We've done a session 0 of sorts, establishing which character she'll be running and what kind of game she wants. "Dangerous" Bob is an old character being recreated for this campaign, a fighter, retired from the armies of the king of southern England. His main aim in life is to open an inn, and my wife requested a game that "wouldn't be too difficult," as this is the first one she's played for about two years.
Um.
My preparations so far have been focused on designing a five-layered megadungeon for Bob and a few NPC companions to navigate, with denizens ranging from lowly oozes and pale, scraggly goblins to mighty golems, death knights, and the tarrasque.
In-world England is split in two by a belt of alien corruption from the far realm, and the old dwarven underground city that lies underneath most of the Midlands provides a potential safer route between the northern and southern kingdoms. The two kings are making a combined effort to establish a road, and the first step is to send reconnaissance parties in to log what's down there and whatever way through they can find.
Bob, known to the army as a capable and successful campaigner, will be approached to lead the expedition.
Here's where I'm seeking advice;
First session needs to change to fit my wife's desire for something low difficulty. I'm thinking of running a few days of Bob around the town, presenting opportunities for him to help others, organise things for whatever business he's running, and perhaps talk to some old army contacts (might be where he hears about the expedition). Basically a string of role playing and skill challenges.
Any idea how I can fit in a combat scenario? Nothing deadly.
Once the megadungeon gets underway (assuming it will);
What suggestions do you have for mapping? I don't like using generators because they never come out with something that looks sensible; they're just random assortments of rooms and corridors. I also don't want to map out an entire (huge) city by hand. I was thinking of having travel be off-grid and use pregenerated dungeons to represent small, non-fixed-location segments of the city.
Any suggestions for generating encounters? I was going to lay out some of various levels and complexity and call on them as needed, and I'm using a factions & clocks system I read about online to judge which creatures would be doing what at any given time of day (so, for example, it's approaching evening. A band of goblins encountered would probably be on their way home from foraging for food). As to what she encounters where, I was gong to make it up on a whim.
Experience; how would you handle it? I'm giving her some NPC companions to try and make her 1st level character less squishy (and so I can spring surprises on her without necessarily killing Bob without warning). To reduce her housekeeping I thought I might just give all the experience to Bob and "level up" the NPCs when he does.
No win situations. I know this is going to be personal to my wife, and I plan to ask her straight out. How do you handle encounters and situations the characters simply stand no chance of winning? To maintain immersion I'm thinking I may Purple Prose my arse off, and I think she'll get the idea.
Any suggestions and advice appreciated, and, additionally, if anyone's in the mood to write a diary entry or letter from the long-dead inhabitants of the city... I may include them in the adventure. I'd like to try and tell a little story about what life used to be like when the city was bustling and alive.
Are you running a one player campaign? (You as the dm and your wife as the PC)?
I was a bit confused of where the adventure would start BUT I think it would be interesting if there was a very established, yet snooty or shady tavern-inn that has been set up and has been the most popular in the area for a very long time. However, business is good, but the company or head of the bar deals in black market or illegal business.
maybe they’re holding blue dragonbornes as slaves in their warehouse and using their specific blood to create their own enchanted alcohol, Magic Muse Absinthe.
The dwarfs need a workforce, especially after the alien invasion to keep up with their war supplies, so they are receiving immigrants of all races from all over the lands to come work. Somehow there is a slave trafficking circle that has gone unnoticed for quiet some time.
Hopes this helps as these are just ideas off the top of my head after skimming through.
By the way I like your worlds backstory
EDIT: the whole point of the shady tavern-inn is to try and get your wife to see them as the “enemy” or “rival” and she will eventually want to take over.
maybe throw in some recipes for The One Beverage, and have your wife go on an epic quest as BOB to find the ingredients to bring back to her mentor. Or have her be the chef/bartender and she learns how to master making the drink.
Yes, I'm going to DM and my wife is running a single PC and up to three NPCs. She'll start off with Bob, in town, going about his normal business. He'll notice higher numbers of soldiers in the area, and hear rumours of troops moving north into the belt.
After a few days he'll be approached by an old army contact who will clue him in to a big-money opportunity. Hopefully that'll be enough to bring him in to the expeditionary party and we'll begin the dungeon crawl.
Em made Bob on D&D beyond and i ran him through a day. It being Sunday he had no work to do, so he went into town. He had an early beer in the tavern on the green, heard she rumours of troop movements and a travelling fair. He encountered three of the NPCs who will later form part of his party.
He took part in a boxing match (and won). He attempted to persuade a traveller to move on, requested by the local priest because he was worried that a) they were working on the day of rest and b) the traveller was selling magical (and illegal) elixirs. Bob was not successful, but an NPC elf reassured him the elixirs were entirely mundane. During the day he met a female elf wizard who took a particular shine to him (to his discomfort). He mooched around with some soldiers and learned of the great expedition to establish a safe road through the old dwarven city.
In short, she enjoyed the session and Bob got a workout. And i laid the ground work for the megadungeon, which she has decided to go ahead with.
So far she's a bit uncomfortable role playing, but she said afterwards that she forgot what my games are like; very roleplay heavy and grounded as much as possible in reality.
Bob led a twelve strong party of NPCs from the market town of Uttoxeter five miles north, to the dwarven barracks near Rochester. The journey was uneventful, but on arrival they encountered a group of peasants trying to force entry to the city. They woke the iron golems protecting the doors, which moved to slay the interlopers with their man-sized swords. Luckily Brinelle (elf mage NPC) was able to identify the correct means of opening the door (a Chime of Opening, described as an ornate tuning fork). Bob used it on the door and the golems, recognising authorised access, settled from their aggressive stance into a position of salute. They remained there, unmoving.
Four malnourished, black-skinned creatures panicked from within the corridor beyond the doors. They rose from their sitting positions and fled.
Bob, Dontos (human priest NPC), Meredith (human fighter NPC), and Darrn (one of the peasants) descended into the first rooms of the city. They couldn't identify the creatures they'd seen, though assumed because they'd run they weren't aggressive, but they went cautiously nonetheless. The corridors were well built, dwarven stonework, a little mouldy. In the first room (which they identified as a guard's mess room) they found two long-dead dwarves (killed violently about two centuries earlier), two packs of cards, and some documents they could barely decipher (language being a big barrier in this world). They then noticed a jewelled goblet they hadn't seen before. Darrn picked it up, and it transformed into a Mimic that grappled him and took a bite at his shoulder.
They hurt the Mimic, who promised to release Darrn if they would feed it. It took the form of a halfling child and accompanied them.
I'm being quite liberal with magic items; the party found three Bags of Holding (containing the armoury of the guards), and a Deck of Many Things (which Brinelle advised they contain and do not use until she had a proper chance to investigate them - they don't know what these cards are, only that they're super potent magic items that could have potentially disastrous consequences to their use).
In the next room they found one of the little black creatures. They tried their various languages to speak to it, and Brinelle was able to (more or less) converse with it in high Brittonic, while it spoke low Brittonic. Master language/slave language. Deidre (named by Bob because she didn't understand the concept of names) brought them food (old dead rats, mushrooms, fungus). The Mimic tucked in.
They decided eventually to leave the city and camp outside while Brinelle researched things. They learned about dwarven civilisation, and their slaved based culture, and made a guess that the black creatures were ex-slaves still serving their long-dead masters. The Mimic tried twice to eat one of the horses, and gave Darrn a shock when it wandered over to see what he was doing through the night, but nothing of note occurred. Brinelle flirted with Bob over some wine while telling him about her discoveries.
In the morning they returned to the city (golems still at salute) and found Deidre had run off. They explored a little further and found an old lift shaft (Meredith, striding ahead, almost fell to her death, but Bob caught her) the mechanism broken. They also found two stairwells leading down into the darkness, clearly narrow enough to be defensive in nature.
End of session.
I'm knackered. I improvised the last half of it because my wife did unexpected things. She enjoyed the session.
We've done a session 0 of sorts, establishing which character she'll be running and what kind of game she wants. "Dangerous" Bob is an old character being recreated for this campaign, a fighter, retired from the armies of the king of southern England. His main aim in life is to open an inn, and my wife requested a game that "wouldn't be too difficult," as this is the first one she's played for about two years.
Um.
My preparations so far have been focused on designing a five-layered megadungeon for Bob and a few NPC companions to navigate, with denizens ranging from lowly oozes and pale, scraggly goblins to mighty golems, death knights, and the tarrasque.
In-world England is split in two by a belt of alien corruption from the far realm, and the old dwarven underground city that lies underneath most of the Midlands provides a potential safer route between the northern and southern kingdoms. The two kings are making a combined effort to establish a road, and the first step is to send reconnaissance parties in to log what's down there and whatever way through they can find.
Bob, known to the army as a capable and successful campaigner, will be approached to lead the expedition.
Here's where I'm seeking advice;
First session needs to change to fit my wife's desire for something low difficulty. I'm thinking of running a few days of Bob around the town, presenting opportunities for him to help others, organise things for whatever business he's running, and perhaps talk to some old army contacts (might be where he hears about the expedition). Basically a string of role playing and skill challenges.
Once the megadungeon gets underway (assuming it will);
Any suggestions and advice appreciated, and, additionally, if anyone's in the mood to write a diary entry or letter from the long-dead inhabitants of the city... I may include them in the adventure. I'd like to try and tell a little story about what life used to be like when the city was bustling and alive.
If Bob owns or runs an Inn, combat opportunity is easy - bar fight.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Thank you. He doesn't yet own an inn, and doesn't work in one. I'm sure he drinks in a local however, and a bar fight would do nicely.
Still open for other suggestions.
Are you running a one player campaign? (You as the dm and your wife as the PC)?
I was a bit confused of where the adventure would start BUT I think it would be interesting if there was a very established, yet snooty or shady tavern-inn that has been set up and has been the most popular in the area for a very long time. However, business is good, but the company or head of the bar deals in black market or illegal business.
maybe they’re holding blue dragonbornes as slaves in their warehouse and using their specific blood to create their own enchanted alcohol, Magic Muse Absinthe.
The dwarfs need a workforce, especially after the alien invasion to keep up with their war supplies, so they are receiving immigrants of all races from all over the lands to come work. Somehow there is a slave trafficking circle that has gone unnoticed for quiet some time.
Hopes this helps as these are just ideas off the top of my head after skimming through.
By the way I like your worlds backstory
EDIT: the whole point of the shady tavern-inn is to try and get your wife to see them as the “enemy” or “rival” and she will eventually want to take over.
maybe throw in some recipes for The One Beverage, and have your wife go on an epic quest as BOB to find the ingredients to bring back to her mentor. Or have her be the chef/bartender and she learns how to master making the drink.
Those are some interesting ideas, thank you.
Yes, I'm going to DM and my wife is running a single PC and up to three NPCs. She'll start off with Bob, in town, going about his normal business. He'll notice higher numbers of soldiers in the area, and hear rumours of troops moving north into the belt.
After a few days he'll be approached by an old army contact who will clue him in to a big-money opportunity. Hopefully that'll be enough to bring him in to the expeditionary party and we'll begin the dungeon crawl.
Ok, session 0.5 done.
Em made Bob on D&D beyond and i ran him through a day. It being Sunday he had no work to do, so he went into town. He had an early beer in the tavern on the green, heard she rumours of troop movements and a travelling fair. He encountered three of the NPCs who will later form part of his party.
He took part in a boxing match (and won). He attempted to persuade a traveller to move on, requested by the local priest because he was worried that a) they were working on the day of rest and b) the traveller was selling magical (and illegal) elixirs. Bob was not successful, but an NPC elf reassured him the elixirs were entirely mundane. During the day he met a female elf wizard who took a particular shine to him (to his discomfort). He mooched around with some soldiers and learned of the great expedition to establish a safe road through the old dwarven city.
In short, she enjoyed the session and Bob got a workout. And i laid the ground work for the megadungeon, which she has decided to go ahead with.
So far she's a bit uncomfortable role playing, but she said afterwards that she forgot what my games are like; very roleplay heavy and grounded as much as possible in reality.
Ok, session two done!
Bob led a twelve strong party of NPCs from the market town of Uttoxeter five miles north, to the dwarven barracks near Rochester. The journey was uneventful, but on arrival they encountered a group of peasants trying to force entry to the city. They woke the iron golems protecting the doors, which moved to slay the interlopers with their man-sized swords. Luckily Brinelle (elf mage NPC) was able to identify the correct means of opening the door (a Chime of Opening, described as an ornate tuning fork). Bob used it on the door and the golems, recognising authorised access, settled from their aggressive stance into a position of salute. They remained there, unmoving.
Four malnourished, black-skinned creatures panicked from within the corridor beyond the doors. They rose from their sitting positions and fled.
Bob, Dontos (human priest NPC), Meredith (human fighter NPC), and Darrn (one of the peasants) descended into the first rooms of the city. They couldn't identify the creatures they'd seen, though assumed because they'd run they weren't aggressive, but they went cautiously nonetheless. The corridors were well built, dwarven stonework, a little mouldy. In the first room (which they identified as a guard's mess room) they found two long-dead dwarves (killed violently about two centuries earlier), two packs of cards, and some documents they could barely decipher (language being a big barrier in this world). They then noticed a jewelled goblet they hadn't seen before. Darrn picked it up, and it transformed into a Mimic that grappled him and took a bite at his shoulder.
They hurt the Mimic, who promised to release Darrn if they would feed it. It took the form of a halfling child and accompanied them.
I'm being quite liberal with magic items; the party found three Bags of Holding (containing the armoury of the guards), and a Deck of Many Things (which Brinelle advised they contain and do not use until she had a proper chance to investigate them - they don't know what these cards are, only that they're super potent magic items that could have potentially disastrous consequences to their use).
In the next room they found one of the little black creatures. They tried their various languages to speak to it, and Brinelle was able to (more or less) converse with it in high Brittonic, while it spoke low Brittonic. Master language/slave language. Deidre (named by Bob because she didn't understand the concept of names) brought them food (old dead rats, mushrooms, fungus). The Mimic tucked in.
They decided eventually to leave the city and camp outside while Brinelle researched things. They learned about dwarven civilisation, and their slaved based culture, and made a guess that the black creatures were ex-slaves still serving their long-dead masters. The Mimic tried twice to eat one of the horses, and gave Darrn a shock when it wandered over to see what he was doing through the night, but nothing of note occurred. Brinelle flirted with Bob over some wine while telling him about her discoveries.
In the morning they returned to the city (golems still at salute) and found Deidre had run off. They explored a little further and found an old lift shaft (Meredith, striding ahead, almost fell to her death, but Bob caught her) the mechanism broken. They also found two stairwells leading down into the darkness, clearly narrow enough to be defensive in nature.
End of session.
I'm knackered. I improvised the last half of it because my wife did unexpected things. She enjoyed the session.