D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 55 Recap

We stealthily infiltrate The Weevil’s urban fortress, aiming to take him out once and for all.

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Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

I let my Mask of Many Faces wash over me, transforming me into a haggard, decrepit man. The kind whom people tend to avoid while walking around a city.

I completed the disguise with some quality under-the-breath mutterings as I wandered near The Leaky Barrel Inn, the last known location of The Weevil here in Everlund.

A hired guard kept me from wandering too close down an adjoining alley, but through the window I could spot the sellsword Bryseis had told us about. As the guard escorted me away I reached out with my mind, informing the well-groomed man that there was more coin in it for him if he came outside and had a little chat a few blocks away.

It was risky, but it worked. As I shuffled away I could hear the man give out a loud laugh and open the door, slapping the guard on the back as he stumbled, presumably on the noble quest of booze-hunting.

He followed me around the corner, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms. I turned, and a smile crept along his face. “Standard rate my friend. You double his cost, I turn on my employer.”

Back in Everlund we had one very important loose thread dangling in front of us: The Weevil. Krowen informed us that, thanks in large part to Bryseis’ clandestine networking, we knew not only that The Weevil was in town, but also that he was staying at a specific abandoned inn in a rough part of town. And this time we weren’t aiming to capture him. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 55 Recap”

Roll20 Review: Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes (Rrakkma)

Mordenkainen adds a host of exotic, alien, and demonic creatures, while Rrakkma provides a sample dungeon crawl in the Plane of Madness.

A press review copy of the module was provided. Find more Roll20 Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is the third official bestiary released for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition, following the original Monster Manual (2014) and Volo’s Guide to Monsters (2016). At this point we’ve cataloged all of the creatures we’d find in a typical fantasy setting. The Tome of Foes provides much more exotic fare. If you love your cosmic horror and demons, Mordenkainen is here for you.

In the interest of reviewing a bestiary for Roll20, I’ll be focusing this review on the free Adventurer’s League tie-in adventure, “Rrakkma.”

Note that “Rrakkma” is only available to Roll20 Pro subscribers.

Continue reading “Roll20 Review: Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes (Rrakkma)”

1,000 YouTube Subscribers!

A thank you to fans.

I’m proud to announce that I have hit quadruple digits on my YouTube channel this month!

I’m incredibly thankful and humbled by all the fans. YouTube has a dubious reputation when it comes to community but for the most part the comments and live stream chats have been nothing but positive and fun.

I’ve been uploading videos to YouTube for years, beginning with poorly streamed Let’s Plays of video games with cheap mics, bad audio, and choppy video quality. It wasn’t until 2015 when I began recording and streaming our Roll20 RPG sessions that we really began to find an audience.

Some of you have been with us since Storm King’s Thunder began, others with Lost Mine of Phandelver and even a few of you still make reference to our Shadowrun campaign. The in-universe jokes, from the Graham Cracker Crew to zombie Tims to Jake from State Farm always put a smile on my face.

A few of you have been asking how you can support the channel and my work. I’ve been looking into some options and researching what methods work best, whether its Amazon affiliate links, Patreon, Ko-fi, or a YouTube partnership.

Rest assured that I will never gate our primary RPG streams behind any kind of paywall. Any monetary support would be purely optional, and help me produce more higher quality videos at a steady pace, particularly extra content like my DMs Guild Reviews, Roll20 Reviews, and board game reviews.

This whole venture began as a labor of love and an effective creative outlet. It warms my heart to see so many of you enjoying it along with us. We have more exciting things planned for the future, including our next D&D campaign where I return to the DM’s chair.

Thank you so much for subscribing to my humble channel, for leaving positive (or constructive!) comments, and for chatting during our weekly live streams. Here’s to the next 1,000 fans!

Westworld Season 2 Episode 5 “Akane No Mai” Recap

Maeve levels up her abilities in Shogunworld, while Delores makes a final decision on Teddy.

No more fun teases – Shogunworld is finally here! In this week’s episode of Westworld Team Maeve has been captured by a mysterious group of Japanese outlaws who are not-so-coincidentally familiar to her own posse, while Delores makes her final decision on what to do with Teddy. Continue reading “Westworld Season 2 Episode 5 “Akane No Mai” Recap”

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 54 Recap

We meet Countess Sansuri of the Cloud Giants and attempt to bargain for the magical shell.

Streamed, recorded and uploaded every week. Subscribe for our weekly adventures. Join us live on Fridays at 7pm Pacific/10pm Eastern!

Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

The 30-ft tall queen of the cloud giants strode into the room, carrying all the haughty annoyance that I had expected. She stopped, her mouth practically hanging open as she surveyed us standing there, our hippogriffs nervously pawing at the ground behind us. 

I took a deep breath and bowed deeply with all the respectful flourish I could muster.

“Your majesty,” I began. My mind was spinning. We were conch inspectors – no – we were hunting that foul group who just made off with her dragon. And stole all the treasure from her study! Those rascals. We’d catch them for sure. 

But we still needed that shell, and only she could summon it. Behind us Cressaro spoke up in a monotone that made me smile: “It is of the utmost importance that we retrieve the shell.” He was still under my influence.

I then offered to give her what she wanted – the location of some ancient dragon magic. The Countess began to slowly lower her guard. 

I was on a roll as she retrieved the magical chest, spoke the words, and brought forth the shell. “Tell it to me now,” she demanded, while holding the shell.

Before I could speak I felt my spell dissipate from Cressaro, its command full-filled. I instantly reached out with my mind to warn the others around me, starting with nearby T.I.M. <GRAB THE SHELL> I screamed into his mind.

Somehow the enlarged construct gracefully leapt forward and gingerly snatched the shell from her hand. Then the room exploded.

Storm King’s Thunder has been mostly bereft of large-scale dungeons, making it almost the complete opposite of our previous campaign. It’s ironic that when we finally reach a big dungeon, we skip almost all of the content.

Yet Lyn Armaal still took us a solid four sessions to get through, thanks to complex planning and strategy. We turned it into a heist mission, a rescue mission, and finally some hilarious diplomacy as we meet with Countess Sansuri, acquire the magical conch shell of teleportation, and get the hell out of dodge. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 54 Recap”

DMs Guild Review: The Theocracy

Infiltrate a militant temple of Tyr to recover a magical artifact in this heist adventure for 11-16th level.

A review copy of The Theocracy was provided for the purposes of this review.

Designed by: JVC Parry

dms guild reviewJVC Parry is one of my favorite creators on the DMs Guild. He’s produced many quality one-shot adventures with neat ideas and well-designed miniature dungeon crawls.

“The Theocracy” is Parry’s latest adventure, and while the actual title is hopelessly generic, it offers a substantially deeper, higher level dungeon crawl with a unique, richly detailed theme.

The twist is that the “dungeon” is actually a Temple of Tyr (the Forgotten Realms’ militant God of Justice), and the PCs are tasked with retrieving an important magical item – hopefully without declaring war on a bunch of paladins, priests, and a gods damn angel. Continue reading “DMs Guild Review: The Theocracy”

Frostpunk Review [Pixelkin]

A unique post-apocalyptic city-builder that forces you to maintain hope as much as heat and wood.

Read the full review at Pixelkin

Things were going well, or least as well as can be expected against an apocalyptic snowstorm, until the temperature plummeted another 40 degrees. “Snowmaggeddon” is a joke during brutal winters. But nobody’s laughing in the world of Frostpunk when temperatures approach -90 degrees, rendering most of the world uninhabitable.

In the last city my supply of coal dwindled to nothing as my geothermic reactor began shutting down. I watched a cascade of Bad News as my workforce grew sick, homes grew cold, and people began dying.

I was forced to pass a law to enable emergency 24 hour shifts. Brave men and women operated frozen coal mines in the dead of night to give us the juice we needed. Some grew sick, and some were so frostbitten they had to have limbs amputated.

But the city survived. These harrowing moments solidify Frostpunk as one of the most memorable and emotional city building sims I’ve ever played.

Read the full review at Pixelkin