#dd-5e — Public Fediverse posts

Download: Erde & Wasser #1: Der Einstieg ins Abenteuer

„Erde & Wasser“ ist eine Megadungeon-Kampagne für 5E (2014) in der Tradition der großen Dungeon-Abenteuer wie Ruins of Undermountain, Temple of Elemental Evil oder Caverns of Thracia. Sie besteht aus 38 Leveln, die auf mehrere Stränge verteilt sind, und insgesamt über 350 Räumen. Dazu kommen nochmal knapp 100 Locations in verschiedenen Pointcrawls. Also „Mega“ – Check! – und „dungeon“ – Check!

Für wen ist „Erde & Wasser“ gemacht?

• Ihr habt Spaß an längeren Kampagnen mit reichlich Lore, habt Freude am Entdecken und Erforschen und sucht nach einer Herausforderung.
• Ihr versucht Probleme kreativ zu lösen. Man kann sich auch durch das Dungeon hindurchkämpfen, aber das ist nicht immer der beste Weg, geschweige denn der Einzige.
• Ihr mögt eine plausible, immersive Spielumgebung. Ihr wollt kein zufällig ausgewürfeltes Dungeon, sondern eines, in dem Dinge Sinn ergeben und die Bewohner nicht bloß als Hindernisse da sind.
• Ihr habt keine Lust auf Railroading. Zum Einstieg bekommt man zwar eine Richtung mit, aber man kann sehr gut eine eigene Agenda verfolgen, wenn man das Dungeon zu verstehen beginnt.

Das Projekt ist zu groß, um alles auf einmal zu veröffentlichen, deshalb teile ich es auf einzelne Booklets auf, die ich nach und nach herausgebe.

#1 ist jetzt erschienen. Auf 40 Seiten (A4) findet ihr:

• Ein tolles Cover von Christian Laugsch
• Den Einstieg und Hintergrundinformationen
• Das Dorf Carfang
• Ein Pointcrawl mit 22 Locations in den Bergen von Yar
• Ein neues Monster und neue magische Items

Es ist alles zu 100% menschengemacht und ohne KI erstellt. Erde & Wasser verwendet die OGL und das SRD 5.1 und erscheint unter einer CC-BY 4.0-Lizenz.

Hier ist das pdf zum Download:

Wer es lieber über itch.io oder DriveThruRPG haben will, kann das gerne machen. Wer mir dort eine Spende hinterlässt, dem sei herzlich gedankt.

Karten und weiteres Material ergänze ich kontinuierlich auf der Übersichtsseite.

Ich hoffe, die Nummer 1 gefällt euch und weckt euer Interesse nach mehr. Meldet euch gerne hier, auf Discord, Mastodon oder im Tanelorn!

Erde & Wasser #1: Der Einstieg ins Abenteuer – Coming Soon!

Erde & Wasser ist ein Megadungeon für D&D 5E 2014, das ich seit Jahren schreibe und playteste:

• 38 Level mit über 350 Räumen
• Pointcrawls mit über 100 Locations
• Viele Storyfäden einer tiefen Sandbox

Der Text ist größtenteils fertig, zurzeit läuft der zweite Playtest. Aber bei dieser Menge an Material war mir klar, dass ich das nicht alles auf einmal veröffentlichen könnte. Daran würde ich jahrelang herumfeilen und wahrscheinlich nie zum Ende kommen.

Also ist der Plan jetzt, das Megadungeon über eine Serie von Booklets herauszugeben. Alles unter der OGL und einer CC-BY 4.0 Lizenz. Alles Human Made und ohne KI. Mit einem schicken Cover von Christian Laugsch!

Das erste Booklet ist jetzt so gut wie fertig. Die letzte Korrekturschleife läuft und noch diesen Monat kommt es als kostenloses pdf hierher zum Download. Herunterladbare Karten-Dateien wird auf der Übersichtsseite geben, auch mit separaten Versionen für die Spielenden, die nicht alle Geheimnisse zeigen.

Und als kleine Spoiler hier ein paar Eindrücke aus dem Heft.

• EPSON MFP image

Kommt mit in die Berge von Yar und ergründet die Geheimnisse von Erde und Wasser!

Continuing with adventures I, personally, hadn’t read through from previous editions, and also continuing our trend of looking at the UK series of adventures, our next adventure is Beyond the Crystal Cave. While the plot doesn’t directly follow any one story, there are some elements in this adventure borrowed from Shakespear, most notably with the NPCs the group is hired to find, with their feuding families and forbidden love. While I knew about the AD&D 1e version of the adventure, I only recently realized that this adventure was adapted for a season of D&D Encounters during the D&D 4e era.

As with the previous adventure, I can’t speak to what has been changed from the original, other than what the adventure itself notes. The original lovers who created the Eternal Garden were originally male and female presenting characters, and for this adventure, both original lovers that created The Eternal Garden are women. The archfey that appears in this adventure, the Gardener, was originally The Green Man, a character from real world folk lore.

Original Credits for Beyond the Crystal Cave

Design and Development: David J. Browne, Tom Kirby, Graeme Morris
Editing: Tom Kirby, Carole Morris, Graeme Morris, Don Turnbull
Art: De Leuw, Timothy Truman
Cartography: Graeme Morris
Playtesting: Jim Bambra, Jeanette Blaaser, Clive F. Booth, Michael W. Brunton, Chris Hall, Bill Howard, Kate Kirby, Gary Kirkham, Steve Mote, Chris Rick, Dave Tant, Don Turnbull, Pat Whitehead

Artwork

There are 15 pieces of art in this chapter. This includes nine images drawn from encounters in the adventure, three maps, two-character portraits, and the image of the doorway leading to the adventure that appears on the Infinite Staircase. In addition to the artwork in this chapter, there is also a picture of the Gardener that appears in the stat block appendix to the book.

The opening portrait of the two lovers who originally created the garden is my favorite piece in the book so far. It features the two women in robes of green and purple, surrounded by flowers and greenery, in the company of a young centaur, a treant, and a pair of dryads.

The Framing Device

The wish that Nafas asks the PCs to facilitate is a plea from two formerly waring families to find and bring home their children, who fell in love and ran away from their home. If the PCs aren’t going to be working for Nafas, the suggested hooks include the PCs arriving at the island as part of another trip, or as survivors of a shipwreck, and being recruited by one of the family members. The other hook assumes that the PCs were old friends of the characters and have just learned about their disappearance.

The original adventure was set in Greyhawk, so it’s got a canonical location that the introduction mentions, but it gives suggestions for placing it in Dragonlance, Eberron, and Theros. I wasn’t expecting a Magic setting to be thrown in there, but I like the reference. I appreciate that the Eberron placement mentions the unique planar structure of that setting. The Dragonlance suggestion is to make the children inhabitants of two traditionally unfriendly nations, such as the Qualinesti and the Silvanesti elves, but honestly, make it a Neidar clan dwarf and a Hylar clan dwarf and expand your horizons.

Adventure Overview

Don’t get your heart set on reading through this review if you plan on being a player in this adventure, because there are spoilers on the horizon. Seek your heart’s desire elsewhere and come back to the blog later.

Once the PCs arrive on the isle of Sybarate, they are approached by Governor Folcarae, a member of one of the two formerly feuding families. She explains about the feud, the children running off, and that she has hired multiple adventurers over the past two years to find them. She’s hoping the PCs will have better luck. She gives the PCs their last known location, the Cave of Echoes.

Inside the Cave of Echoes, if the PCs speak too loudly, they get feedback in the form of thunder damage. If they determine that the word “ask” on the wall means something will happen when they ask for assistance, the cave will answer them, potentially gaining the results of up to an 8th level spell, including a response similar to a Divination spell if they ask a general question.

While most of this adventure is designed to be resolved without combat, the cave has a few creatures that can get vicious, including some mud elementals, an ooze, and some poltergeists. The far end of the cave has a portal to the Eternal Garden, where the PCs can find the lost lovers, but they need to find a way to tame the waterfall that’s raining down with enough force that it’s almost a solid wall. There isn’t one solution here, the key is for the PCs to have some kind of creative way of dealing with the waterfall to allow them to pass through it, with some examples provided.

Past the waterfall, the PCs find the portal to the Eternal Garden, which is now a Domain of Delight, a region of the Feywild controlled by an archfey. The PCs arrive in a fairy ring and have some leprechans they can interact with, who provide several limericks that give them clues about the rest of the domain. If you aren’t the type to be able to decipher clues, none of the clues are necessary, but they are helpful.

The PCs can encounter a bronze dragon, some dryads, satyrs, awakened bears, awakened toads, awakened otters, sprites, a treant, centaurs, unicorns, or a chimera. Each one of these encounters provides the PCs the opportunity to learn more about what may have happened to the lovers that ran away and may potentially learn that the inhabitants consider the lovers to be the reincarnation of the creators of the garden, so they’re pretty happy with them sticking around.

There is a location in this domain, the Fountain All Heal, which can provide the effects of spells like Greater Restoration or Heal. However, if you avail yourself of this fountain, you no longer want to leave the domain. The only exceptions are characters that are fey or have fey ancestry. The only way to remove this effect is via a Wish.

Since there isn’t much in the way of combat, unless the PCs are terrible people, there is one encounter where the PCs may be afflicted, and thus tempted to use the fountain. Creatures called barkburs inhabit a grove, and they can turn people affected by their toxin into wood.

Eventually the PCs run into the Gardener, who invites the PCs to sit with them for some refreshments. They may pick up the benefit of the Hero’s Feat spell now, and the Gardener will provide general answers about where the lovers may be, telling the PCs to navigate the Hedge Maze nearby to get more answers.

There is an ongoing puzzle seeded by the leprechauns that will point the PCs at collecting certain leaves. Various locations mention what leaves are available there, so if the PCs have picked up on the clue, they can start gathering what they need. We’ll come back to this.

The Hedge Maze, thankfully, isn’t about navigating an actual maze. Well, it is, but not one that the players must deal with. It takes a group ability check to navigate the maze, but they can also plow through the walls of the maze, if they don’t mind taking damage from the massive thorns that will pierce them as they barrel through. At the center of the maze is a sundial with impressions for different leaves that should be set in it, which will teleport the PCs into the Palace of Spires, where the runaway lovers currently live.

In addition to the lovers Juliana and Orlando, there is another couple, two guards who are also romantic partners, who will protect the palace, Juliana, and Orlando, if threatened. Juliana and Orlando don’t want to leave, because they have both been affected by the fountain. If the PCs find Caerwyn and Porphura’s tomb (the creators of the garden), and they are respectful, the inscription on the tomb instructs them that they can make a wish, which they can use to free anyone from the effects of the fountain. Once Orlando and Juliana are free, the PCs just need to explain that their families are no longer at war to get them to leave.

The PCs need more leaves to teleport back out of the palace courtyard, however, all of the NPCs that live in the palace have tokens of the leaves that can be used to activate the teleportation effect, and some of the NPCs are noted as having an additional set of the leaf tokens. Now, if they tried to raid the tomb, things go downhill. The PCs are confronted by the Gardner and banished from the domain, which changes from a pleasant summer land to a chilling winter domain.

Assuming the PCs don’t upset the Gardener, they can leave with Orlando and Juliana, return them to their families, and collect their reward.

Thoughts on Chapter 4: Beyond the Crystal Cave

I like having more options for adventures that lean more heavily on roleplaying and exploration, although you may want to know how much your party wants that content before you use this back-to-back with When a Star Falls. I am onboard with more archfey being introduced. I would love to have the same kind of diversity in archfey in D&D lore that we already have for creatures like demon lords, archdevils, archoelementals, etc. I wouldn’t mind seeing the literal Green Man as an archfey, since we’ve got lots of other examples of singular planar beings drawn from Earth’s folklore.

I don’t think the leprechaun’s limerick about the leaves is too difficult to follow, but since the leprechans have six total limericks, one of which doesn’t mean anything, and four of with are more foreshadowing then an actual riddle the PCs need to solve to advance the plot, I’m a little concerned about limerick overload and the PCs not knowing what is immediately useful and what isn’t. I appreciate that the PCs aren’t penalized if they don’t think to bring two sets of leaves, so they can leave the palace. I also like that you can blunt force the hedge maze if you don’t manage to navigate it with your group check.

I like all the little interactions with the various creatures that populate the domain. I appreciate the callback to some well-known faerie lore, i.e. its potentially dangerous to eat or drink in the fey realm. This was a fun read through, and I think I would enjoy running it. Ready to look at the next doorway!

If you don’t mind contributing to my ability to pick up new games, and you want to look at some of the history behind this adventure, you can use the affiliate links below. It’s much appreciated!

• UK1 Beyond the Crystal Cave (1e)
• Beyond the Crystal Cave (4e)

https://whatdoiknowjr.com/2024/07/16/what-do-i-know-about-reviews-quests-from-the-infinite-staircase-part-four-chapter-4/

#33cccc #5eSRD #666699 #BeyondTheCrystalCave #DD #DD5e #dnd #DnD5e #DungeonsDragons #DungeonsDragons5e #DungeonsAndDragons #QuestsFromTheInfiniteStaircase #rpgs #TalesFromTheInfiniteStaircase #ttrpg #ttrpgs

1DR – Dragons – Direction le Drakenbergen 05 – En route vers Froidegorge  

Arthur a mis en place une expédition pour aller retrouver le Magistère Tutmale Stadfelt qui devrait être vers Blömiane dans le Drakenbergen afin de secourir son mentor le Magistère Severus. Comment le voyage va-t-il se passer ? En effet, c'est une troupe des plus étranges qui quitte la Cité Franche: deux humains, une mérosis et une

https://unduoroliste.net/?p=3070

#DD5e #Dragons #episode #jdr #mp3

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I should find a new D&D or other tabletop group, i miss playing. Would any of y'all know a group missing a player / ready to accommodate a new one? Remote, ideally, i guess?

#tabletoprpg #lookingforgroup #dd5e #IFeelWeirdUsingSoManyTagsButTheyHelpForDiscoverability

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New! Limitless Champions Late Pledge https://wyrmworkspublishing.com/product/limitless-champions-late-pledge?utm_source=buffer Not too late to get the largest, most diverse collection of disabled fantasy minis & cards ever made! #art #cards #dd5e #disabilityrepresentation #gameaccessories #miniature #npc #vtt