Desperately Seeking Joy: Thankfulness Edition Day 6

 

Day 6: Funky T-Shirts

I am a t-shirt addict. Like... I literally have a different t-shirt to wear each day of the year and then some! I love celebrating with t-shirts and I love how funky they can be. This thankfulness reminder is brought to you by SnorgTees and their really adorable D&D Christmas t-shirt that I ordered for myself and my daughter.

Dungeons & Dragons: One Shot - The Haunt (Part 1)

 

I wanted to do a fun little Halloween play with my family and our friend, so I looked around and found the #1 recommended Halloween One Shot: The Haunt. I know there are tons of options out there, but this one kept popping up and it's a haunted house, so I figured it'd be good to go. While I prepped for the One Shot, I wasn't disappointed with the interesting twists and turns of the content.

The characters were recommended to be at Level 4 or 5. I had my group make Level 5 characters. The only information I gave them was that it was a haunted house in the woods. What they created was up to what they thought they might need.

Bazhlissh - Yuan-ti Pureblood Druid/Circle of the Stars (Lawful Good)

Gretchen Whispermouse - Halfling Wizard/School of Divination (Chaotic Good)

StarShadow - Kobold Rogue/Arcane Trickster (Chaotic Good)

Stash - Halfling Rogue/Inquisitive (Neutral Good)

I also already anticipated the scenario taking at least two sessions and not one, because my daughter, who is the kobold, is only 10yo. So we couldn't plan on a day-long session of play, but instead I split it into two pieces. The split is perfect, but I also have to see how the adventure unfolds so see how my daughter is doing.

Since this is a One Shot, the group didn't have much of a backstory. So I started with one of the suggested adventure hooks and wove a small backstory around that. 

The group is known for their hunting of the supernatural in the area. They just finished a case dealing with werewolves and were wrapping up the case with they were approached by Mayor Thom. Mayor Thom explained that people had been going missing when traveling around the notorious Montarthas Manor. People suspect foul place, but have been unable to locate any beasts or other questionable creatures in the area that could be causing these people to disappear without a trace. It had been rumored that some sort of spirits might be attracting and attacking the people. 

I, as the DM, decided that the group takes the assignment and they are able to do some research in the village before heading to the manor (as a few had knowledge of history skills to use). I used the background to give the players some idea of what they're exploring and some history of the manor. I mostly focus on factual information, allowing for other speculation to come to light while they explore the manor. This would be the information about the night hag, Gertrude.

They start on the path to the front door of the mansion. Gretchen uses calk to create light and then they spend their time trying to get in. Gretchen is, of course, obsessed with the blue eyes that are staring out at them from a window nearby. I thought for sure that it would be difficult to get them to walk away from the door, which is part of the setup, but they finally decided to look for another way in and I was able to do the cool, creepy door opening. 

Their first encounter is in the Manor Entryway and really put the small band of investigators to the test. The gargoyles came to life and were only responsive to certain types of attacks. It rendered my rogue useless and I had to lend aide to the others as they tried to take them down. It was a rough first encounter and put my crew on high alert. We needed an immediate rest to recoup.

In the next room they finally met the doll. I used a picture of the Annabelle doll from the Conjuring Universe movies. We shrunk her, though, so she was a smaller version of the movie doll version. My friend became obsessed with her, wanting to "be friendly" with the doll. The rest of the group became interested in the portcullis that was blocking the stairs and the griffin statue. 

I didn't have much happen, because they weren't pulling on the griffin statue's paw and they moved on to the tea room where a chandelier fell on Bazhlissh, but he succeeded a dexterity save to get out of the way. 

With some guidance, they were able to find the secret passage and the rest of the first floor was investigation. The best part was when they encountered the Zombie Beholder in the pool area! My husband and my friend knew how horrible Beholders were and freaked. But I didn't roll the disintegration ray, so they lucked out. 

The final part, before going upstairs, was the basement and I had to essentially tell them to either go in the basement or skip it. I think that's one of the things that I don't like about the way this is planned out, but I guess it really is just a make a decision moment. And when they got down there, I thought it would take them a while to figure out the puzzle, but it took them hardly any time at all. 

And it was with the basement that we ended our first session.  My daughter was so upset, because she wanted to keep going. The flow of the first part was really great, but it was a school night and it was getting late, so we had to call it quits. Appropriate stopping points sometimes aren't at the time we want.

Desperately Seeking Joy #6

 

Every time I get an email from a politician, I think of that exchange in Clue:

Cop: What's going on around here? And why would you lock me in? And why are you receiving phone calls from J. Edgar Hoover?

Wadsworth: J. Edgar Hoover?

Cop: That's right! The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation!

Colonel Mustard: Why is J. Edgar Hoover on your phone?

Wadsworth: I don't know, he's on everybody else's, why shouldn't he be on mine?

It just makes me laugh inside. This was brought up, because in my trash email there was an email from Pete Buttigeig (the campaign). A good laugh to start the day.

The majority of the morning was spent muddling. I paced excessively. I hemmed and hawed over what to do with myself. I did some small tasks requested of me by various people and did a bunch of shopping for my mom. But then... as I was sitting on the couch just flipping through the lists of recommendations or coming soons on Netflix... I saw it...

If you haven't read Dash and Lily's Book of Dares and it's sequel, The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily, and you love quirky romantic stuff around the holidays... oh my goodness... The books are edgy and have language and sexual references and can be a bit over-the-top with the Dash sections of the book, but they end just so very sweetly. I do so love them. So when I saw this trailer, I wasn't sure what to think... if I was excited that they made it into a Netflix series or if I was devastated that they toyed with the idea of turning it into a series that will probably be canceled and will screw up all the beautiful images of romance that I have in my head. I admit... I cried. I couldn't figure out if it was from happiness or sadness, but I am excited.

Before settling in for a game to help exercise my broken mind, we had to run up to my daughter's school and pick up her book club book. Then we also swung by the grocery store for a few items and picked up lunch at Kwik Trip. They had a new pizza called the Oktoberfest pizza. It had brats and onions and peppers and cheddar cheese on it.  It was pretty ok.

Once we were settled again, I finally got to play a game. I can't tell you the last time I played a board game, it has been such a long time. But I pulled out a game that was a familiar and yet new: Ticket to Ride: United Kingdom. 

Due to my head being so very off, I knew I wasn't going to win this game. But I had fun trying. We were within 4 points of each other. We discussed the different aspects of the game that caused that four point difference and it was interesting enough.

It was then time to work with my daughter on her Halloween One-Shot character. My husband walked her through the process. My daughter was having an absolute ball. She chose to be a Kobold Rogue/Arcane Trickster named StarShadow.

It is going to be a fun little adventures. A Halfling Wizard, Halfling Rogue, Kobold Rogue, and a Yuan-ti Pureblood Druid. I swear... we make the strangest groups of people. 

The night wrapped up with a quick movie that we rented for cheap on Amazon Prime Day. You Should Have Left was a movie that was on my list for a while and is a Blumhouse Production. To mean that's more of a hit than a miss, but you can't always be sure. 

It wasn't a horrible movie. It kept us guessing, but it also had those moments where you weren't, "Clearly this isn't working and you 'should have left.'" Hahaha! But it raises some interesting questions about the supernatural. The movie uses some typical American Gothic tropes and for this film... location is important. Sadly, it leaves some problems  with the believability factor that is supposed to hook you and the twist at the end, for us, was an obvious surprise. 

I'm glad I rented it and didn't buy it, because it isn't one of those supernatural films that makes me want to watch it again to catch more details. The film takes its time to make sure you absorb the details in the same way the characters do. But it was interesting enough for a suspense film for the evening.

Today was littered with joyful moments, but it was a good bit of a muddle and feeling indecisive about so many things. I just hope tomorrow is better.

Desperately Seeking Joy #4

 

Today didn't start out the best. It's been an uphill battle to be happy, but most importantly to find the energy. The weather is a dreary, rainy, windy fall day. One of my medications just upped its doze to a full pill. I really wanted to have some caffeine, but apparently caffeine isn't recommended with my current medication. 

After getting myself out of bed, I went downstairs and made some homemade biscuits and gravy for my husband for breakfast. My daughter enjoyed the biscuits with apple jelly. 

Then I had an idea to make a new fleece poncho for lounging and my husband came with me out to JoAnn Fabrics. I bought some Marvel fleece and blue fleece for the other side. I don't know if I'm going to attempt a hood again or not. I made a Star Wars one a few years ago, which I still love, but during a visit from the in-laws, the hood was accidentally ripped off and I never fixed it. I don't consider myself a very craft person, even though I've got lots of craft stuff. 

While we were there, I also purchased a bunch of cute halloween craft packs for my daughter and to gift in a Halloween Box to an iggle or two. 

Then we were able to order from China One and get a lunch combo plate, which I was so excited about. And I went to Walgreens and got some cards for the iggle card swap. Earlier today I expressed being sad that I missed the card swap and a bunch of my iggle-angels reached out to me. So it was exciting to get the messages while I was out and could get some fun things and cards for them. 

Also at Walgreens were these Apple Pie Kit Kats! Nummy!

When we arrived home, I was so excited about a pair of sock of I bought at JAF that I got myself and my daughter registered for the Festival Turkey Trot - Home Edition! So we'll be Turkey Trotting from home. I'm assuming we'll be at my mom's this year, so we'll trot around her lake path twice with the dog. 

Somewhere around 2PM, I decided I was tired of feel tired, so I drank my SF-Rock Star and, oh my goodness, within an hour I was feeling so much better and capable of doing things!

My husband finally asked our friend about a Halloween One-Shot for D&D and he agreed. Then we all started making characters.  My character's name is Stash and they are a halfling rogue.

Friend Jim also made a halfling wizard named Jilri Whispermouse, but my husband just had to be crazy weird and made a Human Yuan-Ti named Bazhlissh who is also good! WHAT! I'll allow it. If he's having fun, so be it. My daughter, though, will have to wait to make her character. She was busy working on perler beads and she still needs to be coached and supported while making her characters.

Because I was super charged, I was doing all sorts of things. I was working on the Halloween cards I was going to swap with my iggles. I decided to find a print-and-play game to put into the cards. So I'm include Dixit in their cards. I'm so excited about it!

Then I was browse shopping on Etsy. I was actually looking at my calendar and wanting to get myself organized again. It's just so hard, because it reminds me of work and I'm trying to distance myself from that.

After some browsing and working, I called my mom to see if she needed anything. Apparently her dishwasher now broke. This woman has troubles everyday with something somewhere breaking or needing to be fixed. It's just so weird. So she was telling me about that, but also that the "high" of the chemo drugs is wearing off and she's in pain. I told her I'd be down soon and to keep me posted. So I'll be calling tomorrow. She did, though, get the mini-electric frying pan I sent her! She loved it.

Finally, I started to lose a little pep. I was determined to find my copy of Duma Key by Stephen King. My husband insisted that I didn't have a copy and I was looking to buy one, but the paperback was so expensive! I looked at my library, but they'd have to request it from a different library. So I looked at some other books. Thought I'd try reading The Outsider by Stephen King again, especially after I saw Let it Bleed by Stephen King had a short story sequel to the book. I had resigned myself to let Duma Key go, until I checked the cabinet next to our bed and sure enough... there sat the copy I bought when I was in Edinburgh. Even had the pounds sterling amount on the back. I just didn't realize how thick the book was, but I was being pulled to read it again. So I got out my book light and started reading.  I had fallen out of reading a few years into being a teacher. There just wasn't much joy in it for me. So reading this book will hopefully help pull me out of wherever my mind has gone.

Overall, it was a good day. I had my moments of sadness and regret, but I had no panic attacks and could actually do things. It took enormous amounts of effort to do those things, but I did them.

Wii Wednesday #7 (Dungeons & Dragons Tuesday #7)

We got our Wii goin' early today, because we also had D&D to play. So my daughter started out with some dancing and then did a little Wii exercise.

Then I was able to get a game of Out of the Abyss started early. Since it's just the three of us, we can play at any time, plus if my mom was able to meet to take my daughter for the weekend, we'd be ready to go.

The game started off with a night's watch. It was Winter (lvl 3 dragonborn paladin), then Shesti (level 3 dragonborn  bard), and wrapping up with Bupiddo. Nothing eventful happened, but when they woke up the next morning Prince Derendil was not responsive, his eyes wide open. There were no visible wounds and Sprout (druid firbolg, me) suspected he ate some bad foraged food and looked around to see if others were not looking the best. The group decided to "bury" him. So some of them surrounded Prince Derendil with rocks and Winter, Shesti, and Sprout went off to gather some moss.

The group stumbled upon a muck pit that was lined with ample amounts of moss. While they attempted to walk through it and gather some, they encountered an Ochre Jelly! The group fought it off, but not without my daughter realizing that slashing it cuts it in two. 

Once they returned, they finished burying Prince Derendil and then were on their way. 

As they continued through the caverns, they came across a boneyard. As Shesti scavenged for some bones for an instrument, two Minotaur Skeletons approached the group. Ront took a large chunk of damage from a Great Axe.

Once they were able to take them out, the group continued moving until they encountered a gathering party of kou-toa. This group was out to take them prisoner so that they could use them as an offering to the Deep Father. I was rolling Nat20s like crazy today, so the entire party was caught with little trouble. Shesti, though, has some pretty great sleep spells and put the majority of them to sleep, but not enough to stop everyone from being captured. The became the catch of the day!

In a funny twist of fate, the group was then set upon by another group of kou-toa. This group took the prisoners as their own and fended off the other ones. This new group was led by the kuo-toa archpriest Ploopploopeen. He had other plans for the group:

“I am Ploopploopeen, archpriest of the Sea Mother Blibdoolvpoolp. She answers my prayers by delivering you. Help us, and you will be rewarded for your service.”

And that is where I left the group. Next time they will finally enter Sloobludop.

Dungeons & Dragons Tuesday #6

Today's game is definitely where my daughter hit her stride. Today they were going to finish up their river travel to Firefinger. She was so excited to play this adventure again. We normally would have played our Out of the Abyss adventure, but our friend is going to be out of town next week, so we swapped game days.

Here is where River Mist and Flask of Wine reveal the dangers of the Pterafolk. As they get closer to Firefinger, they recommend getting off the river or travel at night or when it's overcast. The problem we ran into was realizing they didn't know what their goal for going to Firefinger was. River and Flask didn't need anything from Firefinger, just heard stories about how dangerous it was and that maybe some information was there. Azaka Stormfang was the guide who needed something from the Pterafolk.

That night, they discover an abandoned camp near their campground. They find two tied up tents and some healing kits and a tree with daggers stuck into them to the hilt of the dagger. The camp area was in a clearing. There is a very uncomfortable vibe to the environment, but nothing was located to explain what happened. It is after that this River tells them about the Pterafolk who attack people on the river. We encouraged our daughter to use the her ranger skills to help with the investigation of the camp area and I think they got her excited about that.

The following day they are attacked by some pteranodons on the river, but they're able to fight them. My husband is obsessed with Eldritch Blast, which I totally understand. My daughter is learning about her ranged skills and is starting to think more about her Level 3 skills. We're going to talk about what she wants from her dinocat, too. So that will be out of game. 

Finally, though, River and Flask pull the boat over and shrink it into its box to make it easily carried. They enter into the jungle and start hiking towards Firefinger. The group is introduced to the menga leaves that, once dried and turned into a tea, could heal one hit point per one ounce of leaves. Exceeding 5 ounces, though, will call for a Constitution save or you'll pass out. Rorik (Friend Jim) also discovered some apes eating Dancing Monkey Fruit. The apes were quite happy dancing, and Rorik remembered learning that DMF is essentially a magical fruit that can poison you into dancing for a minute, but leaving you with a nasty post-dance hangover that lasts for an hour. Rorik was able to safely back away from the apes without incident.

They finally stopped at a cave that River and Flask found to be a safe space to camp in. They recommend heading out at night, so they could rest now. So they set up camp and that evening they set out into the woods. River stays back at camp. Flask accompanies them to the base of the tower.

At the base of Firefinger they find tons of dropped, dead bodies. Some are recent, within a few days, and others are just bones. The group realizes they need to climb, but the ladder doesn't touch the ground and it looks a bit wonky. They pull out their climbing kits they found at one of their stops and set up a climbing order. They decide to stay connected, with Jekotikk (minotaur) taking the lead, to help pull everyone. Rose and Milly are at the back and have trouble climbing up the 60ft climb! They keep slipping and having to regroup. 

When they make it to level 1, they find an entrance into the spire and there they find a pit. Rorik was the first one to go into the pit to cross over and he is attacked by 4 giant wolf spiders. Which terrifies my husband, because he absolutely hates wolf spiders. When we lived in NC, they were all over his house and our rental. They get so big and are just kinda creepy. So I felt bad triggering his fear.

After taking care of the spiders, they found the chimney that would take them to the next level and they climb up, but this time in reverse order. Milly was first and kept slipping. Oh my goodness it was so funny! And my daughter continued to play as her character. Invested in what was going on. She didn't shy away from chipping in ideas, even though she was getting a little too "talk out of turn"-y. 

When we arrived at Level 2, the group was met with a large group of stirges. They work different than the Pathfinder ones and were a great low-level create joke for myself and Friend Jim and my husband. Little mosquitoes almost took me out! Lots of fun that was! But it was a good fight. We were attacking the things on each other. Quite a few laughs with that.

And then it was time to put a stopped on the adventure. We're trying to be really time conscious when we're playing. Our daughter wanted to keep going and everyone was in a really great mood to keep going, but my husband and I agreed it was time to stop.

So next time they'll be adventuring out onto the ledge and then debating over climbing a ladder to the next level!

I got a hug from my daughter when it was all over. She gushed about how much she loved this and how she had spent so long watching us play and now she was getting to join us. She couldn't stop talking about everything. Then she proposed Sunday through Saturday we play and then take a week off and then do another week, etc. That was a big no, but that's how excited she was when it was done. Kind of tearing up and super proud.

Dungeons & Dragons Tuesday #4

What an exciting day of exploration!

I spent most of the morning working on the encounters they would have as they traveled away from Velkynevelve.

First, they're being pursued by the Drow. Oh no! So they had to make decisions about how fast they wanted to move and if they wanted people to be doing things to cover their tracks. They did choose myself and Eldeth to stay at the back of the Marching Orders. Then they chose Buppido to lead them to Gracklstugh, but as I evaluated the map, I decided that they would make a stop in Sloobludop first to get some supplies. I also really like what is happening there and it is a closer walk to hopefully get them ahead of their pursuers. 

After they got themselves settled and ready to go, they were off. 

Day 1 - to Sloobludop

They encounter a 35 foot wide river that cuts their path. There is no way around it, they must go through it. As they take a break on their side, they are able to locate waterorbs that provide some much needed food and water. Shuushar explains to them that there are some plants across the waterway that will help them carry some waterorbs. (I imagined waterorbs to be about the size of a gallon of milk, but were like giant sponges. Beautiful to look at.) The cross the stream, which reduced their pursuit level by 1. As some in the group start to hack down some trillimac to help carry things, something grabs Winter. A Giant Rocktopus!

They are forced to fight it off, but Shesti was really irritated that no one else joined them. We have 13 in our party still. What they didn't notice, though, was the Topsy and Turvy were stocking up on lots of extra supplies. After the defeat they were on their way at a fast pace, continuing to Sloobludop.

Day 2 - to Sloobludop

That morning, Topsy and Turvy were gone. They were nowhere to be seen and no one was looking suspicious. The rest of the day was uneventful, but Sprout was keeping his eye out for Topsy and Turvy, just in case they were still around.

That night Shesti stayed up with Buppido on watch. Shesti seemed very irritated that not more people were offering to keep watch. But on this particular night, Shesti was startled by Buppido poking something sharp into his back. There was no explanation and Buppido dodged all attempts at answering the question. Pretty interesting!

Day 3 - to Sloobludop

As they traveled for one more day, they stopped to forage and ran into 4 Giant Fire Beetles. From two of them they were able to extract the fire sack, which will give them varying degrees of light for their travels. And then they called it another night.

They'll continue traveling to Sloobludop next time we meet up. My daughter is still having trouble getting into the roleplaying part of it AND we had to stop her from meta-gaming. For instance, knowing stuff that my husband did at night and she acted like her character knew what had happened. Silly hunny bunny.

Next week, though, we had to change things up a bit. Our Tuesday will not be a day for D&D, but instead we will have moved it to Wednesday. Tuesday my daughter has some girl scout things going on and is having her friend over, who she hasn't seen in months upon months. They're going to have just the two of them do a little birthday party. Some cupcakes and sprinklers. Wednesday is my daughter's 10th birthday, so we'll be doing the Tomb of Annihilation on Wednesday night, where she will get her personal dice vault and dice tray AND she'll encounter the dinosaur cats! So exciting!

Dungeons & Dragons Tuesday #3

I woke up this morning with the best idea for our games. At least, best idea for my daughter. I think I've mentioned that she's been painting minis for games, but we're not playing the game physically. I felt bad, because what are we going to use all these minis for that she loves to paint? Then it clicked - Photograph her minis and use them IN GAME! I knew they'd need raptors today and I couldn't find a good picture that I liked, so I photographed my daughter's two raptor minis against a black backdrop. Then I sent them to my husband to turn the background invisible. They turned out AMAZING!

We bought minis of our actual characters for our second campaign, so this could become a thing. I really thought it was a great idea for her to be able to be more involved in our campaign.

Preparing for today, though, was another day of nervousness, because I feel like I don't live up to what my players want. Sadly, a bomb was dropped when we started that day's adventure.

It started out with my husband listing off all these places and people they wanted to look for and talk to. I was taken aback, because these were not places or people I created in the town (ex: Necromancer, Mage Quarters). It was at this time that I also realized my players have their own "player chat." That's where they discussed these things, but I had not been made aware of what they were going to be looking for. I asked in the future to know about those things, because either they are something I can accomodate or you're in a place where they just aren't.

We started out the adventure with some breakfast. The two men stayed at the inn and ate, but myself and my daughter's character, Rose, both went to the fish market to get some fresh fish. Being Tabaxis, it felt like a stereotypical cat thing to go get fish for breakfast, but that's alright, because it made my daughter happy. I had her roll some D20s to see what kind of fish experience she'd have. Two normal fish and then two interesting fish. We found some exotic fish livers which were, as I described, sweet and delicious. The second exotic fish Rose dropped down her gullet before she even realized what it was. I made it a fish that creates oil to help people throw up. Ha!

The two men, after they were done eating, did some guide shopping on the board at the inn. The picked Azaka Stormfang out of the three available. Then it was time to stop at the Grand Coliseum to see if they could find a mage or a necromancer. The four characters met up and went to see what they could find. I had to divert them away from that, so they instead went shopping.

While in their market, they met Azaka and I tried to play it cool, but confident. I think they got that. Then a parrot pooped on Rorik. It was an event roll! So he declared he needed to take a bath and they went to the bathhouse. We needed to explain the bathhouse to our daughter and it was so awkward. She just went with the flow, until I made people roll for fart bubbles. Haha! You had to roll strength to keep your butt cheeks clenched, but then my daughter pointed out that cats and bulls don't have butt cheeks. So I rolled for Milly and she let out a stream of tiny bubbles. I thought it was really hilarious.

To add to the awkward, this is where I made them meet the husband of a man who was falsely arrested. At this point in my game my daughter was getting restless, but also wasn't engaging in the game. It felt very much like a game between me and my husband. So my husband pushed her to go and talk to the poor, naked, crying man. He shared his story about his teacher husband being sent to the Executioner's Run and that he was falsely accused of stealing. He offered them money and everything, but the group didn't bite. Instead they thought about it after the guy had left the bathhouse. We're all still trying to get a feel for each other, but I'm struggling pinning the two dudes. I know my daughter wants to help, but she's being shy about speaking up. I think the guys are trying to get her to do that. We'll keep working on it.

After the bath, it was around noon and the characters went back to The Grand Coliseum. I finally just had to quick make a necromancer, who I named Utchara Vlall. Utchara gave them information about Szass Tam and Lt. Valindra Shadowmantle. If I had had time, I probably could have located more meaningful information to share, but that's the best I could do on the fly. That also now means I have to get more information on the Red Wizards of Thay.  Boy do I have quite a bit of work to do there.

Once the characters seemed pleased enough with that information, they felt they should go check out the Executioner's Run and see how likely they might be to save this teacher guy who is potentially innocent. I'll tell you know I'm horrible with math, but Friend Jim (Rorik) is really great at the numbers and gambling. So I had him do the betting numbers. I told him the three different betting types and let them bet as they saw fit. I really don't know how to bet or do stuff like that, but I at least had planned for it, sort of. Again, another area where I felt inadequate, even though I knew it would make my players happy to have some sort of interesting gambling. I wanted to put restrictions on some of the stuff they did, but I let it slide, because, for now, it wasn't hurting anyone. I'm learning while they go along, too. Besides, what they did could be a lesson noted by the guards to not let it happen again (even though you know it's happened).

Everyone, except Milly, placed bets, and then they all got into the bit to run it out. I chose to make it a multi-person run instead of a solo person run. It didn't go quite how I had envisioned, but I think it was still fun? The raptors were released after the first movement of the characters. The bummer side, for me, was that the raptors all rolled initiative lower than everyone! So I wasn't able to stager their movements, etc. Suffice to say, everyone made it out alive, but there were some casualties.

The group saved the man and won some money and were approached about collecting a debt by another NPC. A complaint was issued by one of my players that they'll never get to the expedition if they keep being approached. Ouch... but I left it at that, because I, too, want them to start exploring. There was no time limit on the activity and was a simple "locate man and collect debt."

Luckily, they chose which guide they were going to go with and that'll make planning next time easier. They're going with River Mist and Flask of Wine, instead of Azaka. I thought that was an interesting choice, but I'm totally fine with it. I had already rolled that whichever guide they chose would get this super sweet boat I found.

Next time the Tomb of Annihilation group gets together will be the day before my daughter's 10th birthday! I think we will be giving her the Wyrmwood gift for that game night. I also love that they'll definitely be going into the jungle, because I have the dinosaur cats prepared! I think it's going to be a really great birthday for her, even though it's the day before.

I'm getting better at the GMing, it just takes a little while to get into the flow again. I tend to fumble, but really it's a vehicle for the others to have fun and not worry so much about me. And we had fun!

Dungeons & Dragons Tuesday #2

Today was the first day of our new campaign! I worked diligently to get the Out of the Abyss campaign set and I'm really nervous about it! More nervous than I was about running Tomb of Annihilation (see entry here). I mean... annihilation sounds way more intimidating, right?

My daughter, husband, and I spent the last week preparing our new characters. We have another campaign where two characters are the same race. Two dragonborns! My husband, though, is a supermassive randomizer and rolls for many things, so he didn't pick a dragonborn to copy my daughter. I, personally, was irked, because I like diversity, but who am I to really be upset about it. Whatever makes them happy, because the game is really about them.

• My Daughter: Winter (Female, Dragonborn, Paladin, Level 2)
• My Husband:  Shestihop Yarjerit (Male, Dragonborn, Bard, Level 2)
• Me: Sprout (Male, Firbolg, Druid, Level 2)

My husband chose a background (Inheritor) that has his mentor leave something behind for him. It's supposed to be special, and he's a bard, which made me immediately think of a scarf! So I found this neat scarf made by someone else, but I changed it to fit him. So OUR Scarf of the Vermilion Bird has these properties:

I adjusted some things to fit the situation better, but I also figured I could adjust things as he levels, too, like adding back in the original regenerate. My husband's character could discover it does THIS or has another secret charge, etc. Really excited about this item and it's so beautiful!

Speaking of neat items, I was scrolling through my twitter feed and I found a Dinosaur Cat that will find its way into my daughter's campaign.

Adorable Dinosaur Cat. Good for a caster's fimilar or possibly a companion for a BeastMaster. #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #dnd5e #dndhomebrew pic.twitter.com/YgebDjNEvB

— LgbtDnD (@LgbtDnD) July 9, 2020

Clearly, my daughter who loves cats and dinosaurs is going to need to encounter these and she'll have to attempt to coerce it for a pet. I can see her using all the little cat luring strategies her grandma taught her. That's a story for another day.

Today's story, though, is a sad one of defeat and heartbreak. For the GM, not the players. I completely dropped the ball and felt completely out of sorts running this adventure. All of my optimism going into this just flew out the window. I think my head was just in a bad place and it made it difficult to stay organized.

So we played Chapter 1 of Out of the Abyss. The characters were dropped into a prison cell waiting to be transferred and sold to the people of the Underdark. They had been in the cell for 4 days and were just dying to get out. And therein lies the problem. They're supposed to be looking for information and planning an escape, but they'd been in the cell for 4 days. Part of me feels like I messed up that part of the story, but then again it did say to roll that kind of thing. So that was the first big no-go.

Second was trying to get my two players to talk to the people. This adventure was definitely made for way more people than 2 and a DM-PC. I tried to do my part as a PC and gather and share information, etc., but it just broke my heart when things didn't come together. My husband was trying to get information and talk to characters (I forgot there was a magic block on the cell and he accidentally spoke with a spider). My daughter didn't know how to gather information and struggled to remove herself as a storyteller and just become the character. She'll get there. I mean, she's only 9yo. Granted she's had four years of being in numerous plays a year, so.... But she did slip into it as we went, but she always just wanted to explain. I get the comfort zone thing, because I still do it with Marvel when I get to play. Even though you love your family, sometimes it's just hard to be truly vulnerable in an RP way.

THEN when somethings finally did happen (I scraped the day-to-day cell thing and immediately switched gears to break-out-day), the creatures that showed up were way too powerful for Lvl 2 PCs. The PCs broke out of the cell with the help of a drow traitor. The drow guards were distracted by an attack of chasme and a demon, which weren't supposed to show interest in the escaping prisoners if nothing drew their attention to them. So it was a mad scramble and the worst part was that my husband's character was knocked out by the chasme immediately, because he failed his CON save. I gave him the orc, Ront, to play as part of our "attack team."

None of them had weapons, either, so they had to raid the guard rooms to get things, which is fine, but they weren't the types of weapons that felt like they would be effective on the chasme. My husband, though, was thrilled that they were hand crossbows. He had wanted to buy one when he made his character, but here there were tons of them! There were also tons of bolts! When they did get their weapons, they didn't need them, because they had enough rope to try to climb out of the place to safety and now have to fight the supermassive big bad guys. (My husband used his scarf to float down. Yeah... I left that spell on the scarf just for this.)

We didn't actually get to encounter any of the main people, like Asha. It just wasn't in the cards for how things were playing out. I was so flustered. My husband and I were working together for rules and how things worked to the point where my daughter said, "It's like you two are the DMs and I'm the only player." Oh gosh that hurt my heart. It wasn't even that I didn't know all these things. My husband was doing his own "I'm a veteran D&Der" and wanting to do this and this and this, so he was looking up how to do this and this and that. Then all of my information went out of my head, because I was so flustered I could barely hold a thought.

My saving grace was my characters, at least. I do a great spider voice and I had my distinct voices for the dwarf, my firbolg, and some other characters. My daughter absolutely loved the spider voice, because she likes cute high-pitched voices like that (reminded me of Twiggy on Episode 45 of Critical Role - Campaign 2, which I'm watching right now).

I also like playing my firbolg. I think I got a little bit of the personality I want going already. I'm attempting to make him a practical person. Fingers crossed for that.

At least, when it was all over, my daughter had a good time and enjoyed the experience and is excited for the next one. And really... that's all that matters in the long run. We're doing this for her and if she's getting joy out of it, then we're good as gold.

By the time we finally wrapped up around 8:38PM, both myself and my husband were exhausted. Our daughter, though, was gungho to keep painting her minis! So at a very early 9:30PM, I made my way to bed to fall asleep while my husband wrangled the wee warrior away from her paints and to her pillow.

We usually start our campaigns around 4ish. Today I had wanted to start earlier, because all of the players were just us and time wasn't an issue. But someone (or ones) needed a nap and we didn't get going until 4/4:30PM, which I'm learning is the WORST time to RPG in our house. One, the dogs eat at 5PM, so what are they doing from 4-5? Whining for their supper. Then the phone was ringing with all these non-personal phone calls. My mom was also texting me AND called, which is fine, but add all that together and it was rough getting focused. I actually had to turn my mom away and felt bad about it, because I know things are rough for her, but I know she'd understand that it was a family thing and Isabelle is so into it. When we see her next, Isabelle is going to go crazy showing her all her cool stuff.

So the second campaign is maybe not going as comfortably as the first, but it could also just be due to all the external and mental elements that threw up roadblocks. Dunno, but our daughter had fun. WINNING!

Having to unequip her things, because she was captured!
She had just bought them an hour ago.

Non-D&D Related Events Today
I finally sold my bike kiddie caddie for $75! Boy do we need the money. Only took 5 years!

My Disney Marvel Masks came! So I now have the Hulk mask! The rest are patterns, but whatever. I still agree with my husband that these are soft and almost feel like comfy undies for my face. Haha!

My husband's friend, out of the blue, asked him to tell me, "he wished he had a teacher like you growing up." Awe!

Grant Imahara, who I love and adore, passed away last night. He was only 49. 10 years older than me. I always hate saying stuff like that, but it's a mortality thing. Live life and all that. I loved all the amazing work he did and he was just such a fun guy. I wish I had met him or known him, but I was and always will be a fan of his amazing mind at work. He touched my life in more ways than I can list or explain, which is a feeling many people out there are experiencing. My heart goes out to those who knew him, for the pain they are feeling at the sudden loss of such a wonderful person.