Barrowmaze #26: Goo for the Goatmen and the Discovery of the Font of Law

Saga:
Deep in the catacombs of the Barrowmaze...

The cave pool was a viscous pearlescent.  After much hemming and hawing, the apostate cleric filled up a bottle with the stuff, thinking to try it out on an underling.  Turning back and exploring east, the group found a harpy corpse, dungeon graffiti, and suffered an ambush from a lurking crustacean, a Cave Fisher (had to scramble to figure out what this was.  Not in the LL books or the BMC book.  Found it in Tome of Horrors a little late to do the fishing shtick).

After cracking the carapace, they tried eating the meat.  Made them sick.  One of the fighters explored the ceiling above, climbing above to find a victim of the cave lobster, a dead elf with a mysterious scroll and some very nice suit of leather armor.  While attempting to quickly don the new duds, growling and bleating was heard in the darkness.  Soon a small herd of beastial goatmen crept into the edge of the light, growling in the Dark Tongue.  Aliontus replied in kind, praising Orcus: "Blood for the Blood God!"  "Skulls for the Skull Throne!" The beasts replied in kind, holding up the severed head of a trio of Necromancers of Set.  After some tense negotiations, the two groups of explorers agreed to go opposite directions, though not before they were given a tithe of a few gold coins and bottle of the pearlescent goo.

A tomb was discovered.  A different style than before, hastily excavated.  A sarcophagus and three warrior statues looming.  The cleric surged forward to assess the stone box and the barrow guardians stepped forward to confront him.  In the ensuing battle, the tomb robbers used their sledgehammers to smash the stone guardians of Ygg, though not before one of their number received a mighty blow that he only survived due to the grace of some higher power.

After the battle the tomb robbers opened the stone box to discover the holy orb called the Font of Law!

Notes: 
I continued to use the Doom dice, based on the Hazard System developed at the Necropraxis blog.  They have a glowing magic sword which negated the attrition of torches part, but exhaustion, dungeon dressing and discoveries played a part.

The Combat Doom table was used in place of initiative.  I suddenly remembered and introduced it mid-stream, but it was great.  There was less tension in terms of who goes first each round (I had been using side initiative), but it was useful for expiration of spells, exhaustion and even a lucky break!  I gave an extra action to the party on a roll of 6.  The 4 roll was interesting.  I had to think about how to change the environment.  I decided to change monster tactics each time.  These rolls were good prompts for me to think outside the box during combat.

Finally, the new "Fallen in Battle" table got a roll out.  This is a 2d6 death and dismemberment table. I had been using a d100 table from the DNDWPS site, but this new one is based mostly on the Trollsmyth blog.  The roll was very positive, 12 (+1 due to a Bless spell) which gave the character a surge of adrenaline that allowed him to stay fighting and even take another hit.  This certainly makes it harder to die, which is ok I think.

Tables Used

Dungeon Doom Die

1	Encounter	Roll on Encounter Table and Distance d6: melee 1, short 2-3, medium 4-5, long 6 & Surprise (2 in 6)
2	Exhaustion	Weary. Rest & eat food or Exhausted (-1hp all rolls); roll again
3	Expiration	Spells & potions expire
4	Torch & Lantern	A fickle torch or candle gutters & burns out; ½ flask of oil has burned
5	Discovery	Signs and portents.  A clue, secret or premonition of nearby danger
6	Luck	Dungeon dressing, curious event or useful provenance

Combat Doom Die

1. Setback Opponents act first, reinforcements or additional encounter
2. Fatigue: All suffer minor harm (1 HP) if engaged in melee
3. Expiration :Spells, light, burning, etc)
4. Locality Shift battlefield (or other local change)
5. Clue regarding dungeon or next encounter
6. Advantage: Extra action or other boon

Fallen in Battle

2d6
2	Horrific Demise!  You are decapitated, torn to pieces, disemboweled, or crushed.  Allies make Wisdom Saving Throws or stunned for 1 round
3	Fatality (gutted, stabbed through lung, broken back, etc.) Unconscious. Die in 1d6 rounds
4	Severed limb: die in 3d6 rounds unless tourniquet, cauterized, potion or 3rd Order Heal is used.  Does not restore lost hp -1d6 DEX/STR, limb restored by Make Whole spell
5	Broken bone  -1d6 DEX or STR, 2d4+9 weeks to heal, unless healed by 3rd order prayer
6	Lights out.  In a coma.  Constitution Save each day or die.  Alleviated by 2nd Order prayer
7, 8	Knocked out for 1d6 turns. With helm, stunned for 1 round
9	Bell ringer.  Stunned for 1 round, unless wearing helm
10	Knocked down, but not out.  Must use an action to stand
11	Someone is watching over you, and doesn't want you to die yet for some inscrutable cosmic reason.  Roll a die.  Even it is a benign or benevolent being, Odd it is a creature of Chaos...  You have 1 Hit Point... but you aren't alone anymore.
12	Surge of adrenaline returns 1d4 hp per level.  At the end of the combat, the adrenaline drains away, hit points are reduced to zero, and the PC faints for 2d6 turns

20 Questions for the Barrowmaze Saga

Eh.

What is the deal with my cleric's religion?
There is the Church of Law, with many saints. Some call it the Church of the One True God but all shrines are dedicated to a saint. St. Ygg is popular as is St. Cuthbert. Also St. Ahleena. St Clewd is mostly forgotten. Old gods such as Crom, Arcantra and Silvanus are paid respects, but they have no church. The Death gods Orcus and his sister Set are worshipped in secret or far from Lawful society. There are other less known Chaos Cults as well, such as Khorne and Slaanesh.

Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
Barrelgut the Blacksmith, Turgen the Trader

Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?
Dwarves of the the Moonpeak Mines

Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

Perhaps the Drune in Dolmenwood, or Ygraine the Sorceress.

Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
Sir Wolverhampton the Wanderer, Red Knight of Blackburn

Who is the richest person in the land?
It is said the Dwarf King is the richest, but it is actually Duke Kell Ironwood

Where can we go to get some magical healing?
Shrine of Ygg in Helix. Church of Law in Ironwood Motte

Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?
Church of Law in Ironwood Motte

Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?
No.  Mazzah the Magnificant has a few to sell. 

Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?
Twisted Tower of Mazzah the Magnificent

Where can I hire mercenaries?
League of Ordinary Gentlemen Hiring Hall in Helix

Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
Within the walls of Ironwood Motte.

Which way to the nearest tavern?
Center of town

What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?
Ravenous Zombies and Steel Skeletons, Crypt Things and Sons of Gaxx, Barrow Wights and Gehennian Goats

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?
Up north in the Forbidden Lands, and army of Chaos grows. Also, there's some crazy stuff in the Underworld.

How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?
Perhaps in the Dolmenwood? Or East in the Slumbering Ursine Dunes?

Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?
Chaos Cults, the Drune, Black Hand Thieves Guild

What is there to eat around here?
Mutton

Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
The Font of Law

Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?
In the BarrowMaze or in Skull Mountain

Uncommon Evening: Playing Elf Games While Married

I'm newly married.  Last night my wife and I enjoyed a pleasant evening in, cooking a lovely meal, drinking wine, and making it halfway through a game of Ticket to Ride.  During dinner we got to talk about the state of the new marriage.  I am so very happy with my lady love, but there's one thing she's never done for me.  

-"What's that?" she said.  

-"Be my Dungeon Master."

She plays an elf wizard in our weekly D&D game, but she plays very casually and she had never even considered running a game herself.  Half drunk, we gave it a go.

I said, "I'm a hobbit named Dougie." 

She said, "You are walking through a forest, a clear path, but brambly.  Why are you there?"

-"I'm looking for the witch of the wood.  I want her to turn the evil duke's tax collector into a pig."

-"Ok.  How do I decide what happens next?"

-"Here, use this chart.  I think you roll a d20." I handed her the Labryinth Lord book. 

-"You see a bugbear!  He says, 'What are you doing here?'"

-"Oh shit!  I tell him I'm looking for the Witch.  Can he tell me which way the witch went?"

"I don't know what the bugbear will do.  How do I know?"

"You either decide, or you can roll the dice. 2d6 for a reaction roll."

"I'll roll."

"Hold on. Let me find out what my Charisma is!"  I rolled 3d6, scoring a 16!  "Rad.  I get +1 to that roll."

She rolled a 7: Uncertain.  

-"I toss him a half empty wineskin.  'Take it good sir! Brambleberry Wine, the best!'  And I run away down the path."

-"I guess he doesn't follow.  He drinks the wine."

-"What next?"

-Roll: "What is this?  I don't even know [looks it up] .  You see and eagle a huge huge eagle -a roc."

-"Woah that's big.  You said it was overgrown.  I hide under the brush."

-"Make a roll."

-Roll to find out my Dexterity score: 7 "Terrible!  Roll under on a d24.  Not even close!  I ask the roc if it knows where the witch is."

-"I'll roll to see if he speaks."  1 or 2 on the d6.  Rolled a 1.  "It doesn't talk.  The roc swoops down and starts pecking, looking for a little morsel to eat."

-"I run for it!  Can I roll Wildcraft find a hollow log or something?"  Roll to discover a wisdom if 10, then rolled under it on d24.  "Huzzah!  I crawl through the hollow log into a creek bed."

-"You can't say where the log goes!  But ok.  You go up the creek for awhile, leaving the roc behind.  Then you see an elf.  He's fishing with his hands.  He says his name is Eugene."

-"I impress him by catching a fish." Failed roll.

"He's not impressed.  But he sort of likes you so you guys hang out and make camp.  He says he'll show you the way to the witch in the morning."

-"Great.  We camp out then."

-"In the night you are ambushed by the Bugbear!"

-"Oh no!  No you have to play the Elf and the Bugbear."

"Oh geez..."  There ensues a bit of discussion about what Hit Dice are and how they affect attacks and hit points.  The LL book is not perfect for my Uncommon systyem, what with it's descending AC.

Finally, "Working together, you and the elf kill the Bugbear."

-"Huzzah!  Thanks babe."

-"Sure."

18 Charisma!

So, we had a totally spontaneous game, using nothing but the LL wilderness wandering monster tables and it was great.  The wife was totally imaginative and got right into it, rolling to discover the answers to questions she hadn't thought of.  It was a pretty amazing moment.  One I never really thought about or thought would happen.  Silly as it was, it was pretty intimate imaginative moment.  What a rad lady.  I must have aced a bunch of reaction rolls myself.  

Later I rolled the rest of the ability scores for the hobbit.  Dougie is terrible.  6 Intelligence, 7 Dexterity... I made him a cleric.  He just has to pray he survives to find the witch.  

Storm King's Thunder #27: The Return of the King

Probably just a session or two until the end of the campaign, though I have it set up to continue on to the showdown with Tiamat, we will pause for awhile while another takes a turn behind the screen.  

NOTES: DMing wizard fights is hard.  I had to bust out the spell cards to be able to keep track of things (I wouldn't mind cards for monsters and magic items to).  It is very hard to keep them from dying super fast.  I had this one somewhat well defended, but...  battles at 12 level are silly.  Things feel inevitable.  

STORY
An archmage, an assassin and a dragon turtle were not enough to keep the Company of the Raven from freeing the Storm King and setting him back on his throne.

The wizardess sent her owl familiar out to the floating island towers to investigate.  There were three structures, a keep, a longhouse and a short round tower seemingly floating in the rocky bay.  The words of the dead casino boatman of Yartar implied the king was held there somewhere.  But where?  The owl looked in the window of the round tower.  She saw a humble monk in his study, a magical flame lighting the place.  The monk spoke to the familiar, inviting the wizard to speak one on one, without her entourage, for the wizard was wearing the Mask of the Black Dragon.  The owl left and went to look in the longhouse, but a bolt from the keep flew out and speared the poor bird.

The cleric cast Water Walk and the party made their way to the round tower.  There the wizard Althea was called out as the imposter she was (not really a Wyrmspeaker of the Cult of the Dragon), but offered one final chance to give up the mask and join the cult.  She refused and battle between two powerful mages was joined, though the elf wizards allies swiftly came to her aid, the Bard Thief stabbing the flaming archmage in the back.

The archmage soon retreated and the Company gave chase, the barbarian busting down the massive front doors of the long house.  Within were two giant feet, taller than a man!  The ankles were held to the floor by massive chains that glowed with eldritch light.  Beyond, the body of the royal vastness lay still as stone, wrapped in brilliant links.

Battle was joined again as cultists burst forth the defend their prisoner.  The archmage and a certain hidden archer rejoined the fray as well but the spells and blades of the Company put an end to them, as Otto the Bard's epic shout Knock'ed the chains from their hold downs.  The king was free and furious!  He swung the chains in wide arcs, buffeting his rescuers until again the Bardthief spoke of his meetings with the Oracle of Annam in the great temple at the spine of the world and of the state of things in the Maelstrom Court and who sat upon the Wyrmskull Throne.  The king listened to this story and his visage calmed.   "Perhaps the smallfolk are not all so devious and vile.  You have provided me a great service.  Come with me to my court."

But all was not yet over!  Before the barbarian could blow the Conch of Lordship, the island itself surged and shifted and a great head lifted itself out of the water, a tower perched upon its head.  The "island" was the back of a great turtle!  The thing exhaled a mighty blast of steam from its nose, causing the wizardess great pain as she returned to the court beneath the waves, though she was swiftly healed by the cleric.


In the court, the Storm King swiftly asserted his authority, seating himself upon his throne he bestowed gifts upon his rescuers and a quest as well: "I must tend to my lords, for the dukes, counts, and jarls of giant-kind are gripped by the madness of freedom from authority.  It will take me some time, but there may be little time to confront my nemesis Imryth the Blue Dragon, nor to stop her mad plan to renew our endless war by summoning the Mother of Dragons to this world.  You must find her lair and confront her.  Do not be tempted by her offers.  Tiamat is the destruction of the world, and we are its defenders."

MORE NOTES: The three buildings was improvised based on this cool picture.  Otherwise I kept things more or less by the book.  I tried to use the assassin to pick them off, but rolled low.  Knock was a great idea from the player.  I asked for an Arcana roll to see if it would work for each chain.  

Barrowmaze #25: Vault of Gelatin and Ghouls

Once more into the maze.  This week, six doughty venturers braved the barrow horrors.  Getting an early start, two dwarves, two clerics, and two warriors made a swift march to the Mound of the Secret Stair, a discovery from the previous season exploring.  This entrance is known, and they were following muddy tracks down.

Not sure where to explore, the dwarves insisted on following the tracks, until they came to a large chamber with a rune carved  black obelisk.  Lurking at the eastern doorway were 6 ghouls.  The hungry dead were swiftly beaten back, and some of them fled before the light of Ygg.  Chasing east, the company was bemused to see a tomb robber suspended in the air.  It was suspended in a Gelatinous Cube!  The dwarf nearly lost all.

Sometime later, the group were rifling through old bones, pulling up various treasures, when a passage was found in the wall, a secret network of natural tunnels.  Besting a group of sapphire skeletons the group pressed on into the warrens, discovering and slaying a set of runaway ghouls.   They paused as they discovered a dead end chamber filled with musty smelling water, deep in the maze.

They've run down a torch, eaten a ration and used up a handful of their spells.

Notes:
Tonight's battles felt a little easy.  It's got to be a little quick I guess because the monsters do a significant amount of money.  I worry a bit about this continuing as they level up.  Fighters do a lot of damage with the added Deed Dice at 3rd level.  I might have to give monsters full HP per Hit Die, or maybe just switching up to scarier monsters.

Uncommon Dungeons: Thinking about Design Decisions

Lately I've been fiddling about with my "Uncommon Dungeons" ruleset.  A year ago I wrote about my design goals.  The post is still accurate though there has now been over 50 hours of game played, so little things have been tweaked, most recently by adding an encounter or "doom" die. 

I've played it regularly the last year and besides a few bits of confusion with spells, it's feeling pretty smooth.  Characters are reaching 4th level now, which feels pretty high!

Layout
Ultimately it's just another hack like all the others, but I've been laying it out on google docs, squeezing in some old nostalgia art so I can print up a couple of booklets.  It's just 16 pages long including minimized spell lists and a death & dismemberment table.  I've been swapping things about, adjusting fonts and its slowly looking more presentable.  Gear charts are one spread.  Combat on another.  It's all very terse and bullet pointy, but its really only meant for me and my friends.  That said, I think it will feel pretty cool and official to have a physical thing.  In my weekly type V game I don't enforce many houserules because others like to look things up in the books and it feels like its more for those players to play the official game.  When I say it's my "Uncommon Dungeon" game, its a whole different vibe!

Weird Dice Chain and Roll Under Mechanic
I probably didn't think of it myself, but the most unique part is using the roll under mechanic for Ability Checks and Saving Throws, paired with the "weird dice chain" inherited from Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.  This has worked out great.  Rolling a d30 under an average score of 10 is a similar probability as 2 in 6, which is the old Basic Expert way of doing activity checks.  Gaining Expertise to roll d24 is a significant boost but still a crapshoot unless the character has a strong score.  I enjoy the way it emphasizes the actual 3-18 numbers on the sheet and de-emphasizes recalculating numbers before each attack (it's enough that Fighters have to add their Deed Die to hit and Deed Die+Strength bonus to damage, another rule cribbed from DCC).

Spells & Slots
These have been a little tricky as I've avoided writing up big descriptions and tried to mix up spells from Gavin Norman's B/X Essentials project with Lamentations of the Flame Princess spells (though a player messed around with the Summon Monster spell for a moment and decided, "Not worth it".  I think I will allow a standard "double level bonus" to make the "Dominate Monster" roll a little more doable.  So, a 3rd level Wizard gets +6 to the roll, which seems to make summoning 1 and 2 HD demons a little more predictable.  It's still super hectic though.  Not likely to get used often.

The other tricky piece is spell slots.  I allow spontaneous casting.  Almost purely for layout reasons I don't want to make a "Spell Slots per Order per Level" chart.  I'm trying to use "Order" instead of "Level" for spell power categories.
I've settled on the following:

• "Spellcasters' (wizards and clerics) power is limited to spells of Order ≤ ½ level, rounded up. A spellcaster may never cast more higher than lower.  Ex. a 3rd level cleric may cast one 2nd Order spell and two 1st; at 4th level: 3 & 1 or 2 & 2"

I hope that's clear and that it works.  I've tried to offer flexibility to spellcasters.  I hope it doesn't make them dominate at mid-levels.  There have been few attempts at Dangerous Sorcery and Divine Petition.

The DOOOOM Die
We've just used this for three sessions but I really like it.  It's a unified Encounter roll on a d6, based on ideas from the Dungeon of Signs blog.  A roll of 1 still refers to a further encounter table (and encounter distance), but everything else is contained in a single table.  Suddenly resource management is part of the game rather than a forgotten annoyance.   It takes into account fatigue and rations, torches and lantern oil, spell and potion durations! as well as chance discoveries.  I've had the players roll the die for it which keeps me honest and they are starting to dread 1s and root for 6s.

Doom Die

1	Encounter	Roll on Encounter Table and Distance d6: melee 1, short 2-3, medium 4-5, long 6 & Surprise (2 in 6)
2	Expiration	Spells & Potions expire
3	Torch & Lantern	A fickle torch or candle gutters & burns out; ½ flask of oil has burned
4	Luck	Dungeon Dressing, foreshadowing or useful item.
5	Discovery	A clue, secret or curious event
6	Exhaustion	Weary. Rest & eat food or Exhausted (-1 all rolls); roll again

Encumbrance

Finally, I've worked up an encumbrance table, again based on the HMS Apollyon rules, but I haven't used in much yet.  We'll see.

OTHER NOTES

Monsters
I've been using straight B/X monsters, mostly out of the Labyrinth Lord book.

Party for Extra Experience Points
Carousing has been popular, and has inspired a lot of the emergent campaign world.  It is also necessary because at times it doubles the XP for a session.

Monks
No one has played a monk yet.  I've messed about with it, offering a Deed Die that adds a variable bonus to Armor Class as well as attack and damage.  Also Mastery(d20) of the Stealth, Athletics and Lore skills and a better chance to use scrolls.  Could be pretty cool, but maybe too much?

Barrowmaze #24: Crypt of the Grey Ooze

A short session in barrow mound 5.

It turned out the antifa tomb robbers were actually in the employ/thrall of the newly created Church of Aliontus, who showed up with his entourage to dig into the crypt while the dwarves did some drinking.

Aliontus had been reading some old scrolls reference an expedition by paladins long ago, corroborating the story of the ghost of Sir Guy.  It is suggested that the blackguard apostate Sir Dhekeon is entombed in one of these mounds.

Skeletons came alive while the delvers rifled through old bones.  The power of St. Ygg held them back and they were destroyed while cowering.  A sarcophagus was looted only after splattering an acidic grey ooze, at the loss of a suit of chain armor.

Back in town, the carousing ending in many hangovers, and a goblin disease.  The afflicted has begun to turn green, his nose elongating and sprouting warts, eyes be-yellowed.

Storm King's Thunder #26: Sky Whales over the Sea of Swords

Having learned the giant king is "held on the Morkoth", the bard and sorceress did some scholarly research in the libraries of Waterdeep.  Amongst the musty scrolls references to a Morkoth as a type of giant squid, a pirate ship and buried in a list of dragon names.  What could it be?


The crew of the Kelpie's Kiss set sail at dawn, despite the time of year being a dangerous one to sail the Sea of Swords, but the captain was a Harper, who was willing to risk his ship to save the world from the casual violence of giants.

The first days were clear and cold, making good time with the wind in the sails.  "Uncommonly consistent easterlies," muttered Captain Flossin.  Esra the Dark smiled under her hood.

In the distance great sky whales could be seeing plowing through clouds, occasionally diving into the ocean to come up trailing long strands of sea vegetation.

Then the weather turned.  Esra frowned.  A storm came quickly.  The winds howled and ripped at the sails.  The sea grew into a maelstrom of surging waves.  The bard was sea sick.  All the passengers huddled below deck until a crash of lightning and thunder was followed by the arrival of a bedraggled first mate, Sprite, who begged the to come above, for there was company.

Seeming to wade just off the lee of the boat, two massive giants had appeared out of the storm, their hands crackling with electricity.  The first called out in a booming voice like thunder, "Puny small folk!  The queen ordered you to never approach her court again.  She was too kind.  Now you will forfeit your lives."

Battle was joined.  The storm kings threw lightning bolts and boulders at the ship.  The heroes replied with fireballs, and a water walking barbarian who stood toe to toe with the mighty foe.  The drow sorceress took control of the winds around the ship and started pulling it desperately away.

The giant Orlekto fell, slain by a single charmed arrow from the bow of the bard.  His companion wailed in distress and they sank beneath the waves.

Two days later the Kelpie's Kiss limped into the harbor of Rhauthym Isle, in need of repair and resupply.  The small port was full of grim warrior sailors.  The talk of the taverns was the plunder they would gather in the wake of giant destruction.  They did not seem concerned that giants would turn their attention to this small isle.

The Company of the Raven disembarked and hiked overland to where they had heard of a gathering of purple hued warriors, paying passage through the pasturelands with songs and news of the mainland.

The purple beach on the western shore held a crude encampment of some two dozen men, long haired, heavily tattooed, their skin stained purple.  They confronted the company, crying out "Hail Tiamat", but were quickly scattered by demon skull mace of terror.

Suddenly Althea the Wizardess donned her Mask of the Black Dragon.  Instantly the purple barbarian dragon cultists dropped to their knees.  "High Wyrmspeaker!  We did not know!  What orders do you have from Tiamat, Mother of Dragons, whose wrath will return to burn the world in flame and fire!"

Althea demanded the location of Hekaton the Storm Giant King.  The purple men pointed west, where just off shore a small islet with a keep could be scene.  As they watched, it seemed to move...

.......

DM Notes: 
I thought quite a bit about how to run the nautical travel section.  I've been talking with my friend who will take over DMing next for Tomb of Annihilation about hexcrawls.  We tested out some hex-crawl procedures, then tested the journey rules from Adventures in Middle Earth, which we preferred.   I thought of using those, but finally decided to just hand wave it.  At this point in the campaign the players and I want to get there.  The end is in sight.  Rolling for encounters and events would be a side track.  We didn't need to add rules and procedures.  As it was I decided an attack at the behest of the evil Queen Mirran was in the cards, which took up most of a short session.  Two storm giants are a serious handful for a 11th level characters.

I completely improvised the island of Rhauthym.  I read the paragraph in the book, then riffed made stuff up.  The encounter on the beach was improvised but I had a great minds eye image of an early scene from the show Vikings, when they encounter the Saxon king.

I hadn't completely had it clear in my mind until this session, but the "Purple Rocks" and "Purple Vikings" thing is all a call back to the purple robes of the Cult of the Dragon.  They are all out there helping keep the giants out of order so Tiamat can return.

The wizard has had the Mask of the Black Dragon for three years of play time.  She got it when I used part of Hoard of the Dragon Queen in a different campaign.  That character then joined up with this group when they returned to the Forgotten Realms from Ravenloft.  A dragon stole it once, but she got it back.  It may end up being the key to the end game of the campaign, though that might not actually happen for a long while as I think we'll suspend this one pretty soon.