Knaves in the Moathouse

"What's a gambeson?"

Tonight I ran my wife and a buddy through the Moathouse using the new Knave rules, written by Ben Milton of Questing Beast.  They both were eaten by the giant lizard.  She got to dramatically rip her char sheet in two.
Fun session.
They both got into rolling up their traits before even stats and the inventory game was crucial.  As they found loot they kept dropping gear and debating if it would be useful later.
I also provided three random spells.  Increase Gravity was used very cleverly to collapse the damaged roof of the main hall on top of bandits.

The other houserules I used were a death and dismemberment table and a hazard die roll for initiative and encounters.  Worked great.
This was the first time the lil lady has had a character die in 5 years of gaming.  She fully enjoyed it.  I liked how fast and loose it was, especially compared to the slog of battles in our type V game (6th level in Tomb of Annihilation).
I'd like to use these Knave rules when I finally introduce rpgs to my after school club of 6th graders and I think I'll incorporate elements into my Uncommon rules.  I've been toying with a semi-level-less spell system...

Storm King's Thunder #30: Doom in the Desert

Finished it.  The campaign met its finale with a final battle against the blue dragon.  No PCs died, though I kinda spaced out and forgot to attack a couple of times.  High level fighting is silly. 
Happy to turn over the DM screen to my friend for Tomb of Annihilation!
We'll have some one-shots occasionally where they will finally fight Tiamat.  I'm thinking instead of using Rise of Tiamat, I'll use some of the high level stuff from Out of the Abyss.  Fight some demons then go to hell and fight Tiamat.

The best part was the holiday spirit.  Pants brought custom shirts for everyone with a red d4 pun on them.  The group also went in on buying me the new book, Xanathar's Guide.  Second year in a row I have received a Christmas book signed by my players.  I was really touched.  I feel so lucky to have this group these days.  It's been two solid years of D&D.  The wife's wizard is 12th level.  We played through two official Type VI campaign books and I am totally ready to hand off the DM duties.  The location will change as well.  We'll play at the next door neighbor's house.  It will be a good change of pace.  I got a bit tired of the plotted out campaign and I wasn't as excited to DM the newest book, though I'm stoked to play in it.  Of course, my Barrowmaze campaign continues, with my heartbreaker booklet that I am more into every time I play. 

The battle itself was fine.  Imryth lurked in her sand pile for awhile while her gargoyles and cave-ins softened up the intruders.  A pit to Hell was found, guarded by a massive bronze statue of Tiamat, who exhaled poison gas and whispered words of doom and portent, of the coming of the Mother of Wyrms.  Finally Althea the Bearer of the Black Mask donned her cursed garb and was assailed by doubt and temptation.  She knew that she needed only to betray her company to the reap a reward of ultimate power upon the coming of the Apocalypse, but though she wavered she would not be turned.  The fire lady launched a fireball into the sand pile, revealing the ancient blue wyrm! 

The old conniver was enraged.  She surged forward and roared her electrical fury at the Company of the Raven, leaving the elven mages, both light and dark, a pair of smoking ruins.  A red skinned demon emerged to steal Althea's Mask of the Black Dragon.  Apollo healed his magical friends.  The barbarian and bard assassin engaged with the demon then the dragon herself.  Though her tail thrashed and the heroes were between within inches of their lives, the might of sword and spell prevailed just as it had in Barovia against the dread lord Strahd.  The dragon was slain and the realms were safe for a time.

The Maelstrom Court pledged friendship and alliance with the Lords of Waterdeep.  Bards sang the praises of the brave cloud sailors.  Noble titles and lands in contested places were bestowed, with great thanks from the people of the Sword Coast.  Yet even as the depredations of giants eased, a low rumble of rumour and dread was heard from place deep below...

Storm King's Thunder #29: Heavy Lifting in the Battle of Ascore

TL DR  Ultimate battle?  In the midst of the heroes battling gargoyles above the sands of the Anaurach Desert, it was proposed that initiative be decided based on contests of strength between me the DM and various players (we usually use side initiative on a d12).  I won the first push up contest(22), then lost the second(31),  then lost a pull-up contest(7), and finally outlasted my wife in a side-plank contest.  Hilarity ensued.  Yes a bottle of wine was involved.

DM Notes
The end is nigh.  I can almost taste it.  And I don't mean the imminent return of Tiamat.  I mean the campaign itself.  With this last battle against the Blue Menace of the Anaurach I plan to hand over the reins to a friend and retire from DMing type V D&D.  I hope it feels satisfying enough for the group, but I'd like to pause it for awhile and pick it back up on an episodic basis, roleplaying a scene here and there before another epic battle with the queen of dragons.  At this level plot points seem sort of inevitable and less surprising, at least for me.  I'd like to make the playing through of those plot points special occasions instead of weekly affairs.  I'd never really agreed with the term "to play through" a module until things got to around the 10th level, when astute players can more or less make things happen as they like.  I'm looking forward to being surprised by the game again, this time as a player in Tomb of Annihilation!

In the meantime, I'm hoping to make this battle one to remember.  They've already taken down a couple dragons during this campaign.  This time they've already had their plans shifted by terrain and spells drained by multitudes of minions.  I hope to make it a running battle in a cyclopean min-dungeon, with mysteries and traps along with their ultimate foe.  I won't say I want to kill some characters, but if one or two die it wouldn't make the campaign less dramatic.

The Story
The Red Balloon arrived in Silverymoon to great fanfare.  The glitterati of the city turned out to celebrate the heroes of the realm, who had walked the very halls of the Maelstrom Court and not only lived but returned as friends and allies of the Storm King himself!  They were invited to many balls, feasts, and theatrical performances, their deeds were turned to song, and all the kind help of a grateful kingdom was opened to them.  For a time, all was well, but the doom of the Drakkorn still echoed in the hearts of the mighty and though giant kind had ceased their destructive depredations, dragons continued to sail out of the northern reaches, headed for some southern clime.  A migration? or a meeting?

Feeling there was little time to waste, the Red Ballon set forth once again, now crewed by hearty men with curly beards, into the oncoming storm of the desert.  From the ancient ruined city of Ascore could be seen a violent thunder storm swirling above the great amphitheater said to crown the lair of the ancient sapphire wyrm to whose credit was due the manifold sufferings of the Forgotten Realms these many months.  The crew landed the Red Balloon and approached under the influence of magical spells of Flight, cruising low.  Even so, heavy stones, fragments of statuary were launched at their approach by vigilant gargoyles, one catching the cleric Apollo on the shoulder blade, sending him crashing into the sand. 

Althea the Wizardess and Ezra the Storm Sorceress summoned fire and ice to shatter the guardians, and Ezra sensed a great malevolent presence guiding the storm above.

Circling about, chased by dozens of stoney, bat winged devil statues, the heroes dove into a great hole in the ground within the amphitheater, finding themselves in a massive vaulted underground chamber.  Gargoyles screeched above.  A massive presence filled the space.  They were not welcome here...

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.