D&D Adventures, House Rules, Notes, News & More!
With all of the virtual games going on I have been trying my hand at creating virtual maps for use in my games. Currently using InKarnate online to create battle maps to support my campaigns. Here is an example for a random roadside encounter.
https://inkarnate.com/m/BNRrQV–forest-road-2/
This day is the 12th day of Tarshak, year 1495
This mix of adventure seeking individuals gathered in the Snapping Line for breakfast before setting off to explore this “haunted” house Phesemir has heard about. He recalls for the group what he knows. The house has been abandoned since the alchemist who owned the place disappeared, presumed dead. Folks from town have seen lights from the house and the few brave children who entered the residence had encounters screams coming from the basement. Laddie also tells the group about a dream he had. The house was the right place to go. There is an artifact in the basement that he believes is blue and they should go after it. After a little bit of questioning on Laddie’s dream they head off.
As they are leaving Saltmarsh, Laddie runs down to the river’s edge to gather some water, however the ocean water mixed in here makes this water much too salty for consumption. He returns still on the search for water. A couple of the town’s children are following the group out, asking questions like “Are you really going to go visit that house?” “Aren’t you scared?” Tearmann tries to shoo them away and Phesemir reluctantly placates them with short answers. As the group gets closer to the house the children lose their bravado and run back to town.
They arrive at the foreboding mansion and seeing the gates open and parts of the wall crumbling they enter the courtyard through both available entrances. Laddie sees a well in the courtyard and approaches hoping to find the water he is searching for. He notices the small animal bones around the base and then looks in to find two large snakes who attack at his approach. After a short battle, some minor wounds received, and an attempt to converse with the snakes, the snakes lay defeated. Tearmann attempts to gather some snake steaks, however his butchering job falls a tad short. Meanwhile Phesemir shapes the water in the well to allow him to descend by rope to gather the miscellaneous coins at the bottom of the well. The group enters the house through a side entrance that is standing open. Thrace gets a sense of the ground floor inhabitants as she enters the building, along with a sense that the building structure has several weak places. Upon exploration of the first room Tariq encounters a swarm of spiders who had taken residence in a fireplace. With the flat sides of their blades Jikra and Tearmann assist Tariq with squashing enough of their number to chase them off. The party then deals with the group of centipedes that had taken up residence under the kitchen’s cupboards. In the ensuing battle Tariq falls to the attack of a centipede when he is unable to stave off the poisonous bite. Laddie maneuvers around the room to tend to Tariq as the remaining party members kill off the centipedes. After the battle is over Thrace administers a healing light over Tariq whose eyes pop back open feeling much better.
The group proceeds to the front area of the house exploring a few empty rooms, although Tariq suspiciously approaches the fireplaces expecting more spiders to spew forth. In the west wing the group finds a library, although mostly cleared of its contents there were a few tomes stacked in the corner that were still legible. Phesemir picked up three by mage Tenser and mage Nystul. Tearmann picked up a couple of the remaining books on history of Neverwinter and Mount Note. Tariq claims a book on poetry, he works with what little legible writing is left to put the poems to music and gently plays his dulcimer as the group continues.
Whose woods these are I think I know
His house is in the village though
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake
The only other sounds the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake
The woods are lovely dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep
** GM Note – Poem originally by Robert Frost – who knew his work would be located in an house in the Forgotten Realms. **
In a study in the same wing the group came across a desk. Missing the skills of a lockpick, Jikra pried it open with his scimitar. Unbelievable not breaking the glass vial that was wrapped in cloth that lay inside the drawer along with papers containing orders from when the alchemist lived in the house. The last room in the east wing contained a trap door in the floor which Jikra tested by standing on it. They left the door to explore later as Thrace insisted, they should deal with the human she sensed on the upper floor of the house.
The group slowly ascended the stairs and Tearmann attempted to sneak down the hallway in the direction Thrace indicated that she sensed the human. He discovered a man tied up in the corner in nothing but his undergarments. Thrace warned the party that the floor was weak along the west wall and Phesemir sent in Llewella to chew through the man’s bindings. The man explained that he was a traveling merchant heading to Saltmarsh who stopped by the abandoned house to rest since he did not think he would make it to town before dark. When he entered, he was attacked from behind, knocked unconscious and found himself tied up in this room. Laddie examined him and while he did have a nasty bump on the back of his head, he did not believe it was enough to knock him out. They decided to let the merchant follow them for the time being and Phesemir lent him his blanket to cover up with.
In the next room Tearmann discovered some footprints and some markings on the windowsill. A round area where the dust and dirt had been disturbed and scratches in the wood.
After further examination of the second story and some careful acrobatics by Tariq to get across a weak part of the balcony, that unfortunately collapsed a portion forcing many of the party members to find an alternate route to the remaining portions of the second floor. They found the merchants clothing discarded what was once a storeroom and came across a small group of stirges that attacked the party from the attic. One of them attached itself to Phesemir’s leg who used his dagger to pry the thing off, spraying blood down his leg, mostly his own.
With many of the group wounded they decided to take a short lunch break out by the well and recover a few spells and rest up from the damage they had taken so far. Tariq spent most of the time wandering about the areas of the first floor including opening a door they had not opened yet. During the rest Jikra talked about a person in town that is looking for the apparatus of Kwalish and will exchange a magic item for it if they come across it.
During the short rest, the group had a lunch of snake steaks not quite so expertly butchered by Tearmann. Although Thrace produced a wooden container that had her lunch prepared in small containers inside.
They head downstairs to discover a basement room with walls of wine racks and empty storage containers. In the middle of the room was a corpse in armor and weapons that Tearmann proceeds to poke with his sword. Out came large swarms of rot grubs and battle ensues again. While dispensing the rot grubs the group also keeps a close eye on their new merchant friend, not trusting his story. The merchant requests the longsword that the corpse had by it and Tearmann let him borrow it. Jikra claims the splint mail the corpse had on but chooses to wait to don it until a bit further cleaning. It had been on a body for several days and was covered in the remains of the rot grubs.
Thrace senses the occupants of the next room and knows where the entrance in the fireplace is but cannot ascertain how it is opened. She silently alerts the remaining party. Laddie tries to find the entrance, he has become quite the expert on fireplaces, but cannot seemed to locate the door that Thrace is certain is there. Tearmann comes over and immediately sees the handle and opens the door. He charges in and immediately gets struck by an arrow by a female human that was among the occupants waiting for them. The group rushes in and takes down one of the humans quite quickly while the remaining two escape out a secret door in the back of the chamber. Thrace catches the merchant coating something on his sword and she demands that he put the weapon down. He does so while explaining he was just trying to help the fight. Not buying the argument Tearmann binds the merchant’s hands. The group searches a near by bedroom and finds a few more books, a hooded lantern, and few papers. One that the party believes is a signaling system and another is partially in a language that no one in the group can decipher.
They follow the path of the escapees and another battle ensues with a hobgoblin, a few more humans, and a caster name Sambalet but not before Thrace and Tariq attempt to knock the merchant unconscious and tie him to a bed when the rest of the party is not looking.
The battle and out a bit rough when Sambalet charms Jikra who proceeds to try get all of his friend to get along. During the battle both Jikra and Tearmann are knocked unconscious, Tariq dances through the battle fields with amazing speed only to find additional foes around the corner, and Phesemir finds a nice place to duck in and out of as he fires ray of frost at the enemies. Thrace finally lands a few sacred flames on the spell caster while healing Tearmann to get back into the fight. When the din of battle fades the party recovers a bit and searches for useful items on the slain and the collection of trade goods, they found in the cave rooms. The also find an opening to the ocean and a rowboat pulled up into one of the caves. Tearmann also collects the ears off the hobgoblin and adds them to a gruesome necklace that already contained few sets.
Feeling bruised and sore the group decides to rest for the evening in the barracks they found. Tomorrow they will investigate signaling down a possible boat using the code they found.
Saltmarsh, a small fishing town along the sword coast north of Waterdeep seems an unlikely place for strangers to meet and gather, but yet this seems to be where we begin. Jikra, Thrace, and Phesemir have been around town for a while and have gotten to know a few of the local inhabitants. Jikra arrived with several folks that have joined the town guard but he may be looking to do something a bit different while he is here. Thrace arrived with the dwarven mining group and has been helping them with a few odds and ends but comes to town frequently to spread light among the inhabitants. Phesemir is here on commission from his employer to transcribe a few books. He is staying with his host to make the transcribing more easily accessible. They have learned so far about the town council and a few of the local hangouts. The town council is made up of Eda Oweland, a local noble who owns three large fishing vessels; Gelln Primewater, a dapper older gentleman whose family is primarily focused on trade goods; Eliander Fireborn, captian of the guard; Manistrad Copperlocks, a dwarven woman who leads the local mining group; and lastly Anders Solmor, a personable young man whose family owns several smaller fishing vessels. There is a bit of tension in town as Dagult Neverember, Lord Protector of Neverwinter, has started to take interest in the sleepy fishing town as a possible trade outpost. The mining operations that have recently started are also backed by the Neverember. The ruler has visions of expanding the small town and its docks to increase trade in the area and pad the coffers of Neverwinter. The locals however prefer their sleepy town as it is. There are three taverns/inns in town where folks gather for conversation, food, and drink. The Wicker Goat that seems to be the local hangout for the town guard and those dwarves from the mining community that make their way into Saltmarsh. The Empty Nest that seems to attract a seedier clientele, however the inn owner has no qualms at throwing disruptive patrons over the railing into the cold salt water. Finally, the Snapping Line run by Hanna Rist who offers local faire and wine with a few imported options available if the local “Claw Wine” does not suit their fancy. She has also started to acquire a few fine teas for Phesemir and experimenting with possible delicacies for the fine dwarven noble Thrace to attract their patronage. The Snapping Line is where they meet Tearmann, Laddie, and Tariq who are new to Saltmarsh, although the distance they traveled to get here varied wildly. Laddie was the closest having been in the wilds for some time, wandered into town who shared a handful of orange berries with the group, only Tearmann seemed to be brave enough to give them a try. He also paid some attention to Llewella, the squirrel that seems have befriend Phesemir and appears quite attentive. Tasted a bit like sweet crab but were very filling. Tearmann, who has been patrolling the border lands to the forests protecting civilized peoples from the dangers of the woods. And Tariq, who just arrived by vessel from the far away land of Zakhara in search of artifacts.
During his stay Phesemir heard rumor of a house not far from Saltmarsh that may contain a library and some artifacts that belonged to an alchemist who once lived there. According to these rumors the place seems haunted as eerie lights have been seen emanating from within and those brave enough to enter the run down mansion have heard ghastly shrieks and left before investigating any further. After much lively conversation where berries come from and who may or may not be able to walk on water, the group decided that taking a look at this local site might be an interesting thing to do. Everyone agrees to meet in the morning and heads out to get a night’s sleep.
And so our adventure begins.
The games try to favor a good mix of role play opportunities mixed with the opportunity to engage in encounters with the denizens of the campaign. Not all encounters require combat to resolve. I am not and will never be a voice actor, so set expectations appropriately that all the NPC sound like the DM. That however does not prevent the NPCs from having lively discussions with the players where they can use their persuasion and/or intimidation abilities.
The most important thing about any Scroll Case game is that everyone has a good time. It is not the intent of the Dungeon Master to kill off the players (of course that does not preclude from that threat being there if the characters choice to make foolhardy decisions).
In general, if players are interested in doing something outside the normal bounds reach out to the DM to see what can be worked out that will not cause imbalance in the game.
Character creation will typically take place as a session 0 with the party. During this session we will discuss the general environment that the campaign will be in. This is also the point where we will discuss and Class/Race/Alignment limitations. For the most party any Race/Class and their variants from any published D&D 5e book should be fine.
All hit point rolls and ability score rolls will be done during the session and will be witnessed by the DM.
Players have a choice to roll for their ability scores or use the point system. Once the choice is made players need to stick with their choice. For example, if you choose to roll and the results are less then favorable then you cannot change your choice to use the point buy system.
Rolling – Roll 4d6 taking the highest three die for each ability score. You may place the numbers in whatever order you would like.
Ability Point Buy – This is the standard option available in the Player’s Handbook. You have 27 points to spend on the following table:
| Score | Cost | Score | Cost |
| 8 | 0 | 12 | 4 |
| 9 | 1 | 13 | 5 |
| 10 | 2 | 14 | 7 |
| 11 | 3 | 15 | 9 |
Under this option the minimum score is 8 and the maximum score is 15.
The specific campaign may have some adjustments to the variety of backgrounds available. Those will be discussed during the session 0. Beyond just the standard background players should be prepared to describe their characters specific back story. If any of that needs to be kept from other players, it can be email to the Dungeon Master. Be mindful that the final approval regarding the character backstory is up to the DM and there may be discussion about making minor adjustments to allow the backstory to integrate with the campaign and with other members of the party.
It is encouraged that players utilize this time to create a good backstory for their characters that can help frame the role play opportunities during the campaign. As a note this is also the opportunity for the DM to utilize the same information to incentivize and/or bring the characters into the story of the campaign. For example, if you had a run in with some villain in your past that same villain could appear in the campaign for an opportunity to readdress a past issue/concern.
Alignment is only important for those classes dependent on their deity for their spell casting and/or class abilities. The focus of this is however more on the deity chosen for these classes and what the goals, intents, direction, etc. of the deity is. If the character is consistently making decisions that would not be favored by their respective deity they run the risk of falling into disfavor. Typically, campaigns are run in the Forgotten Realms setting. This can change depending on the campaign and may at one point be run in the Scroll Case developed campaign setting.
For first level all characters should take the maximum hit points for your character class.
Most campaigns are milestone driven rather then utilizing per session experience points. The DM will let the players know when they can level up. If characters have missed sessions, there may be some disparity among the party.
When additional hit points are gained for a level the players have a choice of taking the average for the hit dice or to roll. Again, once the decision is done the player cannot choose to take a different option. A roll of a 1 is always rerolled.
Characters are not required to spend time training when a new level is obtained. The characters are practicing their skills as they progress through their campaign and it is expected they probably practice new skills doing downtime activities. However, if the player would like to role play out how the characters learns something new please get in touch with the DM. For example if you are a melee class learning a few spells via a feat or obtaining a new level the player may want to make a contact with someone who did teach them the abilities that give them a contact in town.
Standard D&D rules apply along, any standard variants will be recorded here. There can be some fluidity to the rules as needed for the campaign at the DM discretion. It is important that there is always (or as best as possible) smooth gameplay. It is not the time during the session to argue rules. It is not an issue for a player to express that something may be off, but decisions will be made to keep the encounter going. If, however it is discovered after the session that the ruling was incorrect that will be explained so that it does not continue. For example, a hold person was successful on an NPC that was not actually humanoid. The DM will provide some explanation of what happened but explain that the type of creature should not have been affected. Or a DM may allow some lee way to player to break the rules a bit to support new players etc. The goal is to keep the game moving smoothly, that everyone has a good experience, and that the party is adequately challenged in the encounters.
During a short rest, a player can use hit dice to recover lost hit points. At the beginning of a long rest additional hit dice can be used to recover. At the end of a long rest hit dice are recovered. A long rest does not automatically heal all damage. This is a variant from the standard D&D rules regarding a long rest.
I encourage players to describe their casting and the effect that is created. These descriptions always stay in the vein of the spell and do not affect the direct stats of the spell but allows for the players to give their characters some uniqueness.
Critical Failures and Critical Hits are success/failures. By the D&D 5e rules the dice are doubled for the damage done on that attack that lands with a critical hit. A roll of a 1 always misses. A critical fumble/hit chart is in progress and will add some additional flair to both the failures and hits. For example, a critical hit may leave a creature vulnerable to other leave a lasting scar. A critical failure may cause the combatant to drop a weapon, strike an ally, or break a bowstring. This is intended to add some flair to the combat and not intended to completely break the balance of an encounter.
The final killing blow description is left up to the character who made the killing blow.
D&D has been around a long time and many players bring a tremendous amount of game knowledge to the table. The players need to remember what their character knows vs what they know. They also should consider the characters ability scores. When the party runs up against a demon for the first time, they might not know at that moment that a demon has immunities to certain types of damage. That is something they should learn as the campaign progresses. The characters also do not know their “Ability Scores”. They have a perception of how they rank on certain abilities against the other players in the group that can be driven by racial tendencies and experience.
One thing to note the DM has the ability to make adjustments for the campaign to keep the players on their toes and based on circumstances the characters may not be aware of. Also the magic shield the band of goblins has is not stashed away in some chest in the back of their lair. They will be wielding it. So don’t be surprised when one goblin in the midst has a little better armor class then the others.
Another thing to note – players can roll their own stealth/insight/perception checks etc. If the players start using the result of the roll as character knowledge, then there may be adjustments made. For example if every room the party searches they have the halfling rogue make the search alone. He has always found everything. If said halfling rolls a 1 on their search roll that does not mean all the remaining party starts to search as well. The characters do not know that the halfling rolled poorly. If your characters rolls a insight check to determine the value of a gem and rolls a 1 and I tell you its worth 10 gold. Then that is what you think it is worth. If this gets abused the DM has the authority to start making these rolls on the behalf of the characters so they don’t know what they rolled.
