Dagger Danger

June 11th is International Day of Play. In honor of that D&D Beyond is offering another free Borderlands Quest for anyone to claim.

Dagger Danger is a short quest the player's find on the job board in the Keep. The characters are tasked with interring a kobold lair and retrieving a heirloom dagger. It's short, but includes a few kinds of encounters, a variety of foes, and some roleplay opportunities. I'll be adding this one to my Heroes of the Borderlands sessions.

If haven't already, you can still claim last year's adventure, Goblin Trouble, for free as well.

18! 18! 18!

Shared this with a few of my regular readers already, but this idea is hilarious, brilliant, and I think I'll use it in my next game. 

Speaking of my next game I'm thinking it's going to be a D&D 2024, I think like D&D Beyond I'm just going to referring to it as 5.5. I have at least two players and am working on recruiting more. The plan is to start the game after Origins. 

This is my current plan for session one start with the adventure Everyone Dies At Turtle Bay from Faster, Purple Worm! Everybody Dies, Vol. 1. These are scenarios based on Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill!If you aren't familiar with it, I see it as a mix of Critical Role and Who's Line Is It Anyway?  Each episode is a short session of comedic D&D actual play that always ends in death. Back to Turtle Bay, the characters will start out as prisoners in Turtle Bay. They are conscripted to investigate a ghost ship in the bay (a red herring). If the stop the boat they get their freedom. Unfortunately they find out how Turtle Bay got its name. In the adventure as written, the 1st level characters are killed by Dragon Turtle that lives in the bay. However, just before they creature kills them the session will fade to black and end.

The beginning of the next session the characters will find themselves on a winding road headed to the Keep on the Borderlands. How did they get there? That's up to them. I honestly think it would be funny if they pulled a Jack Sparrow and told a new story every time asked. 

Going back to the goblin trap above. I think I will put a door at the end of the tunnel in D2. The three goblins will be in that room with the dwarf prisoner, Vinx (who will be gagged so she can't spoil the fun).

Bree-Yark!

Goblins: Anarchy in the RPG is an upcoming Kickstarter from my friends at Bloat Games. It's written for 5e and while I don't see any direct mention of it, it looks like it's done in the current 2024 version. Update: After talking to author, Josh Palmer, I can confirm it was written in the 2024 format. 

Before I get into the content, I want to talk about the design. The background of each page is black with white-bordered pink text boxes. The text itself is either black or white. While I'm sure some may find this jarring, it really makes the zine pop. Along with the name, it gives the book a great punk aesthetic. Most of the art is stock art, but its really good stock art.

Goblins tend to be used as low level fodder for games, which is cool, but they can be so much more. This zine is a toolkit to get you the most goblin bang for your goblin bucks. Most of the books content is unique goblin npc's and different variation and mutant goblins. Additionally, Josh has create species traits in case a player wants to create a goblin PC.

Something I appreciate the NPC's is there's a good mix of alignments represented. My favorite, Golloc Gloomgash is a Robinhood-esque master thief. There's also a goblin cult leader who made me chuckle. He also seems like the kind of villain I'd want to include. There are seven unique goblins to cause chaos in your game. Mixed in with those heroes and villains are fourteen goblin variations. These show how goblins can adapt to any variety of environments and also include a few goblins organizations. There's even a centaur-like goblin! The background of each includes great flavor for your games. There are also a few fun subtables. "Bree-Yark!"isn't the only goblin phrase you're going to want to include. 

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but this book pairs nicely with the latest Starter Set. Even if your players have entered the Caves of Chaos in the past, you can introduce a new experience by incorporating these goblins into the tribes. I think my first D&D 2024 campaign will start with the Keep and that's my plan.

If you love goblins this zine is for you! Even if you don't like them and find them boring, I think this one will change your mind. Don't be a ebbalsmeg and back it when it launches in the next week or so.

Double, Double Goblin Trouble

I know the title is bad, but I figured since I couldn't come up with a clever one I'd use a dumb one. To hype the upcoming Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set and to celebrate International Day of Play (June 11), WotC released a free into adventure Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble on D&D Beyond.

The adventure is short and straight forward. Helpful read aloud and guiding text is presented for new DM's. The quest is simple. The party are hired by the Castellan of the Keep to retrieve gift. There they encounter bandits and goblins.

You can get a peak of the D&D 2024 take on the Borderlands and what's in the boxed set by checking out the new trailer.

Musings On The Borderlands - Levi Combs Edition

If you haven't heard the next D&D Starter Set will introduce new players to The Keep on the Borderlands. There are already some great options for playing the adventure with 5e (2014 or 2024). You could do it the way I did, by just winging with a basic version of the adventure. You could also go with Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands by Goodman Games. This version presents the original version and a 5e (2014) update.

I decided to do a bit of planning for a game that may never happen (because they normally don't). But hey, I enjoy doing stuff like this and maybe it can help someone else with their game.

Today I'm going to talk about three adventures that I think would be easy to work into the titular Borderlands. All three just happened to be written by the all around great person and creator, Levi Combs. 

Maybe I'm weird, but I think Three Curses For Sister Saren just makes sense to connect to the Keep. I take that back, I know I'm weird and I think it would be a great adventure to pair with the Keep. If you aren't familiar it centers around a small once-peaceful settlement called Crow's Rest. Player's must recover the remains of a cleric to save the valley from 1,000 demons. Designed for low levels, I think this and Keep could be ran together or one after another. Perhaps after making a bit of a name for themselves with the population of the Keep, the characters are told of troubles happening in the nearby valley. The adventure's Blackheart goblins and their new cleric chief could also be connected to the Caves of Chaos. If they players can lay Sister Saren to rest they have new allies and resources for the Keep. If they fail, then the Cave of Chaos will surely be bolstered by an influx of demons and/or rampaging Blackheart goblins. 

Now I'm going to mention a few adventures that could follow Keep. First we have The Horror Out of Hagsjaw. Hagsjaw is another out of the way settlement that could be connected to the Keep. The declining town has gained new life and the party could be sent by the Castellan to establish trade. While trying to complete this task, they learn of the occult activity that's corrupting the town. Another interesting connection you can make to the Caves of Chaos is have imagery of Shub-Niggurath in the caves. Perhaps the Chaos is the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young.

The final adventure I'd include is one of my favorites, An Occurrence At Howling Crater. I would plant the seeds of Howling Crate early on. Players can here rumors of a cursed wasteland, emphasizing the danger and letting them know its not a place for the weak. The Wotts family could have had a reputation among the Keep that some of the old timers know. Members of the family spreading their faith in radiation to the Keep and nearby settlements (such as Crow's Rest or Hagsjaw) would be a fitting hook to actually give the party a reason to investigate the crater. 

Are you a fan of The Keep on the Borderlands? How would you expand the Borderlands?

You Maniacs! You Blew It Up!

 This looks like a great place to set up shop.

Art by Erol Otus

Or maybe not....

Art by Ian MacLean.

The back cover of Broodmother Skyfortress for Lamentations of the Flame Princess lays waste to the iconic location, which is dope. I found it the other day while looking for resources for an OSE Keep game I want to do. Honestly I might have seen it before, but it looked new to me when I found saw it. I thought it was cool and I thought y'all might enjoy it too.

Caver & Cube Review

Caver & Cube is combination of story book and gaming supplement from my friend Justin Sirois of Severed Books. I'm going to be talking about the 60 page pdf. Justin did all the writing and art. 

Book one is The Cave. It is a short story and an origin of sorts. Taking place in the province of Falkirk, the tale follows a young man named Olen on the run who stumbles upon a cave.  He befriends a friendly gelatinous cube named Lu and discovers the cave is actually a magical (and mobile) creature named Caver. He and this walking, talking dungeon head to his home to try to solve his problems, but of course, things are never that easy and more mysteries a laid forth.

The second part of the book is Caver: Guide for Role-playing Games. It's a framework for using Cavers in y our game. The guide is system neutral but also presents things is generic D&D terms. The stats are given if vague terms. Caves have stats equivalent to medium or high level stone golems. If they punch someone it's the equivalent to a massive thrown boulder (which looking at giant stats means 4d10+Str in 5e). Each Cave has one or more classes (yes they can multiclass). This grants them special abilities and gives the GM a d4 Previous Occupants table. They are:

• Molten
  
• Den
• Acoustic Sanctuary
• Dank 
• Divine Sanctuary
• Darkness
• Turbulent 

Finally we get a brief selection of special Caver weapons and stats for Lucien (aka Lu) the benign
gelatinous cube from the story. Of course your Caver needs a character sheet and we are presented with one of those, that also has room to map out it's guts. A sample Caver maps is also presented. You can get a signed copy from the Severed Books Etsy Store. If you'd prefer to just have a digital copy, it's also on DrivethruRPG. You can get a Caver miniature here. Also Lu the Cube has a mini that you can grab here.

I am in love with idea of the caver. It's basically a magical mech/mobile home base for your adventuring party. While it would change some of the dynamics of a standard D&D game, I think it would do so in a fun as Hell way. Despite their power, Cavers tire easily and cant' be relied on in every fight. Also just because of their immense size, players won't be able to rely on them in every situation. 

Imagine one of the Caves of Chaos from The Keep on the Borderlands actually being a Caver! You could make it the Shrine of Chaos, giving the Caver the Darkness class. There are a lot of classic scenarios and settings that could be spiced up by these big cavey boys. 

The Orc Chief and His Concubines

I've mentioned this in a few reviews, by I love the artwork of Evlyn Moreu. I can't quite put my fingers on it, but her work is just amazing. Looking for resources for Keep on the Borderlands (because I might be running it again soon), I came across this illustration she did of the the orc chief and his concubines in room B12. I love the detail.

Beneath the Keep

Beneath the Keep was the Fifth Edition Fantasy offering by Goodman Games for Free RPG Day. I picked up a copy at Origins. Didn't really fall in love with the cover. I mean, it's not bad, but do I need more furries in my D&D game? (Secretly my answer is yes, but we won't talk about that now).

Yesterday I decided to pick up the adventure and take a look. This is the text from the back of the module. 

During a brief stop-over at a wilderness stronghold, a simple trip to a local provisioner reveals foul play! The shop has been broken into, and the shopkeeper is missing. But the place has not been burglarized. The heroes are thrust into an investigation. Clues discovered by the heroes hint at larger corruption that festers among the borderlands surrounding the stronghold. What sinister forces lurk beneath the keep?

Wait a second.... This seems familiar... 

That's when I felt like a total dumbass and realized this is an unofficial expansion to Keep on the Borderlands. Considering Goodman Games released Into the Borderlands, a 5e update to the classic, this year, well I just feel really stupid. 

The hirsute killer on the cover is a member of the chaos cult from the Caves. She has discovered a secret level beneath a shop that is connected to the surrounding wilderness through outside tunnels. She scouts the keep for suitable sacrifices and then relays target information to the local bandit camp, who then capture the targets to sell to the cult. 

There is some extra backstory added to the keep that's nice. Did you know there used to be a secret gambling den hidden?

The adventure takes place in 8 different encounter areas. It's mostly straight forward but there are some different ways DM's can approach it. For example the cultist might make her last stand in the shrine, she could make one at the edge of the natural caverns, or she could escape to become a reoccurring villain.

The encounters themselves are challenging, but not tpk levels.  The cultist is a wererat, so she has damage immunity to normal weapons. There are ways to circumvent this if the party pays attention, but is still something to note. My one complaint is that the adventure features a monster called a zombire. This is essentially a low level lich-like creature (zombie spellcaster) and not, as the name suggests, some sort of zombie-vampire hybrid. The monster is fine and all, but the name is wasted.   

This is a fun little adventure. If you're going to run 5e Keep on the Borderlands, I recommend picking this one up when it's available. I wish I would have had it when I ran the Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers. 

#RPGADAY2017 - Day 7

Day 7: What was your most impactful RPG session?

This is a hard one to answer, but I'm going to go with the last session I ran for the Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers. Now to be quite honest, this wasn't because of what happened in that session. Yes the heroes crushed the chaos cultists that had been causing trouble near the Keep on the Borderlands which was quite exciting. However, the session meant a lot more to me because it was the last one I got to play with my brother, Chad, for a few years. I can't wait to game with him again.

Dice will be rolled, laughs will be had, memories will be made, and XP will be gained!

#RPGaDay 2016 - Day 2

Day 2 - Best game session since August 15?

The best session I've been a part of in the past year was the final session of the Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers. Don't get me wrong, every session with those gents was memorable but the last was something special. There was a sense of urgency, because we had a limited amount of time to finish. It was the last hurrah for my friend Chad and we set out to make the session something memorable. Everyone really got into character and the battles felt legendary. It was glorious.

Click the link above to read about that session and all of the others.

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 7: Goodbye For Now

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6

This smug bastard had to die.

The session started with the party refueling and do a bit of business at High Horn Keep. Returning to the valley, they decided to enter one of the unexplored caverns, hoping to find a short cut to the cultist cave. They wound up in the minotaur's labyrinth. After a brief skirmish, they slew the horned beast and made their way into the secret entrance to the bugbear lair. After, quickly dispatching the corpulent bugbear chief and his bride, the party decided to head straight to the cultists cave entrance. They clear two rooms of undead abominations before making there way to the evil chapel. The generic chaos religion of the original adventure became worship of the Dark Three (Myrkul, Moander, and Bhaal). Valkorme's blazing sword set the tapestry on fire and Alton attempted to steal some of the valuable, but obviously desecrated vessels. Everan crushed one of the vessels, setting off an alarm. The party fought through waves of undead, until facing a dark armored priest, and the betrayer, Heinrick. After a tense battle, the forces of darkness were defeated.

• For the third week in a row, Valkorme was on autopilot again because Stew had family obligations.
• Cursed translated to Alton being affected by the Bane spell until receiving a Remove Curse spell.
• Valkrorme took the minotaur's +1 double-sized great axe. It did 2d12 damage (plus magic enhancement), but he suffered disadvantage on all attacks with it because of it's unwieldy nature.
• There were a few creatures in the caves that the party didn't face in the horde-mode battle at the end because of time restraints.
• The finishing blow on Heinrick was quite satisfying. Alton launched himself at the bastard, buried his dagger and rapier in the cleric, and let them cut from shoulder to waist.
• As I said before, this was the last session of the Itinerant Gentleman Adventures. It was a blast and definitely had the makings of an epic campaign. Once my friends are reunited, I will pick it up and our heroes will go on to even greater feats of daring and heroism. Until them I imagine them carousing at an inn like this:

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 6: You Better Give A Hoot

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5

The party returned to the secret entrance to the hobgoblins lair. They fought the chief and his Amazonian wives. They also successfully intimidated some of the remaining hobgoblins into abandoning their posts. Unfortunately this hobgoblins informed the chief's daughter (a priestess) and adviser (a wizard). After slaying the remaining hobgoblins, the party took the goblinoids stolen goods to town to sell. They bought another wagon and returned to the cave with Vex to load the rest of their claimed goods. They group was ambushed by a bugbear shaman and some surviving goblins. The shaman surprised them by resurrecting the slain ogre. Fortunately for the party the cleric turned the ogre (which fled into the Shunned Cave). The party quickly dispatched the goblinoids and tracked down the zombified ogre. They gave it final rest and faced the owlbear that had taken up residence in the final cave. The session ended with Valkorme declaring that the party needed to, "cut the head off the beast and take the fight straight to the cultists."

• Valkorme was on autopilot again because Stew had family obligations.
• I switched up a lot of the encounters, primarly by adding more spellcasters and such. The party still seemed to get through things with ease.
• I cheated. I was really excited to use my new owlbear mini and the party took it out with me getting in a single hit. I gave it extra hit points because I wanted it to do something...
• I took control of Valkorme for story purposes and made the "cut the head off the beast" speech because I knew we only had one session left.

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 5: It's Got A +9 Against Ogres

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4

The party began the session by getting Nym, former mate of the kobold chieftain and Vex's new lover, to give them info about the valley and the caves. Using this information they ambushed the ogre (and took him down pretty quickly). The party then cleared out the goblin cave, went back to the keep, and discovered the secret entrance to the hobgoblins' lair.

• Valkorme was on autopilot because Stew had Valentine's Day stuff to do with his wife.
• The ogre got ganked pretty hard. He was only able to get one shot off before going down.
• Alton got knocked out in a fight for the first time. The common room and goblin chief encounter ended up being combined and he got cut off from the group. He survived, but took quite a bit of damage.
• The party opened an account and the keep's bank.  During this time they also discovered the jewel merchant and his wife were overdue.

Due to some unfortunate events this campaign will have to be put on indefinite hiatus soon. My goal is to finish the adventure. Even if we aren't able to clear all of the caves, we should be able to clear the hobgoblin and cultists' caves.

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 4: A Kobold By Any Other Name

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3

Vex the Grinning Kobold
kobold wizard, ex-pirate, and merchant

The session began with Alton seeking help to rescue his captured friends and Valkorme and Erevan chained in the kobolds' storeroom. Valkorme managed to break himself and Erevan free from their bindings. Coincidentally (yeah I know nothing is coincidental in D&D) as Alton was seeking help he came across a brightly colored wagon being driven by an old friend from his pirate days, a kobold wizard named Vex. Vex was heading to the caves to sell some of his wares to the tribe. The pair teamed up and made it to the cave as the other pc's made their escape. The party regrouped with their new ally and headed directly to the chief's lair. It was a massacre and the party made short work of the winged chief and his mates. Leaving the cave, the encountered and defeated a gelatinous cube.

• I planned on introducing Vex to give the party a fourth member and an arcane caster. Their capture by the kobolds made it easier to introduce him.
• I replaced the giant rats in room 2 with a gelatinous cube.
• The kobolds that were left after the chief and his brides were killed have fled the caves and will probably join up with one of the other local humanoid tribes (possibly even the cultists).
• The fight with the chief was a gangland assassination. Valkorme opened the door and hit him with a crossbow, Alton followed with the same move, and Everan chill touched for maximum damage.
• One of the chief's mates surrendered. Vex spoke with her and she's decided to follow him.
• The party is now 3rd level.

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 3: Into The Caverns

You can read about session 1 here and session 2 here. Character descriptions are here.

Recovering from their betrayal at the hands of Brother Heinrick, the party once again sets off for the Caves of Chaos. They stop at the ambush site and lizard folk mound. Erevan says a few words over the bodies and Valkorne suggests they burn them to prevent them from rising as or attracting undead. Continuing on their path they were attacked by a pair of giant spiders. After finishing the monsters off they decided to rest and dine on spider flesh. Later that evening while resting for camp, they fought to bandits that were trying to ambush them. The let one of the bandits, Roscoe, live and learned more about their group (which was led by a bandit named Battlin' Belle). They set an ambush for the search party that would be looking for the two. They easily took out the three bandits and their lieutenant. The next morning went to Belle's camp. They easily took down one bandit and decided to parley with Belle. She was an attractive red head with a rather shrewd business-like manner. She left, but not before severely wounding one of her men (whom Valkorne finished off). A little later  the party arrived at the ravine with the Caves of Chaos. They entered the kobold's cave, sprung the pit trip, and faced off with several. After the fight they managed stumble into the kobolds' common room. Sixteen kobolds were hidden waiting for an ambush. The party spotted them and had to decide if they were going to fight or flee. They decided to fight and while they took down several of the scaly warriors, Valkorne and Erevan were ko'd. Alton escaped, trying out the entrance and the session ended with the brave halfling plotting his next move.

• Stew wasn't there, so Valkorne was on auotpilot.
• Valkorne is using the updated Blood Hunter and it's a vast improvement on the first draft Witch Hunter.
• I'm not normally bothered by spiders but the discussion that led to the spiders being devoured bugged me (no pun intended). According to Andrew Zimmern it's a bit like shellfish. All of this was made worse by the fact that Chad said the silk glands were supposed to be a creamy tasty part.
• Roscoe the bandit wasn't very smart.
• Battlin' Belle was not amused with Alton's flirtations. During the discussion Everan made a comment that the party weren't fans of killing people. Alton sort of shrugged at that and Valkorne said he kind of liked it.
• Everan had a comedic breakdown when Belle shot her fellow bandit.
• Josh wanted to attack the kobolds, Chad didn't. However, when he saw that they just had slings, he thought they might be able to take them. Unfortunately kobolds also are fast, despite their size and they closed the gap in a round. 
• The party still might have been able to take out the kobolds if I hadn't rolled three crits in a row. Also, my non crit attacks were doing max damage.
• The kobolds didn't kill the fallen party members because they want to try to ransom them off.
• I have a great plan for how the Alton can rescue his friends.

Our next session should be the 17th, but unfortunately I have to work. It looks like the 31st will be the next time we play.

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 2: Lizardfolk. Why Did It Have to Be Lizardfolk?

This guy's days are numbered.

Over a month later, my back home group played the second session of our new game. You can read about the first here. Character bios are here.

After spending a week prepping, the party set off for the Caves of Chaos. They encountered the lizardfolk mound, fought most of the males, and returned to the Keep to rest. The next day, they set off with Brother Heinrick and his two silent acolytes. After defeating the remaining lizardfolk, the IGA investigated the the mound. Heinrick and his cohorts tossed an alchemical bomb int he mound hoping to kill the party. They nearly succeeded, but the party survived. Though no one knows where Heinrick went, his acolytes and a quartet of goblins were waiting to ambush the party on their way back to the keep. They are pissed and ready to kill Heinrick.

• I decided to betray the party early, because I knew that Stew had played Keep on the Borderlands before.
• Stew has actually forgot about the betraying cleric. 
• Chad actually said he felt Heinrick's betrayal coming, but still wasn't prepared.
• Chad's character Evervan technically died. He failed his third death save right after the first combat encounter. However, I really didn't want him to have to roll up a new character because it had been so long since we'd played so I gave him a one time pass.
• The party has a new quest, "The Heinrick Maneuver."
• The party is now 2nd level.

Looking forward to our next session on January 3rd.

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - Session 1: The Arrival

While we only actually played a few hours during our first session it seemed like quite a bit was accomplished. The full party (Josh, Chad, and Stew) were in attendance.

- traveled with a caravan to the Cormyte keep High Horn. They formed a chartered adventuring company and named themselves the Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers (Alton's suggestion). They secured one of the private apartments by slaying a few cockatrices for the bailiff. Valkorme met with the castellan to try to find clues about his father. The next session will begin with the first expedition to the Caves of Chaos.

• Alton didn't actually barter passage with the caravan, he just managed to blend in with it. A re-occurring joke was that he often stole alcohol from the caravan, but only one person (other than the party) even noticed he was there. The rest of the caravan thought that worker was getting drunk on all of the missing beer and blaming it on a fictional halfling.
• The Keep in my game is High Horn, formerly the largest military fortress in Cormyr. It was mostly destroyed during the Spellplague and Sundering eras and has been rebuilt.
• I'm using the painting The Fountain of Vaucluse by Thomas Cole for my depiction of the keep.
• The building pictured at the base of the keep is occupied by a group of Sunsoul monks.
• The other plateaued area is a part of the original High Horn keep that existed a few centuries ago.
• The tavern's specialty drink is apple pie mead, which is a bit pricey. The bailiff is particularly fond of it.
• The party has met a wandering cleric of Tymora, Brother Heinrick, who's offered them aid should they venture into the caves.
• I'm going to keep a quest and side quest log. Since my group is made up of video gamers, I'll probably give them quirky names. For example the local halfing tailor asked Alton to retrieve a few pounds of colored cave moss so that he he can make new colours of clothing. The main quest is called Dye! Dye! Dye!

Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers - The Party

Sunday was the inaugural adventure for my newest campaign. I'll post a bit about what actually happened in the session later this week. For now I thought I'd start by introducing the party, aka the Itinerant Gentleman Adventurers.

Valkorme Flametears (Human Witch Hunter)

The grim warrior, Valkorme, was once a young Purple Dragon Knight squire with much promise. Unfortunately his journey to knighthood ended not long after it began. Valkorme's father Morne, an able bodied Purple Dragon Knight in his own right, was framed for treason and killed. The only clue Valkorme has is a scrap of purple fabric. Being branded the son of a traitor, he was dismissed from the order. Sir Ambrose Huntcrown, castellan of High Horn and commanding officer of Morne, showed kindness to the boy and gave him a place to stay and guard work at the keep. However, consumed by thoughts of vengeance, Valkorme left the keep and spent a few years hunting for truth about the incident. This led him to apprentice with a stranger who taught him the ways of the witch hunter. Now promise of a new lead has brought Valkorme back to High Horn, where he will join forces with the scholarly Erevan and mischievous Alton.

Played by Stew

Alton De La Thistle (Lightfoot Halfling Rogue)

The swashbuckling verbose Alton De Le Thistle is a dashing halfling pirate extraordinaire. Perhaps you've heard of him? Senior De La Thistle served three years alongside his father on the vessel, Sea Drake's Wrath. He served many different positions on the ship, learning the ins and outs of life on the sea. He did a little actual pirating until his last year aboard the ship. During this time he grew to greatly respect the ship's dragonborn captain, Redhorn. Recently the Sea Drake's Wrath was lost during a massive hurricane. Alton awoke, adrift in the harbor of Waterdeep, wrapped in the ships dragon skull and crossbones flag. Feeling certain that his friends, family, and ship sank to the briny deep, he set off to find new adventures and fortunes in their place. While he would never admit it, he's looking for something new to replace the void left in his life from the loss of his ship and friends. Alton isn't sure what sorts of adventures he's going to get into with his new companions, but he is sure that they will be epic and make damn fine drinking stories.

Played by Josh

Erevan Leed, Cleric of Mystra (Half-Moon Elf Cleric)

The half-elf Erevan was born and raised among the Ffolk of the Moonshae Isles. He was always an odd, but intelligent child, blessed with visions and strange dreams. At the age of 15 his mother passed. He lived as an orphan for year until his father, a moon elf adventure returned the isles to take him away. For years he lived a cloistered life in the city, devouring any book he could find. It was during this time he felt the calling of Mystra. He soon realized that she was the source of his visions and dreams. Using money his father had given him to purchase adventuring gear, grabbed his copy of  Feldspar's Which Came First the Goddess or the Weave, and set off for the keep at High Horn. He still not sure what's going on in the Caves of Chaos, but he knows his Lady leads him there. Erevan is not sure what to think of his new traveling companions. They seem like good sorts, he's just afraid he's going to have to speak slowly with them.

Played by Chad

Heading to the Keep on the Borderlands

I'm about to start my second 5th edition game. My first game is still ongoing, though we don't play often. Starting Sunday I'll be DM'ing a second 5th edition game. After much discussion, comtemplation, wailing, and gnashing of teeth I've decided that I'm running starting with Keep on the Borderlands and putting it in the Forgotten Realms. Other than a brief 4E game I was involved with, I've never played Keep on the Borderlands. I know that there was a playtest version of it in Next, but I plan on using the original module and the 5E conversion document.

I had originally thought about placing it on Oerth or doing a homebrew setting, but I recently grabbed a copy of the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide from my library and there's comfort in the Forgotten Realms for me. Though I've never considered myself a real Realms fanboy, it's a very familiar setting to me and my players.

I'm making the keep High Horn, a mountain fortress on Cormyr that seems like a good fit. The fortress was once a huge stronghold, but in my game it was seriously damaged during the Spellplague and Sundering. It has since been rebuilt (though on a smaller scale). The castellan is a retired Purple Dragon Knight, Sir Ambrose Huntcrown (whom I'm picturing as Ian McShane). I'm going to place agents of the various FR factions in the keep. Their importance to the game will be connected to the party's interest.

We'll be playing every other Sunday. The group structure will be a bit odd. The only regular player will be my old friend Chad. He's thinking about playing a cleric of some sort. Our old high school D&D pal Josh will be playing every other game (so about once a month). He's leaning towards a fighter or archery ranger. Finally Stew's going to be a semi-regular (depending on pro football and family obligations). He's leaning towards human witch hunter. Yep, I've decided to allow Matt Mercer's witcher/Vin Diesel inspired Witch Hunter. Since the group is rather small we're going to be trying out Kobold Press' Hirelings in Peril rules. They seem simple. If they work, I may come up with some new hireling types and post them.

I'm going to primarily using modules for this game. I think it'll make it easier, given the time between sessions. After Keep I'm seriously contemplating going to this and eventually this. Any other module recommendations would be appreciated.

I hope to make regular posts about the game with updates on the session and downtime events and such. I say that about all my games, let's see if I stick to it this time.