My current campaign is placed in the Forgotten Realms. To be more precise, it is currently located in Marsember, Cormyr. This post is a summary of my online research into this city.
I really like the Forgotten Realms campaign guide. At the macro-level, it contains a wealth of information that helps me bring the setting alive. At the micro-level however, it's sometimes leaves too much to my imagination. Things like city maps, important buildings and important NPCs are described briefly, if at all.
Internet to the rescue!
After the Spellplague
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
The only current sourcebook on the Forgotten Realms. The section on Cormyr contains two paragraphs about Marsember and a small map severely lacking in detail.
Forgotten Realms Player's Guide
The player's companion to the Campaign Guide. The small section on Marsember contains some nice flavor text.
Backdrop: Cormyr
Released in Dragon magazine #365, it only mentions Marsember. It does contain up-to-date information on Cormyr as a whole, and the map of Cormyr is excellent.
Before the Spellplague
Volo's Guide to Cormyr
It's written for AD&D 2nd edition, fifteen years old, and describes the city as it was before the Spellplague. A good starting point however and as far as I know, it contains the only official Marsember map ever released. Thank you WotC for providing it on your website.
Enhanced map of Marsember
I love it when people share their hard work. It's basically a detailed version of the official map, and much more readable. Still, it's a map from before the Spellplague.
Forgotten Realms Wiki
A Wikipedia-like site about the Forgotten Realms. The article about Marsember only contains pre-Spellplague information.
Putting it all together
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. The Spellplague has changed a lot, but cities are hard to change.
"Many of the higher canals are now planted with crops, or allowed to grow wild [...] Newer facilities nearer the lowered Sea of Fallen Stars keep alive Marsember's status as a hub of trade, though the volume of items moving through the port is much reduced [...] The navy never returned to that moorage.".
This quote from the Campaign Guide implies that the harbor-section of the maps will have to be redone completely. Some of the canals will have to be erased, and it's probable that some new islands have appeared. Starwater Keep and the Naval Drydock probably still exist, but what is their new purpose?
On the other hand, I think it's unlikely the city walls have moved, or that the King's Tower has suddenly disappeared. Looking at real history, it also seems likely most of the establishments remained; in some cases though, they might have a new patron or new clientele.
Bringing Marsember to the Era of Upheaval will take some work. I will keep you informed.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
When combat is too easy
Writing good combat encounters is hard. Writing good combat encounters for a single player is very hard. Writing good combat encounters for a single wizard without a companion character is near impossible.
When we first started playing, we used Keep on the Shadowfell. For those who don't know it, it's a published adventure containing many combat encounters. At first I tried to ease the encounters by removing monsters, replacing monsters by minions and fudging the dice, but it soon became clear: my player needed a companion character. I gave her a fighter, who has since been known as Master Dwarf. Since that time, writing good combat encounters is merely very hard.
Fighting the Bullywugs
Take for example one of last weekend's combat encounters. Before it was played out, I was very excited about it, as I had closely followed all the tips I found on building encounters.
For starters, the terrain and situation were exciting. My player was escorting a trade caravan through the marshes, when they stumbled on a small river and a broken bridge. Combat started while she was busy hauling the carts to the other side.
She was attacked by Bullywugs, frog-like creatures that perfectly fitted the setting. To her, they were new and exciting monsters. I had carefully considered the roles of the different creatures, I had an elaborate tactical plan, and I was certain my player would have a very hard time.
Three rounds later she was considering opening a French delicatessen specializing in frog legs.
Lessons learned
I think there are three reasons while the fight went so much better for her than I had anticipated.
First of all, in the previous adventure my player had leveled up and gained a new encounter power: Stinking cloud. This is actually quite a powerful spell against certain opponents. As it turns out, Bullywugs are among them. During my preparations, I never even looked at the current powers of my player.
Secondly, the adventure provided ample rest between encounters. My player felt no need to use her powers sparingly, and managed to use all her firepower in just three rounds. In retrospect I should have upgraded the encounter to "quite hard" instead of "moderate".
And finally, there is the matter of luck. For example, Bullywug Muckers actually hurt themselves when failing a Bullywug rush. In the end, my player was lucky and the Bullywugs weren't. It is impossible to prepare for that.
When we first started playing, we used Keep on the Shadowfell. For those who don't know it, it's a published adventure containing many combat encounters. At first I tried to ease the encounters by removing monsters, replacing monsters by minions and fudging the dice, but it soon became clear: my player needed a companion character. I gave her a fighter, who has since been known as Master Dwarf. Since that time, writing good combat encounters is merely very hard.
Fighting the Bullywugs
Take for example one of last weekend's combat encounters. Before it was played out, I was very excited about it, as I had closely followed all the tips I found on building encounters.
For starters, the terrain and situation were exciting. My player was escorting a trade caravan through the marshes, when they stumbled on a small river and a broken bridge. Combat started while she was busy hauling the carts to the other side.
She was attacked by Bullywugs, frog-like creatures that perfectly fitted the setting. To her, they were new and exciting monsters. I had carefully considered the roles of the different creatures, I had an elaborate tactical plan, and I was certain my player would have a very hard time.
Three rounds later she was considering opening a French delicatessen specializing in frog legs.
Lessons learned
I think there are three reasons while the fight went so much better for her than I had anticipated.
First of all, in the previous adventure my player had leveled up and gained a new encounter power: Stinking cloud. This is actually quite a powerful spell against certain opponents. As it turns out, Bullywugs are among them. During my preparations, I never even looked at the current powers of my player.
Secondly, the adventure provided ample rest between encounters. My player felt no need to use her powers sparingly, and managed to use all her firepower in just three rounds. In retrospect I should have upgraded the encounter to "quite hard" instead of "moderate".
And finally, there is the matter of luck. For example, Bullywug Muckers actually hurt themselves when failing a Bullywug rush. In the end, my player was lucky and the Bullywugs weren't. It is impossible to prepare for that.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Skill challenges and NPCs
This weekend my player encountered Loxar the Spellscarred, and the experience was even better than I hoped for. The encounter went well, my player survived, and Loxar has accidentally been upgraded to a major NPC.
Running the encounter
I wrote the encounter as an exercise in skill challenges, the way they are described in the Dungeon Master's Guide 2. If you're struggling with skill challenges (as I was) and don't have the book (as I did), get a copy of DMG2 right now.
The encounter was set up as a robbery - my player was escorting a trade caravan, and Loxar had set her eyes on the goods. The encounter could either be resolved by defeating Loxar, or by negotiating a way out. Each success would lower the amount of money required to pay off Loxar.
In the beginning, the encounter played out as planned. As soon as my player realized her adversary had some intelligence, she started negotiating. I let her roleplay the negotioations at her leisure and called for skill checks when appropriate. The pay-off had already been reduced to a meagre 400 gold pieces, when my player managed to surprise me completely.
She suddenly proclaimed that the Eladrin Courts in the Feywild had the means to cure the spellscar and proposed a deal: she would send Loxar to an Eladrin healer, and if that failed, she would reimburse Loxar by paying her the 400 GP.
I was stunned. My girlfriend is new to playing D&D, but she seemed to have grasped the very essence of the game: cooperative play when appropriate. For the sake of it I let her make another Diplomacy check, but in my head the matter was already resolved. Loxar agreed, and she will meet my player again.
Discussion
Afterwards, when discussing the adventure, my player made three interesting observations about this encounter.
First of all, during the skill challenge itself she had no idea she was playing a skill challenge. This can be partially explained by her limited exposure to skill challenges so far, but the fact that I used skill challenges as an underlying mechanism to roleplaying instead of treating it like a combat encounter also helped a lot.
The second observation was about metagaming. While I was composing the encounter and when I was writing my previous article, she had a lot of exposure to Loxar's picture. In her head this exposure translated to "must-be-an-important-character". So while I had envisioned Loxar as a minor NPC, my player considered her a major part of the plot she's unravelling. In turn, this was an important reason for her to compel Loxar to be cured.
The last observation worth mentioning was her own joy at the cooperative play. It gave her a chance to expand on her own background, and she continued to do so during the rest of the adventure.
Lessons learned
In the end, to me each encounter is a lesson in writing and running better encounters. Most importantly, this encounter taught me that skill challenges can indeed be fun, as long as they are played properly.
The other lesson was: don't be afraid. When writing the encounter, I opted for a skill challenge of standard difficulty with complexity 1 and worried that this might be too hard for my player.
It wasn't.
Running the encounter
I wrote the encounter as an exercise in skill challenges, the way they are described in the Dungeon Master's Guide 2. If you're struggling with skill challenges (as I was) and don't have the book (as I did), get a copy of DMG2 right now.
The encounter was set up as a robbery - my player was escorting a trade caravan, and Loxar had set her eyes on the goods. The encounter could either be resolved by defeating Loxar, or by negotiating a way out. Each success would lower the amount of money required to pay off Loxar.
In the beginning, the encounter played out as planned. As soon as my player realized her adversary had some intelligence, she started negotiating. I let her roleplay the negotioations at her leisure and called for skill checks when appropriate. The pay-off had already been reduced to a meagre 400 gold pieces, when my player managed to surprise me completely.
She suddenly proclaimed that the Eladrin Courts in the Feywild had the means to cure the spellscar and proposed a deal: she would send Loxar to an Eladrin healer, and if that failed, she would reimburse Loxar by paying her the 400 GP.
I was stunned. My girlfriend is new to playing D&D, but she seemed to have grasped the very essence of the game: cooperative play when appropriate. For the sake of it I let her make another Diplomacy check, but in my head the matter was already resolved. Loxar agreed, and she will meet my player again.
Discussion
Afterwards, when discussing the adventure, my player made three interesting observations about this encounter.
First of all, during the skill challenge itself she had no idea she was playing a skill challenge. This can be partially explained by her limited exposure to skill challenges so far, but the fact that I used skill challenges as an underlying mechanism to roleplaying instead of treating it like a combat encounter also helped a lot.
The second observation was about metagaming. While I was composing the encounter and when I was writing my previous article, she had a lot of exposure to Loxar's picture. In her head this exposure translated to "must-be-an-important-character". So while I had envisioned Loxar as a minor NPC, my player considered her a major part of the plot she's unravelling. In turn, this was an important reason for her to compel Loxar to be cured.
The last observation worth mentioning was her own joy at the cooperative play. It gave her a chance to expand on her own background, and she continued to do so during the rest of the adventure.
Lessons learned
In the end, to me each encounter is a lesson in writing and running better encounters. Most importantly, this encounter taught me that skill challenges can indeed be fun, as long as they are played properly.
The other lesson was: don't be afraid. When writing the encounter, I opted for a skill challenge of standard difficulty with complexity 1 and worried that this might be too hard for my player.
It wasn't.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Loxar the Spellscarred
Inspiration comes from many places. For me, deviantART is one of them. Recently I was planning an adventure in which I wanted my player to encounter the effects of the Spellplague. I was writing, rewriting and rewriting again, until I stumbled on this picture:
At one, it all became clear. This was Loxar the Spellscarred. She used to be a promising swordmage from the Forgotten Realms, until one of her adventures brought her to spellplagued land. An unforunate accident caused the scar below her eye.
At first, the effect seemed purely cosmetic. But soon she learned how the scar could give her additional powers, manifesting themselves in all-consuming flames of blue fire. And soon after that, she noticed how the spellscar replaced the memories of her training. Until all her remaining powers revolved around the scar.
Spellscarred people are shunned by society, and Loxar chose a new career. She became a highwayman in the western regions of Cormyr, earning a living by robbing trade-caravans coming from the Thunderpeaks and Sembia.
And so, the encounter wrote itself. Loxar will try to rob my player. Given the fact that she is a very intelligent women without a death wish, the encounter can be run as either a skill challenge or ordinary combat.
I'm very excited to see how my player will react to her...
At one, it all became clear. This was Loxar the Spellscarred. She used to be a promising swordmage from the Forgotten Realms, until one of her adventures brought her to spellplagued land. An unforunate accident caused the scar below her eye.
At first, the effect seemed purely cosmetic. But soon she learned how the scar could give her additional powers, manifesting themselves in all-consuming flames of blue fire. And soon after that, she noticed how the spellscar replaced the memories of her training. Until all her remaining powers revolved around the scar.
Spellscarred people are shunned by society, and Loxar chose a new career. She became a highwayman in the western regions of Cormyr, earning a living by robbing trade-caravans coming from the Thunderpeaks and Sembia.
And so, the encounter wrote itself. Loxar will try to rob my player. Given the fact that she is a very intelligent women without a death wish, the encounter can be run as either a skill challenge or ordinary combat.
I'm very excited to see how my player will react to her...
Introduction
Welcome.
This blog is about playing Dungeons & Dragons, 4th edition, the way I like it: one player, one DM. I'm planning to describe my games, how they are created, and random musings on the game as a whole.
My name is Solo DM, and I've been playing the various incarnations of Dungeons & Dragons since the early nineties. Recently I've picked up the fourth edition, DND4e, and I've started a Forgotten Realms campaign with my girlfriend as the only player.
Believe me: having just one player is great! Planning a session becomes as easy as saying "how about playing tonight?" or even better: "how about playing right now?" Not to mention the roleplaying itself; instead of a social gathering (which can be nice), it becomes a focused experience. No endless disputes on the merits of left versus right, no squabbles on who-gets-the-magical-item, and did I mention planning the next session?
Of course, the are downsides as well, especially when composing challenging combat encounters, or the fact that no-one can help her if she runs out of options. But more on this in another post.
This blog is about playing Dungeons & Dragons, 4th edition, the way I like it: one player, one DM. I'm planning to describe my games, how they are created, and random musings on the game as a whole.
My name is Solo DM, and I've been playing the various incarnations of Dungeons & Dragons since the early nineties. Recently I've picked up the fourth edition, DND4e, and I've started a Forgotten Realms campaign with my girlfriend as the only player.
Believe me: having just one player is great! Planning a session becomes as easy as saying "how about playing tonight?" or even better: "how about playing right now?" Not to mention the roleplaying itself; instead of a social gathering (which can be nice), it becomes a focused experience. No endless disputes on the merits of left versus right, no squabbles on who-gets-the-magical-item, and did I mention planning the next session?
Of course, the are downsides as well, especially when composing challenging combat encounters, or the fact that no-one can help her if she runs out of options. But more on this in another post.
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