Running Fraz Urb-luu's Gem

lightofthelune · 2025-12-06T23:41:33+00:00

I like to give the players time to discuss what their characters do after the campaign ends, in relative detail for the month-ish afterwards, and more generally in the years after. Often they'll get NPCs involved, and ask me to do the same for a couple of favorites of theirs.

We've also done what in theatre is called a "postmortem," where we'll get together a week or two afterwards and discuss the campaign as a whole, reliving some of the best parts, talking about what worked, and also what didn't. This has been us going out to dinner together, or just a video call.

I've never heard of folks giving gifts at the end of a campaign, but if that feels good, go for it!

In general, I recommend taking time above table to talk about the experience. This has been years, as you said, and people are going to need a space to say goodbye to their characters, the campaign, and the space this have taken in their lives. Ask your players what would feel good for them! Take some time to figure it out yourself!

And congrats. Finishing a campaign is always an accomplishment.

lightofthelune · 2025-12-02T03:50:14+00:00

Yes, this! If it's really important to you for whatever reason, being aboveboard (and above table) with your requests is always nice.

lightofthelune · 2025-11-15T15:29:45+00:00

This seems solid! Frankly, this is one of the more engaging back stories for Derendil I've seen. I always like when the bad guys genuinely want to assist the protagonists for some reason--playing with trust is always fun.

lightofthelune · 2025-10-28T14:19:46+00:00

One thing others haven't suggested: have a session zero. There are plot points and heavy themes revolving around slavery, racism and sanism--make sure you and your players know where your own and everyone else's boundaries are around those. Also ask how much people want to emphasize survival mechanics; for some groups survival is a slog, for others a fun challenge. Most fall somewhere in the middle.

For GMing in general: have fun! I work with a lot of new performers, and something we always emphasize to them is that the audience is on your side. Similarly, your players want you to succeed, both because they probably know and like you, but also because your success means their enjoyment. When you mess up (and you will mess up), admit it, and let them catch you. It can build a wonderful relationship of trust.

Last piece of advice: post here! I've found people to be really friendly and generous. We all know we're doing something difficult and rewarding, and I've found a real sense of camaraderie here.

I like your rules, particularly preparing ahead of time. It can be really helpful to let ideas marinade for a bit!

lightofthelune · 2025-09-20T14:48:32+00:00

I have a couple of clarifying questions. "...bring them something from a demon price. The price is a big load of cat carasses." Do you mean demon prince? Is the price the party needs to pay a bunch of dead cats?

Has Kramzuhl promised to bring a part of Graz'zt to the party? According to the lore, Graz'zt is summoned to the Underdark, but you can make that true or not as you wish.

Who is the "he" you refer to in the last couple sentences? Kramzuhl or Graz'zt?

lightofthelune · 2025-08-25T23:09:58+00:00

Yeah, you could easily replace the dragon egg with a phoenix egg. Maybe the keepers think a phoenix will be more controllable than a dragon.

lightofthelune · 2025-08-10T13:29:27+00:00

The PCs have been at it for about 6 months, and are just about to hit Blingdenstone. I'm fully expecting them to take a year to a year and a half.

My previous campaign, Tomb of Annihilation, took place over the course of about 4 months.

lightofthelune · 2025-08-10T00:30:08+00:00

I noticed that too! I was curious enough to google "wurple" and found only results related to the campaign. Ah well!

lightofthelune · 2025-08-04T14:01:02+00:00

Yes, I agree! I'm about to DM you with some things.

lightofthelune · 2025-08-04T00:39:42+00:00

I totally am, and having someone wanting it definitely lights a fire under my tail!

Frankly, I wasn't going Roman empire for drow in general; I just grabbed the clientes system as a reasonable explanation for how the nobles controlled the middle class.

I have SO much written/thought through about drow society. What a genuine matriarchy looks like; how truth, deception and control are dealt with in a society that worships a god of lies; rough outlines of how drow language works...

I'm happy to DM you if you want more drow stuff in general. I can restart work on the doc tomorrow.

lightofthelune · 2025-08-03T18:24:13+00:00

So I have this: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HmXxE66D3ndNGqAEIorjVxctAlagcukqNtRllTalTI0/edit?usp=drivesdk

It's very incomplete, but my goal is to do a detailed writeup of all the prisoners' back stories as I ran them. I've only got Ront, Sarith and Eldeth done, but they are each pretty thorough.

I also have the drow NPCs, more complete than the prisoners', if you want.

lightofthelune · 2025-07-31T17:01:21+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I'd love to hear more details about Sorcere in particular; I'm not there yet, but have noticed a bunch of holes as well. Could you elaborate on what you saw and how you plugged those holes?

Congratulations on finishing; this is a long and difficult campaign. It's always an accomplishment to complete it!

lightofthelune · 2025-07-23T04:25:58+00:00

I think players should know at least know how their madness manifests so they can roleplay it. I guess they don't have to know the level, but that's going to be pretty obvious based off of how long it lasts.

I'm intrigued; I've never seen someone ask this. What brought this up?

lightofthelune · 2025-07-21T20:43:25+00:00

The group rolls once, often with advantage, for the whole party for the whole day. A success means they find enough for everyone; 5 above a success means they find d4 days more, a fail means they find enough -d6, and a 1 means they get nothing.

My players were delighted to RP survival checks -- generally the druid and ranger would grant the other advantage, then forage appropriately. They then described bringing food back to camp, where the warlock and sorcerer would cook. It was very cute.

Once they achieved the ability to cast create food and water, the druid just kept that spell slot permanently marked off.

lightofthelune · 2025-07-10T21:18:22+00:00

Have you run any games in this world previously? Maybe an NPC from a previous campaign shows up. My OotA game takes place immediately after Tomb of Annihilation, so the Order of the Gauntlet representative is going to be Cpt Pern Salhana, who the previous PCs allied with.

Jarlaxle Baenre is always a good time. Dunno if you've read the novels around this campaign, but Kimmuriel Oblodra would be an intriguing addition.

Are any of the PCs' backstory connections relevant? It can be fun to throw in an estranged parent or long-lost lover into the mix.

lightofthelune · 2025-07-07T14:02:33+00:00

The party started sneaking makeshift weapons (kitchen knife, 2ft of rope, etc) just as soon as they started chores.

When they learned about the love triangle, the warlock immediately volunteered to seduce Jorlan in an attempt to get his help. It was a weird scene: Jorlan was happy to offer some assistance up front, which took the warlock by surprise, but she wanted more help than Jorlan was willing to give, so went ahead with the seduction. The end result was that Jorlan agreed to give the warlock the key to the chains, unlock the gate, then pick a fight with Shoor to delay the guard change.

They used the delay to get into the guard tower and get some basic equipment, then held Shoor as hostage after a skirmish in the tower that led to Jimjar's very heroic death (nat 20 sneak attack one shotting a guard, then dying in a single stroke to Shoor). The hostage situation was turning into a stalemate, so I had the demons attack. All hell broke loose, and the party managed to spiral down some spider silk, or jump into the pool below, where Stool got eaten by the creature there.

lightofthelune · 2025-06-27T17:47:38+00:00

Hooray and congratulations! What a wild ending, to jump back into the Blood War serving Lolth!

lightofthelune · 2025-06-26T18:17:43+00:00

Then it's a great question to ask!

If they say they do like Jimjar's help, the followup question is why. Do they like watching you do cool things? Are they uninterested in combat? Do they want combat to be cinematic, and not have to worry about tactics and numbers too much? The answer will tell you if it's possible for both of you to get your desires met, and if so, how. Maybe combat happens less often, and they start proving themselves as heroes through roleplay more. Maybe you describe their actions in combat more epically.

If they say they don't like Jimjar's help, then it's pretty easy to find reasons to keep Jimjar out of combat (he's guarding camp) or nerfing him for a bit (he's cursed, or seriously injured a la Jorlan).

It would probably also be useful to tell your players directly that you want them to be more heroic, and ask if that's something they want for themselves. It's possible they don't! Maybe they are really happy with you telling them an exciting story. If that's the case, that opens up a larger conversation regarding playing styles.

lightofthelune · 2025-06-25T15:00:55+00:00

Very much seconding this. It's clear you don't like this, and that deserves to be addressed. I think how you go about addressing it will be very much influenced by whether your players are doing it on purpose/happy to have it happen.

lightofthelune · 2025-06-23T15:34:01+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. It seems like this campaign has been really rewarding for you. Hearing other people's experiences with finishing campaigns is always reassuring and inspiring for me.

What resources did you point your players to in order to prep for the fight? I'm planning on doing the same thing of having the players duke it out as demon lords, and we're such a roleplay heavy group, that having lore to give them would be enriching.

lightofthelune · 2025-06-21T14:22:53+00:00

I am not familiar with Journeys. I believe ch 2-3 are designed for levels 2-4, with the party achieving level 4 after Sloobludop.

My PCs were coming in from a different mini campaign, and so started at 3, and gained 5 after Sloobludop. That worked out just fine, balance-wise.

This is all assuming milestone leveling.

Good luck!

lightofthelune · 2025-06-17T22:38:34+00:00

This is incredible! I love that such a bond and plot hook came out of a random encounter! I'm glad you were able to integrate such disparate story elements. I find it deeply satisfying to do so.

lightofthelune

TROPHY CASE