Month: November 2016

Terry stepped carefully on the narrow path.  A few rocks skittered over the edge into the darkness below. They were lucky to find the path,  he wasn’t sure if it was natural or if someone or something created it.  Kate was sure it led to the lost city of Dzuvia.  They had to be over a hundred yards underground now.  The claustrophobic caverns they had squeezed through to get here had opened up considerably. Terry could feel a cool breeze and the faint sound of a waterfall somewhere far ahead of him.

“I think we’ve found it,” Kate said in a reverent whisper.

“How can you tell I can’t see anything past this lantern.”

“The sounds. This cavern’s huge, just like the one Dzuvia is supposed to be in.”  Kate had taken off her pack and was rummaging around in it.
“We taking a break?” Terry asked massaging his aching calf as he watched her.

“Maybe,” Kate replied and produced a flare from her pack and proceeded to light it.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Terry asked.  Kate seemed to always attract trouble.

“No, but only one way to find out.”  Kate hurled the flare as far as she could over the cliff’s edge.  Both Terry and Kate watched the streak or orange light intently as it seemed to float through the air and towards the cavern’s floor.

The light slowly revealed what Kate had dreamed about for so long Dzuvia.

Terry stared.  The buildings and temples below were clearly Vertruvian in design. They must have dated back to the…

A few pieces of rock landed on Terry’s shoulder.  It interrupted his thoughts as he looked at them and brushed them off.  Slowly he raised lantern high and stared at the wall behind him.  A wall that seemed to be moving…. And chittering.

Terry pushed Kate forward. 

“Stop it,” She complained.  He prodded her forward again.

“Stop it, I might fall.”

“run.” Terry all but whispered.

“What?” Kate asked as she tore her eyes from Dzuvia and looked at Terry.  That is when the wall seemed to lurch forward.

“Run!”

Introduction:

Back when I was DMing D&D with larger groups and higher level players I discovered that the key to a great encounter isn’t usually the monsters but instead the location that can really make the encounter memorable.  I have used the long stair encounter quite a few times, the most memorable being when the party was trying to escape an infernal city in a large subterranean cavern. Continue reading “Set Piece: The Long Stair” →

Introduction:

This one is all Marc Plourde’s fault.  In our recent Gods of the Fall game, he ran this encounter in our first adventure.  I thought it was a pretty interesting encounter because the setup gave us players a lot of choices and helped us define our characters.  This is not a big set piece I know, but small encounters can mean a lot to players if it helps define themselves and the tone of an area or a campaign. You can find Marc Plourde’s writings and gaming tips over at his Inspiration Strikes Blog.

Scene:

Someone is on the street corner proselytizing to the people passing by.   A group of folks with opposing views come and accost them in sight of the PCs.   Quite a simple concept really but you can do a lot with this.

Mood:

So the mood for a scene like this is entirely in your hands.  You are basically establishing two factions in your world.  How do they act?  If the corner crier is spouting blasphemies and member of the inquisition simply just walks up and shoots him with a blunderbuss, then you’ve established a tone for this conflict.   The inquisition clearly thinks they can get away with this kind of blatant violence.   If the two factions end up in a shouting match none resorting to violence you set a different tone.  If it’s just simply a crowd of people heckling the crier then you’ve set a tone.  The mood is clearly in your hands.   What happens next is totally up to the players. Continue reading “Set Piece: The Proselytizer” →

Introduction

The noble throwing a banquet, the feast in the players’ honor, the masquerade ball the players are infiltrating, and the gala used as a cover for the great heist.  Big dinner parties crop up time and again in campaigns of all genres.   While the reason the players are attending is usually tied to some campaign story or plot, I am going to discuss things you can do to make the event more a set piece than window dressing.

(art The Banquet of Cleopatra is a painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo)

Scene

The players are attending a dinner, either in disguise, as guests of honor, or random attendees. They are most likely out of their element and forced to interact with people they don’t know and who don’t know them.  I am sure the players are embroiled some wondrous plot, but the party isn’t thrown by them, so theirs aren’t the only schemes in town. Continue reading “The Banquet” →