How Twitch Revitalized My Love for D&D

Why Would Anyone Want to Watch Someone Else Play D&D?

It has quite a while since I have posted anything, and part of the reason is that I have been spending a great deal of time exploring the world of streaming Dungeons & Dragons on Twitch. The concept of Twitch seems to evoke a wide range of reactions depending upon who you are talking to. Why would anyone want to watch someone else play a video game? I'm sure the answer to that is quite complex, but in many ways it is not so different from watching professional sports on television or an HGTV show about remodeling a kitchen; people with interests want to engage in those interests and that can include watching others to learn or be entertained.

While the streaming platform is primarily associated with video games, the popularity of streaming tabletop role-playing games has emerged in part due to shows like Critical Role, Maze Arcana and Force Grey (to name only a few). These shows have demonstrated that there is something alluring about being a fly on the wall observing someone else's game. The Dungeons & Dragons gaming category on Twitch has 157,000+ followers and at any given time over 1,000 viewers. Clearly, people exist that would give you answers to the question "why would anyone want to watch someone else play D&D?"

My first real experience watching Twitch was D&D's senior producer and game designer Chris Perkins and his Dice, Camera, Action series. I watched it because I was running the same campaign they were playing, Curse of Strahd. By doing so I observed new DM techniques, ideas to add to my campaign and found inspiration for how to bring certain NPCs to life.

Why would anyone want to be watched playing D&D?

I found myself thinking "this is exactly the type of D&D I want to play." It was storytelling. There was character development. There were shocking moments and drama. Each episode felt like it had plot and a narrative structure that relied on the fact that it was exactly a two-hour session. It prompted me to explore what it would take to start a Twitch channel of my own to tell a D&D story.

My primary two investments were a Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 and a Yeti Microphone. I familiarized myself with Xsplit Broadcaster and tasked my father with creating an overlay to give our stream a bit of personality. The name of our channel, Twenty Sides to Every Story, was inspired by my primary motivation of focusing more on roleplaying than on the mechanics of the game. On September 21st, 2017 we streamed our very first episode of our Tomb of Annihilation campaign.

As our bi-weekly game evolved, I prepared each and every game with increasing anticipation. The players I had chosen for the game each created characters that I was invested in and wanted to see how their individual stories would evolve as we continued to play. The overland travel portion of the Tomb of Annihilation campaign as written can prove sluggish, but the backstories of the characters and their interests helped to develop dynamic scenarios from the random encounters through the jungle. A stop-off at a goblin settlement became a tale of vengeance and lost love. A visit to an outpost of holy paladins and clerics became a tale of shattered perceptions of one character's idolized hero.

I spend a lot more time thinking of the NPCs to develop them as important accents to the story rather than just providers of information. One of my favorite moments came recently where an NPC that had been an adversary in episode 1 made an appearance and became an asset to the party. As he made a brave sacrifice to help save some innocents and provide the party with an opportunity to enact their plan, he revealed his philosophy of living with no regrets which helped put into context some of his wantonly chaotic actions that had previously put the party in jeopardy.

What I observe from the players is a very different dynamic than I have seen in other games I have organized. The inter-party dynamic feels stronger with closer relationships and improved teamwork. One of my worries up-front was that I would have to be hyper-vigilant about playing the role of a 1st grade teacher and ensuring that everyone took turns speaking and listening. To my surprise, I have rarely had to do this. The players have all been quite conscious of not talking over one-another and I sense that a lot more listening has been happening at the table. And its not just with one another, but with me as well. The investment in the story has left me smiling after every session so far.

I have not once in my time streaming so far seen us get off track on side conversations or extreme meta-gaming. For two hours, we are completely focused on the experience before us. The "war-gaming" mentality of maximizing advantageous situations and forcing every encounter to become about combat is completely absent. Streaming has strongly influenced the direction of my game back to a story-based experience. These developments make it so much more enjoyable for me as a DM, so much so that it makes me want to bellow a mighty "huzzah!"

I can't quite explain why streaming has brought about this renewed enjoyment. Many of the elements that have made this campaign special for me could easily happen in a game where the camera is not present. Expectations can be set with players and the same level of preparation can happen with an offline game just as easily without the hassle of setting up the infrastructure required to stream. We are lucky if we have one viewer while we are live and I certainly have not developed the skills necessary for engaging an audience yet. For these reasons, I would not recommend anyone to get into Twitch streaming with the expectation that you will garner a large following. The skills for being successful at that aspect of streaming go beyond what it takes to put together a good D&D session. But that being said, something about the process of streaming has added value to my enjoyment. I would strongly encourage anyone willing to embrace the vulnerability of putting your game out there for the world to (possibly) see.

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Gamehole Con: Return to the Labyrinth

My second year attending Gamehole Con in Madison, WI was an extremely memorable one in part because it was my first time running a game that I wrote for strangers. For those wondering what the hell a Gamehole Con is, I assure you it isn't an orifice for unseemly behavior or an explicit reference of any kind. Gamehole Con is one of the largest tabletop gaming conventions in the Midwest with over 2,500 attendees. Hosted at the Alliant Energy Center, Gamehole Con is a place to meet some of the lead game designers, illustrators and story tellers in the industry, play a wide variety of games and network with other gamers.

A few months ago I wrote a post to help me brainstorm the kind of game that I would write for convention play. I wanted something that would be silly, self-contained and laced with a nostalgia factor. The idea of a Labyrinth sequel came to mind and a proper send off for David Bowie's character from the film seemed appropriate in light of his death. Over the course of the last few months the adventure I wrote underwent a number of playtests and revisions before I settled on the version I ran at the convention.

The Labyrinth...this time Jareth is out for blood.

Why DCC?

I ran the game using Dungeon Crawl Classics. The reason was because it is a system that emphasizes the absurd, off-the-wall type of storytelling that aligns with my idea of what the Labyrinth was all about. I also feel it is a system that is designed to emphasize unpredictability which is a theme that is heavily emphasized in the Labyrinth film. Sarah is constantly complaining about how the Labyrinth "isn't fair!" and this same saying is often uttered by my players when we play DCC.

That's not true Jareth, the basis for comparison is D&D 5th Edition where the characters get opportunities to make multiple death saving throws, medicine checks and utilize every character's healing abilities before they die!

The Story Hook

The adventure begins fifteen years after the original movie. Toby Williams (the baby from the Labyrinth film) is having a birthday sleepover with all of his friends (the Player Characters). Toby has grown up in privilege and his entitlement is emphasized to the PCs as the game begins. While Toby is a somewhat insufferable teenager, his parents are loaded and his birthday party is sure to be a decadent affair that none of the characters would dare miss. Prior to the start of the adventure, every player must answer the following questions:

• Tell us how your character and Toby first met.
• Name a reason that Toby and your character have a sour relationship.
• Name the gift you have brought Toby for his birthday.

Jareth the Goblin King has grown tired of his role as monarch of his drunken and impish subjects. Looking to retire from it all, he has returned to an old plan of succession to give him his respite. That evening as the teenagers are getting ready for bed, dozens of goblins pour into the room through a magical portal. They are all looking for Toby, but they did not anticipate so many children would be present and are confused as to who they are to kidnap. They end up grabbing everyone and away they go into the world of the Labyrinth.

The PCs all find themselves held prisoner within the Black Oubliette. They soon meet Hoggle, who is drunk and dispirited. It would seem that fifteen years with no visits from Sarah have left Hoggle somewhat jaded about friendship. He does share that Jareth has declared Toby the inheritor of the realm and is to be coronated in thirteen hours. Jareth himself appears and tells his captives that Toby seems eager to use the power he will inherit to punish the PCs for their perceived offenses against him. Jareth provides an insincere apology to the PCs for mistakenly being captured and offers that if they can make it to the center of the Labyrinth before Toby's coronation, he will use his powers as Goblin King to return them home. Not wanting to be victims to Toby's tyrannical plans, the PCs spring to action to solve the Labyrinth.

Highlights from Gamehole Con

• One of the players asked me five times to search the wall for a worm wearing a scarf. She never found him.
• The first door of the dungeon has four methods of opening it: a door knob, a pull handle, a shed-door handle near the bottom and a rope attached to the top which would drop the door down like a drawbridge. Which way would lead to the city at the center of the Labyrinth?
• Twisting and turning down four-way intersections eventually led the PCs to discover a pit of spikes on the floor. Later, a pit of spikes on the ceiling. Did they dare cross?
• Once the PCs came to a winding set of tunnels, they were chased by the dreaded cleaners. Every time they discovered a path leading out, the wall would seemingly move and block their exit! It was a very deadly encounter.

• Once the PCs escaped the Oubliette, they found themselves within a hedge maze that required careful navigation with the aid of a poetic riddle to escape.
• Eventually the PCs found the notorious doors from the Labyrinth (the ones where one of the heads always tells the truth and one of them always lies). Only problem when they got there...the heads were missing. They had been stolen by the Fireys and taken to the Bog of Eternal Stench. The battle with the Fireys was quite fun with the threat of being pushed into the bog and a game keep-away involving the door heads.
• No convention inspired session should be without a critical boss battle! The PCs come upon Ludo fighting Humongous as entertainment for Toby's coronation. Unfortunately, we ran out of time for this encounter at GHC.
• Once inside the castle, the PCs made their way to the iconic Escher-inspired chamber of the castle. The twist at the end brought a lot of excitement to the table and a definitive conclusion that had us off to a great start to the convention!

I found it to be really rewarding and motivating to see folks enjoying something that I wrote. My previous experience DM'ing at conventions has been exclusively through D&D Adventurer's League. Not to discount the enjoyment I get from seeing people leaving those games happy, but the flexibility and creativity that I can have over a homebrew product allowed me to give the players a little bit more agency over the unfolding of the story. In fact, there were a fair number of places in this adventure where I intentionally did not create details to see what the players would invent. The "door of many things" I described earlier with the multiple methods of opening was one such device and it turned into one of the most interesting elements of the dungeon. 

What do you think? Would you play a Labyrinth inspired DCC game? Maybe you'll have a chance to play it at KhaosKon in Oshkosh on May 5th, 2018!

Politics in Port Nyanzaru

Tomb of Annihilation's first location, Port Nyanzaru, is full of interesting cultural and social practices, history and characters that it could be an adventure location of its own. During their time in the bustling city, characters may bump into one or more of the seven merchant princes. These individuals hold the power in Port Nyanzaru and could prove very useful to the PCs as they navigate their quest to locate and destroy the Soulmonger. While each has a bit of detail given about them, I was wanting to know more about how to involve or use them in the campaign.

Our first two episodes of Tomb of Annihilation on Twitch featured the characters unwitting involvement with the political scene in Port Nyanzaru. Here I have put to paper some of the conceptualizations of the Merchant Princes that I used in my game. I do my best to outline a few bits of their personality, their political interests and relationships with one another.

Each of the merchant princes has economic interests stemming from their particular monopoly. They will nearly always advocate for these interests so that they will see their bank accounts grow. Even though they are unelected, they each have a keen sense of where their support comes from and are eager to support actions that will embolden them with their power base. Many of the princes also come with baggage or secrets that make them susceptible to blackmail or exploitation from others. These aspects of the merchant princes make for endless possibilities of adventure hooks to customize your own Tomb of Annihilation campaign.

Ekene-Afa

The main dealer of arms and travel gear (adventuring supplies, rain catchers, saddles, canoes, etc.) is a local legend by virtue of her days as a gladiatorial competitor. Her sons, local Chultans, work for the city guard, and another son has caught her talent for fame as a dinosaur racer. She has strong ties to the land and is championed by the common folk. Broadly speaking, she isn't a natural politician and often is very earnest and honest when speaking in public. She relies upon her cult of personality to keep her in power. The other merchant princes tend not to act too aggressively with her because of this popularity, making her a useful ally. Her political naiveté makes her easily manipulated and the others tend to capitalize on this.

Interests:

• Maintaining and preserving her power and prestige (continue to hold her position as a merchant prince)
• Generally against foreign entanglements 
• Unfavorable of the practice of hiring Zhentarim mercenaries as guards; would like to see more native Chultans trained
• Against closer ties with Lord's Alliance and the Flaming Fist
• Promotes expanded exploration of the jungle
• Preserving the integrity of and popular appeal of Grand Coliseum
• Generally opposed to nobility returning to power

Political Relationships:

• Ifan Talro'a and Jobal are allies in the area of exploration of the jungle, as they all benefit from selling weapons, beasts and hiring out guides to those that would dare venture into its depths. They all differ on what this would look like.
• Jobal has a mutual interest in resisting foreign entanglements, with Jobal desiring to gain a claim on the monopoly over using Chultan city guards exclusively
• Kwayothe has a mutual interest in opposing royalty to return to power
• Wakanga and Zhanthi are the allies she turns to the most; when she doubts what the right decision is (though she harbors some distrust of Zhanthi for her public support of the Zhentarim city guards)

Power Bases

• Maintains strong public support with faithful of the Church of Waukeen and Gond
• Has very strong popular support with lower class residents of Old City and the middle class due to her local celebrity
• The city guard and the private guards of the elite also have high respect for her, making her someone the other merchant princes avoid besmirching in public

Player Hooks
Ekene-afa is present at Wakanga's villa when the PCs meet him. She wishes to revive interest in the Grand Coliseum; interest which has waned in popularity versus Executioner's Run and dinosaur racing.

• Ekene-afa proposes that the PCs enter the Grand Coliseum for a tournament that she is hosting. This event will eventually pit the PCs against each other as they try to rise through the tournament bracket!
• Ekene-afa is convinced that Executioner's Run is rife with corruption in how it is administered. She has heard that many of the people who run the gambling lines work with Jessamine's custodians to rig the event. She wants the PCs to investigate and bring this to light; making this public would erode the public's enchantment with the event. 
• Ekene-afa is concerned about the safety of the dinosaur races throughout the streets. She knows that Ifan Talro'a will never cede any ground on this issue, but she wants the PCs to try to lobby enough votes from the other merchant princes to abolish this form of entertainment.

Rewards

Any of the magic shields and weapons that she sells (see pg. 25) would be great incentives for the PCs to help her with any of her interests.

Ifan Talro'a

Ifan is a very resourceful man with a highly developed spy network throughout the city. He deals in beasts and animal training. He has a strong business relationship with the Zhentarim and is one of the strongest voices for renewing their ongoing relationship with the city. Beyond being a dealer in creatures, he treasures information. The other merchant princes find Ifan somewhat intolerable, but all are wary of crossing him for fear of what secrets about them he may possess. He tends to speak ambiguously and with a hint of threat on his every breath.

Interests:

• Maintaining and preserving his power and prestige (continue to hold her position as a merchant prince)
• Advocates for continuing relationship with Zhentarim
• Against closer ties with Lord's Alliance and the Flaming Fist
• Promotes expanded exploration of the jungle
• Espionage to obtain secrets on political rivals
• Desires to see dinosaur racing become the premiere form of entertainment in Port Nyanzaru

Political Relationships:

• Ekene-afa and Jobal are allies in the area of exploration of the jungle, as they all benefit from selling weapons, beasts and hiring out guides to those that would dare venture into its depths. They all differ on what this would look like.
• Jobal is an adversary in the area of resisting foreign entanglements, with Jobal desiring to replace the Zhentarim guards with locals that are hired exclusively through him
• Kwayothe is a secret adversary for her ties to the Flaming Fist
• Wakanga is an adversary; Ifan Talro'a has been trying to out him as a Harper sympathizer for years to sell this information to the Zhentarim but he has been unsuccessful so far.
• Zhanthi is an ally due to their mutual interest in maintaining the Zhentarim as city guards

Power Bases

• The residents and merchants in Tiryki Anchorage and the Harbor Ward have a favorable view of Ifan Talro'a for the assistance his beasts provide in transportation of goods 
• The Zhentarim, though not a local power base, provide Ifan with valuable information about things happening in the city

Player Hooks

PCs may be interested in striking a deal with Ifan to gain access to some of his beasts and dinosaurs that they do not yet have coin for. If the PCs can assist him in gaining some dirt on some of his rivals, he could be convinced to part with one of his more valuable beasts (in our game, Klaus decided he wanted a pterodactyl).

• Ifan has heard that Jessamine is afflicted with a disease. Jessamine typically acts as a neutral party in matters of governance, but if he could find a vulnerability he could exploit he could get her support on many of his interests.
• Ifan wants evidence of Wakanga's relationship with the Harpers. He suspects that Wakanga may have something in his possession with the mark of the Harpers or a book/diary that provides details about his connection to the secret network. Ifan will reward the heroes if they can sneak into Wakanga's residence and obtain this evidence (he speculates that it is likely in his library or bedroom).

Rewards

Any of the beasts his dealers she sell (see pg. 26) would be great incentives for the PCs to help Ifan with any of his interests.

Jessamine

Jessamine is a self-made woman who worked tirelessly as an assassin for many years abroad. Now she is home in Chult and has positioned herself as the "swing vote" in affairs with the council of Merchant Princes. She has influenced the development of a justice system in Port Nyanzaru based off of cultural norms legitimized by the lesson of Ubtao's decree that Chultans manage their own affairs. She tends to stay out of the public eye and intentionally cultivates an image of being synonymous with justice and neutrality. As such, Chultans tend to speak highly of her partially out of respect and always out of fear. The other Merchant Princes know better than to lobby her privately, but many of their more public deliberations at Goldenthrone are crafted specifically to persuade her in hopes that she might cast a decisive vote in their favor.

Interests:

• Maintaining and preserving his power and prestige (continue to hold her position as a merchant prince)
• Neutral on relationships with foreign entities
• Favorable to expanded exploration of the jungle, but maintains neutrality regarding specific expansion plans
• Maintain public support of current government's capabilities to prevent crime and injustice
• Infiltrate and breakup the Ytepka Society
• Bring to justice the pirates of Jahaka Anchorage

Political Relationships:

• Ekene-afa, Ifan Talro'a, and Jobal all desire increased exploration of the jungle to promote economic interests; Jessamine sees this as a benefit as well but abstains from shaping specific plans to maintain image of being neutral
• Occasional friction surfaces between Jobal, as both employ human resources and occasionally overstep their mandates
• Jessamine does not know that Zhanthi is a member of the Ytepka Society, but she has an interest in suppressing the secret organization as she sees it as operating outside of the criminal justice system that she is the head of
• Jessamine keeps a close eye on Zhanthi and Ifan Talro'a for their ties to the Zhentarim; she is mindful that the Black Network are prone to undermining law and order within Port Nyanzaru

Power Bases

• The population of Port Nyanzaru at large has reverence for Jessamine and her position in society
• Jessamine frequently presides over Executioner's Run and gives her blessing before each gauntlet; the denizens of the Old City and the "beggar princes" owe allegiance to her for the peace and security they have

Player Hooks

Jessamine may reach out to the PCs directly if she learns they are working to undo the death curse (she is currently afflicted, but keeps this private). She is motivated to help them, and while she is not looking to give them ultimatums for her assistance, she may be able to convince them that they may benefit from helping her with some of her business.

• Jessamine will reward the PCs for any information about members of the Ytepka Society
• Jessamine will encourage the PCs to assist the harbormaste Zindar with hunting pirates

Rewards

Any provision of information to Jessamine may be rewarded with permission for one sanctioned assassination.

Jobal

Jobal is very Machiavellian in his approach to governance in Port Nyanzaru. He caters favor with all and measures everyone for how they might benefit him. His years of previous experience as a guide have taught him how to appeal to a wide variety of personalities, and he is very capable of being a social chameleon to appeal to the values of whomever he is speaking with. He is the most capable politician among the Merchant Princes and very skilled at managing his political relationships.

Interests:

• Maintaining and preserving his power and prestige (continue to hold her position as a merchant prince)
• Advocates for elimination of relationship with Zhentarim
• Wants locals hired for Port Nyanzaru's security (with himself managing staffing and recruitment)
• Promotes expanded exploration of the jungle
• Wants charts and maps of Chult to be his domain
• Elimination of competing guides
• Favors popularizing cultural ideas about Chultan destinies to explore and retake old cities
• Would not be opposed to royalty coming back to prominence to help capitalize on nostalgia

Political Relationships:

• Ekene-afa and Ifan Talro'a are allies in the area of exploration of the jungle, as they all benefit from selling weapons, beasts and hiring out guides to those that would dare venture into its depths. They all differ on what this would look like.
• Ifan Talro'a and Zhanthi are adversaries in the area of resisting foreign entanglements, with Jobal desiring to replace the Zhentarim guards with locals that are hired exclusively through him
• Furthermore, Jessamine does not agree with Jobal's assessment that city guards should be his domain. From her perspective, any alterations to the current system would fall under her jurisdiction 
• Kwayothe is a secret adversary for her ties to the Flaming Fist
• Friction exists with Zhanthi because of Shago, her grandson, who is operating independently as a guide at Fort Beluarian. Jobal feels she should be doing more to reign him in. 
• Wakanga is an adversary because he believes any charts or maps of Chult should be public property and not a monopolized commodity

Power Bases

• The exporters of Port Nyanzaru are all supportive of Jobal because his guides are indispensable in providing safety for excursions into the jungle for supply runs
• Jobal maintains a very close relationship with Mother Sibonseni and the church of Waukeen. He goes out of his way to very publicly donate money and be at charitable events sponsored by the Hall of Gold, which helps him to gain prominence with the middle class due to this association

Player Hooks

If you structure your campaign with Jobal forbidding guides from going into the jungle like I did, PCs will need to deal with Jobal directly to get a guide. As such, he can easily motivate them to take action to advance his agenda in Port Nyanzaru.

• Jobal wants the PCs to lobby Wakanga O'Tamu to change his position on maps and charts of Chult being public domain
• Jobal proposes the PCs venture to Fort Beluarian and intimidate Shago into paying his dues for operating as a guide

Rewards

Jobal will reward PCs who help him with his interests by setting up a private audience with all of the guides in his employ for a day of interviews.

Kwayothe

Kwayothe is known for her patience and calm. In her role as Merchant Prince, she consistently raises questions to slow down the decision making process. In between meetings at Goldenthrone, Kwayothe subtly schemes to create obstacles to prevent the Merchant Princes from making progress. She delights in gridlock because she hopes to see public opinion over time turn against the institution of the Merchant Princes. Her motivations are firmly grounded in her formative years as one of Port Nyanzaru's poor. She came to be a faithful of Kossuth and made some unseemly allies in the form of her two consorts. Of priority for her is to see society transform into a hierarchy in which the poor and destitute wield power. She is disdainful of the other Merchant Princes and in particular Zhanthi, who represents the past order of unearned privilege. 

Interests:

• Undermine Goldenthrone and the status of the Merchant Princes (wants to see a new popular movement replace it; with her as its leader)
• Replace current security regime in Port Nyanzaru with Flaming Fist mercenaries
• Has confidence she can control Liara Portyr with assistance of the succubus Ixis and incubus Indar
• Supportive of exploration of the jungle, but quietly supports Flaming Fist's sale of charters of exploration
• Supportive of expanded role of beggar princes in governance
• Extremely opposed to nobility returning to power

Political Relationships:

• Kwayothe maintains pleasant relationships with all of the Merchant Princes (including Zhanthi whom she spends the most time foiling)

Power Bases

• Maintains strong public support with the lower class citizens that live outside the wall for her advocacy of keeping the bathhouses open to all and for keeping the Red Bazaar accessible to the carts and wheelbarrows of the poorer merchants
• In public she worships at the Temple of Sune and is seen as their voice 

Player Hooks
Kwayothe seemed the most likely to play an adversarial role in the campaign, and the least likely that the PCs would be interested in assisting (her monopoly over fruit, wine, ale, etc. is not quite as rich an incentive as the boons to be gained from the others). In our campaign, she was secretly working with Liara Portyr of the Flaming Fists to arrange a proposal to bring her mercenaries into Port Nyanzaru. The PCs were tasked by a few of the other Merchant Princes to bring this conspiracy to light.

Whatever nefarious plots are afoul in Port Nyanzaru in your campaign, Kwayothe can be positioned to be the one pulling the strings. This can be particularly effective if you develop her as someone whom the lower class supports as a champion of their plight. Her obstruction will spell a political scandal that may see her removed from power (and possibly replaced with someone else...maybe a wealthy PC should they survive the rest of the campaign).

Wakanga O'Tamu

The magnanimous Wakanga is known for his hospitality and love of hosting foreigners. His charm is never in short supply and he seemingly always knows what to say. He is the most concerned with his public image and has difficulty taking hard stands on any issues plaguing the city before carefully delving into what is the most politically fortuitous position. The exception to this is his belief that knowledge, in particular maps and information related to Chult, should be freely shared and available to all. He is deeply committed to his friend Syndra Silvane and takes the news of the death curse very seriously.

Interests:

• Maintaining and preserving power and prestige (continue to hold position as a merchant prince)
• Generally in favor of closer foreign ties
• Promotes expanded exploration of the jungle
• Wants to see the construction of a public library and museum in Port Nyanzaru to hold findings of Chult's lost history

Political Relationships:

• Wakanga is the least ambitious in terms of advancing a particular agenda. As such, he maintains generally warm relationships with the other Merchant Princes. The exception to this would be Jobal, who he does not see eye-to-eye with in regards to fair use of charts and maps of Chult

Power Bases

• Wakanga has favorable to mixed public opinion within most spheres of Port Nyanzaru society. His tendency to flip-flop on issues has earned him a reputation for being politically expedient and without true convictions.
• Wakanga is supported by the Temple of Savras and has a strong relationship with Grandfather Zitembe

Player Hooks
Wakanga is likely the first Merchant Prince the PCs will meet due to his relationship with Syndra Silvane. He is predisposed to help them arrange meetings with the others Merchant Princes.

• PCs may ask him to provide them magic items; something he may offer in return for charting accurate maps of Chult and the locations of ancient ruins. Furthermore, he would gladly exchange his goods for relics of historical significance. Clever and opportunistic PCs who discover Jobal's competing interests may be able to leverage a better deal from the rival Merchant Prince.  

Rewards

Any of the magic items he sells (see pg. 27) would be great incentives for the PCs to help Wakanga secure Chult's geography and history.

Zhanthi

The "elder stateswoman" of the Seven Merchant Princes is wise and resourceful. She champions the philosophy of "keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer." She is kindly and grandmotherly, a facade that betrays the truth of her shrewdness and leads others to underestimate her. As an active member of the secret Ytepka Society, Zhanthi is committed to keeping Port Nyanzaru free of exploitation from foreign powers and internal corruption. Zhanthi's main priorities currently are ridding the city of the pirate threat from Jahaka Anchorage and eroding the influence that the Lord's Alliance has been trying to put on the peninsula through the proxy of the Flaming Fists.

Interests:

• Maintaining and preserving her power and prestige (continue to hold her position as a merchant prince)
• Public supporter of Zhentarim; privately works against foreign interference 
• Against closer ties with Lord's Alliance and the Flaming Fist
• Promotes expanded exploration of the jungle
• Monitoring and foiling corruption
• Believes Chult would benefit from seeing the royal bloodline regain prominence

Political Relationships:

• Acts as a mentor to Ekene-Afa and has committed to her that she will oppose expanding foreign influence in Port Nyanzaru if she will honor their arrangement with the Zhentarim
• Ifan Talro'a is an ally of convenience based on their mutual interests with the Zhentarim. Ifan trusts her enough that he occasionally passes information to her from his spies.
• Jobal has several competing interests with Zhanthi, but they both put up a united front when it comes to keeping the stories of Chult's royal families and legends alive with the public
• Kwayothe is an enemy and while both keep their cool in public, both are actively working to unseat the other
• Wakanga and Zhanthi are friendly, though Zhanthi sees him as politically unreliable and does her best to distance herself from him in public

Power Bases

• Zhanthi has support from older members of the public who have reverence for the royal bloodlines
• Zhanthi also holds relatively strong support from the merchant class and the sailors for putting up reward money for eliminating the pirate threat. 

Player Hooks

Zhanthi may wish to send a message directly to Kwayothe by way of the PCs. She may secretly ask the PCs to deliver an iron token with the Ytepka seal to send a message that her actions are known. The PCs are unlikely to recognize the significance of this sign and may take on the task which would seem to yield little consequence. When confronted with this sign, Kwayothe may attempt to detain the PCs and force them to reveal who sent the token.

In our campaign, Zhanthi actually asked the players to send to another Merchant Prince. Zhanthi then pointed to Kwayothe as the originator of the token in order to gain the confidence of the receiving Merchant Prince and build opposition to her.

Rewards

Zhanthi's incentives are likely to be in the form of gems and jewelry. Adventurers tend to be motivated by valuables.

Concluding Thoughts

Each of the princes has a monopoly on something that the players may want or need, so the leverage to get the PCs motivated to work with them is not difficult. In the scenario from our game, the PC's wanted to meet Jobal to arrange for a guide to take them into the jungle. They also wanted to gain a pterodactyl from Ifan. Both of these work as long as you ensure that the players must negotiate through one of the merchant princes rather than one of their underlings. For example, as written in the book the players do not need to speak with Jobal directly to secure a guide. However, in my game Jobal has put a moratorium on guides going out into the jungle because the undead threat had become too grave to put his people at risk. The PCs needed his express permission to get a guide.

I think the Merchant Princes are sorely underutilized in the Tomb of Annihilation book as they are written. Have you had success bringing them into your game? Do you plan to use them as prominent plot devices as your players get familiar with Chult? Share your stories or ideas in the comments!

ToA Episode 1 Recap

The first episode of our actual play live stream of Tomb of Annihilation on Twitch went live Thursday, September 21st at 7pm. Still might need to tweak the audio a bit, but overall it was a success! A big thank you to everyone who tuned in and gave us a follow as we try to find our way through the world of streaming D&D.

A "death curse" is afflicting anyone who has ever been resurrected, sapping them of strength and spirit with every passing day, and anyone who succumbs to death is unable to be brought back by magical means. The players were tasked with embarking on a journey to the jungle peninsula Chult, with full knowledge that we are playing under the oppressive "meat grinder" rules - setting the DC for death saving throws at 15 as opposed to the normal 10.

Lets introduce the expendables...

The Adventuring Party

Billebrick Puddlecake - Forest gnome rogue

• Originally from Yellyark located on Chult.

Sindri - Dwarf cleric

• Archaeologist who is seeking lost artifacts related to Dwarven lore. 

Reginald "Reggie" Itsame - Human paladin

• An earnest and naive follower of Torm, in service to the Order of the Gauntlet.

Klaus Kringle - Half-elf fighter

• Indentured servant who works for Syndra Silvane. A sleep spell slowed his aging and has a weakness for intoxicants.

The Story Begins...

The party was summoned to the residence of a retired adventurer and merchant named Syndra Silvane in Baldur's Gate. She organized them on an expedition to Chult, a land of hot jungle and dangers including undead, pirates and dinosaurs (oh my!). Her contacts with the Harpers shared that a device called the Soulmonger was believed to be somewhere on Chult and that it was related to the death curse, of which she is currently afflicted.

The party agreed to go with her to Port Nyanzaru, the only city on the peninsula. Given the choice of a nice, calm and quiet place to lay their heads for the evening and a raucous place known for trouble, the PCs of course chose the latter. It wasn't long before they attempted to engage in negotiations with a drunk foreigner who wouldn't let them forget his name ("Voltan! OHHH YEAH!").

• Sindri attempted to intervene, armed only with his "words." This was ineffective against the very intoxicated man.
• Klaus, armed with his great axes sauntered up like John Wayne and stared the man straight into the eyes and caused him to soak his pants and flee the bar.
• The entire tavern was thankful and bought the party rounds upon rounds of tej, a fermented honey liquor. Sindri and Reggie quickly succumbed to intoxication while Billebrick and Klaus learned from the locals about ancient cities, snake people, and gossip related to a Merchant Prince named Jobal who put a moratorium on guides going into the jungles due to the undead threat.

Twenty Sides to the Politics

In the morning, the PCs required much bacon to help deal with hangovers and shame. They decided to meet one of the seven Merchant Princes, Wakanga O'tamu; a friend of Syndra Silvane's. He treated them to an exotic feast and discussed their prospects of going into the jungles. He confirmed that they would need a guide to go into the jungle and would need to get permission from Jobal.

• Sindri ate some dancing monkey fruit which caused him to summon forth some highland dancing skills he didn't know he had.
• Wakanga shared with the party a map where he believes a shield guardian (a magical construct) could be found. He was hoping to get the PCs to get it for him, and tried to take back the quest after he suspected they might try to keep it for themselves. Unfortunately, the cat was already out of the bag.
• Wakanga agreed to try and help them meet Jobal, but suggested they might have more luck if they went to Goldenthrone to happen upon him incidentally.

The heroes went to Goldenthrone as Wakanga suggested and requested from the guards that eyed them suspiciously for a meeting with the merchant prince, Jobal. They were asked to wait and were left on the street for three hours. Poor Sindri was feeling a little sick from the foreign cuisine, and still under the effects of the dancing monkey fruit, was forced to try and conceal a "number two" in a back alley. The stealth check for doing his business failed, and in an unfortunately mix of defecation and dancing became the talk of the town and Chultan people began throwing coins in his direction.

Soon the party was summoned before a different prince: a grandmotherly figure who introduced herself as Zhanthi. After hearing their need for a guide, she suggested she could get them an immediate audience with Jobal and pay them 50gp for the delivery of a coin. She gave them a silver coin with a triceratops molded into it and told them to come by later while she was having a meeting with yet another merchant prince, named Ifan Talro'a. Her mission required discretion and she assured them that no harm would come of them.

They dutifully did as asked and found that Ifan quickly began threatening them with "sanctions." Zhanthi tried to communicate through innuendo to the party, but no one was able to pick up her message. Zhanthi suggested that the coin came from Kwayothe, another merchant prince who she accused of conspiring with the Flaming Fists of Baldur's Gate. Ifan tasked them with finding evidence of collusion. Klaus suggested they be given some type of a flying dinosaur for their trouble, to which he agreed. The party required no more motivation than that.

Cloak and Dagger

The PCs decided to try and break in to Kwayothe's residence late at night when a supposed meeting was occurring between her and Liara Portier, an agent of the Flaming Fists. 

• Billebrick Puddlecake scaled the wall of the garden with a boost from Klaus. He snuck inside and overheard a strange conversation between Liara and Zhanthi. The negotiation of a deal to bring Flaming Fist mercenaries into town to replace the current town guard went a little too smoothly. A contract was signed and Billebrick was forced to retreat from eavesdropping. He was able to recover the contract from its hiding place in the library.
• Meanwhile, as the rest of the party waited outside they were discovered by a familiar face...VOLTAN! He was backed up with thugs from the pirate ship where he is the first mate. The battle which ensued brought the PCs down to 0 hp through the use of non-lethal damage.

Overall

Only two hours into the game and we have our first split party scenario! Why did Voltan and his crew not kill Klaus, Sindri and Reggie? What will Billebrick do when he discovers his comrades missing? Join us Thursday, October 5th at 7pm to find out!

Review: Intrigue at the Court of Chaos (DCC RPG)

Intrigue at the Court of Chaos is a level 1 adventure published by Goodman Games written by +Michael Curtis. The premise is that the heroes are summoned against their will to answer the call of the five members of the Court of Chaos. These five beings are alien horrors bent on getting their hands on the Yokeless Egg, a spark of primal chaos that could be used as a boon to help sway the everlasting conflict between chaos and law in their favor. They need the PCs to go after it because they themselves would rendered helpless on the Plane of Law where it is kept.

Cover art by Doug Kovacs

One of the things I love about DCC is the cosmic weirdness of the adventures. A group of level 1 characters, who all probably just survived by the skin of their teeth through a funnel, are being asked to traipse through the planes and deal with the forces of chaos and law? That's something I haven't seen modules written for level 20 characters take on. I suspect the reason for this is that it is an incredibly difficult undertaking to pull off in a satisfying way.

The introduction to the Court is quite fun, as each of the Chaos Lords has a very unique look and the GM is given some illustrative player handouts to help make them come to life. Goodman Games always does a great job with the handouts they include in their adventures. For this one they include printouts of each member of the Court of Chaos. One half of the page has an illustration of the character and the other has important information about them for the judge's eyes only. I printed mine out on cardstock and laid them all out as they are arranged in the chamber.

A great feature of this adventure is the inter-party conflict that it intentionally breeds. Each member of the court has ulterior motives and will try to make deals with PC characters individually to deliver the Yokeless Egg to them personally. As players are being pulled out of the room to receive their individual summons, everyone starts to get a little paranoid about who might actually betray the party in favor of fantastical powers and legendary artifacts.

Any judge looking to run this adventure will probably want to know the preferences of the party beforehand. Inter-party shenanigans is welcomed and enjoyed at my table, but I could see some people getting upset with the intentional wedge being driven into the party. It makes for good storytelling with the right folks, but might make others pull their hair out. To each their own.

The main adventure takes place on the Plane of Law where the PCs must infiltrate the Cataphract; a floating diamond like structure that holds the Yokeless Egg. The dungeon itself is a well-balanced mix of puzzles and combat encounters. All of the chambers must be explored as passing their trials is essential to accessing the final level where the Egg can be found. This is quite satisfying since there are many modules where your players will only see a fraction of what is inside due to the many routes they may take to get to the conclusion.

The trials in the Cataphract are great breeding grounds for roleplaying. Each one follows a theme: creation, construction, enlightenment, judgment and sacrifice. When I ran this module, something significant happened in each of the rooms that illustrated a quirk of a character or helped the players add details to their personality. This is the display of good design in a roleplaying game.

Once again, you get the awesomely illustrated map by Doug Kovacs that does a superb job of helping to communicate the feel and personality of the location. I often find myself just looking at the map to describe what is going on inside rather than the block text. I can never say enough good things about this style of map design.

The final encounter is a very interesting and carries a high risk of defeat. The module seems to acknowledge this as it creates an alternative to death if the PCs fail their objective; anyone who has read my How to Defeat Your Party (Without Killing Them) posts know how I feel about party wipes ending the game. In fact, this situation happened with the crew I ran it with and now they are diligently trying to earn their freedom from the Scions of Law by thwarting plots concocted by the agents of Chaos against the Known Realms.

Barring this scenario, the return to the Court of Chaos is sure to be a high tension affair. Everyone will be wondering who might try to betray the party and go into business for themselves. The module lays out multiple endings that may transpire depending on the choices of the party. It seems safe to say no two tables will have exactly the same experience with this adventure.

Conclusion

This module is a perfect balance of roleplay, puzzles and combat encounters. The interactive setup to this module gives the players plenty of opportunities to ask questions, consult with one another about the course of action they should take and, of course, be propositioned by the Court of Chaos. The paranoia set in the first act breeds exactly the kind of unpredictability the Court of Chaos would delight in. Inter-party conflict is a tough thing to integrate into an adventure intentionally, but the way it is handled in Intrigue at the Court of Chaos is quite clever. Given that many of the Goodman Games DCC line of adventures deal in themes of chaos and law, this adventure is a perfect starting point to set up a longer term campaign with a common theme.

That being said, make sure you know the people at the table prior to running this module. I could foresee significant problems if you tried to run it at a game day at your FLGS with people who are unacquainted with each other. Everyone needs to buy-in to the conceit of the adventure to make it fun.

You can order the softcover book from Goodman Games for $9.99 or get the pdf for $6.99.

Tomb of Annihilation Accessories Unboxing

The early release of the new Dungeons & Dragons hardcover campaign Tomb of Annihilation had an early release date of September 8th for brick and mortar stores. I headed down to our local gamestore Adventure Games and Hobby where I not only picked up the hardcover, but the Tomb and Traps Set, a brick of the Icon of the Realms: Tomb of Annihilation miniatures, the revised Dungeon Master Screen and the Tomb of Annihilation dice. Let me take you through this unboxing and share some of my thoughts on the haul I pulled in.

Tomb and Traps Set

The Tomb and Traps set is intended to be an incentive for those that purchase a brick of miniatures. It cost $49.99 + the purchase of the brick of miniatures. A quick check on eBay seems to suggest that people are flipping this starting at around $70. The notable contents are the iconic demon faced statue from Tomb of Horrors, a swirling portal archway that also seems iconic to Tomb of Horrors, a sarcophagus, Acererak's demilich skull, 4 fire jet tiles, 4 blade trap tiles, 4 magic glyph trap tiles, 4 pit trap tiles, 4 boulder piles, a sword, a shield, 4 piles of gold, 4 potions, and 4 scrolls.

Most of what we get here is novelty. I can't really imagine pulling out the trap tiles and using them as a prop in game often as they would really just clash with any of the other dungeon terrain items that I have. A lot of good looking stuff that will be perfect for behind a display case.

The iconic demon-head statue from Tomb of Horrors is the crown jewel of the set. It is a very well done mold. The perfect detail on the eyes really makes it stand out as a horrifying marker that the corridors beyond are full of traps designed by a sadomasochist.

This one triggers minor PTSD symptoms for me. This mini looks very similar to a certain portal from Tomb of Horrors. After my character passed through this wispy gate at Gary Con, I lasted about another 2 minutes before I met an unfortunate fate. The purple translucence does a great job creating the misty haze and the rune carvings on the outside look great.

I am pretty happy with the sarcophagus as well. Any good dungeon delve will typically turn up a buried tomb full of treasure and/or undead, so I suspect this will get some practical use on more than an occasion.

The tiles that are included in the set are kind of weak in my opinion. The fire trap is a single little column of fire in the center of the piece. The blade trap looks to be about dagger sized where I would have preferred something more akin to spears set into the floor. The color scheme on the pit trap falls flat and doesn't really convey the idea of depth. The color scheme on the rubble piles are too similar to the floor tile to really distinguish. Definitely my least favorite thing that came with this set.

The treasure pieces are super tiny and definitely destined for vacuum cleaner purgatory if they are to be used as an in-game prop. The gold piles are really just mono-color piles of gold. Sparkling some other currency into the color scheme or gems would have made it a more visually interesting piece. The rest of the lot is cool, but really tiny. Picking up the potions and getting them to stand upright takes a successful DC 15 Dexterity skill check to accomplish.

Icon of the Realms: Tomb of Annihilation Miniatures

Seeing as the new adventure is taking us into the jungle island of Chult, it seemed fair that I would need to update my miniature collection to make sure I had representations for the many exotic creatures that could be encountered. As I was ripping off the shrink wrap on the boxes, I had a prayer in my heart that I would find for myself an Acererak (the lich villain of Tomb of Annihilation) figure in the mix.

Its a juggernaut! I'm really hoping there is an actual use for this in the campaign. The detail on the carvings is awesome. Even the steamrolling apparatus on the front wheels has demonic skulls imprinted upon them.

Within the wild jungles of Chult, one might encounter this houseplant known as the Mantrap. I can only assume that a party of all female or gender ambiguous characters will be safe from this monstrosity.

Crab people. Crab people. Look like crabs. Talk like people. Well, I guess they are more like lobsters and they are called Aldani. But they are still going to try to turn the party into metrosexuals.

A druid and a vegepygmy. There is actually an NPC druid in Tomb of Annihilation that has a vegepygmy friend, so I was pretty happy to find this pairing in my haul. Unfortunately, my players will certainly find a way to avoid ever meeting them.

Ah. Both a visible and an invisible version of the legendary warrior Minsc and his miniature giant space hamster, Boo. I'm sure I will probably use this figure all the time.

Onto NPC figures of characters that will actually get used. Both of these are fairly important characters in the Tomb of Annihilation book. I am pretty happy with the version of the guy on the right. I have seen pictures of some where his arrow is no where close to being lined up with his bow.

Chultan goblins. I appreciate that they have different versions of what is essentially the same mold. I think they started doing this with the Storm King's Thunder minis. Gives some visual variety to the baddies to help them stand out a bit.

I don't know what the hell a 'Zorbo' is, but it looks like a little crazy teddy bear and I want one. I'm sure its entirely safe and easily domesticated.

Take a look at the rest of the haul. Overall I am quite pleased, even though Acererak was nowhere to be found. I think the quality on these official miniatures has really improved over time. The little details that have been put into many of them are pretty impressive. I'll definitely be picking up more with time.

Tomb of Annihilation Dice

The Tomb of Annihilation Dice come in a pretty wicked tin that has the Tomb of Horrors demon statue face on it. The dice themselves are a dark olive green. You get 4 d6's, 1 d4, 1 d8, 1d10, 1d12, 1 d20 and a percentile die (a full set). The dice are nice enough, but there isn't anything altogether spectacular about them. The collector novelty of this item is probably the primary motivation to pick it up.

The Reincarnated Dungeon Master's Screen

The art on the front side of the screen depicts a red dragon soaring across the sky with evidence of its presence at the burning city behind it. In its right claw one can see it has collected a hostage. I like the contrast of hues of the red over the blue sea and clear sky. This scene is a lot less busy than the original, and I think I prefer this scene overall.

The new DM screen takes the some material from the original base DM screen, but removes some of the useless tables like the NPC name generator and the "something happens" table that no one ever used in favor of some more relevant info. One thing I don't care for is that they replaced one of the panels with an overview of actions in combat. This isn't information I ever have a need to refer to, and I would have much preferred they had included tables for generating weather or other travel related material (especially given their relevance in Chult). 

The other inclusions are indeed useful, and they include object hit points and AC, encounter distance, prices for services and food, drink and lodging. I am very thankful that they have included the rules for short jumping, long jumping, and suffocating. Every once in a while these things come up but they aren't used enough that I have them memorized. They included the rules on concentration, which isn't one I figure many DM's are going to need. 

The conditions panels are still here, unchanged. Would have been nice if they found a way to make this information more compact to fit some other information in, but these are the most utilized panels for me to reference so I am thankful that they retained this information.

Overall, its an improvement. If you are a DM I would definitely recommend picking it up.

How to Defeat Your Party (Without Killing Them) - Part 2: Conversion

Roleplaying games are meant to be fun. Party wipes that involve killing the characters are not fun and end the adventure. This series is about presenting ideas for party defeat that include setbacks and consequences that progress the story.

For those that missed part 1:

• How to Defeat Your Party (Without Killing Them) - Part 1: Blackmail

Conversion

Sometimes the enemies that defeat the party are not motivated to destroy them, but rather to convert them to their side. They don't see the PCs as intractable enemies and believe that if only the party heard their side of the story perhaps they'd recognize they were fighting for the wrong side. In this instance the PCs were simply mislead by the originator of their quest and just need new perspective to help them make a more informed decision about whom to help.

As a storytelling element this can be quite compelling. After all, the PCs may recognize that their opponents had the opportunity to kill them but instead chose a more merciful route. If this goes against something they had previously learned about their enemy they may begin to question the authenticity of what they know. And if their captors have compelling reasons or evidence for why they were taking part in actions that were previously deemed as vile they might be swayed to switch sides (or at least be given a chance to "fake it" until they can escape their captors).

A less subtle way of setting up this idea would be to cast the story as the heroes as unwittingly working for the villain. Now captive, they are educated on how they were duped and redirected toward a new quest. The forces of good have suffered a setback, however, as they are dealing with the aftermath of the PCs' actions.

Of course, the enemies are not going to take it on faith that the PCs see their side of the conflict. They will expect them to perform a task or undergo a trial that tests their newfound worldview. The party might even be split upon how they see the current circumstance - perhaps some truly do have a change of heart and wish to aid their former enemies, while some maybe pay lip service to this new idea to escape captivity. These types of conflicts create great inner-party dynamics that can promote character development and make for great sessions.

In our previous Dungeon Crawl Classics game, the heroes were summoned against their will to serve the Court of Chaos, a group of vile overlords bent and spreading discord through the multiverse, to stealing a previous artifact from the Plane of Law. Though there was little choice they had on embarking on the quest, they were also offered great reward for accomplishing it...something that helped disquiet any protest that otherwise would have been verbalized. Their attempt failed, and they were defeated by agents of Law and brought into custody.

The deities governing the Plane see mortals as flawed creatures of their creation; easily corrupted by their benign counterparts. Brought before avatars of the Lawful Deities, they ask for the PCs to confess and repent for their crimes. Needing mortal agents of their own, they decide to give the heroes their chance to atone for their sins and prove their usefulness as agents for the gods' own design.

This idea doesn't take away a character's ability to be duplicitous and deceive their captors. They can still choose to remain with the original side in the conflict they were on, or simply strike a path that they are on no one's side but their own. But it does give them an option to escape their predicament via an alternative to death, and presents an opportunity for the GM to add something new to the story. In my situation, I get to play out a scenario for the players to either choose to beg for mercy, simply repent and accept their punishment, or vehemently lash out at the gods for being so heavy-handed in their approach. I'm certainly looking forward to how this version of player defeat will shape the characters in this particular game.