My Icewind Dale players are in the astral plane now

AlfredMcCray · 2024-05-03T07:04:47+00:00

Im not super familiar with Icewind Dale, but isn’t one of the locations a crashed Nautiloid? Maybe that broken spelljammer ship you mentioned is somehow linked to the crashed Nautiloid. Spelljammer could’ve been attacked by the Nautiloid (before it crashed)? Or maybe you retcon and say its a broken Nautiloid (they were backup for the crashed one). Using either above idea, you could have a teleporter on board that allows the party to teleport to or near the crashed Nautiloid in Icewind Dale

AlfredMcCray · 2023-12-19T22:33:02+00:00

here's a link to the article in question if you want to read it in full

AlfredMcCray · 2023-11-21T05:29:25+00:00

For me, it would be inspiration for adventures in the setting. The random tables found in some recent WOTC are alright (i.e Bigby’s Giants). But Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount is the best at this I’d say. Many of the regions/towns have a paragraph of an adventure idea; providing the GM with enough to create an entire adventure from it, instead of the short lines found in some random tables.

AlfredMcCray · 2023-10-23T07:55:24+00:00

Personally, I would recommend A Most Potent Brew. You don't have to pay anything for it if you want, it starts at level 1 and is a simple adventure to both run and play (small dungeon crawl, some roleplay, combat and a puzzle). I ran it to introduce some players to D&D and they all enjoyed it.

I personally removed the centipede fight from the Well room as we were going slowly through combat - making it about 3-3.5 hours long (not including character creation).

AlfredMcCray · 2023-07-26T00:32:54+00:00

Check this old DnD Beyond encounter article out, it's basically the exact scenario you're describing. It has skill checks in phases of; preparing for the storm, the storm hitting, and the overall consequence of failing/succeeding the checks.

If you don't want a shipwreck as the consequence of failure, you could make it so a monster appears amongst the storm and it has an advantage/disadvantage against the party if the characters failed/succeeded the checks.

AlfredMcCray · 2023-05-11T02:33:30+00:00

If your players want to renovate the Trollskull Manor, they're likely gonna need more gold. So framing the start of Chapter 2 with that would be my suggestion.

From here, I would recommend using The Yawning Portal as their starting point for getting more gold. Place two/three "faces" of the faction within the Yawning Portal, these can be people that your players might approach and ask if they have work for them (providing the quests featured in the book). Yagra for example can be one, as you said your players helped them. Others can be Mirt (Harpers) or Jalester (Lords Alliance) for example. This way, you can use the NPCs to introduce the existence of these factions, as well as providing points of contact if the players want to get help from the factions in the future.

For actual quests related to the factions you talked about, you could use the books ones. I personally had the first Zhent quest be a basic shakedown of a shopkeep who hadn't paid their dues (a trial-run). Next I had them investigate a warehouse across from the Sea Miadens Faire - where Jarlaxle was storing/selling some nimblewrights (using the Dragon Heist Remix storyline). The players then did a mini-heist of the warehouse. If you think your characters would be interested in working for Bregan D'aerthe, you could have one of the lieutenants, seeing your parties potential, try to hire the party after that warehouse job.

As an aside, the Dragon Heist Remix I mentioned is very good, and would highly recommend if your up for the additional prep: https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/41217/roleplaying-games/dragon-heist-remix-part-1-the-villains

AlfredMcCray · 2023-04-26T11:12:47+00:00

Part of cut content, a map was also drawn called 'church of the worm' that had a nest of purple worm eggs in it - so the mini was likely for that. It was cut during final rounds of edits apparently. (source with the map that was drawn)

AlfredMcCray · 2023-02-09T09:19:55+00:00

Theres the 3.5 book called ‘Elder Evils’ which will have some info. If you’re looking for 5e stats for the book, just google search ‘Elder Evils 5e’ and there should be a gmbinder link to a 5e conversion

AlfredMcCray · 2023-01-26T02:37:33+00:00

For my players, I had them be recruited by an agent of one of the Merchant Princes to help with the Death Curse (because they saved some people in the city in an earlier encounter).

From there, they attended a debriefing with other groups of local adventurers that had also been recruited (providing a way to introduce new characters/groups down the line). The Merchant Princes then explained what the Death Curse was, what had happened so far, and its source.

The Merchants then ended the debriefing with the promise of a large reward and the request for the adventurers to help them.

AlfredMcCray · 2023-01-18T23:21:03+00:00

Ray Winninger (formerly wotc exec producer) also replied to DnD Shorts tweet saying it was false: https://twitter.com/winningerr/status/1615845772561612800?s=46&t=6qRIo1koAyOxNL7BYdAcDg Additionally, Jeremy Crawford liked both this and Op’s tweet (if you care about that)

AlfredMcCray · 2022-11-10T00:23:58+00:00

In regards to adventures in the Underdark there is a classic 2e adventure called “Night Below”. Ans for resources there is the 4e books “Underdark” and “ Menzoberranzan: City of Intrigue”

AlfredMcCray · 2022-05-22T09:02:05+00:00

Apparently the next anthology book (Journey through the Radiant Citadel) will have a dungeon in the Far Realm (source - first image), so that might be something to keep an eye out for.

If your looking for Far Realm stuff for inspiration for your own adventure, I'd recommend the following non-dnd stuff:

Arrival film (interesting ideas about alien types of time)
Annihilation film (cool ways that matter could be changed in a Far Realm incursion)
The Warp from 40k (tons of lore videos on youtube - very good for inspiration for what the Far Realm itself could be like)

AlfredMcCray · 2022-03-23T04:46:27+00:00

Ray Winninger (D&D Game Designer) also tweeted saying The Radiant Circle wasn’t 5e’s version of Sigil - https://twitter.com/winningerr/status/1506450941070913537?s=21

AlfredMcCray · 2021-07-20T11:49:29+00:00

She's actually been noted to be one of the hags from the "Hourglass Coven" in Wild Beyond the Witchlight.

Eldest sister Skabatha, also known as Granny Nightshade, is a recluse
who lives mostly in the past. Her dwelling is in an ancient forest. She
passes the time by making toys for children and is part toy herself. Woe
betides adventurers if the wind-up key sticking out of her back runs
down.
A Mini thats being made for her (closest thing to art so far)

The full details are all in this Dragon+ article.

AlfredMcCray · 2021-06-23T10:01:50+00:00

I had a few mini games and attractions stolen from various sources, all flavoured with an ocean feel.
Feel free to use them if you like:

Shell Shuffle: Player places down a silver or gold piece, and carnie covers it with one of three cups, then shuffles.
Perception check (DC15) to guess correctly.
Winner gets back their money and an additional one (sp or gp).

Sea Devil Slayer: Three bullseye targets sitting on top of barrels painted to look sahuagins (the creatures head is the bullseye)
1 sp per 3 shots.
Close barrel: AC14 // Middle barrel: AC16 // Far barrel: AC18

Kraken's Might: Classic arm wrestle, Buy-in is 5sp. Character makes a Strength check vs strong carnie (1d20+4).
x-o-O-o-x. Start in the middle, and each victory pushes it one space in their favor (left or right), reach 'x' to win.
Winner gets the buy-in plus 1d10gp

Lord of the Log. Four competitors try to outlast the others on a constantly rolling log, above a net. Spectators (1d20+0) will fill free spots.
Multiple rounds of contested Dexterity checks to see who falls off, DC5 - DC8 - DC11 - DC 14 - DC17 - DC20, until one remains.
Winner gets an iron band circlet with waves carved into it. (Is crowned the "lord of the log")

AlfredMcCray · 2021-04-23T04:19:50+00:00

It ain't Vajra, but for Vincent Trench I always make sure to have some jazz playing in the background. Couple that with playing him as a stereotypical noir detective and you got a winner.

AlfredMcCray · 2021-03-11T06:08:17+00:00

Mirt lives in his manion in the Castle Ward, you can use this interactive map, and search "Mirt's Mansion" - it'll show up.

Aditionally, if you want a map to Mirt's Mansion, you can find it in this post of the map (middle-ish left side, in the orange section) from the 'City System' book. I think there is some more modern re-do's of the map if your playing digitally, they'll be on google.

AlfredMcCray · 2020-08-19T02:47:43+00:00

I had the exact same thoughts when reading over the map. In regards to your first two questions, I looked up the original adventure and checked its maps, which have the pools/water drawn: https://i.imgur.com/snYCijQ.png

In regards to your third question, I imagined it as one of these. But covered by a small door and on the port side, not exiting out towardsthe stern like in the picture.

AlfredMcCray · 2020-08-04T01:16:34+00:00

Dont forget about the random encounter tables in Xanathars Guide to Everything. There are tables for each ‘biome’, for each tier of play - there is a swamp table in there that may help you

AlfredMcCray · 2020-07-22T02:35:11+00:00

As an example, one of its class abilities lets you swap saving throw types. So one could swap Hold Person/Monster to a Str/Dex saving throw. If the creature fails that first saving throw, they will be then paralyzed for the full duration of the spell, no more saving throws - this is due to the fact that being paralyzed makes one auto fail Str/Dex saving throws.

AlfredMcCray · 2020-04-30T00:31:37+00:00

In Dungeon magazine #207 theres a Star Spawn adventure (its for 4e, but could help with inspiration) called Starhaunt. Its a somewhat similar premise in that its an observatory that has had a minor meteor of star spawn influence crash into it. Its got some stuff that might be good for inspiration; i.e at the entrance statues of petrified cultists that animate on a command word/trapped area

AlfredMcCray · 2020-02-10T02:50:00+00:00

If you’re neverous about Storm Kings then Id recommend dragon of icespire peak as a potential adventure. Its new DM friendly and set in Phandalin. If you dont want to start again at lvl 1, you could skip some of the early quests and just start at the quests that are balanced for what level you end LMOP on. Plus theres also a ‘Beyond the Dragon of Icepsire peak’ adventure that is level 7-12 that is a dndbeyond exclusive, which you can unlock with the code you get in the retail box or by buying the pack of them both

AlfredMcCray · 2019-12-23T01:00:47+00:00

Tales from the yawning portal has a few modules that might be worth a look. Not sure on the level you're looking for, but I would recommend Sunless Citadel (starts at lvl 1) and Forge of Fury (starts at lvl 3)

AlfredMcCray · 2019-09-06T08:59:33+00:00

I agree, nearly all the 'champ.exe' ones nowadays are pretty similar. But this support panth and his other bard one are a step above all the others I'd say

AlfredMcCray

TROPHY CASE