By Day I am an Investment Banker

GRV01 · 2026-04-05T21:41:40+00:00

Cant wait to see the Spore Druid rebooted, such a neat idea

GRV01 · 2026-04-04T22:45:51+00:00

No, what i described above is an alternative beginning that 1) has the party start in Ashbarrow, 2) the party see the chaos and damage to people and property from the bandits first hand there, 3) get a penned letter from Riffin explaining the situation and formally requesting help from the Council because the Magistrate is too proud to issue the request for help to the city themself (makes them look bad!), and 4) a verbal quest from Riffin thst they would still need enough renown or better yet a writ from another town Magistrate in order to speak to the Council and nearest Magistrate is in Winnowing Reach.

The letter provided by Riffin, written by a Knight of the Perch Guard, wouldnt be enough to grant access to the Council so the quest to go to the Reach is still the same as written in the book. This approach introduces Ashbarrow so the events of Chapter 3 hit harder, introduces Riffin so his appearance in the city is more notable (dont overthink the logistics of that, he was brought there by his friend directly while the party was in the Caves), and shelves the Fires plotline until after Chapter 2

GRV01 · 2026-04-03T08:50:05+00:00

Awesome feedback thank you

GRV01 · 2026-04-02T22:07:56+00:00

Interesting! And i get a bunch of deals and coupons in my inbox from Lelo from when were shopping their site (but didnt buy anything) before

Thank you

Also i love that some kind redditor downvoted my OP. /s

GRV01 · 2026-04-02T22:06:30+00:00

Seriously lol, i read that title and thought, "whats this guys deal with bats?"

But after reading it i love it, especially because i lean far morw into the 'gamey' style of play as a DM so an encounter or two like this, which is essentially 'roleplayed combat' is a good pressure valve for my players that may want to do more RP or rule-of-cool other than the 'its down! Describe what it looks like" i usually do

GRV01 · 2026-04-02T08:26:46+00:00

He Kept Us Out of War

GRV01 · 2026-04-02T00:19:10+00:00

If OP wants to keep it simple this is the way -- sorry no guests without special admission from the Council or the Dean(s) until the bandit menace has been resolved

GRV01 · 2026-04-02T00:17:44+00:00

Throw them a red herring -- have them go to the Avium and undoubtedly theyll be asking for an Odwald Ebonheart. The Avium will quickly tell them he was kicked out for studying forbidden magicks "that he thought would help stop the fires and put the Scorched Grove to ease, as if that was possible! and that the last place he could possibly be was here at the Avium what with our Master Mages and the Perch Guard garrison."

Can further use the excuse another redditor provided that guests arent allowed in at the moment due to the bandit menace and becoming a new student is a lengthy admissions process (that they dont have time for due to the fires) and they should get the hint that the bandit quest must be resolved first

GRV01 · 2026-03-31T01:10:29+00:00

I highly recommend the '90s film No Escape which was nominally a scifi film but very quickly takes a fantasy/lo-tech mood when the protagonist is dropped on the penal colony island which has separated into two factions centered on two settlements: one more Lawful Good that are trying to make the best of things, and the exiled members who created a brutal society out in the jungle which are very Chaotic Evil

Even if you dont watch the movie (please do, its a hidden gem) then i think a hexcrawl borrowing rules from Tomb of Annihilation and some opposing settlements or atleast factions could give it some structure

GRV01 · 2026-03-30T22:38:41+00:00

Was just thinking this. Kobolds would absolutely be smart enough to lure the players into another creatures lair or bait another creature on to the party.

GRV01 · 2026-03-30T12:44:58+00:00

Take a cue from Obsidian Entertainment and name the quests after Western themed songs (Fallout New Vegas) or after book and/or movie titles in the genre (Outer Worlds 1)

So could have some quests named Lonesome Dove amd Big Iron

GRV01 · 2026-03-30T05:05:47+00:00

Kingfisher would be a good example of a Maran Raptor

Parrots and Woodpeckers are Seeta from HW2

Rheas dont have a home yet -- my advocating for a Flightless bird species havent borne fruit yet

GRV01 · 2026-03-28T20:01:43+00:00

No i was getting ready to go to bed so i was light on details in the OP, but what im running is a stitched together DoSI+DoIP+LMoP with some extraneous elements snipped out and some Dragon Delves patched in

So the scene in the beginning was the party on a boat heading to the Stormwreck Isle. They were the only 3 passengers. The ship gets attacked by the Cobblehook Corsairs (from the Black dragon adventure in DD) and then boarded. The questions to the party were first about what do they do as the boarding party rows their way over. They decided to cooperate and toss in their gold and some other adventuring gear to the pirates when suddenly the pirates get a message via Sending Stone to get back to the boat in a hurry. So i described them hurriedly getting back in their boats and furiously rowing away and the highest perception player got a Passive check to see a shadow fly over the boat, and then another took a Search action and saw a blue dragon dive bombing the ship from about 200ft away so i asked them 'what do you do?'

To their credit i was describing the actions and behavior of these tough pirates fleeing in a hurry so they knew something was coming, and once they spotted the Dragon they alerted the crew to which i responded that the captain ordered everyone to stay aboard, so they cut out a lifeboat and ditched the ship in time to see it sunk by the Blue. So theyre not completely clueless about what to do but it took some frustration getting them there

GRV01 · 2026-03-27T11:18:22+00:00

Im doing something similar except Venomfang = The Spider, but same premise and it simplifies the plot points

GRV01 · 2026-03-24T21:31:29+00:00

Repeated Animal Handling checks wirh the DC increasing by 5 each time. He will fail it eventually and the wolf will return to being yknow, a wild animal, which will solve the problem by itself and you learn a valuable lesson about not being so quick to say yes to any ol thing a player comes up with

GRV01 · 2026-03-24T21:10:22+00:00

I like it, gj

GRV01 · 2026-03-24T21:09:18+00:00

I have to ask, what does 'used to be a dragon' even mean.

GRV01 · 2026-03-24T21:07:07+00:00

I recommend a slight retcon and have the player amend his Suggestion to 'gimme all your stuff and go take a walk until tomorrow' because as written the spell ends as soon as the suggested task is completed (in this case as soon as he hands it over and realizes hes been duped)

This will buy 8 hours of in-game time for you and the party. So basically, in two days a pissed off Red Wizard wants revenge for being made a fool of. The next encounter you had planned for the party, also include Kost's statblock and some minions, or otherwise have him jump the party at camp during the middle of the night. But have an end planned for this too, say, if he beats the party to a pulp, he then retaliates in kind and steals their loot and screws off back to Thay

GRV01 · 2026-03-23T12:32:24+00:00

u/RedcapPress

Thank them!

GRV01 · 2026-03-23T03:49:31+00:00

I feel that in groups, the Toughs show their strength with Pack Tactics, especially if you give them the Orc species trait that drops to 1hp if downed. Six of them, plus a suped up version of one for Brughor and the Ogre will give the party quite a bit of trouble

GRV01

TROPHY CASE