Goblins, a box and a road to adventure part 2

As our adventurers make their way to Winterhaven and take up lodgings at the local inn. Anubis and Valindil find a vacant table and order a round of drinks from the bartender, who seems to have been sampling his own spirits throughout the whole evening. The two begin to converse on the motives of Traevus the dwarf who had inquired of them to obtain his box that was stolen by the goblins. What was inside? Why was it so important?

 

After a few moments the bartender arrives, after a few stumbling movements. They inquire information from the bartender that Traevus usually comes to the tavern to drink a few flasks of ale to chat with the locals. “Do you think that Traevus will be coming to the tavern tonight?” Anubis asked. “I’m sure he’ll be here at some point. *hic*” replied the bartender before stumbling back to the kitchen.

As our adventurers slowly drink from their flasks something catches their eyes. A large figure enters the tavern … a dark orange scaled dragonborn suited with armor and shield. He slowly glanced around the tavern before wandering over to the livelier part of the tavern.  Valindil leans over to Anubis and says “Look Anubis, a Dragonborn…” Anubis glanced over his goblet but never replied.

 

Shortly after the entrance of the Dragonborn, Traevus enters the tavern and notices our two adventurers at the table. He wanders over to them with excitement. “Greetings my friends, I’m glad to see you made it back. Did you find my stolen box?”  Traevus fidgets while he waits in response. “The only thing we found was an ambush”Anubis replies. “This is true, and you need to tell us what is in the box” Valindil said pryingly. “I can’t tell you!” said Traevus. “Please you must get it back for me. I beg of you my friends!” Anubis leans forward in a low tone, “My friend here and I risked our lives for this…box we have the right to know what’s in it. We walked into a goblin ambush!” Anubis sat back in his chair as Valindil piped in...”He is right Traevus, a further explanation or more compensation. We leave that up to you.”Traevus slowly pondered before turning slightly and looking at Anubis and Valindil. “I’m sorry, I wish I could tell you…but I can’t.” Traevus slowly walks over to the other part of the tavern where it is livelier and begins to ask those around tables for aid, but to no avail.  After belittlement gestures and harsh words Traevus slowly finds an empty table and takes a seat.

 

Anubis and Valindil continued to relax and reflect from the day’s activities and still bothered by questions left unanswered. They both caught the glance of the dragonborn approaching their table. The dragonborn slowly sniffed the air and nodded before speaking. “Khem Vhal, Dez Khrul. Greetings and good fortunes my friends. May I have a moment of your time?” Valindil nodded and responded with “Of course and what can we do for you….”  The dragonborn quickly responded. “Raalio Va Keen. Forgive me, my name is Ghesh. I inquire about the box the small dwarf is asking about. He advised me of the matter and I offer my aid.”  Valindil gazes over at Anubis as he asks curiously “So you would help us in this matter? So that means we would have to split more of the rewarded coin?” Ghesh slowly shakes his head.“Neish, Neish, I do not require compensation for my aid.” Anubis takes a gulp of his ale before saying “From what we’ve seen Ghesh, this will not be an easy task and what Traevus is offering is clearly not enough.” Ghesh slowly nodded before excusing himself and walking back over to Traevus. Anubis and Valindil watched as Traevus stood up and yelled “That is absurd!!” Ghesh slowly calmed the dwarf down before coming back to the table where Anubis and Valindil were. “Quo Tel Drosh, Everything is in order. If you wish we can embark now.” Valindil looked at Anubis and back to Ghesh. “Well we would rather wait till morning if that is alright with you Ghesh.” Ghesh nodded “Morning it shall be. Also your compensation has been increased.” Ghesh dropped a piece of gold on the table to pay for the drinks and left our two adventurers.

 

When morning came our hero’s ate a hearty breakfast and left the tavern and were met by Ghesh who was waiting outside. The three left Winterhaven and followed the road back towards the goblin lair. The howling of wolves can be heard in the far distance. They continue to travel until they come to a road that splits. In the southwest part of the road stood a ruined tower that at one time was used for guard duty by a lost kingdom. The wolves howling was following them the whole time and now sounded very closer that before. Suddenly two large wolves come out from behind some boulders that were next to the road to the north. Shortly after the howls familiar shrieks feel the air as two goblins come out from the tower. Our hero’s grabbed their weapons and prepare for battle.

 

Ghesh takes off towards one of the wolves and swing at it with his mace. The wolf dodges away quickly and counters with a ferocious bite to Ghesh’s arm. Anubis runs past Ghesh and the wolf and attacks the other wolf. With a quick swing of his long sword he manages to knick the wolf as it tries to doge the swing of the bladek. The wolf growls and bites Anubis in the thigh. Valindil runs across the road towards the tower where the two goblins wait. With a swing of his short sword the goblin parries and quickly counters, but is met by Valindils quick reflexes and parries it away. As Valindil pushes the goblin back with his blades a bolt from the other goblins crossbow embeds into his shoulder.

 

Ghesh quickly swings his mace and the wolf darts out of the way of the attack. The wolf springs into the air and hungrily bites into Ghesh, making the dragonborn roar in pain. Anubis quickly dodges an attack from the hungry wolf; and hastily strikes it with a savage blow of his long sword.

The blade cuts deeply through fur, flesh and muscle. A loud yipping howl escapes the wolf. Valindil and the Goblin exchange blows and parries. A dark cloud quickly surrounds Valindil and the goblin is startled. The goblin manages to parry a few more attacks until finally the short sword of Valindil lands into the Goblins shoulder. The goblins shrill scream fills the air but is quickly silenced by the thrust of Valindil’s dagger. As the motionless goblin falls to the ground the dark cloud dissipates, and shortly after the bolt from the other goblin crossbow pierces into the side of Valindil. The goblin loads another bolt and begins to run towards the road.  A blaze of anger fills the eyes of the drow but hears the roar of Ghesh and quickly takes off towards Ghesh “I’m coming Ghesh!”

 

Ghesh quickly raises his hand and mutters a few words and shortly followed a blaze of white light that quickly surged through his body. As he shifts away from the wolf and tries to run towards Valindil, the wolf tries to nip at Ghesh but to no avail. With a growl the wolf gives chase.

The injured wolf growls at Anubis and with snarl and a flash of teeth bites into Anubis’s arm. Anubis gritting his teeth… shakes off the surge of pain and grips his long sword and swings at the wolf. The wolf manages with injury to dodge the momentum of the attack but it still nicked in the end. The wolf snarls and eyes Anubis with ferocious eyes. Anubis takes a deep breath and lunges at the wolf. The wolf gnashes at Anubis, but the blade runs through the wolf piercing deeply. A dying howl escapes the wolf as its head hangs motionless, and then falls to the ground.

Valindil, swinging his short swords at the wolf as it pursues Ghesh. The blade cuts deeply into the wolf. The wolf turns its head and snarls. At this same moment a bolt from the goblin standing on the road, pierces Ghesh’s shoulder.

 

Ghesh turns and swings his mace at the wolf, the blow connects to the wolf’s jaw. With a yip the wolf shakes itself and growls. Ghesh slowly steps back and takes a deep breath readying his dragonborn fire but exhales quickly gripping his wound from the bolt of the crossbow. Slowly chanting a few words once again the light slowly appears around Ghesh.

 

In a moment Anubis turns and runs towards the wolf next to Valindil and Ghesh. Valindil quickly mutters a few words and in a blink of an eye was in front of the troublesome goblin. With a swing of his blade, Anubis cuts deeply into the wolf and with a final yip the wolf laid on the ground dead.

Valindil swung his blades at the goblin cutting into its flesh until the goblin shifted and began to run away. The goblin breathing hard turned after locking another bolt into the crossbow. As the goblin turned to ready the aim of its crossbow there was a fleshy thud… in its throat Valindil’s dagger rested after its flight through the air. After a few gurgles the goblin dropped its crossbow and fell to the ground.

 

The three exchange gazes and exhaled with relief. Valindil asked as he walked over to the goblin to recover his dagger and to search the body. “Not much of a fighter are you Ghesh?” Anubis then chimed in with, “Yeah Ghesh. thanks for the help” Ghesh stood on the road not replying as he focused on the words he chanted as a soft glow covered him as he exhaled. The two looted the goblins and found leather armor, two daggers, a shield, and a spear. Anubis acquired two wolf pelts from the wolves. Valindil then suggested a rest before furthering their adventure to the goblin cave. The three then went to the small ruined tower and rested within its crumbled walls.

Goblins, a box and a trail to adventure part 1

As the wagon wheels down the road slowly, two adventures sit in the back of the wagon while the driver Traevus a middle age dwarf keeps to himself while controlling the two horses. The two adventures try to get the driver to speak but to no avail, such is how a dwarfish nature is.

Suddenly from out behind rocks and some bushes loud screams can be heard, and suddenly an arrow pierces into Traevus’s arm. As the adventures look up they see a group of goblins. They both jump into action grabbing their weapons from the back. Anubis a human fighter draws his two-handed longsword and dispatches the first goblin that gets close to the horses. Valindil a drow battlemind jumps into action and lays waste to a goblin the reaches the wagon next. Two goblins manage to land two attacks on our hero’s. Piercing into Valindil’s leg the goblin’s attack strikes true. Pain surges through Valindil, and so does anger. Anubis takes a slice of another goblins blade that cuts into his arm. Anubis, who looks at his wound then back at the goblin. “You..you made me spill blood”. With a uppercut like swing with his blade the goblin is dispatched. Valindil, buries his sword and dagger into the goblin that has stricken him as the loud bloody squeal of the goblin fills the air.

The rest of the goblins faces shrill with fear as the run off back into the hills. As our two hero’s look up the road, the whining of horse is heard. In the distance a black rider with a dark cloak is seen shaking his fist in the air before finally riding off towards the hills.

“

The two hero’s slowly gather them selves and examine their wounds before a loud angry tone comes from the wagon. “Those little bastards stole it!!” Traevus looking on the seat, and in the back of wagon while holding his arm before quickly pointing at Anubis and Valindil. “You two!! You did remarkable in that fight.. please…please I ask for your help. Those damn goblins stole something precious to me and I must have it back”

Anubis and Valindil look at each other and then Anubis replies. “Now, whats in it for us”. “Yes, our fine dwarf friend whats in it for us?” said by Valindil as he eyes his wound. Traveus thinks for a moment and replies “I’ll give you both fifteen gold coins for acquiring my lost property. I beg of you though, please don’t open the box”.

The two check around the wagon before departing in the direction where the goblins went. Valindil,

slowly bends down and gets a better sense of where the goblins went. He noticed the goblins did a poor job of hiding their tracks and the two hero’s were on their way. Before night fall they come to their destination.

The goblins heard our two heroes approaching the cave and are ready. Battle begins with our hero’s drawing their weapons…Anubis notices something… “Are you fairing well Valindil?” Valindil looks at Anubis quizitivly. “I feel fine, Anubis..” Valindil turns back towards the threats that lay ahead. The battle begins and our heros are fairing well. Those these goblins may be inferior to our heros’ they still skillful and full of surprises. A goblin loads a bolt and fires it upon Valindil piercing into his arm. Anubis lays waste to a goblin with a devastating slash of his long sword before moving to the next opponent who is ready for him… With a slash of his sword the goblin penetrates the armor of Anubis inflicting damage.

Valindil, turns towards the nearest goblin and swings, but losing his grip his short sword flys from his hand and pierces into the earth near the goblin. A soft low sigh escapes Valindil. This same moment another bolt pierces inot Valindril in his upper back. Anubis swings but the goblin quickly rolls out of the way. The goblin quickly swings his blade and strikes Anubis on the leg. two other goblins come out from each side and approach our hero’s.

Gripping his blade firmly Valindil, swings at the goblin near him and cuts down his chest, putting the goblin down for good. A bolt flies past his shoulder and he slowly turns his head and scowls at the goblin who is loading another bolt into his crossbow. Anubis runs his blade through the troublesome goblin.. the scream of the dying goblin echoes before finally going to oblivion. Before Anubis could turn around a bolt pierces his upper right shoulder. Gritting his teeth he heads towards his attacker.

The bolt flashes past Valindil, but the goblin meets his end when the dagger thrown by Valindil finally embeddes into his chest of the menecing goblin. The goblin swings at Anubis but to no avail. Instead, Anubis swings his blade down ferociously and kills the goblin. The other goblin who is next to Anubis swings and cuts into the back of Anubis. Valindil quickly dodges an incoming attack from a goblin and shoves his short deep into the chest of his attacker.

The last two goblins try and flee back to the depths of the cave but our hero’s lay waste to them quickly. Long sighs are exhaled and nods exchanged by Anubis and Valindil. They look around the cave and each of them find a coin purse with gold. The goblins were not carrying anything of value. Their armor and weapons were inferior to the heroe’s and no merchant would want to purchase it either.

They both peer into the cave to the entrance that leads to a path of stairs that lead down. For the time being they both agreed they need to head to Winterhaven to rest and to seek fellow adventurers. For this task is not as easy as they thought…. Now where is that Traevus? He’s got some explaing to do.

End of Part 1

Lets get this game started!

Alright, lets get this party rolling! Literally…

I have four players and  possibly a fifth person,  who are ready to get a game of Dungeons & Dragons going. I’m pretty excited and I have a friend who used to play 3.5 and is curious to play 4th edition.

I’ve planned a busy weekend for myself which involves a large of amount of reading and getting prepared for that night in a couple of weeks ahead.

In my arsenal of reading i’m planning on spot reading through the Dungeon Masters Book which is included in the Dungeon Master Kit Set.

(Does Vanna White hand presentation )

This kit is a meaty beast with a side of awesome. There is a lot to enjoy but if you choose to pick this up you’ll know what I mean.

I plan to skim through the Dungeon Master and Players Handbook from the Red Box.

I’ve already had two players who have gone through the red box “tutorial”. I do plan to have them do it again just to refresh them. Red box is an excellent way to introduce D&D to anyone who is curious about the game or the tabletop hobby.

Two other books that I’ll skim through will be the two hero’s books. Hero’s of the Forgotten Kingdoms & Hero’s of the Fallen Land.

 

I decided to run H1 Module Keep on the Shadowfell after the Red Box introduction dungeon crawl. I’ve read through once and another time off and on, but I really want this experience for the new and old players to be memorable and keep them coming back for more.

Time it ingest some caffeine, its going to be a long fun weekend. If you have any good suggestion of articles, or books that I should read. Please drop a link or comment down below.

Alright D&D Books! Roll initiative!!

Dungeons & Dragons Next

I was asked a question this morning on twitter on how I fealt about the new edition and was the right thing by the players? Well me personally at first few moments I was a little upset. I mean I have invested alot of money into books, minatures and tiles. I’m sure there are more people in the world who have quite a library of books and armies of minatures at their disposal (Envious I am).

After I huffed and puffed for a few minutes and read some official/non-offical blogs and posts. I became really excited. Wizards Of the Coast wants my help to make this edition the best edition ever written? The edition to bring the quarling editions together? Wow, not sure what to say. I mean how can I help? I’ve only been playing D&D off and on for the past two years and I really can’t bring anything to the table. Or can I?

Those nights when I ran a D&D game I really had no quarrel with the rules or mechanics (I plan to refresh myself) I just ran the game. Sure there were times where I felt this roll should be ignored or this should be used but never ran into any road blocks. I actually caught myself making up in house rules (simple little ones) on the fly and not even know it. I surprised myself and I was learning the game.

My players were new to the game and really had no questions except “what do I roll” or “can I use this power again?” When the new DDI content came out and provided easier character creation they were happy and couldn’t wait to try out a new powers or feats. Those couple of years with gaming nights we shared some awesome moments in D&D and out of game.

So when Dungeons & Dragons Next, Fifth Edition, or what ever they plan to call it becomes open to the public to test. I can’t wait to see what they have come up with and I can’t wait to see what the community has in mind and what they will contribute. Many of the people that are in the #dnd tag on twitter have great ideas and most of them have a good amount of years as DM’s & as players. I just can’t wait…

WoTc’s vision and the heart are in the right place, it may be a little too soon and monetary driven in some peoples eyes; but allowing players from different editions of play to provide input to help shape this next edition. May just be the ticket to bringing this game, and hobby back into the spotlight it greatly deserves.

 

Ready for Cataclsym?

Cataclysm is a week away! Are you ready? I know I am. I can’t think of how many Worgen and Goblins there will be. I can’t help but think of the parodies that will transpire from this as well. I mean come on. Male Worgen, Death Knight Blood Elf, Human/Blood Elf Women. You know where I’m going with this right? Blizzard is known to poke fun at Pulp culture and why not? There is plenty of material out there to use. They even poke fun at themselves. It’s great!

So if you stopped playing World of Warcraft should you come back? The answer is yes! Why not take a peek at the new content, the new races, and the new interface mechanics. The Shattering has happened and all of Azeroth has been changed forever! What once was a dessert is now an oasis Make a guild and progress through the Player Vs Environmental content and unlock guild achievements. Explore the underwater world of Vashj’ir or look upon the wonders in Mount Hyjal.
I’ve been watching and following numerous people who have had the pleasure of getting into the beta. I guess one of the things that have me excited about the new content is the new dungeons and raids. Now granted I just got back into 10 men raiding. Downing Ice Crown Citadel was an achievement for me and my guild. Now that we have progressed we’re excited to see what new challenges await us in Cataclysm. Dungeons are taking some raid elements and presenting them in dungeons making you have to be more aware of your surroundings. I hope the new dungeons are challenging to say the least that it won’t be a boring run through a dungeon at 85.

Archeology is a new profession! Players who choose to become Archaeologists will be able to study, explore and discover ruins. You will be creating notes about what has happened there, research it farther and eventually make new discoveries. Such discoveries can allow you to receive some new, highly valuable artifacts and create Ancient Glyphs from them. At the very begging there will be only 4, or many 5 Ancient Glyphs slot opened, but as the Cataclysm progresses, new slots will eventually open up. Even though the Glyphs have same name as the items created by Scribes, you will not need to have Inscription for to be able to create the Ancient Glyphs. Prepare to see prices skyrocket in the Auction House… wait that’s already happened.

Excited yet? If not how about the generous sale that Blizzard is doing to entice new/old players to come back to World of Warcraft? Sixty dollars will get you up all the way to Cataclysm! If you want to wait for Cataclysm and let the hype die down a bit. Then it will only be twenty dollars to get you started. How is it broken down? Five dollars for World of Warcraft to get you started, Five dollars for the Burning Crusade, and finally ten dollars for Wraith of the Lich King. So if you are thinking about starting or even thinking about catching up on the expansions. Hell if your just starting and want the game and all the expansions. Get a friend or the World of Warcraft Website to send you a ten day trial. That will give you One hundred days of free to play before your subscription kicks in. (At least that’s what information is pointing to.) Right now would be the best time to get into World of Warcraft.

Leveling and exploring is easier for new players and it’s only the beginning. New class combinations are available (Troll Druids, Undead Hunters, Dwarf Shamans, Blood Elf Warriors, and Tauren Paladins to name a few). There are more flight paths, mounts, and flying now available to lower levels to make questing and getting around easier than ever before. Speaking of questing the new quest interface which was implemented a few patches ago has had a few things added to it. Making it even easier to quest, an example would be completing a quest and then having the next quest given to you. This was given while questing in Azshara in Kalimdor. I noticed this was only displayed in a few of the quests there. If this has been implemented everywhere then new players will be blessed. I feel like going on a speech of “I remember back in old days of World of Warcraft…” No it wasn’t in five inches of snow and now I was not barefooted. I take that back. I play a troll so I’m always barefooted. MOVING ON!

I guess the purpose of this post is to give you a few options. You can easily check out a game that had redefined how MMORPG work in just ten days. If you enjoy it you can take mini steps to get into the game or you can drop sixty dollars to be completely up to date. Check it out!

If you do decide to check the game out you can send me a direct message via Twitter (Nosferatu1208) and I’ll send you my RealID information for in-game. I’m more than happy to help new players starting out or even help out those coming back.

Fungus, Runes, and Dark Voices Oh My!

“Your torch shows more of the room as you enter, you notice in the corners there are hanging braziers. The rest of the room is vacant; the smell of the wet stone floor feels your nostrils. You notice on the other side of the room to your right there is another set of double doors.”

Sometime Later..

“As your torch shines into the next room you notice and smell the moldy vegetation. As you concentrate further you notice that the dungeon floor is covered in mushrooms and other types of fungi. Across the room you notice double doors. (Perception check rolled by the Wizard) as you look at the door closely you notice odd symbolic runes move across the door. (History & Religion checks are rolled) You seem to notice that the runes are part of a holy ritual. (Cleric rolls religion check) You are familiar with the words that are hidden within the runes. The cantation looks familiar that of the followers of Bahamut. This ritual is used to seal a door or passage to keep evil in…”

After both the cleric and wizard roll Arcane and History checks

“As your hand moves across the last glowing rune, you feel the last bit of energy of the rune expel over you. The barrier which once covered the door is gone. (The cleric slowly pushes the door open with is mace peering in slowly.

After the two finally decide to move into the room, they notice great atrocities have happened in this room. Numerous individuals were slaughtered. Why? The answer they both knew not. They find a body that has not been mutilated. When searched they find nothing of value, but they notice this individual was not ripped apart. Instead from side to side he was split open. The cleric gave last rights and moved towards a well….

“As you move towards the south west part of the room you notice a medium sized well. (Perception is rolled) You notice that there is a rope ladder leading down into the well. Without warning a cold voice slips into the room from the well saying “Come further….”

“I say we go further” said the wizard. “Hmmm but going down into a dark hole is not wise” muttered the cleric. “What do you suggest?” said the wizard peering into the dark hole. Suddenly the Cleric slaps the torch out of the wizard’s hand. “Woops” says the Cleric with the smile”

“You watch as the torch tumbles down the well…The sounds of the torch flickering through the wind echo’s up through the well. The torch tapped back and forth against the wells walls until coming to a sudden stop at the bottom.

 “You’re not mad are you?” said the Cleric. “Not at all, looks like we’re going down to fetch it” the wizard said with a smile.

“The wizard went first, slowly climbing down the well on the rope ladder, the wizard spoke to the cleric telling him that the wells depth was longer than they thought. They both continued to climb down more. Until the cleric heard the rope ladder began to give away. The dwarf braced against the wall of the well (Rolling a Strength Check) Held himself and the Wizard up as one side of the rope ladder snapped.” The wizard going down a bit further until the dwarf tried to move…but noticed the rest of the rope ladder was giving away. (Rolling another Strength check: Failed) The dwarf dropped the rope and began to fall downward. They both landed on the cold wet stones that formed the underbelly of the keep.” (Taking damage from their fall, they both stood up slowly).

“Well that was interesting” the dwarf said leaning back to help straighten his back. “Yes I do hope that is the end of our falling exploits” the wizard said, as he dusted himself off and reaching for his torch. “Well I’m happy to say I got my torch back.” The dwarf stroked his beard under the lit torch light, cocking an eyebrow towards the wizard before reaching for his own lost torch”.

“As the two adventures looked around the room their torches would show only endless wet stone across the floor and nothing more. The soft cold breeze washed over them again as they looked at each other in fright. Both wondered what kind of “simple” task they accepted from the Guard captain back in Fallcrest.

This is where our session ended. It was late and everyone was tired. They said they wanted to go on but decided against it. My friend who played the wizard said “A simple task to kill a few kobolds turned into something more interesting.”  My goal with this dungeon delve is to incorporate a few different story lines. But not enough to make them feel that there are too many tasks involved. The kobolds were terrorizing the farmlands outside of Fallcrest. I took the encounter from “Kobold Hall” and twisted it to help introduce a plot that would introduce a few antagonists. Winterhaven is still in the future, and can’t wait to see what my players and myself come up with. If you have any comments or suggestions, please drop me a DM on Twitter @nosferau1208. Thank you for reading  and happy gaming!

-          Jonathan  

The action pursues

 

 Sunday was the 2^nd game of D&D. I will have to say that this went more smoothly than the first game. From the suggestions given I implemented them right away. I would have more minions in the game than previously. The first time I ran the game. I used a few minions and say a skirmisher and a brute. This made the situation more threatening for the Cleric and Wizard. So say having a two minions and a skirmisher work out well. Yet the experience that was split among the two was rather low in my opinion. I didn’t sense any “this is going to take forever” “I want more experience points”. I’m planning on implementing traps in an upcoming encounter. I think this will help add some more excitement and keep the players on their feet. I’ve noticed that the players don’t use that much strategy. Instead they run into a room casting magic missiles and lance of faith.  They seem to do both pretty well in combat encounters. Though they seem to freak out when a normal Skirmisher comes along. I hear “Man that guy was tough”.  Having 31 hp may seem like forever compared to the 1hp minion. I chuckle to myself when I hear them say things like that. I’m rewarding them with a few gold or silver pieces. I am waiting to reward them armor or something better for their classes when they meet a milestone or accomplish their quest.  Yet I don’t hear much complaining about the rewards. They seem satisfied with gold, I mean who wouldn’t be. They do have this fascination with getting a wagon and Clydesdales. In this game I know I made a bad decision. I allowed them to do two checks on their round. Though I know in the rules I believe an action point must be spent to do another action. I will correct this in the next game. Yet I was caught up in the moment of the game and forgot about that rule. Which I know in the future will be a crucial part of the game. Not only that but it’s important to help make turns go by smoothly and quickly. So far they haven’t had any complaints regarding the game. They seem to be having a lot of fun playing. Which makes me feel successful as a beginning DM. Now if I can only get my other players to show up when we play I could make some interesting encounters for them.  Please leave suggestions or comments. I’m open to improvements or revisions of the rules or ways to help improve the game. Shoot me a comment on twitter @nosferatu1208.  Thank you for reading.

First Dungeon Crawl

Sunday was out very first game of playing D&D. One of the players had a large amount of D&D collectables, such as miniatures and game tiles. The game tiles saved me the trouble of printing/buying tiles. I know in @NewbieDM (http://www.newbiedm.com has a useful link of numerous tools and tutorials. ) Newbie DM guide the maps for the Kobold Hall are displayed in large detail. I for one was unable to utilize this part of the tutorial. I for one don’t have a large dinner table to play on at my apartment. The four dungeon tiles worked wonderfully for the short skirmish they had. My players enjoyed how I put a twist on their stories. I think the Dungeon Masters Manuel 2 and just some common sense helped me paste together those details. I introduced skill checks at the beginning of the game when they entered a room that had a large door. They finally figured out that they both had to work together to open the door. They didn’t roll any perception checks, which I would assume they would have done. Instead they were greeted by a Kobold on the other side. My wizard player used diplomacy to convince that they are here to speak to their chief. He had to make 4 successful checks. He made three and the kobold left to fetch the room to fetch its Chief. This same time they rolled another perception check. They noticed that not too far another kobold was watching, observing the Wizard talk the kobold with a smooth words that convinced his fellow broodling to seek the chief.  The next action caught me off guard. The player who played the cleric told the wizard it would probably be a good idea to take out the lonely Kobold. The Wizard PC remarked that “You may have a point, but what if we can’t kill him before he gets back.” Surely you and I can take him down quickly said the Cleric. “Well let’s make it quick”. So the lonely Kobold was on its way towards the door his counterpart left.  The back was towards the pc’s. The Wizard casted magic missile which failed to hit the target. The Kobold called for reinforcements and a slinger and a minion showed up. Initiative was rolled and combat started. They seemed to love the combat when they were able to hit the target. They did fairly well until the poor roll of the dice made things slightly one sided. I noticed that the cleric PC was getting a little. “Meh” from not being able to hit. From what I read from blogs and from the manuals I know this is a bad sign. So I started to fudge a few rolls so they stayed in the fight longer. They were able to take out the three kobolds eventually. I know from the combat experience that the class combination they are playing makes encounters a hairy ordeal. I’m going to use the Adventure Tool to assist me with this. But for future encounters. What would you recommend? Companion NPC? I don’t want the game to feel like it’s being dumb down for their class’s sake. I still want to make combat an interesting and fun experience.  So the first ever D&D game was successful. Even though I didn’t stick with the Kobold Hall map and monster and trap locations. I’m winging it and it seems to be very rewarding. Next game should be this following weekend. I can’t wait to see how the story unfolds. I’m always open to suggestions and comments if you read something that I might have done wrong or know of a way to make the encounters better. Please leave a comment or shoot me a tweet. Happy Gaming!

Fallcrest

This weekend will be my very first D&D game. I will have to admit I’m a slight bit nervous. I’ve read through the PHB two times. I’ve read the DMM only once. Which I feel is not enough especially for being a DM. This isn’t my first time running a game. I was a storyteller for the World of Darkness: Vampire the Masquerade Game. I tried to keep the game as nonlinear as possible. The reason why the game stopped in VTM was the fact that the combat was a little ridiculous. Correct me if I’m wrong, but here is a good example. A axe in VTM I believe is 6+ or 8+ what you have for STR and Melee (Melee might be excluded). If you’re PC doesn’t dodge or absorb the damage your toast. On the same flip of the coin, it’s the same for the PC’s striking down a hostile NPC. Sure your rolling is awesome, not too many botches until the NPC dodges/absorbs all your damage. It’s frustrating and it draws out combat way too long.

I hope to change that with Dungeons and Dragons. I feel the combat will go more smoothly if everyone plays their cards right. This weekend I will be running the Kobold Hall. I read the whole encounter and think it’s an easy way to get myself and my players into D&D. The end encounter may be slightly tricky due to the possibility of only having 3 or even less. I know that means taking a few monsters out of the equation.  I know the DMM specifies it’s important for players to take on roles. Which I somewhat agree but that’s my MMO mentality talking. I know two of my players are playing a Dwarf Cleric and a Half Elf Wizard. I know that the encounters made in the back of the DMM were made for 5 players likewise with the Keep on the Shadowfell, which I was planning on running after the Kobold Hall. I feel that I can branch off and try some other ideas instead of throwing them right into another published adventure. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

There are plenty of options that I can think of that was provided from the DMM. This is where I thought another quest hook could be implemented into the main story. The main story is that Kobolds of Kobold Hall have become more direct and attacking merchants and adventures on their way to Fallcrest, yet no one knows why. The PC’s will be sent out to locate the kobolds and put an end to their attacks. The PC’s could easily find other leads to other quest hooks, if they look hard enough.

So far I am impressed from what I have read from the DMM. The second book should be in my hands by the end of the work day. It will be interesting to see if the next installment will answer some of my DM questions. I feel bad for bomb barding the #dnd on twitter with questions that can be easily answered probably by the Manuals themselves. I will post how my first game goes. I would like to thank those from the #dnd Twitter who have answered my questions in a detailed format. Until next time, Happy Gaming.

Incoming Defrag!

Yesterday afternoon I noticed my computer was running slightly below average. Alright so it was running pretty slow. So I decided to download a trial software off of www.cnet.com
The software is called tune-up 2010. I highly recommend this little gem in the rough. It does a decent job of cleaning out unnecessary registry files and unwanted shortcuts from uninstalls pasts haunting deep inside your hard drive.

30 day trial. You are able to do everything from the full version. After 30 Days its 49.99*

If you run the utility it will prompt suggestions for your computer system. Changing certain features of the computer to help you get the performance and speed you want. So far I have no complaints. What always set me off was that I could never defrag my computer when I wanted to. Vista always prompted me that I didn’t require a defrag. Now a few years later and coming on a full day my computer is still defragging. The Tune Up 2010 utilities also includes some pretty nifty and customizable features. Changing your log in / boot screen of your computer. Making your friends think you know some sort of coding. When you do not. Normally I write about gaming but I thought this little tid bit would be helpful for those who are having “issues with a slow pc” Its free for 30 days and 49.95 afterwards. Take it for a test run and see for yourself.