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 1-6 The Scroll Thief, and DDEX 1-7 Drums in the Marsh.
DDEX 1-6 The Scroll Thief
The Scroll Thief is the sixth adventure in the Tyranny of Dragons season for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. The usually quiet scholar’s square district has been plagued by a rash of break ins and thefts. The Black Fists aren’t interested in taking a look, so some brave adventurers are going to have bring the guilty parties to justice.
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 adventure is a classic mystery. Players will have to figure out who’s responsible, and where to find them (the other classic questions are also seeking solutions, but the first two are going to move the story along). The adventure focuses on stolen texts and tracking down and returning said texts will provide the party a wonderful story to tell, and provide wealth and experience.
Part 1: Mysteries of the Mind
Despite their unwillingness to get directly involved, the Black Fists are willing to hire the job out, and this is one of the first times that players will have an opportunity to interact with the Black Fist in a role-playing encounter. This is an investigative mystery, so this portion of the adventure is probably a place you should interact with words first, and save your capacity to blow up bad guys for later.
We have always been a little leery of mysteries that require investigation, because different people will react differently when presented with these challenges. From both sides of the table, this adventure gives you an excellent opportunity to study how to interact with people and clues, and how to craft a mystery that works for a tabletop game. Study hard, clue finders.
Part 2: Truth in Text
The second portion of this adventure is a hybrid of investigation styles. You’ve got a massive set piece to explore and find clues within, and then it’s a hallmark of adventure literature The Chase. The adventurers have to follow a plot point underneath the city of Phlan, and have an interesting run through the sewers of that city. Chases are a staple of fantasy adventure, but can be hard to balance with game play mechanics. This one’s got a slower pace to it, so it should be a fun exercise for new players.
This section of the adventure features a wonderful set piece encounter area. Take your time and explore the area, because the writer has put some thought and detail into making an interesting area for you to interact with. For a first or second time experience with a big set, this one certainly fits the bill. Once the players have finished navigating their way through this section, they’re ready for the last part of the adventure.
Part 3: The Dragon’s Swamp
After exiting the sewers the players find themselves along the Phlan Path (A major road leading out of the city). Following the trail will lead the players into the Twilight Marsh where they will encounter the scroll thief and the person he’s been stealing the texts for. This could be a seriously nasty confrontation for a party of new characters, so pay attention to what you’re doing.
For DMs, make sure you read through the entire part carefully, because the adventure can go a couple of different ways, depending on how the players act. Make sure you are familiar with the stat blocks and new options for the opponent in this combat encounter. We’d also suggest making it memorable, because there are few combat encounters in this adventure. This is probably the first time many players will have encountered one of these, so leave a lasting impression.
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 1-5, you’ll be somewhere between 2200 experience points and 2750 experience points, which puts you firmly in level 3, or just crossing the line into 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. There are a few that can show up in this adventure, and one of them is a permanent magic item.
- Downtime Days: This one’s easy. Everyone gets 10 downtime days for playing through this adventure. If this is your sixth 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 if you are a member of a faction. Depending on your actions and your faction, you can also gain an additional point of renown.
So now that you’ve completed The Scroll Thief, check your character, level up if you need to, pick up additional gear and get ready for the next adventure.
DDEX1-7 Drums in the Marsh
Drums in the Marsh is the seventh adventure in the Tyranny of Dragons season for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. Something sinister stirs in the Twilight Marsh outside of Phlan. Drums echo through the marshlands, and outlying farms have been attacked, leaving only muddy claw prints and questions.
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 the first adventure in the set written for third level characters (the previous five have been optimized for 2nd level characters). This means these challenges are going to be a little tougher than previous adventures in the series
Part 1: Strange Disappearances
Starting out at or near the Crossing Inn, the players are almost immediately introduced to a plot hook that offers to pay them a sum of money. All the players have to do is investigate the disappearances in the farms surrounding the area. This part can hop around locations a couple of different directions, and the players have the option to take boats up and down the waterways while they investigate. Their investigations should lead them deeper into the Twilight Marsh in search of their answers.
Part 2: Into the Marsh
We hope you brought a ranger with Swamp as his favored terrain. This portion of the adventure focuses on navigating the Twilight Marsh and finding deeper inroads into the area. The hope is to find out where the missing people are, with an additional bonus of maybe putting an end to the kidnappings. The swamp can be extremely dangerous, and the locals aren’t especially fond of outsiders causing problems. There are a few different potential ways to solve this crisis, so put your thinking caps on. Once you’ve potentially rescued the captives and returned them home, you’ll have concluded this adventure, (assuming you survive).
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 third 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 600 experience points, while the maximum is 750 points. If you’re a brand new character, the minimum experience points you earned will get you into level 2 with 300 to spare, while the maximum will put you 150 experience points from level 3. If you are continuing this adventure season after playing DDEX1-6, you’ll either be somewhere between 2800 experience points and 3500 experience points, which puts you firmly in level 4.
- Gold Pieces: This one’s 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 seventh Tyranny of Dragons adventure, (and you’re playing them in order) you should have 75 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 Drums in the Marsh, 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 DDEX1-8 Tales Trees Tell, and DDEX 1-9 Outlaws of the Iron Road.
Game on, Game Fans.
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