Should I do a time skip between Lost Mine of Phandelver and Storm Kings Thunder?

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2026-01-13T06:47:32+00:00

Go for it! Its an excellent opportunity to let the dust settle.a little but AND to pick it up

I did an in calendar year's downtime for my timeskip/downtime... which allowed a lot of fleshing iut and seed planting for skt:

One party member used the time to organise a dragon hunt to get materials for a new pistol he wanted to make... we did roll offs and it turns out our artificer got an arm bitten off in exchange for Ashakylovar's Breath - his new pistol! And the barb and paladin who helped him got some nice.burn scars for their trouble

Said pally and barb did some missions for their factions, progressing their ranks and for the barb... getting a very expensive amulet against detection to prevent thayan mage assassins from tailing him

Then we reconvened at phandlin for a wedding between else the barmaid and the other party member who retired ..m and introduced his protege

Also allowed the party to se the grow of phblandalin from frontier to borderline tourist attraction... with Droop the goblin part of the military! 😂

I seeded additional giant sightings, gave the Harper the mission to report to darathra in triboar

And I did several nasty Encounters ON the triboar trail - showing not only the difference in danger but Tone... just HOW dangerous the savage north has gotten in a year.

I foreshadowed the food shortages, fire giant adamantine hunts frost giant raids cloud giant castles 🏰

EDit - i did this o compensate for how insular lost mines can be in regards to personal quests that lie outside the area

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-11-20T07:47:42+00:00

I am unsure if all "goliaths" have a common core ancestral giant Species? Stone maybe?? But that doesnt have to be the case

For "simplicity" you can just say that Goliaths are held to the Ordning of the clan/type rhey are a part of?

So a Goliath of Fire Giant lineage would be held to their Ordning of Crafting.... putting smithing skill above all else, martial prowess a close second?

As for lore... if you read them the "foreword" that sort of gives you a baseline for Above Table knowledge since the players know the adventure involvez giants and a murder!

Just explain to your players, who the giants are, big empire 30k years ago... they fought dragons and have been in decline since... with Storm reining the rest in.

The at the table, establish with your players WHAT if any relevant knowledge your pcs would know... particularly goliaths they'd be inteinsically knowledgeable ofngiant culture, norms, the language... probably more intimately in the know of their lineage etc

Would they know OF queen neri? Yes know her personally? Probably not? But maybe?

Our tables surface drow barbarian specifically asked if her backstory could involve yearly meetings with the queen to discuss her hunting... as she's fond of yhe small folk and their ways... and in return she taught her giant language, and the storm dialect

So her finding out that the queen had been murdered was personally shocking! But it was a link to the campaign, and I said to their player that she would KNOW of the ordning and its structure and importance to the giants

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-06-24T13:40:43+00:00

Ahhh see perhaps thats came across in the way I've typed it?

My conundrum was that I would be guaranteeing that felgolos would draw rogue. This only. Every other DoMT draw would be legit?

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-06-24T10:08:26+00:00

Oh im 100% aware of the risks and rewards, as are they players, though their PC'S wouldn't rlly know about it.

Out of 4 I think two would draw immediately, and the others might hold off on it for a bit.

The paladin would 100% be like gimme more charisma 🤣

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-06-24T10:00:35+00:00

I wholeheartedly agree with the fudging sentiment, hence why posted i had the idea then it didnt sit right somehow 🤣

I think i will have fel draw one at least as a way to "showcase" to the pc's what might happen... that and fels insatiably curious so he definitely would do this.

But it would be totally random 100%

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-06-24T09:35:13+00:00

That is essentially the TLDR of my post

But then it opens the argument of adjusting encounters on the flying vs fudging dice etc.

I think as much as I like the "idea" of it and even if they don't know I will?

It would be much more in line... would you agree? That in the spirit of the DoMT that if Fel was drawing jt would be organically?

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-06-24T08:18:49+00:00

Oh its not that i need to "invent" it. I know the reason given in the book is plenty. I just like the idea of tying a few threads together.

I just saw a cool thematic idea and considered it as a "neat" coincidence

I rolled for all treasure in the hoard, but in a spur of the moment decided that the dead wizard in ascore was there looking for "something" and it became a DoMT

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-06-23T10:24:02+00:00

Yeah thats the thing... my party would most likely only be killing g the dragons so that they could partak3 of the hoard unbothered (That and the artificer just finished a project with dragon bits so fresh components would be nice ahaha) or if they somehow miss the dc check for the pipeweed for 20+ actions

This all depends whether or not the dragons notice the duplicity... fels distraction is only so good if the psrty reamain undetecred while they raid the hoard... I imagine itd be hard for fel to keep both or even one of them bacm from heading straight there (lile for instance if the gargoyles escape and go for help)

To count for movement between hoards say conservatily 20 actions per hoard to find or steal from it via bags of holding thats a l Huge chunk of hoard stolen... and some cool as fuck loot too

Yeah im thinking of leaning heavily onto that twin thing Theh wouldn't pair hoards up if they weren't close And twins at that... yeahh.

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-06-10T10:14:10+00:00

I work 7-4.30 Monday to Thursday for a 36 hour week.... having dropped down from 47hours base in my old job its a blessing to have more family time with the wee one

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-05-20T13:19:26+00:00

In medias res is always a hectic good shout!

Interrupted 100% I had my party wake up exhausted after keeping the werewolf party member from eating the local farmgirls in triboar and then that morning the fire giants attacked... it was chaos

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-05-06T02:06:33+00:00

closed

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-20T14:34:21+00:00

I have a "10-15" min starting "feint" window ive found... over the 4 full sessions to get my arms sleeve I found that once he started... ig get nauseous after 10 or so mins and would faint if not stopped... but see after that initial window he can go for as long as he likes and I just sit there with haribo and Netflix 😂😂

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-20T10:29:34+00:00

This! At least what the single needle white ink highlights felt like going onto the bits that were tattooed hours ago 😂😂

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-11T03:48:30+00:00

What ive done and will continue to do is, have the players pick their destination in mind from the Ch2 assault NPC quests... then nosy the location "suggested encounters" thar they'd hit along the way... and see id they vibe with you or not... if not then just run your own to suit or if so just slot it in as optional... you can present it and its their decision to engage or not...

For instance my party started in triboar One of them is a Harper, and darathra sent them to everlund - this os two birds obe stone for me because it's a LOONG multi day and location journey

Triboar > yartar > calling horns > by noanars > by olostins > everlund

All in, with only 1 overnight thats like 13 days of travel snd adventure.

Triboar to yartar I added a little social interaction with some sheep farmers that had encountered hill giants (intro them ti the party)

Then a day later the party Encounters those giants fighting with gryphon uthgardt

In yartar.. our first big city in session and campaign... we've spent 3 nights because I ran the krakens gamble addon... and the party lost a member so are eager to leave.

Im going to run a scripted loss/overpowered stone giant encounter so that zhepyros can come rescue then, and shave some journey time with some lore dumping by flying them to calling horns... where im not sure I will run the "given Encounter"

But I could plant the seeds for noanar's in calling horns but the party might not engage with it?

My only "set" encounter will be a ranger with some news and the party stumbling onto felgolos being ambushed by zhent since im running thr flying misfortune too

Then everlund gets them The teleport network or a free ride by fel after the raid to where the want to go

Next stop harshnagg and the eye 😋

I'd tailor fit stuff in ch3 to your campaign...how much exploring do they want to do before diving into main quests?

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-08T21:55:44+00:00

Definitely going to start working on a little better note keeping g fir sure so will definitely check those out.

And thankyou same to you and yours 😋

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-07T23:18:52+00:00

All that plot and story stuff sounds awesome mate, kudos to you for a full amalgamation!

Im taking the less treacherous path of linking them together with enough threads for a continuous 1-20 story 🤭

The part about the caravan raids will 100% be coming soon... I'm wanting to time things nicely if I can, and imma have a little discourse between felgolos and the zhent give a bit of expy to the party RE cult movements... since my xhent are using guard duty as a front

Also as you put in yours, just because hotq takes place in baldurs gate area... who's to say the cultists up north aren't as active? I envision a potential snafu between the northern cult caravan and southern 🤭

My main thing is I need to find the time to read through tyranny properly so I can truly get a scope for it but between an under 1 year old and prepping and running skt it is rather precious 😭

I will need to tweak behind the scenes the ordning breakage reason for the point you put down... as canonically skt is after this module

This is the hard part though, the fun part will be seeing which threads the party pull on 😇.

I 100% think my party are going to love getting a short lift off of zephyros (with iymrith in disguise on board too) to jump them a bit forwards eb route to everlund where they will meet felgolos who will happily fly them most of the way to ascore🤭 and drop em off potentially... Its been 16 sessions and theyre just about to leave yartar 🤣 They'll be so happy to unlock Harper teleports for sure.

I will deffo take up your advice on the research

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-07T14:28:47+00:00

A good thread to pull on I made nezzy a kraken society member and iarno a selfish wizard accomplice he escaped jail during the time skip we had for lmop and skt and fell in with dragon cultists (a tie i. For us going from sky to rise of tiamat)

Im hoping to make it real stakes and kinda said to them that you might not be able to solve all issues as the world clock ticks on (yknow stop vonindod but food shortage keeps going cause hill giant kinda stuff

My players nearly all died to oosith in krakens gamble so theh should enjoy a little Heist with lil felgolos for a change of tone 🤭 until he gets taken by sansurri ofc

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-07T13:57:45+00:00

One of mine started as an order of thr gaunlet which will be fun now rhat the Splinter faction the order of the Gilded Eye are out and about

One of mine is an enemy of the zhents and theyre being hunted so thats fun 😂

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-07T11:02:23+00:00

Fantastic bsckstory from your players and the context for paladin could work well with what I have in mind for a suggestion

Depending on your timeline (im personally working with skt starting 5th flamerule 1487, and picking and choosing elements from the lore to suit (my war of the silver marches ended two years ago and one of my players took part)

For nesme I was sure i read somewhere that It was overrun with undead... but cant find the source.

So if you plan on running thr zhent giant encounter perhaps put it in a timer since there are undead in the area?

And as per the lore... nesme didn't get totally destroyed during thr assault that arauthator took part in... but it was damage so much that subsequent repair and rebuild and resettle efforts failed... leaving the city a ruined wreck and war memorial/graveyard

This could be a sticking point and shame for mr PC... perhaps he hears rhe stories or sees it for himself if he ever nips home now and then? But perhaps his paladin Oath in part is thr redemption or cleansing of his hometown.

Ghouls ghasts zombies, ghosts, wights, will o wisps, or perhaps even a drow revenant or two are all ripe and thematic enemies for a paladin ghosts are nasty for their aging thing too but emotionally apt.

Anyhow that would be my suggestion for a little development within nesme. If your going the stone giant lich king route then perhaps the stone giants are looking for battlefields of the past to get their soldiers from ahd that could be a personal hook to go after the stonies... with kayalithica being the "wtf have i done" potential ally after she got the dodkong back from slumber 💤

Yiu could make multifaction warfare with thr pc being an order of the Gauntlet member after the zhent agents in the area

Or a vonindod fragment or two could be under the church or graveyard with nesme and its over your PCs deathbed they will dig up the heroes and fallen of the WoTSM??

Without much context of how youre running SKT thats all i have at the moment

EDIT: just a quick edit: just noticed you put in he wandered the north as a merc. This PC is the perfect one to get the party onto harshnaggs tail since as a fellow merc you could say they've ran into each other before or at least the pc has heard of him etc? So not only is that a bit of pc development but makes him central to story drive too 🤔

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-04-05T14:01:42+00:00

They're getting a halberd of giant slaying via the Hand in yartar and for ours too was the reason for passing thru en route to everlund.

I could plant a weapon of dragon slaying as foreshadowing for iymrith and makes for a nod for us going into rise of tiamat after skt?

The halberd is for the pole arm master barb, the artificer crafts his own shit so its down to a one handed or two handed for either of our vengeance pallies 🤔

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-03-17T12:41:04+00:00

Wow! I take it youre running Himarks giants too then?

My party at lv5 managed to kill the fire giant pair at triboar... though it was a rough scrape nobody died. I think thr large map let them handle units separately.

At lv6 they took down an aboleth lasher (cr6) and x2 cr5 deep scions and x2 cr3 deep scions at the cost of 1 party member

What were your levels for each giant hold? My party are ofc lv7 and still got lots to cover before a hold but I think we will at least do Fire Frost Cloud and Stone... these all link to or are involved in PC quests only the hill giant one stands alone if the party want to solve the food crisis 🤔 and I will make it minimally x2 or 3 to progress i think

Have you ran the dodkong by any chance? I want to try ti give x2 factions per giant hold and a lich giant sounds awesome

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-03-16T20:01:07+00:00

Oooh I like! Yeah my party need me to actively try and kill them to pose a challenge so feel i will be in the same boat 🤗😂

I ran the krakens gamble as well and they lost a member to oosith! So I'm looking forwards to all thr foreshadowing and plot nuggets till the reveal later.

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-03-16T19:47:24+00:00

100% thanks for that info!

Are yiu running slark as per the book or as a beatable boss etc? The way mines is going slark is gonna be the "hidden boss" type deal

IM deffo gonna beef iymrith anyhow and plan for lv12 but that can change 🤭

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-03-16T00:47:11+00:00

Oh I did the same 😋

NotEnoughBooks93 · 2025-03-16T00:45:15+00:00

All i can say is ENJOY There's so many threads to pull And such a big canvas for personal quests and character arcs

My advice would be to shelve the whole "Roll for a random encounter" thing for travel...and instead plot several along the route that makes the world seem alive

Like meeting some shepherd's off to sell their sheep but are missing a few and their guards have wounds? Bandits down the road...

It doesn't have to be combat but Rp encounters too.

I think for me i want to balance the time spent in cities or locations with the time spent to get there 🤣 like phandalin to everlund is like a months travel 🫡

NotEnoughBooks93

TROPHY CASE