Today we go looking through the bard's backpack while they are off wooing crowds and taking requests for lovebirds. Expecting a host of romantic pamphlets, we find instead a small collection of useful notes that make for a good read. Tricky those bards are, they probably took the saucy bits with them. Still, you won't be disappointed by this month's selection.
First out of thebag is a supplement for the Tomb of Annihilation written by a couple of the Guild Adepts, Rich Lescouflair and Ruty Rutenberg. Secret Societies of Chult: The Spiritlords is a short and concise bit of added fluff and crunch for the ToA campaign. It tells of the Spiritlords, an order of priests in touch with the primordial forces of the jungle. There is a write up of the Spiritlords and then a new druid circle: the Circle of the Spiritlord. This circle provides an elemental connection to jungle spirits, giving extra cantrips and damage bonuses. In addition the authors provide sample adventure ideas for Spiritlord campaigns.
Finally there are three monsters rounding off the goodness in the tome. I especially like seeing the Howler back for use in 5e.
Next up is a selection from Sebastian Perez and CaravanaRPG. River Crossing is a small campaign addition that provides encounters and ideas for when a party comes to a river and must cross it. I think this a fantastic product! Mr. Perez gives three examples of opposed river crossing as well as some notion of how the party ended up in such a situation. The first encounter is a skill challenge and the DCs might be difficult for low level characters.What is nice though, is how the encounter is not simply solved by a single die roll. Instead it requires multiple skill checks, adding tension. Some of the checks may seem atypical, but are easily changed out for more traditional ones if that suits you. The other two encounters are more traditional, with multiple opponents combined with terrain (a ford and bridge) adding to the complexity of the encounter.
Even the best games masters need help coming up with encounters at times and those provided in River Crossing give a great framework on which to build. CaravnaRPG provides products in English and Spanish, though not all of them in each language. Cruce de Rio is also available in Spanish for those who speak that language. Definitely check out this product.
The third tome out of the bard's bag is an adventure from Aaron M. Lopez. The Discarded Gem is the first part of the Brotherhood of Torment series. The adventure takes place in Halruaa, a well known kingdom of magic and one of the great southern kingdoms of the Realms. Post the Spell Plague and the return of the kingdom, the elders of Halruaa are worried that their magical secrets may get out and into the wrong hands. The module incorporates the ideas of Factions into the story line for those who enjoy that system.
A lot of work went into the layout of this module and it is quite pleasing to the eye. Though not in typical Adventure League or template style the module is well organized and flows pretty well. The DM will find it easy to go from one encounter to another and there are role playing tips and other details that make running the adventure easier. I cannot say enough about the art style as well and look forward to the next part in the series, which is not out yet as far as I can tell.
Next month we will get back to looting tombs of their treasures, assuming the bard is speaking to us by then. Until then...
contributed by Sean Hillman
Finally there are three monsters rounding off the goodness in the tome. I especially like seeing the Howler back for use in 5e.
Next up is a selection from Sebastian Perez and CaravanaRPG. River Crossing is a small campaign addition that provides encounters and ideas for when a party comes to a river and must cross it. I think this a fantastic product! Mr. Perez gives three examples of opposed river crossing as well as some notion of how the party ended up in such a situation. The first encounter is a skill challenge and the DCs might be difficult for low level characters.What is nice though, is how the encounter is not simply solved by a single die roll. Instead it requires multiple skill checks, adding tension. Some of the checks may seem atypical, but are easily changed out for more traditional ones if that suits you. The other two encounters are more traditional, with multiple opponents combined with terrain (a ford and bridge) adding to the complexity of the encounter.
Even the best games masters need help coming up with encounters at times and those provided in River Crossing give a great framework on which to build. CaravnaRPG provides products in English and Spanish, though not all of them in each language. Cruce de Rio is also available in Spanish for those who speak that language. Definitely check out this product.
The third tome out of the bard's bag is an adventure from Aaron M. Lopez. The Discarded Gem is the first part of the Brotherhood of Torment series. The adventure takes place in Halruaa, a well known kingdom of magic and one of the great southern kingdoms of the Realms. Post the Spell Plague and the return of the kingdom, the elders of Halruaa are worried that their magical secrets may get out and into the wrong hands. The module incorporates the ideas of Factions into the story line for those who enjoy that system.
A lot of work went into the layout of this module and it is quite pleasing to the eye. Though not in typical Adventure League or template style the module is well organized and flows pretty well. The DM will find it easy to go from one encounter to another and there are role playing tips and other details that make running the adventure easier. I cannot say enough about the art style as well and look forward to the next part in the series, which is not out yet as far as I can tell.
Next month we will get back to looting tombs of their treasures, assuming the bard is speaking to us by then. Until then...
contributed by Sean Hillman
