition is 450 experience points, while the maximum is 600 points. If you’re a brand new character, the minimum experience points you earned will get you into level 2 with 150 to spare, while the maximum will do that and get you halfway to level 3. If you are continuing this adventure season after playing DDEX1-4, you’ll either be somewhere between 2200 experience points and 2750 experience points, which puts you firmly in level 3 or just crossing the threshold of level 4.
- Gold Pieces: This ones’ a little trickier, because GP is calculated based off of the number of players at a table. There’s enough treasure available that you should certainly be able to pick up some extra supplies or replace ones that you expended during the adventure. Keep an eye out for any handy magical items that may show up.
- Downtime Days: This one’s easy. Everyone gets 10 downtime days for playing through this adventure. If this is your fifth Tyranny of Dragons adventure, (and you’re playing them in order) you should have 65 downtime days.
- Renown: Everybody should earn a point of renown, and if you completed a secret mission for a faction you may be a member of, you’ll get an additional point.
So now that you’ve completed The Courting of Fire, check your character, level up if you need to, pick up additional gear and get ready for the next adventure.
Those are two adventures for this week, check back next week for a look at DDEX1-6 The Scroll Thief, and DDEX 1-7 Drums in the Marsh.
Game on, Game Fans.
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