Les contes de la rue Broca - Big Inspiration material

When looking to generate an interesting twist while creating an adventure module for D&D, one of the most complicated things nowadays is to be able to generate an interesting twist throughout the adventure or at least at the very end. Since resorting to the classic, monster at the end of the cave, is not bad, but I believe that it could generate a feeling of being ripped off to the person who bought your material. And although some people will always complain about everything, I want to feel satisfied when I deliver something that is at least strange or a little curious.

So what I look for is always to take two elements when building a story, whether it's a song, movie, book, another module. I always integrate two elements and try to combine them with some of the settings that have official D&D material. And I have always found the results to be enjoyable.  

On this occasion, I took one of the main plots of the book "Les contes de la rue Broca" (stories with their own caricature). To join them with some of the towns surrounding the ring city of Sigil in the Planescape setting. 

And I think I'm going to do the same with all 26 stories created by Gripari, as they are completely crazy and I love them.  Such kind of approach are not innovative or so flashy within the SLO scene, but then I see that D&D players get very stuck in the typical and although many interesting things can emerge from such niche, I feel that they fail in the aspect of crazy, surprising or bizarre. 

So I like to add the weirdness to the formula of the D&D world, that was the reason I started publishing adventures in the DMG. Of course, a lot has to do with the huge audience it enjoys and the fact that even though I don't love the system, I understand it and find it functional. 

As we say in my country "some of whitewash and others of sand".

Some video about Hamlet

 

Soooo...you like it?

The main inspiration for "Diamond"...creation of a D&D module

Diamond is an adventure of 30 pages that this week I put for sale on the Dungeon Master Guild website

HERE!

And well, now that it is published I would like to share the main source of inspiration on which the adventure is based, as I consider it good to share the creation process to see if that encourages other people to create materials related to the hobby.

Okay, before we start, please note that I'm going to tell a big SPOILER about the adventure, so if you are interested in experiencing it, please don't continue reading.

After reading Eberron-Rising from the Last War, I was fascinated by the kind of adventures proposed in the city of Sharn, a monolithic metropolis with the air of a great capital of the modern world, where imposing buildings are mixed with neighborhoods lacking basic services. A city where crime, corruption and abuse prevail over the desires of any renowned personality, the city devours you, whether you want it to or not.

 As that was the message that the city conveyed to me and taking into account that at least a quarter of the book focuses on elements that can be useful to build adventures in that specific city, I looked for a book, film, musical piece or image that would give me a starting point to start generating the whole adventure.  I wanted to focus on espionage and suspense, so I started watching movies focused on the post-war paranoia that emerged during the cold war.

Of all that I came across, the film "Three Days of the Condor" really caught my attention, so I went on to divide the story of the film into its three main acts, and then find a way to convey its content to the world of Eberron. 

In order to avoid committing basic mistakes that could leave important information out of the module, I always use as a reference the index of one of my favorite adventures "Better than any man", because I really enjoy the way the pnjs and places of that adventure are presented.

With the foundation ready, I start to distribute the sections and I start writing as I feel like it, I don't have so much to worry about because the different sections already have a title that makes clear the need for content, but to be more specific, what you should never forget is this:

1. Section to talk about the main npc's, describing their personalities and goals.

2. Section about the different places where the adventure will take place.

3. Sections for rules or specific creatures, rules, items or traps proposed by your module.

4. And what will occupy more space; describing the events that the players will face sequentially.

For the fourth point, which may sound like the most complicated, just go by the structure of the story. Beginning, middle and end, it doesn't really have to be more complicated. Well, you can make everything much more complicated, but the result leaves much to be desired. For example in the adventure "Big Puppet" where it starts explaining everything that is happening practically at the end of the book, what you do is confuse the reader. It is better to explain the events of the module at the beginning or middle of your book. 

Diamond's main objective was to take "The three days of the Condor" and place the adventure in the city of Sharn, to begin with I didn't want the adventure to need any external module to work, so I started the module explaining in a general way details about Sharn.

And then I went on to focus on the story of the film, highlighting the elements that I found most interesting for an adventure...And that you should never forget, you are not writing a novel or a story, what you are doing is making a guide that someone else will use as inspiration to create their own version of what you are writing with their gaming group. Or that's how I feel books related to RPGs should work.

Ok...the most important elements of the movie are:

1. Condor works with nice friends at a place that does things for the government.

2. Condor goes out for lunch for everyone and upon returning to work finds that all of his friends from work have been murdered

3. Condor asks for help, but only receives assassination attempts

4. Condor looks for the best way to hide, in the process he falls in love and discovers who ordered them to be killed.

5. Condor confronts a corrupt general, but is overtaken by an assassin hired by someone higher up.

6. They tell Condor that they will let him live for now, because they know that although he knows a lot about the government's dirty dealings, the truth will change nothing.

Very well, my first problem starts with points 1 and 2, since they happen during the first 15 minutes of the movie, but they are vital since they completely change the main character, generating in his being a great feeling of persecution and guilt. In short, for the adventure to work, a bond must be generated with the group of npc's.

So I started to look for the kind of businesses that work in the city of Sharn, immediately it caught my attention to take a theater company and put the characters to role-play within a role-playing game, on the one hand to generate a funny scene, but mainly to produce a closeness with the secondary characters of the theater.  However I understand that on many gaming tables, maybe generating a strong bond to later shatter it can be very hard, so I put different warnings for scenes that I consider somewhat heavy. 

Apart from the theatrical work scene, there is also another scene where the characters go out drinking with their companions. And for the npcs, I focused on describing a group of tender, flawed, but simple people in love with their profession.  So that it becomes very easy for a couple of romances to blossom on the night out.

After the first day the adventurers are asked by multiple means to leave the theater to run some errands and when they return, they will see their companions reduced to rubble. Which starts points 3, 4 and 5 ... leaving love out of the formula. Being the middle of the module I propose what to do according to the routes that the players want to do, being the most common to be chased and observed constantly by the street.

Similarly, they have the option of trying to solve the crime, ask favors to the groups with which they have patronage and seek multiple ways to escape from the city, but if by some miracle they survive to the dawn of the 4th day, the group may encounter the final scene of the film, where one of the government guys tells the Condor that they no longer care and that in the long run they are going to die.

That was the general structure, but with changes instead of the government I put a couple of renowned criminal groups from the city of Sharn, I give importance to different locations of vital importance to escape from the city and set everything straight with a few random encounters that can break or create more tension as decided by the DM.

And so that's more or less how to create a module, maybe a simple one, but I think functional and sure to leave your gaming group with a lump in their throat. I could expand more on the topics of adventure creation, but I think it would be interesting to do it with another one of my adventures. 

Diamond an adventure that captures the more darker aspects of Sharn

Greetings, I'm Mexican Dicen and in a few days I'm going to publish on the Dungeon Master Guild page, the adventure "Diamond", which focuses on the coexistence of the players' characters with a group of beginner comedians in a ruined theater. The characters will have to navigate the streets of the city of towers with extreme prudence if they want to survive. 

Diamond is an adventure that I have been working on for almost a year, I am very happy to be close to publishing this work that has cost so much sweat. I think it will be my best work to date and I hope it will be enjoyed by all who get to buy it.

Apart from having a beginning that seeks to bring the characters closer to a fun group of actors, the adventure has a description of the different places they visit and a random table with random encounters. Apart from having a beginning that seeks to bring the characters closer to a amusing group of actors, the adventure has descriptions of the different places they visit and a random table with various encounters. The table has generic encounters (hobos, tattoo artists, robberies and more) so that it can be adapted to any adventure that takes place in the city of Sharn. 

And its most striking feature is the opening of the city to the players, since during the middle of the adventure, players are asked to walk around the city, so there is a description of multiple locations as well as the opportunity to make use of old contacts obtained in past adventures. 

Besides the game has a strong touch of suspense and is somewhat dense in its content, so it has different alerts, so that the DM decides with his group if they want to live certain scenes. The streets of Sharn have no mercy, but this is a game and each table decides how to play.

When it goes on sale, I hope you will be encouraged to purchase this adventure, so that you can enjoy it with your group. It is somewhat short, at most it could be spread over three 3-hour sessions, but it could still be resolved in one long session. It requires a lot of initiative from the players and I hope it will involve your players in a personal way with the dark side of Sharn's alleys.

I wish you good rolls. 

 

 

Witchburner (Indie Review)

 

The indie title I am reviewing this time it's Witchburner by Luka Rejec. Inside the book we are presented with a dark fantasy setting of heavy and somewhat dense writing in a certain romantic style.  

The rules are simple and draw inspiration from early editions of D&D (OSR) and also from contemporary narrative-centric games. The game tells us about a very concrete situation, where the players occupy the role of investigators who are called by a village in the middle of nowhere to find the witch that makes their lives a torment. The time period of the title seems to be set at the beginning of the industrial revolution and the religion reminds me of the ecclesiastical structure of game of thrones, you know, many gods and elaborate rituals that go beyond praying and singing.

The point is that the players are in a small town and must find the witch who is generating countless evils on the innocent villagers. The plot is extremely simple, but we have the description of 30 npcs and several random tables that will allow us to generate conflicts and tensions between the characters and the villagers. Another very important element is that we have a detailed chronogram of the events that could happen during 30 days, each day divided into morning, afternoon and night. 

These 30 days could be defined as the time limit for the group to find the witch or better yet, escape from the town, an option that, as the days go by, starts to look like the most sensible one. And although there are rules for the resolution of conflicts and the development of combats, much of what happens in the game will depend on the observations and especially on the relationship that the players have with each of the 30 main villagers.

The most interesting part of the game are the villagers, because the feeling that each one of them has towards the players is fundamental to define the path of the adventure. For example, if most of them harbor hatred or resentment towards the characters, then the investigators will end up being the ones accused of witchcraft.

In Witchburner the experimental aspect does not come from the rules, the innovation is found in the construction of relationships as a method for conflict resolution. The characters could act like madmen and burn whoever they want, but they still get more allies and opponents who will get them into more trouble.

I love the month-by-day guide that the book has, since it helps to divide the events and to have a precise follow up of the scenes and situations in the village. But I must say that I don't like the narrative material that accompanies the descriptions of the npcs, I'm sure many people enjoy it but the style is too cryptic and doesn't tell much about the life of those characters.

What I can't deny is that the adventure captivated me, obvious reason why I narrated the whole adventure but using other rules. Instead of following the book's suggestions, I preferred to use a trusty old school manual, but keeping the time rule and the town's love rule. 

By time rule, I mean that the game suggests keeping only three possible interactions with npcs per day per player or group, so that they are forced to plan their days in case they want to move forward with the investigation. On the other hand, with the love of the people, I mean that Witchburner has a list of the main npcs in which you should note whether they love, hate or are indifferent to the party. The more people love them, the more the npcs will be willing to burn the folks that hate the players, but if hate wins out, the adventurers will most likely have the npcs end up at the stake. 

In the same way, pay special attention to the rules related to the witch's trial, in which there are some indications or evidence requirements (mandregoras under the bed, dead cats under the table, dream catchers, drawer full of worms, etc...), which need to be gathered to convince the jury of the town.

It could be said that if the group has managed to burn the witch, everything has ended satisfactorily, although the best of all is that the book has several options to complicate the picture. The group of 3 investigators that I had to narrate, managed to stay successfully for 17 days in the village, accused 3 people of witchcraft, but ended up releasing them for lack of evidence. And who knows, maybe the group would have continued with their investigations had it not been for the accumulated hatred of so many inhabitants. So the only thing left for them to do was to escape from the town in order to save their own skin. 

Although it seems to me that the pdf has a high cost, I recommend that you get the adventure on discount dates. What I am sure of, is that from now on I will have the works designed by Rejec under my gaze. 

I wouldn't suggest DnD for newcomers to RPGs

I truly believe that there is no perfect title to introduce a person to the world of role-playing games, but I don't think it's appropriate to think of the Starter Set or the Essentials box as a great option, that kind of opinions are the result of marketing. Since both products provide incomplete information that can be found for free on the Internet. Everything contained in the aforementioned products can be obtained by visiting the DnD Beyond and Dungeon Master's Guild pages, where details of the rules and multiple adventures for beginner adventurers can be found for free. 

In fact, with the DnD Beyond page, it is not even necessary to purchase the three main DnD books. However, I know someone might point out to me that I don't understand the purpose of the starter kits manufactured by WoC, as they are products made to provide easy access to the experience of creating characters and guiding the DM through the arduous task of running a role-playing game. And I don't deny that they can fulfill their purpose if they have mature and focused players, used to how RPG's work, but in case of finding themselves in front of complete unwary, the DM is going to suffer. 

The 5th edition rules, regardless of the format in which they are presented, seem to me too complicated for people with no experience at all. Elements such as reaction, conditions and additional action, will always generate confusion and although a very interested person can learn little by little about everything that happens in the game, it seems to me a painful introduction to a hobby. 

On the other hand in the field of acting in first or third person of the adventurers, I think DnD gives very little advice about it, not even with the dynamics of inspiration, which is optional and does not change much of what is happening in the game, making it clear to the person that acting is totally accessory, finally "this is a game of killing monsters".  And for those of us who have decades playing DnD we know that this is not true, the combats are constant, yes, but the acting, plots and personal conflicts that can be generated in a game can also change a lot the nature of the game and make it more entertaining. 

So, instead of the Wizards materials, to introduce new people to the hobby I never tire of suggesting the game of "Lady Black Bird", since the system it has slowly introduces concepts that are found in most role playing games, but it does it in a format where anyone can understand what is happening, if you want to show your strength by bending the bars of the prison you are in, you can use the skill that explains precisely what it does. Instead of relying on something as abstract as an athletics roll.

Likewise, the system uses 6-sided dice that can be stolen from any board game and the characters are involved in the story from its creation and have clear objectives throughout the game. Also the game director is given a simple guide on how to direct the game, resolve conflicts and how to present the outcome of the game to the players, since it can be said that this title could at most be extended to a game of about 3 or 4 hours. And better yet, the plot of the title is based on the "Princess Bride" film, so it is very close to perfection.

Despite everything I commented, I am well aware that it is possible to introduce people to the hobby through a game with a good number of abstract rules, such as GURPS or any similar system, but I do not consider that kind of experience to be pleasant for those who know nothing about the world of role-playing games. What I am saying is not strange at all, in the board game universe there are portal or introductory titles, the same would have to happen with role playing games. That's all I'm saying. 

I love those pesky illithid

 The mind flayer, also known as Illithid is one of my favorite aberrations, the nature of their attacks and appearance immediately generate concern among players and change the tone of a typical high fantasy game. With tentacles in their mouth, specialized in extracting brains, telepathy and mental attacks, they mark an unusual type of confrontation that could only be compared to creatures such as wraiths or oozes due to the uniqueness of facing them. 

From the first to the fifth edition of D&D the effectiveness of their attacks is related first hand to the Intelligence attribute, which can be for some classes a "dump stat" to which it is not worthwhile to place high numbers. With the mind flayer the situation is modified, especially with 5th edition where most adventurers have a low intelligence, which leaves them vulnerable to be paralyzed by the psychic attacks of the brain-hungry creature.

Introduction in 5th edition

What I prefer about the Illithids is the way in which I have introduced them in different adventures. Imagine a group of 4 adventurers that with difficulty manage to defeat their first ogre in a random cave. The curious thing is that while they were fighting something strange happened with their opponent, it moved erratically and kept a blank stare. 

The ogre ended up on the ground, defeated, the group relaxed and decided to cautiously explore its hiding place, while suddenly the skull cap of the ogre burst and a bizarre creature was expelled and vanished into the shadows. Only the rogue managed to spot it and commented to his companions "it was, it was... a brain with fat chicken legs. A BRAIN".

Oh I can easily imagine another scenario where the corrupt nobleman of a town is caught by the adventurers and subsequently imprisoned. The moment he is brought to justice, the guy convulses, his head explodes, and out shoots the "Intellect Devourer" in search of a new body to steal in the middle of a room full of villagers.  

But if the group was of a high level, what if after defeating a clan of gnolls that did not stop kidnapping in a nearby village, when looking for the trail of those who were kidnapped, the more than 12 gnoll corpses begin to shake, to end up releasing a group of brains with legs that immediately start a fight against our heroes. 

And although it is true that the same presentation can be done with other creatures that steal or hide their identity, it seems to me that the one with the brains is the most grotesque and does not fully reveal what is happening, making the characters too shocked. Even more so if any of your characters end up being snatched by one of the evil creatures, resulting in an unfortunate death, but providing a great opportunity for suspense if the adventurer died unseen by his companions, now it can blend in. 

Mind over body

The brains with paws are the dogs/servants of the Illithid and are usually the introduction to this type of enemy, while the mind flayer is the quintessential psychic warrior (leaving aside the species they enslaved) and at first could be the big threat of a low level player campaign. And I say this, because although it has great ease to kill a player, by pure economy of turn the piñata effect will present itself and all the adventurers in single file will give some damage to the Illithid and well, it may be psychic, but it is still a wizard.  

But returning to the Mind Flayer's capacity as the main villain, in this area he stands out for being a scientist/magician with the need to investigate and devour the brains of the reality in which he finds himself, make use of bizarre artifacts; laser beams, some gas or substance of neuronal effect, as well as maintain control of a wide range of creatures, which serve to justify why so many different beasts are crammed inside the dungeon. 

The octopus sorcerer has among his resources the domination of creatures and pnjs of importance by means of brains with chicken legs, spells to deceive and manipulate, as well as bizarre technology that would take a long time for the characters to be able to understand it. And if we want to increase the difficulty, then we can invoke the presence of a giant brain, which functions as master chief of the operation and central planning node of the activity of all the Illithids in the region or the world. 

Making the race can very easily generate plots and produce a feeling of paranoia in the players, so that they can not know who to trust. Which puts them very high, as creatures to be used in campaigns focused on mystery and horror. 

In the new module of "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft" a small region is included where some raids could be made making use of the Illithids in a demi-plan of terror, namely "Bluetspur", region in which they want to focus on the aspect of abductions and experiments, making the aberrations look more like the greys, which is interesting to me, which is why I decided to make a module based on this region that in a couple of weeks goes on sale and I hope that if it catches your attention you can check it out. 

The background 

The Illithid's background, in my opinion, tries to give a lot of sense to what would be better to keep in mystery, it seems to me that they forgot the fact that giving too many details about something ends up erasing the fear. 

For example, of the mi-gos (creature from the world of the Cthulhu Myths), it is enough to know that they are interested in the functioning of the human brain and its ability to obtain favorable results through irrational thinking, so to extract as many brains as possible, they will resort to any trick that the writer in turn gives them. And that's it, nothing else is needed.

But in the case of the Illithids, they have already been given a clear historical past, religion, important characters, description of the world of origin as well as the type of activities they perform according to their type of lair, which is not a bad thing, but it takes away a certain halo of mystery.

Personally, knowing that they are creatures that seek to destroy the stars of all realities so that everything is in eternal darkness, that's enough, there is a motivation and from that point, everything is possible. They have a plan, seriously! 

They have a plan....

First Appearance

The first appearance of the Mind Flayer in the role-playing world, came out of the fanzine "The Strategic Review #1", edited by TSR, so the creature is an original idea from the world of DnD. The description given of the aberration is simple but terrifying, as its innate ability to extract brains via the four tentacles surrounding its mouth manifests itself. 

The octopus with a cape and witch-like appearance would come until the appearance of the monster in the "Monster Manual 1E" back in 1977.  Then came the novels and adventures that would build the extensive background of the Illithid, from which I recommend to take only the most general details. 

At least in my opinion the creature has not changed much in appearance, since it is still a warlock with an octopus face, which in their first encounters will generate an atmosphere of strangeness in the players, making it clear that they are about to experience something unique and bizarre.