Scheduling for IRON DM 2015

Word limits! My nemesis (when they aren't explicit)! I'm in.

So far it's looking like a repeat of last year's lineup.

Does anyone new want to throw their hat in the ring and see what they're made of?

All the cool kids are doing it.

Last year it was held on because of my schedules. I will not interfere this year.

When will the contest actually run?

It will begin as soon as we get 8 contestants. It will probably take two to three weeks to complete, based on scheduling.

An example entry:

Ivy
Toadstool
Wind Chimes
Goblin Shaman
Magic Mouth
Goblet

Diplomatic Breakdown
A low-level adventure for 5e D&D.

Synopsis:

The human kingdom of Fractis has invited the savage Goblin Tribes to peace-talks at a remote manor near the frontier. When the goblins' leader appears to be assassinated, human spell-casters start turning up dead and tempers fray, creating conditions ideal for a surprise attack.

Hooks:

The PCs' involvement in this adventure assumes that they have business in the manor during the meeting, most likely as guards or covert operatives for one of the human factions.

Venue:

The peace-talks are being held in a minor lord's summer manor. It is a blend of rustic charm and elegance. Bricks fashioned from local clay stand behind stately columns, all supporting streamers of a beautiful verdant ivy. The lower story has multiple common rooms, servants' quarters, a kitchen, a foyer, and a large dining room, while the upper story has several guest rooms and private water closets. The whole is opulently furnished.

Meeting:

Several lords representing factions within Fractis have met with a small contingent of representatives from the Goblin Tribes to share a meal and discuss the possibility of ending a decades-long war. During the meal, the goblins' leader, the shaman, Razormaw, excuses himself from the table, taking his drink with him. Shortly thereafter, he is discovered dead on the front porch and a Magic Mouth spell on his goblet activates to say, "The savage dies. You shall have no peace." Soon after, the remainder of the Goblin Tribe delegation departs with Razormaw's body in a fury.

This throws the household and the diplomats into chaotic confusion. Egos among the disparate factions flare and accusations abound. Several independent investigations are begun--some, perhaps, by the PCs.

These may reveal:

• The Magic Mouth's voice seemed distorted and unnatural, though few know that that is unusual.
  
  
• Razormaw's goblet has traces of a powdered indigenous poisonous toadstool on its rim.
  
  
• An opened packet of the poisonous powdered toadstool can be found in the kitchen.
  
  
• Razormaw's spell-casting focus--a small set of bone wind chimes--is missing.

Restless Night:

Nobody sleeps well that night and guards are exceptionally vigilant, yet morning finds several of the manor's guests--all spell-casters--have been strangled overnight. In all cases, their guards heard a faint melody of percussive chimes at some point during the night, followed by goblinish voices down the hall, but investigations revealed no sources.

The Truth:

• Prior to the gathering, Razormaw took a scouting party to the manor and cast Awaken on the ivy covering the front.
  
  
• Ivy witnessed both Razormaw's death and the Magic Mouth message and has been wreaking vengeance. She believes a human spell-caster is responsible, but is not smart enough to distinguish between spell-casting types.
  
  
• Ivy also witnessed Razormaw cast a spell right before dying, but doesn't know its significance.
  
  
• Ivy has a level in the bard class (she otherwise has the stats of an Awakened vine blight, with Lawful Neutral alignment), but cannot cast spells with verbal components. She has been using Razormaw's wind chimes as a focus to cast Minor Illusion as a diversion before creeping into a spell-caster's room (via window or beneath the door) and strangling them. Thus, when Alarm spells are triggered, the guards are too distant to help.
  
  
• If any PCs are spell-casters, they are likely the target of one such attack.
  
  
• Razormaw lives; he merely cast Feign Death upon himself.
  
  
• Razormaw has both bard and druid levels (the bone wind chimes double as a focus for both). This allowed him to cast the Magic Mouth spell on the goblet while in the foyer, outside of Ivy's range of perception.
  
  
• Razormaw used an Unseen Servant to plant the toadstool powder in the kitchen.
  
  
• Razormaw's intent was threefold: to gather several human leaders in one place, create disorder among the factions, and eliminate as many spell-casters as possible in advance of a surprise attack.

Attack:

The goblins attack at nightfall of the second day, taking advantage of the darkness and their ability to swiftly hide to make numerous guerrilla strikes. If Ivy lives, she will ambush any humans caught alone inside the manor.

The assaults last throughout the night, or until fifty goblins have been killed. In the latter case, the goblins are sufficiently weakened that a meaningful peace may possibly be brokered in the future, at least for a while. In the former, the humans' position in the region will be crippled and retreat a likely necessity.

The above is an example of what a first round entry might look like. It wrote it without foreknowledge of the ingredients (my brother picked them) and posted a mere 21 hours and 52 minutes after I received the ingredients. It comes in at 749 words.

This is totally doable, guys.

I might add that I found that set of ingredients somewhat tricky. With no locations, only one person, and so many things it was a real struggle to stay away from MacGuffinville. Which is why a turned one of them into a person.

As it is, were I critiquing the piece, I would call out the goblet and the toadstool as both being replaceable and mostly tangential to the adventure. I spent a lot of time trying to make the toadstool a person like Ivy, but I just couldn't make it make sense.

I might also note that the necessity of the shaman-ness of Razormaw is questionable. It is necessary that he be a druid and a bard for his spell selection to make sense, but the role of a shaman is not just as a tribal spiritual leader; it also is a healer--and that was neither evident (except by implication of bard and druid spells) nor important in Razormaw.

Ultimately, though, the ingredients fit together well enough and the adventure is one I could see myself running.

And I feel kind of sorry for Ivy, being duped by her creator and all. If she survives, I wonder what kind of retribution she might take.

Deuce Traveler said:

I, sir, am willing to lose again.

Click to expand...

That's the spirit!

Also, as a scheduling note, I will be helping run a camp sans internet for a week starting eight days from now (27th), but other than that I'll be good for about anytime.