I have been running STK every Friday for a few months now and we have had some crazy adventures. I was just wondering if anyone would like to share some of their adventures their group has had? We're 8th level now and going after some big ol nasty Stone Giants. From Nightstone to Bryn Shandar, from Waterdeep to the Oracle...now Daggerford to Loudwater to Stonecleft... My party met a dragon on their travels that has kind of become their mascot/cheerleader...silver dragons and all. He goes by Ollie and though I have had to up the encounters for the party since Ollie travels with them on occasion, I believe it's made the game pop a little more. Does anyone else through in super creatures like this in your games? What are your thoughts on it?
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"...Debts must always be paid, sometimes in more than blood and gold. But this is Ordo Ursa," Ren places his hand on Erakas's chest, right where the Dragonborn's heart is. "Right here. And it always has been and always will be. Don't ever forget that. Because I won't."
Serandis Mendaen (Aereni Elven Rogue/maybe one day Wizard)- Project Point Playtest
Sound like you are having a awesome time. I think it is one of the best adventures I've had the pleasure of running. Normally I purchase the pre-made adventures and just use them to flare up ideas for my own homebrew stuff. But, this one looked exciting enough all on its own. So good I read the entire book at least twice now.
I'm a DM so I'm not going to give away too many spoilers. I am running this with 2 groups with letting them know that there is another group. My Friday and Saturday groups are loving it. I got the idea when the Saturday group paid the goblins off to release the villagers. I had the second group follow after they had left to clean out the dripping caves. It worked. While one group was on their way north to Bryn Shander with the hippie cloud giant the other group headed to Goldenfields.
I did this so I could use as much of the book as possible since a lot of it is left unused.
So far things have been working out just amazing and better than I ever thought they would.
They don't know it but I will bringing both groups together for the big finish. Still working on the details for that but I'm sure it will be a great night with all 10 players there. I've already drawn out the final encounter map since I couldn't contain my excitement. FYI if you are going to do this...... it's freaking huge.
There are so many side quests so DM prep is a big thing. I pre roll for wandering encounters so everything is semi planned but trust me I say the players can switch directions really quick. One minute they are on their way to Waterdeep and BOOM..... Hey lets go to Everlund. Good Times.
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JT "You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
I agree; it is freaking awesome. And with all the options available to players it's amazing that you have been able to run both games like that. AWESOME!!! The best thing about this module is that it really can take the players anywhere. They were on their way up North for the Conch...ended up diverting with Ollie and made their way to Daggerford and found out about the Stone Giants. My group has loved this adventure so far too. I do a lot of prep work, notecards with all their encounters on them before we run. I like having them roll for encounters as we travel.
My group has loved this adventure so far too. I do a lot of prep work, notecards with all their encounters on them before we run. I like having them roll for encounters as we travel. Either every hour (if they're "behind enemy lines" or every 2-4 hours travel in game. High or low on the percentage dice...since I have all the encounters on cards it's ready to go.
I really want to hear about the showdown at the end of the game. Please come back and share if you remember!
I do plan on making the map for the last encounter. I usually just use my big dry erase one but I want the end of the game to have some flair to it as well.
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"...Debts must always be paid, sometimes in more than blood and gold. But this is Ordo Ursa," Ren places his hand on Erakas's chest, right where the Dragonborn's heart is. "Right here. And it always has been and always will be. Don't ever forget that. Because I won't."
Serandis Mendaen (Aereni Elven Rogue/maybe one day Wizard)- Project Point Playtest
Two groups take a bit of work but it's a ton of fun.
You're solid DM when you pre prep material. It makes a huge difference and play time.
I like your idea of letting the players roll for wandering stuff. Kind of cool.
I'm gonna let you know that if you are draw out the final map ...... are you ready...... I have enough to cover 2 4' x 8' tables. Yes it's that huge. The marking of the 5' squares just about killed me. Break out a yard/meter stick and have fun.
If I remember, and I normally do, I will post pictures of the final battle. Just not yet because my players might be all over this site as I suggested they check it out.
That's RIGHT!!! NO SPOILERS FOR YOU!
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JT "You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
Hi guys! I'm starting to prep this adventure. I'm a newbie DM and I'm having a few issues with it.
The first chapter seems like a rush to level characters up to level 5 as quick as possible. And the second chapter 2 and 3 seem like a total mess for me. So many places, characters, quests. Any tips on how to run and prepare it? Especially since players can switch places at any time. I'm also afraid of running it like an MMO, with lots of quest givers that show up, give them a quest and leave.
I also plan to run it for 2 gruoups (one player plays in both groups). Any tips on that? Specially in the funneled chapters.
The first chapter seems like a rush to level characters up to level 5 as quick as possible. And the second chapter 2 and 3 seem like a total mess for me. So many places, characters, quests. Any tips on how to run and prepare it? Especially since players can switch places at any time. I'm also afraid of running it like an MMO, with lots of quest givers that show up, give them a quest and leave.
It kind of is a rush to get up to Level 5, but then it has the potential to slow down a lot. After level 5 it turns very open world, much like Curse of Strahd. My recommendation is to read (at the very least) all of the different branching paths that the players can take and familiarize yourself with where places are. In my experience just knowing where things are is half the battle, especially if you're going to let the party run free.
I also plan to run it for 2 gruoups (one player plays in both groups). Any tips on that? Specially in the funneled chapters.
As far as the one player in two groups goes, it really depends on if you trust them not to metagame. If you're not worried about metagaming then just make sure to keep good notes so you can keep the two campaigns separate. If you are worried about metagaming I suggest a little bit of just pushing the second group down a path that the first didn't take.
This campaign is quite large, so there are plenty of opportunities for completely different things for each group to do.
Most importantly, have fun! Get into the roleplay. One group I ran this with had a dragonborn paladin and an evil-aligned drow. Their dynamic was great, especially once the drow faked his death, used disguise self to pretend to be a good wizard (the party and the other players all thought he was a different character), and ambushed the paladin. Sadly, the group kind of dissolved right before that reveal. It would have been a mighty PvP fight to the death.
I´ll keep reading through, but so far I see lots of opportunities for side quests, but not many to introduce them. That's why I am so worried. Plus.. how do I ask players where do they want to go next if we finish a session and they haven't finished what they are doing in their current location?
That guide is a pretty great resource. My PCs are in chapter 3 still wrapping up some of the quests given to them from Triboar. We've had two unfortunate deaths in the party. I am looking into tying the Against the Giants stuff from Tales from the Yawning Portal into the adventures as well. I think some of my players visit these boards so I won't say too much. heh
I'm currently running two games with two parties, one doing Storm King and the other doing Out of the Abyss. Both parties are constantly being contacted by a homebrew god, Duezoch the God of Magic and Madness.
The intent is to have both parties link up after both their adventures are over and start a homebrew adventure I've called Shattered Madness.
It's been a blast, it's my first time using Storm King as a setting and it's been a lot of fun seeing my players engage with the NPCs both inside and outside of combat.
Hello again fellow Storm King DMs. I've compiled a list of articles by Mike Shea (aka Sly Flourish) from his blog. I found these very helpful. The last entry on the list is from just a few days ago. I've played a handful of AL with Mike over the years and he a super nice guy and a great DM.
I'm a newb Dm and have read and appreciated the advice of other people running this campaign. I wanted to share my campaign so far (in brief) and my "plans for the future" and would appreciate constructive advice and feedback.
I have 6 players who don't really know each other well. After character creation they rolled on a table I made I call "Roll for Relationship!" and had them roll to see how their character knew the player on their right and left. We've had 9 sessions and so far that seemed to help them connect in-game, so we will see how it continues. They decided to level up via XP not milestone, so I have been trying to help them get to the appropriate levels (ish) before sending them off to higher level encounters in the book, so lately, I've been peppering in some mini-dungeons and missions.
I wanted the players to feel really connected to their first mission, but just "go to Nightstone" didn't feel like enough...so ,I had everyone start in Waterdeep in a Tavern (The Glove and the Horn) where the Tavern Keep sent them to Nightstone to deliver a letter to her brother (Morak -who she hadn't heard from for a while) and deliver a cask of her new "high test" brew. After the party freed the villagers Morak gave them some hints about Goldenfields and sent them back to Waterdeep with a letter for his sister (which hinted at Harshnag and aligned them with "The Grey Hand" - I was inspired by "Force Grey" and made a faction based on the lore of the Grey hand, so they would have a reason to encounter Harshnag later.)
I also felt like Zephyros just showing up seemed too random, so had the tiefling woman nervously share that she saw a cloud giant nearby a few days before the attack who looked friendly. She didn't want to tell people in town in case they thought she could have prevented the destruction of Nightstone...They bit and found Zephyros (who I made sound like a male Late-Judy Garland). he gave them some of the "prophecy" in gaint rune form (just to introduce them to some very vague ideas and the giant runes.) He also gave them a little knowledge about giant society and the ordening. After talking to him, only half of them wanted to ride with him, the rest went to Waterdeep (too chicken for Goldenfields)... So he dropped those that wanted the ride off there, but I had it take him just as long and he hinted at Klauth, "Ol Snarl's" territory as a reason for his detour (he also gave them a pipe that has two charges to call him) .
The party size is large (we are at a game store and sometimes it can be as large as 8 - though I have 5 regulars) and I found that they were in need of some direction, so the Faction (Grey Hand) seemed like a good way to give them some mini-missions and level them up and have them hunting some of the giant artifacts from the magic section of the book... this way they still have a feeling of "free reign of the world" and a connection to the plot... I hope?
Mini-dungeons: I had them seek "the Gavel of the Vinn Rune" (I used the Howling hatred as the bad guys since they didn't take up Zephyros on his ride)... which was fun. I made them all look likebatman... the cultists had smaller bat ears and the fanatics had bigger bat ears. The party is convinced that the higher in the cult you go the bigger your fake ears get. Also at one point a character threw the pixie dust on one of them and the roll was for flight..so... hilarity.) The next mini had them search for the "Orb of the Stein Rune". The hook / story was to help a noble trying to rise in the ranks find a missing tomb (that they suspected had a rune item she didn't know about - thank you factions!) and they convinced her to take over Nightstone (I modified the adventure from Search for the missing Cartographer - on DmsGuild). They don't know what any of the items do and were told to seek out Naxene in Goldenfields... as she's a mage and researcher of giants and dragons... (HINT. HINT.)
I am hoping to have these giant rune items act like artifacts and have the players slowly discover what the item can do... maybe the objects will even become more powerful as the players level up? I found this and thought that could be cool: http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/UA_Rune_Magic_Prestige_Class.pdf
I also had them meet Felgolos in Waterdeep, but in halfling form, so they don't know he's a dragon, but they like him. I've had them spot a copper dragon a few times as a "random" (not so random) encounter in their travels. So far they like him and are curious about him. I hope this will make them more connected to his plight later.
So far, most of them are level 3 going on 4 and are more curious about Goldenfields, so I think that's what is next. I'm curious about how they will react to being handed NPCs and am plotting out how they will meet these peeps first...
I also have spent time on the DMGuild and found some adventures that will tie them to The Kraken if they head near Yartar (The Kraken's Gamble on DM Guild) I think I will have Xolkien join the howling hatred and have a mini-batman cowl and Kella in an all women's fighty group... because I suppose their failure got them in the bad graces of the Zhents)... they might also meet Imyrith in disguise there/ goose coin...
I've been looking to "Tales of the Yawning Portal" and some other giant-ish adventures to use as future "secret missions" for the Grey Hand Faction. And hopefully they will have enough but not too many plot hooks to explore the North...
So I know this thread is NOT new, but I'm getting pretty excited about my STK campaign. I'm a new DM, running a big group of new players, so we're SLOOOOWWW. It's coming along, though. We still haven't left Nightstone, but part of that is I keep adding in a bunch of side quests that were never intended to be a part of the story. Here are some of the changes I'm making...
1. I'm mashing up Tyranny of Dragons with STK. Everything just makes so much more sense (Iymrith is distracting the giant leadership to lessen their response to the machinations of the Dragon Cult, which had the unexpected bonus of angering the All-Father, so now the Ordning is broke. She's ecstatic, and subtly encouraging the other giant races to keep opposing each other. As long as they don't coordinate, she doesn't care what they do. Extra bonus, she might end up with the Wyrmskull throne. And if Tiamat is grateful enough, SHE might restore life to the Wyrm that the skull came from - Iymrith's old mate) So I'm taking out the Kraken society, and wherever they were (or ANY cult) those NPCs and plots are now the Dragon Cult.
2. My players killed the Zhentarim because they "don't like liars" (hahaha we'll see how they handle the rest of the adventure omgggg). Pencheska and Kella were in a relationship, though, so there are hooks in Kella's room that will lead to Daggerford and Lady Morwen. I still haven't decided if "Cheska" was actually in love with Kella, or was just using her to keep the Snail from messing with her plans to rob Daggerford of all its money for Tiamat's hoard.
3. I added "The Red Thrall" from DMs Guild to the adventure to pad the leveling a bit, and ended up getting suuuuuper inspired by the vampiric spiders. Now, when the little adventure ends with the death of the Vampiric Bloodsilk Spider, there will be a dark red vampiric mist that will rise out of the dead spider, and return to a ruined temple deeper in the Ardeep Forest. This temple will be the home of a drider trying to get back into Lolth's good graces by turning creatures into vampires and exposing them to sunlight in order to develop a serum to remove sunlight sensitivity. There will be new vampires (made from goblins and whatever else they find) wrapped in spider silk hanging in the sunlight over catchments that funnel spider venom and blood into a pool that empties over the magic boulder from One Stone. I moved it here. So as the blood venom fluid flows over the magic boulder, it will trace the path of a Sunbeam spell to infuse it with sunlight, and then the resulting fluid will be distilled down into a serum that can be injected into a drow, a vampire, or whatever, and will remove their sunlight sensitivity. I'd like to tie this a little further into the dragon cult, but honestly, I'm not too worried.
The mash up of STK and ToD makes plot hooks easy to come by, and a solution to the big problem a little more multifaceted. The main goal is to stave off world annihilation, and the BEST way to do that is to organize the giants to help derail the chromatic dragons. But they could still succeed if they ignore the giants, although the world might still get a LITTLE annihilated just through the giants trying to wrest power from each other.
I have the Dripping caves left to do, then I have to decide if I want Zephyros to show up or just lay enough evidence to get my players somewhere else. Suggestions? I still have to read all of Tyranny of Dragons to put together a timeline that will happen in the background as we work through the North.
Plus, I have a pretty big group, and one or two people who want to start playing. I can't add them to my group, so maybe I'll take wadojeff's idea of starting a second group to run through the same world. Maybe I'll start them in Tyranny of Dragons and offer a bunch of STK hooks and see where they go?
Thanks for posting the thread and reading through this!
So I know this thread is NOT new, but I'm getting pretty excited about my STK campaign. I'm a new DM, running a big group of new players, so we're SLOOOOWWW. It's coming along, though. We still haven't left Nightstone, but part of that is I keep adding in a bunch of side quests that were never intended to be a part of the story. Here are some of the changes I'm making...
1. I'm mashing up Tyranny of Dragons with STK. Everything just makes so much more sense (Iymrith is distracting the giant leadership to lessen their response to the machinations of the Dragon Cult, which had the unexpected bonus of angering the All-Father, so now the Ordning is broke. She's ecstatic, and subtly encouraging the other giant races to keep opposing each other. As long as they don't coordinate, she doesn't care what they do. Extra bonus, she might end up with the Wyrmskull throne. And if Tiamat is grateful enough, SHE might restore life to the Wyrm that the skull came from - Iymrith's old mate) So I'm taking out the Kraken society, and wherever they were (or ANY cult) those NPCs and plots are now the Dragon Cult.
2. My players killed the Zhentarim because they "don't like liars" (hahaha we'll see how they handle the rest of the adventure omgggg). Pencheska and Kella were in a relationship, though, so there are hooks in Kella's room that will lead to Daggerford and Lady Morwen. I still haven't decided if "Cheska" was actually in love with Kella, or was just using her to keep the Snail from messing with her plans to rob Daggerford of all its money for Tiamat's hoard.
3. I added "The Red Thrall" from DMs Guild to the adventure to pad the leveling a bit, and ended up getting suuuuuper inspired by the vampiric spiders. Now, when the little adventure ends with the death of the Vampiric Bloodsilk Spider, there will be a dark red vampiric mist that will rise out of the dead spider, and return to a ruined temple deeper in the Ardeep Forest. This temple will be the home of a drider trying to get back into Lolth's good graces by turning creatures into vampires and exposing them to sunlight in order to develop a serum to remove sunlight sensitivity. There will be new vampires (made from goblins and whatever else they find) wrapped in spider silk hanging in the sunlight over catchments that funnel spider venom and blood into a pool that empties over the magic boulder from One Stone. I moved it here. So as the blood venom fluid flows over the magic boulder, it will trace the path of a Sunbeam spell to infuse it with sunlight, and then the resulting fluid will be distilled down into a serum that can be injected into a drow, a vampire, or whatever, and will remove their sunlight sensitivity. I'd like to tie this a little further into the dragon cult, but honestly, I'm not too worried.
The mash up of STK and ToD makes plot hooks easy to come by, and a solution to the big problem a little more multifaceted. The main goal is to stave off world annihilation, and the BEST way to do that is to organize the giants to help derail the chromatic dragons. But they could still succeed if they ignore the giants, although the world might still get a LITTLE annihilated just through the giants trying to wrest power from each other.
I have the Dripping caves left to do, then I have to decide if I want Zephyros to show up or just lay enough evidence to get my players somewhere else. Suggestions? I still have to read all of Tyranny of Dragons to put together a timeline that will happen in the background as we work through the North.
Plus, I have a pretty big group, and one or two people who want to start playing. I can't add them to my group, so maybe I'll take wadojeff's idea of starting a second group to run through the same world. Maybe I'll start them in Tyranny of Dragons and offer a bunch of STK hooks and see where they go?
Thanks for posting the thread and reading through this!
I've been prepping to do the same thing as soon as I finish running Chapter 4 of Hoard, as I began running HotDQ before discovering how linear it was. It would be a godsend if you could send me your notes for me to have a point of reference.
Sound like you are having a awesome time. I think it is one of the best adventures I've had the pleasure of running. Normally I purchase the pre-made adventures and just use them to flare up ideas for my own homebrew stuff. But, this one looked exciting enough all on its own. So good I read the entire book at least twice now.
I'm a DM so I'm not going to give away too many spoilers. I am running this with 2 groups with letting them know that there is another group. My Friday and Saturday groups are loving it. I got the idea when the Saturday group paid the goblins off to release the villagers. I had the second group follow after they had left to clean out the dripping caves. It worked. While one group was on their way north to Bryn Shander with the hippie cloud giant the other group headed to Goldenfields.
I did this so I could use as much of the book as possible since a lot of it is left unused.
So far things have been working out just amazing and better than I ever thought they would.
They don't know it but I will bringing both groups together for the big finish. Still working on the details for that but I'm sure it will be a great night with all 10 players there. I've already drawn out the final encounter map since I couldn't contain my excitement. FYI if you are going to do this...... it's freaking huge.
There are so many side quests so DM prep is a big thing. I pre roll for wandering encounters so everything is semi planned but trust me I say the players can switch directions really quick. One minute they are on their way to Waterdeep and BOOM..... Hey lets go to Everlund. Good Times.
I have been running STK every Friday for a few months now and we have had some crazy adventures. I was just wondering if anyone would like to share some of their adventures their group has had? We're 8th level now and going after some big ol nasty Stone Giants. From Nightstone to Bryn Shandar, from Waterdeep to the Oracle...now Daggerford to Loudwater to Stonecleft... My party met a dragon on their travels that has kind of become their mascot/cheerleader...silver dragons and all. He goes by Ollie and though I have had to up the encounters for the party since Ollie travels with them on occasion, I believe it's made the game pop a little more. Does anyone else through in super creatures like this in your games? What are your thoughts on it?
"...Debts must always be paid, sometimes in more than blood and gold. But this is Ordo Ursa," Ren places his hand on Erakas's chest, right where the Dragonborn's heart is. "Right here. And it always has been and always will be. Don't ever forget that. Because I won't."
Serandis Mendaen (Aereni Elven Rogue/maybe one day Wizard)- Project Point Playtest
Sound like you are having a awesome time. I think it is one of the best adventures I've had the pleasure of running. Normally I purchase the pre-made adventures and just use them to flare up ideas for my own homebrew stuff. But, this one looked exciting enough all on its own. So good I read the entire book at least twice now.
I'm a DM so I'm not going to give away too many spoilers. I am running this with 2 groups with letting them know that there is another group. My Friday and Saturday groups are loving it. I got the idea when the Saturday group paid the goblins off to release the villagers. I had the second group follow after they had left to clean out the dripping caves. It worked. While one group was on their way north to Bryn Shander with the hippie cloud giant the other group headed to Goldenfields.
I did this so I could use as much of the book as possible since a lot of it is left unused.
So far things have been working out just amazing and better than I ever thought they would.
They don't know it but I will bringing both groups together for the big finish. Still working on the details for that but I'm sure it will be a great night with all 10 players there. I've already drawn out the final encounter map since I couldn't contain my excitement. FYI if you are going to do this...... it's freaking huge.
There are so many side quests so DM prep is a big thing. I pre roll for wandering encounters so everything is semi planned but trust me I say the players can switch directions really quick. One minute they are on their way to Waterdeep and BOOM..... Hey lets go to Everlund. Good Times.
JT " You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
I agree; it is freaking awesome. And with all the options available to players it's amazing that you have been able to run both games like that. AWESOME!!! The best thing about this module is that it really can take the players anywhere. They were on their way up North for the Conch...ended up diverting with Ollie and made their way to Daggerford and found out about the Stone Giants. My group has loved this adventure so far too. I do a lot of prep work, notecards with all their encounters on them before we run. I like having them roll for encounters as we travel.
My group has loved this adventure so far too. I do a lot of prep work, notecards with all their encounters on them before we run. I like having them roll for encounters as we travel. Either every hour (if they're "behind enemy lines" or every 2-4 hours travel in game. High or low on the percentage dice...since I have all the encounters on cards it's ready to go.
I really want to hear about the showdown at the end of the game. Please come back and share if you remember!
I do plan on making the map for the last encounter. I usually just use my big dry erase one but I want the end of the game to have some flair to it as well.
"...Debts must always be paid, sometimes in more than blood and gold. But this is Ordo Ursa," Ren places his hand on Erakas's chest, right where the Dragonborn's heart is. "Right here. And it always has been and always will be. Don't ever forget that. Because I won't."
Serandis Mendaen (Aereni Elven Rogue/maybe one day Wizard)- Project Point Playtest
Two groups take a bit of work but it's a ton of fun.
You're solid DM when you pre prep material. It makes a huge difference and play time.
I like your idea of letting the players roll for wandering stuff. Kind of cool.
I'm gonna let you know that if you are draw out the final map ...... are you ready...... I have enough to cover 2 4' x 8' tables. Yes it's that huge. The marking of the 5' squares just about killed me. Break out a yard/meter stick and have fun.
If I remember, and I normally do, I will post pictures of the final battle. Just not yet because my players might be all over this site as I suggested they check it out.
That's RIGHT!!! NO SPOILERS FOR YOU!
JT " You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
Hi guys! I'm starting to prep this adventure. I'm a newbie DM and I'm having a few issues with it.
The first chapter seems like a rush to level characters up to level 5 as quick as possible. And the second chapter 2 and 3 seem like a total mess for me. So many places, characters, quests. Any tips on how to run and prepare it? Especially since players can switch places at any time. I'm also afraid of running it like an MMO, with lots of quest givers that show up, give them a quest and leave.
I also plan to run it for 2 gruoups (one player plays in both groups). Any tips on that? Specially in the funneled chapters.
Thanks!
It kind of is a rush to get up to Level 5, but then it has the potential to slow down a lot. After level 5 it turns very open world, much like Curse of Strahd. My recommendation is to read (at the very least) all of the different branching paths that the players can take and familiarize yourself with where places are. In my experience just knowing where things are is half the battle, especially if you're going to let the party run free.
Thanks!
I´ll keep reading through, but so far I see lots of opportunities for side quests, but not many to introduce them. That's why I am so worried. Plus.. how do I ask players where do they want to go next if we finish a session and they haven't finished what they are doing in their current location?
I'm just starting to prep this campaign too. My group is still working out the technical details but I'm really excited to start the campaign.
@Alejos - I found a guide to running this campaign on the Dungeon Master's Guild that looks pretty good. The reviews look positive too:
http://www.dmsguild.com/product/193601/A-Guide-to-Storm-Kings-Thunder
Thanks a lot niko! I'll check it out for sure
I'm currently running two games with two parties, one doing Storm King and the other doing Out of the Abyss. Both parties are constantly being contacted by a homebrew god, Duezoch the God of Magic and Madness.
The intent is to have both parties link up after both their adventures are over and start a homebrew adventure I've called Shattered Madness.
It's been a blast, it's my first time using Storm King as a setting and it's been a lot of fun seeing my players engage with the NPCs both inside and outside of combat.
"No you can't roll to intimidate the door..."
Hello again fellow Storm King DMs. I've compiled a list of articles by Mike Shea (aka Sly Flourish) from his blog. I found these very helpful. The last entry on the list is from just a few days ago. I've played a handful of AL with Mike over the years and he a super nice guy and a great DM.
Session Zero of Storm King's Thunder
http://slyflourish.com/storm_kings_thunder_session_zero.html
by Mike Shea on 5 December 2016
Custom Fronts of Storm King's Thunder
http://slyflourish.com/fronts_of_skt.html
by Mike Shea on 6 February 2017
The Villains of Storm King's Thunder: Iymrith
http://slyflourish.com/iymrith.html
by Mike Shea on 5 June 2017
Adding Depth to Storm King's Thunder
http://slyflourish.com/adding_depth_to_skt.html
by Mike Shea on 27 December 2016
The Dam of the Belsemir Kings
http://slyflourish.com/dam_of_beselmir_kings.html
by Mike Shea on 13 February 2017
Getting the Most out of Storm King's Thunder
http://slyflourish.com/getting_the_most_out_of_skt.html
by Mike Shea on 16 January 2018
Hey Storm King DMS
I'm a newb Dm and have read and appreciated the advice of other people running this campaign. I wanted to share my campaign so far (in brief) and my "plans for the future" and would appreciate constructive advice and feedback.
I have 6 players who don't really know each other well. After character creation they rolled on a table I made I call "Roll for Relationship!" and had them roll to see how their character knew the player on their right and left. We've had 9 sessions and so far that seemed to help them connect in-game, so we will see how it continues. They decided to level up via XP not milestone, so I have been trying to help them get to the appropriate levels (ish) before sending them off to higher level encounters in the book, so lately, I've been peppering in some mini-dungeons and missions.
I wanted the players to feel really connected to their first mission, but just "go to Nightstone" didn't feel like enough...so ,I had everyone start in Waterdeep in a Tavern (The Glove and the Horn) where the Tavern Keep sent them to Nightstone to deliver a letter to her brother (Morak -who she hadn't heard from for a while) and deliver a cask of her new "high test" brew. After the party freed the villagers Morak gave them some hints about Goldenfields and sent them back to Waterdeep with a letter for his sister (which hinted at Harshnag and aligned them with "The Grey Hand" - I was inspired by "Force Grey" and made a faction based on the lore of the Grey hand, so they would have a reason to encounter Harshnag later.)
I also felt like Zephyros just showing up seemed too random, so had the tiefling woman nervously share that she saw a cloud giant nearby a few days before the attack who looked friendly. She didn't want to tell people in town in case they thought she could have prevented the destruction of Nightstone...They bit and found Zephyros (who I made sound like a male Late-Judy Garland). he gave them some of the "prophecy" in gaint rune form (just to introduce them to some very vague ideas and the giant runes.) He also gave them a little knowledge about giant society and the ordening. After talking to him, only half of them wanted to ride with him, the rest went to Waterdeep (too chicken for Goldenfields)... So he dropped those that wanted the ride off there, but I had it take him just as long and he hinted at Klauth, "Ol Snarl's" territory as a reason for his detour (he also gave them a pipe that has two charges to call him) .
The party size is large (we are at a game store and sometimes it can be as large as 8 - though I have 5 regulars) and I found that they were in need of some direction, so the Faction (Grey Hand) seemed like a good way to give them some mini-missions and level them up and have them hunting some of the giant artifacts from the magic section of the book... this way they still have a feeling of "free reign of the world" and a connection to the plot... I hope?
Mini-dungeons: I had them seek "the Gavel of the Vinn Rune" (I used the Howling hatred as the bad guys since they didn't take up Zephyros on his ride)... which was fun. I made them all look likebatman... the cultists had smaller bat ears and the fanatics had bigger bat ears. The party is convinced that the higher in the cult you go the bigger your fake ears get. Also at one point a character threw the pixie dust on one of them and the roll was for flight..so... hilarity.) The next mini had them search for the "Orb of the Stein Rune". The hook / story was to help a noble trying to rise in the ranks find a missing tomb (that they suspected had a rune item she didn't know about - thank you factions!) and they convinced her to take over Nightstone (I modified the adventure from Search for the missing Cartographer - on DmsGuild). They don't know what any of the items do and were told to seek out Naxene in Goldenfields... as she's a mage and researcher of giants and dragons... (HINT. HINT.)
I am hoping to have these giant rune items act like artifacts and have the players slowly discover what the item can do... maybe the objects will even become more powerful as the players level up? I found this and thought that could be cool: http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/UA_Rune_Magic_Prestige_Class.pdf
I also had them meet Felgolos in Waterdeep, but in halfling form, so they don't know he's a dragon, but they like him. I've had them spot a copper dragon a few times as a "random" (not so random) encounter in their travels. So far they like him and are curious about him. I hope this will make them more connected to his plight later.
So far, most of them are level 3 going on 4 and are more curious about Goldenfields, so I think that's what is next. I'm curious about how they will react to being handed NPCs and am plotting out how they will meet these peeps first...
I also have spent time on the DMGuild and found some adventures that will tie them to The Kraken if they head near Yartar (The Kraken's Gamble on DM Guild) I think I will have Xolkien join the howling hatred and have a mini-batman cowl and Kella in an all women's fighty group... because I suppose their failure got them in the bad graces of the Zhents)... they might also meet Imyrith in disguise there/ goose coin...
I've been looking to "Tales of the Yawning Portal" and some other giant-ish adventures to use as future "secret missions" for the Grey Hand Faction. And hopefully they will have enough but not too many plot hooks to explore the North...
Advice?
S
So I know this thread is NOT new, but I'm getting pretty excited about my STK campaign. I'm a new DM, running a big group of new players, so we're SLOOOOWWW. It's coming along, though. We still haven't left Nightstone, but part of that is I keep adding in a bunch of side quests that were never intended to be a part of the story. Here are some of the changes I'm making...
1. I'm mashing up Tyranny of Dragons with STK. Everything just makes so much more sense (Iymrith is distracting the giant leadership to lessen their response to the machinations of the Dragon Cult, which had the unexpected bonus of angering the All-Father, so now the Ordning is broke. She's ecstatic, and subtly encouraging the other giant races to keep opposing each other. As long as they don't coordinate, she doesn't care what they do. Extra bonus, she might end up with the Wyrmskull throne. And if Tiamat is grateful enough, SHE might restore life to the Wyrm that the skull came from - Iymrith's old mate) So I'm taking out the Kraken society, and wherever they were (or ANY cult) those NPCs and plots are now the Dragon Cult.
2. My players killed the Zhentarim because they "don't like liars" (hahaha we'll see how they handle the rest of the adventure omgggg). Pencheska and Kella were in a relationship, though, so there are hooks in Kella's room that will lead to Daggerford and Lady Morwen. I still haven't decided if "Cheska" was actually in love with Kella, or was just using her to keep the Snail from messing with her plans to rob Daggerford of all its money for Tiamat's hoard.
3. I added "The Red Thrall" from DMs Guild to the adventure to pad the leveling a bit, and ended up getting suuuuuper inspired by the vampiric spiders. Now, when the little adventure ends with the death of the Vampiric Bloodsilk Spider, there will be a dark red vampiric mist that will rise out of the dead spider, and return to a ruined temple deeper in the Ardeep Forest. This temple will be the home of a drider trying to get back into Lolth's good graces by turning creatures into vampires and exposing them to sunlight in order to develop a serum to remove sunlight sensitivity. There will be new vampires (made from goblins and whatever else they find) wrapped in spider silk hanging in the sunlight over catchments that funnel spider venom and blood into a pool that empties over the magic boulder from One Stone. I moved it here. So as the blood venom fluid flows over the magic boulder, it will trace the path of a Sunbeam spell to infuse it with sunlight, and then the resulting fluid will be distilled down into a serum that can be injected into a drow, a vampire, or whatever, and will remove their sunlight sensitivity. I'd like to tie this a little further into the dragon cult, but honestly, I'm not too worried.
The mash up of STK and ToD makes plot hooks easy to come by, and a solution to the big problem a little more multifaceted. The main goal is to stave off world annihilation, and the BEST way to do that is to organize the giants to help derail the chromatic dragons. But they could still succeed if they ignore the giants, although the world might still get a LITTLE annihilated just through the giants trying to wrest power from each other.
I have the Dripping caves left to do, then I have to decide if I want Zephyros to show up or just lay enough evidence to get my players somewhere else. Suggestions? I still have to read all of Tyranny of Dragons to put together a timeline that will happen in the background as we work through the North.
Plus, I have a pretty big group, and one or two people who want to start playing. I can't add them to my group, so maybe I'll take wadojeff's idea of starting a second group to run through the same world. Maybe I'll start them in Tyranny of Dragons and offer a bunch of STK hooks and see where they go?
Thanks for posting the thread and reading through this!
I've been prepping to do the same thing as soon as I finish running Chapter 4 of Hoard, as I began running HotDQ before discovering how linear it was. It would be a godsend if you could send me your notes for me to have a point of reference.
Beat my rolls. I dare you.
i really love stk because of how well written it is. i havnt actually run it though.