Deserts And Dragons

I currently play in a D&D 5e campaign we call "Deserts & Dragons". We meet monthly over at Distinct Games, over in Belper (in Derbyshire in the UK). We have a pretty stable group but the sessions are structured so that each session we start out at a base and at the end we return to the base so there is no problem if any characters are unable to adventure in each session. I have come to appreciate this is an excellent strategy for keeping an ongoing campaign going as it easily handles not all players being available. I was unable to make last session (along with another player Glyn) but it's been the first session I've missed; we started in January 2019.

I've blogged before about this campaign, writing up the party's adventures from the perspective of Tarquin, my human bard. You can view the posts using the "Deserts & Dragons" tag.

We mainly use a Facebook chat group to communicate and have also used a full Facebook Group for another group (which one of the players uses for a campaign he is DMing) to communicate. We're all friends on Facebook (although it's not a requirement) so it makes it all very easy to communicate.

The members of our group are all reasonably local to Belper, where the game is hosted. The furthest away I think is Derby, 30 minutes on the bus or about 10 miles. When we can we organise lifts for one another. A few of us met up for a few beers a month or so back. It's all very social and laid back which really suits me.

All the players (as far as I can recall) met at Distinct Games as in 2017 Jono, our DM, setup a game as "resident GM" for the shop which was an open table where he ran loosely related one shots. I think there were around 12 of these and I joined about half way through. These were run as half day sessions and two sessions were run each day. Sometimes just one player turned up (which was still an excellent session with just me and Jono), sometimes I think we peaked at 7 players.

When Jono finished those one shots he had a break for a few months but the new campaign was started as full day (10:30 - 16:30) sessions with two groups, one was the "hard core" players from the previous sessions who had really gelled as a team and the other session was for the kids, allowing Jono to tailor the sessions accordingly. I believe there is another group  run in the week as well. Each session costs £5 and the shop keep a tab we pay at the end. They sell snacks & drinks but allow us to bring in our own food as we usually raid Birds or Greggs at lunch time.

One of the interesting things about this campaign is that the other groups play in the same world and the actions one group does are reported to the other groups so the world is fluid, even when we are not playing. The world is set after some sort of terrible apocalyptic even and all the characters live in a city in the middle of a desert. The city has reached capacity and the characters are tasked with exploring the surrounding area in the hope of finding resources for the city and possibly somewhere else to start a settlement. So its mainly a hex crawl with short encounters and is working out really well.

We usually level up after each session so I needed to level up Tarkquin to level 6 and I did so last night, choosing my local The Talbot to level Tarquin up and write him out on a new character sheet.

As with many RPG groups two of the players Chris & Glyn have also turned up to play RGQ at a separate venue, Boards & Swords.

So shortly I'll be off to Belper, catching a bus (as my car is in the garage) which takes about 30 minutes. Our session is 10:30 to approx 16:30.

Tarkquin's Tale of Deserts & Dragons Part 2

The players and characters (all 3rd level) for our latest session of Deserts & Dragons were:
Ollie: Baern Ungart, Dwarven Cleric
Paul: Vigharthur Thorogod, Human Sorcerer
Glyn: Eric, Dwarven Ranger
Andy: Tarkquin, Human Bard
Chris: Norixius Kriv, Dragonborn Fighter

Jo: Torinn Danrdendaian, Dragonborn Rogue
And our GM is Jono

I am Tarkquin Kelt, storyteller & entertainer, accomplished player of the recorder and beater of drums. This story continues the tale, started in Tarkquin's Tale of Deserts & Dragons Part 1, of my exploration into the lands surroundings the city.

On hearing of the success of other explorations into the Outlands it seemed prudent to organise another foray into the badlands and so I tracked down my erstwhile companions; all except Lito III. We were also joined by Torinn Danrdendaian, another of these peculiar Dragonborn who seemed to have some history with Norixius. Talks with my fellow adventurers revealed the souldaggers and red fist gangs and the existence of an assassins guild.

Since our last foray other groups had reported back and the ruins we had located a few days travel away from the city are now a thriving outpost with crude structures, tents and even a garrison stationed there. Eagles and an obelisk had been discovered on the fringes of the hills to the west.

Eric our dwarven Ranger indicated as well as black smithing skills he was an expert in stone masonry. I remain skeptical of this claim until I see some evidence .. The crystals we left with the alchemist were not tough and crumble and break apart easily but the alchemist believes they might be of some non-mundane use and is investigating possibilities.

For our latest expedition we started off from the outpost and decided to head off to the north east, in the direction we thought the orc tribes were located. 

On the first day we came across a burial mound with smashed sarcophagus and two old suits of amour which gave off a magic aura. Norixius & Eric approached the suits and upon a close examination they started to move. This initiated a melee fight mainly noted for the resonate sounds produced by the dwarves' hammers hitting and bouncing off the armour and Vigharthur's continued obsession with fire; this time in the shape of a cone which damaged opponents and comrades alike. The suits were eventually destroyed by a few judicious hits and as I healed Eric's wounds I heard the approach of  two more sets of metallic feet. A further melee fight was initiated of which the highlight was probably my awesome hand crossbow shot which found a gap between the dwarves and embedded itself in a suit. Vigharthur unleashed some scorching rays and the usual mixture of melee hits and missile fire destroyed the two suits of armour. My detect magic showed the magic on the suits of armour was fading. As the metal contained in armour was significant we decided to bury them and pick them up on the way back.

A night in the tomb proved to be uneventful and so in the morning we continued to the north east travelling over rolling dunes. I kept spirits up with some songs on my recorder, something I think the other adventurers appreciated tremendously. As the sun began to set we found a huge 60' tall and 30' wide arch. Our dwarves were unable to figure out what sort of stonework it was. To be honest I am beginning to suspect they are actually short, bearded humans such is their lack of ability with stonework!

We opted to camp down for the night. I awoke during Baern's second watch, initially unable to decide whether I had been awoken by Eric's snoring or the sound of fighting. As I came to I found, to my amazement, I was able to fly through the air. My newly found ability enabled me to keep the rest of the party abreast of the situation which was that we were under attack by a party of orcs. As Baern & Norixius engaged the orcs in melee Vigharthur lit up his pipe and was able to produce a cloud of smoke between us and a couple of other orcs I had pointed out. Once five of us were all able to join in the battle the orcs were swiftly dispatched. Eric allegedly slept through the entire fight. I was able to heal up Baern & Norixius and Torinn was able to find 7 rations on the orc bodies his obvious relish at this a sign that Dragonborn are less fussy about their food than us humans. Sadly, my magical flying ability turned out to be a side effect of one of Vigharthur's spells back firing and so proved to be short lived. I guess I should be thankful there was no fire related backfire ..

In the morning some of the others climbed the arch and were able to see camp fires an indeterminate distance to the north. Our short, bearded humans were still unable to determine the stone arch's origins. We continued to the NE and discovered a smashed, black stone obelisk. It was apparently covered in writing but we cannot identify the language. Our best guess is that it was originally about 15' high. Vigharthur pondered if these obelisks could be some sort of anchor points as they do not appear to be changed by the periodic storm that does change so much of the desert. 

We decide to camp here for the night as some of the party are suffering the effects of a disturbed nights sleep. During the night Erik claims to have heard chanting and sees a large bonfire in the distance. In the morning Torinn spots some tracks that seem to indicate our camp was approached in the night.

We set off to the NE once more and the day reveals to us a forest of dead trees. There are thousands of trees but all obviously dead, although their death appears to be relatively recently. I checked for fungi and found evidence of a small amount, still living. Vigharthur started to dig declaring he was looking for signs of water; making me slightly nervous as I assume this was so putting out and fires he was about to create would be easier .. Eric spots orc tracks and it appears the orcs regularly travel through the forest. I am uneasy and it's not just the dead forest; there is something I can't put my finger on that is wrong. It soon becomes apparent what that is - I spot a tree moving! 

Although my instinct is to try and communicate with the moving tree Vigharthur's fire bolt dictates our course of action and within seconds we are involved in a fierce fight. Despite our party dealing out considerable damage the moving tree continues to fight, inflicting significant damage of its own. Eventually the party prevail and I heal the party with some help from Baern.

We take a short rest which ends with Torinn detecting the approach of what turns out to be orcs. There are 5 of them with 1 an obvious leader. The orcs use javelins before closing in. Our short, bearded humans bring one orc down and I bring another one down with my awesome hand crossbow. The battle is short but our party members suffer considerable damage which fortunately I am able to deal with with the help of Baern.

We elect to travel back immediately, travelling through the night as we wanted to avoid any attention from any other orc patrols. Eric covered our tracks. At dawn we camped at the broken obelisk. We rested successfully and set off again in the evening. Up until now various party members had successfully hunted for food but Torinn failed to turn up after his hunting trip and it was only some hours later that he located us with a tale of a ship wreck with a giant scorpion within. 

The rest of our trip back to the city was uneventful. We reported all our adventures except for the ship wreck & the scorpion, which we intend to investigate on a later expedition and the armour we obtained from the animated suits, which Eric intends to use to fashion us upgraded weapons and armour.

Tarkquin's Tale of Deserts & Dragons Part 1

I am Tarkquin Kelt, songster and poet, accomplished player of the recorder and beater of drums. I live in what is called the City. It has no other name as we believe it is the one and only city remaining in what is left of Toril, a place we understand was once vibrant and full of life but is now largely wasteland. The city has survived for hundreds of years, slowly building it'a population back up until now it stands on the precipice. The under ground springs and fungus farms are struggling to meet the ever growing population and every scrap of land within the city walls is now taken up. One of the few releases from life's drudgery, alcohol, is now illegal. The city council of 11 have made the decision that the four city races of elves, dwarves, dragon born & humans must reach out explore the wasteland in the hope of finding additional resources and habitable land so the city can continue to expand.

It is at this point that I volunteered as one the explorers believing fame & fortune could be mine or at the very least I could earn some food for our families table. And the tales I could tell might fill the theatres with awestruck citizens, eager for news of what lies outside the city walls.

Six of us were assigned to work together and we were immediately lead through a single file corridor under the city walls. There were other groups and looking at my associates I counted myself lucky as some of the members of other groups looked like they shouldn't be outside the city walls. Probably debtors and convicts paying their debt back.

My other party members were 3 dwarves; Baern Ungart, a cleric and two rangers Eric & Leto III, a Dragonborn; Norixius Kriv, and another human; Vigharthur Thorogod, a sorcerer. At first appraisal a decent enough mix.

We headed off to the north west with Eric scouting. The day was hot with few clouds in the sky and the sun beating down on us. It was uneventful and traveled until shortly before nightfall when we  setup a camp. However, the night was not uneventful as a group of 7 lizard like creatures disturbed one of the watches. They appeared to be harmless and in awe of "the chosen", Norixius. No information could be gathered from them and they left.

On the second day we broke camp and not long after setting off, again towards the NW, we spotted some ruins. Rather than just noting them and reporting their location we decided to investigate. On closer examination the ruins appeared to be a village and our dwarven contingent identified them of human construction. Movement was spotted further inside the ruins and Leto demonstrated his credentials by sneaking up and identifying some giant centipedes. Our sorcerer, Vigharthur , made short work of them by frying them all in a burning fire that blew out the back wall of the building. He is obviously not a man to be trifled with! Baern & Eric seemed interested in finding some centipede remains to eat. the ways of dwarves will forever remain impenetrable to me!

I headed off to check around the perimeter while Vigharthur & Leto dug in the sand looking for crypts. They quickly became exhausted in the heat of the desert sun. Norixius  checked for wells and I sat down and drew out a map of the ruins. Whilst doing this I spotted a humanoid figure  up on a dune some 200m away. The figure dropped down as soon as it saw that I had noticed it. I passed this information on to the others and Leto & Vigharthur kept an eye on it while Eric & Baern  took up the work digging up the sand in search of crypts and find a trap door. Opening this up we found some steps leading down into pitch darkness.

The steps opened up into an underground room with a locked door. In an unusual move for dwarves it was asked if anyone could pick locks (rather than simply bashing the door down). I reluctantly admitted I might have some ability in this area. Thankfully the party asked no questions about how I had picked up this skill and I was able to successfully pick the lock.

Eric opened the door and found 5 grey shapes in the revealed a large room. The shapes appeared to be humanoid and breathing and had crystals in patches on their hairless, dry and cracked skin. Eric plucked up the courage to venture into the room and tap one of them on the shoulder. this caused the shape to turn and scream showing a green glint in their eyes. All the statues started to move.

I think it's fair to say that dwarven panic set in. Eric & Baern started swinging their weapons with Baern shattering on the the shapes head revealing it to be made of dust and bone. I cast my True Strike. Norixius  joined the fray and soon we had destroyed all five, but not before Eric had taken a significant hit. Fortunately I was able to heal him. I get the impression from looking around that this room was acting as a prison and that these "creatures" had been locked down here to keep them out of the way. I found some quartz like substance left over from the "creatures" which seemed to be worth enough to take back with us. We could find nothing else of interest in the crypt and so we headed back to the surface.

On getting back out in the fresh air we discovered that Vigharthur & Leto had set off to investigate the humanoid in the sand dunes, who turned out to be an Orc. They were able to subdue it and bring it back to the crypt. Vigharthur & myself continued investigating the ruins whilst the rest of the party interrogated the orc. In an exchange of information that seemed to involve both Baern taking some significant bruising the orc told us he was scouting and that he came from 3 days travel to the north and that there were hunting grounds off to the west. The orc said he knows who we are and his only information on the creatures in the crypt was that they were lost in a spiritual way. It was bovious to me that Baern held a grudge against this orc and I felt this would not be the last time they fought one another.

I found one other building that seemed larger than the one we assumed to be a church with the crypt underneath it.

We decided to stay the night, which was uneventful. However, in the morning Norixius   found some strips of meat and two arrows outside his tent. It appears Norixius has some Kobold admirers.

We set off the following morning and spent an uneventful day travelling before camping for the night by a statue we found. In the morning Leto informs us that on his watch there was a blue flash in the sky over towards the mountains. We decide to leave the statue and investigate the blue flash.

As we travelled and close to where Leto thought he saw the blue flash the dwarves spot white stone in the sand. These turned out to be the bottom half of ancient stone pillars, located every 20-30 meters. We located a roadway underneath the sand. We surmised that the statue was at the start of the roadway. Baern was able to locate a wall with some steps leading up and it appeared we were standing on the ruins of a massive temple.

Vigharthur spotted something blue moving and it appeared to be some sort of small dragon. We nominate Norixius  to speak with it as he knows some draconic. The dragon doesn't respond to any speech nor even when we throw some jerky over to where we last saw it. However, we overhear some familiar sounding noises and discover the kobolds we met a few nights ago are living in a hole. We manage to speak to the kobold elder who says the dragon is living with them but is too young to speak. It appears the kobolds came a long way from the north with an egg which hatched into this dragon. We believe the tunnel leads to the kobold and dragon lair under the temple. There is a lot of stone that could be salvaged in this area.

At this point, with our rations running low we returned to the city, informing the city guard of the hunting rounds, orc tribe, outpost possibility at the ruins with the crypt, mentioning the creatures we met there which we believe are called Stroguy. We did not mention the temple nor the dragon. For our troubles we were paid 7 portions of food.

New D&D 5e Campaign - Deserts & Dragons

Whilst my choice of RPG is D&D B/X I'm not adverse to a bit of D&D 5e and play in a couple of monthly campaigns. The latest of these started a couple of weekends ago at a local games shop, Distinct Gaming, in Belper. The DM, Jono, ran a campaign of loosely related one shots last year and I enjoyed them immensely so I signed up immediately to his new campaign.

The new campaign, that we appear to have called Deserts & Dragons, is set in a world (possibly Forgotten Realms) after a devastating war that has destroyed most of civilisation. Our characters start out in a city bursting at the seams and running out of resources. The party must set out into the surrounding badlands and explore it, mapping it out and  reporting back to the city council what has been found.

The sessions in this year's campaign are all day, from 10:30 - 16:30 as opposed to the half day sessions last year.

The sessions are an open table, although there are a core of regular players, myself included.

An added twist is that there will be at least one other party playing in the campaign and the idea is that the parties will be able to interact by reporting back to the city council who will make information available to other parties.

The first session was most enjoyable with little combat and friendly relations tried with an orc we captured and a tribe of Kobolds we came across. It's like the old fashioned hex crawls of old and it's nice to see there is still room for this sort of campaign in this day and age.

The players and characters were:
Ollie: Baern Ungart, Dwarven Cleric
Paul: Vigharthur Thorogod, Human Sorcerer

Alex: Leto III, Dwarven Ranger

Glyn: Eric, Dwarven Ranger 

Andy:Tarkquin, Human Bard

Chris:Norixius Kriv, Dragonborn Fighter
And our GM is Jono Hemsley