D&D General Uncanonical Adventures in Mystara.

[not-so-newguy]

I've been playing with a group that's fairly new to ttrpg's and having a blast. Despite all their enthusiasm, serious mistakes have been made. Here's a synopsis of about 5 hours of play. The campaign is set in Mystara, but I've been trying to hew closer to the wotc PHB rather than to Glen Welch's Mystara PHB because they're new and still learning.

Fendric Halfling (Hin) Paladin
Jake Thistle Halfling (Hin) Thief
Irvin half-elf (Callari Elf raised in human society) Bard
William Gnome (High Forge) Wizard

7:00 am Arrive in Ilnov

8:00 am eat at local tavern.

9:00 am begin travel to ruins

10:00 am Enter dungeon
Travel south.Fight skeletons. Fendric is badly wounded, but healed.
Travel south. Empty room with 4 doors.
Travel west. Long hall with south door to empty room. Debate about long rest. Decide to keep going.
Travel back east to empty room.
Travel east and fight giant rats amongst piles of garbage. A jelly-like cube with iridescent skin enters through the east door, deposits garbage and exits through the east door. Many strange trinkets are found. Jake Thistle pockets a silver dagger and nobody in the party sees him.
Travel south. Very long hall.
Travel west. Very very long hall. Enter door to the north. Unlike other doors, this one opens easily and is painted orange. This room is unlike all others so far. It looks recently built. The walls are plastered and painted. There's another orange painted door to the north. There's a stairway up along the east wall. On the stairway is a giant constrictor snake. Fight ensues. Irvin nearly dies, but Fendric resuscitates and partially heals him.
Travel up staircase. A kitchen that was used several hours ago.
Travel up staircase. A wizard's study with a large desk and bookcase. Find a Scroll of Stone to Flesh and an Unidentified Wand.
Travel up staircase. The rooftop of a building in the town of Ilnov. South of the dungeon entrance.

12:00pm Take a long rest on the rooftop. For the next 6 hours or so, nothing happens.

6:30pm The party is asleep with Irvin on watch. He hears commotion downstairs. Judging from what he can hear, apparently some guy is angry about his dead pet snake and stolen prized possessions. Another guy, named Cheda, exclaims about finding footprints going up the stairs (I was rolling high). Irvin surprises them when he throws open the trapdoor open and casts a Sleep spell. Unfortunately, it doesn't work and the fight is on. The party faces the scarred thug Cheda and a wizard from Glantri (Hin hate Glantri people, especially wizards*). Despite a scrappy effort, the depleted party is overmatched. While William and Jake plead for their lives, Irvin and Fendric bleed out and die. The Glantri wizard allows them to live in exchange for a few favors.

Details on the Glantri wizard and Cheda will be coming in the next couple of days.

If there's a lesson to be learned here, then it's this: It's ok to kill a man's pet and steal his prized possessions, just don't sleep on his rooftop right after the deeds are done.

*this note was for the one player that wanted to play the hinniest Hin that ever hinned the Five Shores. RIP Fendric


Follow up play, via message group

After Fendric and Irvin bleed out, Jendinmere the Glantri Wizard has this to say:

"I suppose you imagine yourself adventurers, looking to pillage a tomb or two and slay the unsuspecting inhabitants eh? Well, normally I'd just obliterate you and be done; but I am in need of your skills. In a day or two you will have new companions and the four of you will handle some cultists and smugglers for me. Do this and I'll let you live.

[casts spell]

I have done what I can to preserve these bodies so the rot won't attract ghouls. While we wait for your new companions, take these dead ones and find the cube downstairs." [The Wizard and the Thug make it clear that they will resort to violence if this last order isn't carried out immediately]

We will get your reactions at the beginning of the next session.

Here's some STRICTLY DM INFO ONLY that I over-shared with my players (I blame coffee)

Glantri Wizard

Jendinmere Von Thoymoychist III is performing a pet project for House Igorov, a Glantri noble house with roots in Karameikos. There is evidence that the ancestors of the Igorov family are located in the catacombs of Ilnov and the Wizard is tasked with locating them. There are two groups standing in his way: The smugglers and the cultists. The smugglers are using the caves to the west and transporting goods through his hallway, disrupting his work. The cultist are located in the northeast and perform rituals in the catacombs under the cemetery. Jendinmere, using funds from House Igorov, has sent out house agents to Mirros seeking adventurers for hire. This is where Domingo & Diover's characters come in.


Cheda the Sidekick

Cheda is a rough looking sailor who perhaps has taken a debilitating hit on the head. He's dumb as a doorknob and 100% loyal to Jendinmere.