Forgotten Realms in Toronto

Today I did several things...

One - I started a new blog post label "Forgotten Realms in Toronto" which relates specifically to my Monday Forgotten Realms campaign. AKA, Monday Night Modules. This is mostly for my use, so I can place public notes about the campaign on the website and if I need to find them quickly I can just click a single bookmark on my phone and scroll down.

Two - I started a discussion board thread on meetup.com titled "★ Forgotten Realms 5th Edition ★" which also pertains to the same game, on which I posted the following:

Since June of 2016 I have been running a Forgotten Realms 5th edition game at the Ryerson Hub Cafeteria. The group meets every 2 or 3 weeks, which allows for a more relaxed atmosphere and we also allow drop-in players to join. See the latest group event postings for details.

We have now expanded and have two DMs, which means instead of 8 players we now have a cap of 16 players. If 9 or more people show up, we separate into two groups and run two groups simultaneously, which can both interact/influence each other/events in the region.

This style of gaming dates back to Gary Gygax / Dave Arneson running huge gaming sessions in Castle Greyhawk (an immense dungeon) and marking off rooms that had been completed with an X. We are doing something similar, but are currently in the Stonelands region of Cormyr - which is a region dotted with dungeons and adventuring opportunities.

In order to allow parties to pick and choose which adventures they want to go on, our goal has been to create a map of possible adventures so that regardless of where the two parties (Alpha Team and Omega Team) go there are adventure hooks for them to choose from.

The game started in Eveningstar, running the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar. The party is now in Arabel, where they now have a wide assortment of quests to choose from.

People wishing to join have but to find the latest event posting.

February 13th 2017: https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Area-Gamers/events/237345930/­

Three - I am working on constructing / finishing up an Adventuring Map, which both myself and my colleague DM will be able to use to coordinate which adventures / adventure hooks are available to the party depending on their location.

So if they go to section C3 on the map, the adventure hook of a specific module (or homebrew adventure) will be available.

If they go to D2 on the map, a different module or homebrew adventure will be available.

And so on and so forth.

Making an Adventuring Map means I am basically going over older maps of Cormyr, the region the party is currently in, and picking out specific quest modules (including Dungeon Magazine Adventures set in the Forgotten Realms). Some maps, as you can see below, are much more detailed than others. My preference is for the older maps and I am taking notes from the new maps and making a Master Adventuring Map which leaves nothing out.

Zhentarim Agents of Cormyr / D&D Villains

In the adventure The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (written by Ed Greenwood) there is a villain mentioned named Ruathgrym (real name is Nieilor). In the module it is really left up to the DM what to do with Ruathgrym. He isn't even in the dungeon. He is simply mentioned in various ways and it is left as a possible quest hook for future adventure if the party decides to explore that.

In my Forgotten Realms campaign I decided to make Nieilor an important part of the game. During the first session PCs entering the village of Eveningstar were greeted by Purple Dragon Knights searching for Ruathgrym (complete with a wanted poster of his likeness, hawkish nose, black hair, curly villain mustachios).

Note - I am running the original HHoE module published in 1992, but I am converting everything to 5th Edition D&D.

Every time they returned to Eveningstar from the Haunted Halls the Purple Dragon Knights would still be asking around, still looking for the mysterious man. When asked who he was the knights would say he is a dangerous killer, which is true, but he is also a smuggler.

During their adventures they came across various clues about Ruathgrym/Nieilor, but never caught sight of the man - until finally Monday, January 23rd 2017, when they caught a glimpse of him in the HHoE and briefly fought with him. The game started back in June and they finally saw him over 6 months later.

Which means I need stats for him. But there aren't any listed in the module by Ed Greenwood. And when I checked online there is oddly no mention of either Ruathgrym or Nieilor, except for the module itself, and past meetup.com postings for (you guessed it) my Monday Forgotten Realms game.

You would think someone before me had bothered to create stats for him and share them online, but apparently nobody else has done so. Not even Ed Greenwood himself - who likely has the original stats for him stashed away in his records.

So below are the stats I have created, for 5th Edition D&D, for Ruathgrym/Nieilor, and also for a number of other Zhentarim Agents and their Allies. They are not official Ed Greenwood stats, but they will have to do.

I am not planning on using Nieilor himself very often. As mentioned below, he prefers to let others do his dirty work because he has a schedule to keep. This means that the PCs will most often be dealing with minions sent by Nieilor or sent by Nieilor's allies. And when they defeat those minions, they will likely find a letter from either Nieilor or the ally, telling them to go kill the PCs in some manner.

But if the party does somehow run into Nieilor again, or his allies, I should have his stats handy.

To me Nieilor should be the villain who is always unseen. He is a smuggler after all. He is always skulking about and transporting goods. So if you don't see him, it is because he is off smuggling something to somewhere. What the PCs find instead are traces of him being there. Clues. Notes. Letters. Books he left behind. Enemies following orders. Hired thugs. Only on special ocassions should I ever need to look at Nieilor's stats and have him involved in combat - over time he might even level up. So these are just the base stats.

If you don't find what you are looking for here, check out the book "Ruins of Zhentil Keep", which outlines the history of Zhentil Keep and all the major baddies from there (both before and after it is destroyed).


Zhentarim Agents and Allies

Nieilor, aka Ruathgrym the Zhentarim Agent, Human Fighter 9, NE

Str 19
Dex 13
Con 16
Int 12
Wis 14
Chr 13

HP 103 (113 when Inspired)
AC 18
DR 3

About - Nieilor is a devotee of Myrkul and serves Zhentarim Keep as one of their many agents in Cormyr. Mostly he acts as a smuggler, but when he runs into trouble he can usually kill foes with his impressive fighting skills. Nieilor believes in being well prepared and doesn't like getting into random fights. If such happens and it looks like the enemy has a chance of winning, there is a 90% chance that Nieilor will seek to escape and plan his revenge. He favours complex ambushes which places enemies in a state of extreme disadvantage. eg. Unarmed, unarmoured, intoxicated, unable to flee, or a combination of all the above. Generally speaking Nieilor likes to travel light and prefers to leave his most of his magical loot in hiding places close to his smuggling route. Although skilled in combat, he usually prefers for others to do his dirty work as he has a schedule to keep and clients to keep happy.

Background / Proficient Skills: Smuggler - Athletics 8, Deception 5, Perception 6, Stealth 5, Thief Tools 5.

Abilities - Dueling (+2 dmg with one weapon), Second Wind (bonus action, regains 15 hp), Action Surge (Extra Action), Champion: Improved Critical (19), Remarkable Athlete (+4 to Str/Dex/Con checks), Heavy Armour Master (DR 3 vs non magical weapons), Tough (bonus 18 hit points), Inspiring Leader (10 minute action, allies and self gain 10 temporary hp from being inspired), Extra Attack, Indomitable (reroll failed saving throw, 1/long rest).

Items - Knightslayer* (Antique Bastardsword +1/+3 vs Humans), Chainmail +2, Torch (sometimes held if offhand), Potion of Hill Giant Strength (21), Potion of Greater Healing (4d4+4), Black Candles x5 (used while praying to Myrkul), adventurers garb, thief tools, crowbar, forged adventuring charter (the forgery is so good that Purple Dragon Knights have disadvantage to spot it is a forgery). He typically carries 100+1d100 gp on him and will have a horse with additional gear hidden nearby.

Allies - There is an 80% chance that Nieilor is traveling with one or more companions: Eklon, Brelani and Szissamor the Red. Ruathgrym is well connected and can also call upon the aid of Zhentarim agents in Eveningstar, Arabel, Suzail, etc. Under his guise of Ruathgrym he can also call upon other smugglers as criminal contacts.

* Knightslayer might be sentient and LE. I have not decided yet. It feels like it should have some unique unknown properties seeing as it is extremely old.

Brelani, Human Cleric of Myrkul 5, NE

Str 12
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 16
Chr 14

HP 38 (48 when Inspired)
AC 18

About - Of noble stock, Brelani fancies herself a high priestess of Myrkul, but she has a long way to go. She bosses around Eklon and other underlings, and has earned the nickname "Bossy Brel". In combat she employs both undead, spells and poisoned weapons. As a devotee of Myrkul, she sees death as a means to an ends: Power for herself. Poison, Necromancy and Animating corpses are stepping stones towards that power. She has allied herself with Nieilor because he has many contacts and she hopes to use those contacts to build her own power base.

Background / Proficient Skills: Noble - Ancient Thorass 5, History 5, Insight 6, Persuasion 5, Religion 6.

Abilities - Spellcasting (4 cantrips, 4 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd), Divine Domain (Death), Channel Divinity (Command Undead) 1/rest, Bolster Undead (attempts to Turn Undead you command are made with Disadvantage).

Items - Black-Steel Mace, Light Crossbow, bolt case with 25 bolts, Curved Sacrificial Dagger, Unholy Symbol of Myrkul, Spell Components Pouches, 3 vials of serpent venom (DC 11 Con, 3d6 damage, save for half), Half-Plate Armour, Shield with Skull of Myrkul embossed on it.

Favourite Spells - Resistance, Sacred Flame, Command, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Protection from Good, Hold Person, Protection from Poison, Prayer of Healing, Animate Dead, Glyph of Warding.

Allies - Brelani always travels in the company of Zhentil soldiers and/or in the company of Nieilor, Eklon, Szissamor, or undead she has created. She almost never travels alone. She can call upon the aid of Zhentarim, Zhentil soldiers, necromancer allies, and Zhentarim agents.

Eklon, Human Cleric of Myrkul 4, NE

Str 16
Dex 10
Con 16
Int 12
Wis 14
Chr 14

HP 35 (45 when Inspired)
AC 16

About - Eklon is creepy and is obsessed with death. He regularly draws cadavers and is quite good at it. He is secretly in love with Brelani and follows her every order obsessively. He is the strong, brooding, quiet type, although he does have some skill in battle, relishes bloodshed, and hopes to impress Brelani with his bravery. He carries on him a sketch book depicting Brelani having lewd acts with zombies and other types of undead.

Background / Proficient Skills: Guild Artisan - Insight 4, Medicine 4, Persuasion 4, Religion 4, Artisan Tools (Artist), Elvish.

Abilities - Spellcasting (4 cantrips, 4 x 1st, 3 x 2nd), Divine Domain (Death), Channel Divinity (Command Undead) 1/rest.

Items - Gore-covered Mace +1, 3 Javelins, Curved Sacrificial Dagger, Unholy Symbol of Myrkul, Spell Components Pouches, Sketchbook, Charcoal/Chalk, letters of writ from various artisan guilds, Breastplate Armour, Shield with Skull of Myrkul embossed on it.

Favourite Spells - Resistance, Sacred Flame, Bane, Bless, Protection from Good, Cure Wounds, Hold Person, Silence, Spiritual Weapon.

Allies - Eklon is usually following someone he considers to be his superior, which is usually Brelani or Nieilor. He will sometimes travel alone under the guise of a merchant artisan (with the drawings to prove it).

Szissamor the Red, Human Wizard 4, CE

Str 12
Dex 15
Con 14
Int 17
Wis 11
Chr 14

HP 26 (36 when Inspired)
AC 12

About - Szissamor (if that is his real name) likes to style himself like a Red Wizard of Thay, but if asked will say he has no affiliation with them. He claims to just like the colour red. He favours spells of that colour too, whether they be fire or illusions or whatever. Often his spells will have a red hue to them. eg. Cloud of Daggers will be red flying daggers. Szissamor is not a pyromaniac, but he does enjoy setting fire to things sometimes if it gains him a tactical advantage. While he considers himself a trickster, he is also a coward. If things go badly against him, he will cast Invisibility and run away.

Background / Proficient Skills: Charlatan - Arcana 5, Deception 4, Insight 5, Sleight of Hand 4, Disguise Kit 4.

Abilities - Spellcasting (4 cantrips, 4 x 1st, 3 x 2nd), Arcane Recovery (2 slots), Arcane Tradition: Evoker, Evocation Savant, Sculpt Spells (1 or more allies automatically succeed on saves, take no damage if the spell has 1/2 damage).

Items - Dagger with Ruby-hilt +1, Fine Red Robes, Disguise Kit, Spellbook, Spell Components Pouches, Book: Deciphering Ancient Thorass (this horribly written book gives the reader a Disadvantage roll to attempt to decipher Ancient Thorass, whereas normally no chance would exist unless the person speaks the language).

Favourite Spells - Dancing Lights, Fire Bolt, Minor Illusion, Burning Hands, Chromatic Orb, (Red) Magic Missile, Mage Armour, Cloud of (Red) Daggers, Flaming Sphere, Invisibility.

The Death Domain for Forgotten Realms 5th Edition

In the PHB for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons it lists a number of Divine Domains for Clerics: Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery and War.

However they left out one very important domain that governs clerics who worship gods of death. Like Myrkul for example, the Forgotten Realms god of the dead, aka the Lord of Bones. Not to be confused with Bhaal, the god of murder. And since clerics of Myrkul play a role in my Monday Forgotten Realms game, I am forced to create a Death Domain.

Thus to help round out the villains of my Monday Forgotten Realms campaign it has necessitated me creating a Death Domain. I have kept it simple and on par with the other Divine Domains, you will notice that some of the powers are basically the reverse of the Life Domain or variations of abilities of other domains.

Death Domain Spells
Cleric Level
1st - Ray of Sickness, False Life.
3rd - Ray of Enfeeblement, Speak with Dead*.
5th - Animate Dead, Vampiric Touch.
7th - Death Ward, Phantasmal Killer (PK)**.
9th - Raise Dead, Slay Living***

* There is a shortage of appropriate level necromancy type spells in 5th Edition D&D, thus since Speak with Dead is useless in combat I felt this was a suitable substitution which would allow clerics of Myrkul to interrogate the dead.

** Again, a shortage of necromancy spells although it is the correct level. PK should be considered to be both illusion and necromancy.

*** There is no Slay Living spell in 5th Edition. It is the reverse of Raise Dead. You will notice that in 5th Edition that got rid of various instant death type spells. Even PK doesn't kill any more. It does make sense however that a cleric of a god of death should have access to Slay Living.

Slay Living
5th-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 10 feet
Components: V, S, M (a black gem worth at least 500 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous

Negative energy encircles a living target and ravages it. The target makes a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save it suffers 8d10 necrotic damage. On a successful save it suffers half. If the damage is sufficient to reduce the target to 0 hit points, it dies instantly.

Notes

• Slay Living has no effect on non-living targets.
• With its range of 10 feet it should severely limit how often this spell can be used.
• With the expensive spell component, casting this spell regularly would become prohibitively expensive. DMs should definitely enforce the spell component cost.
• Casting this spell is an evil act. Only evil priests who worship a god of death should have access to it.

Anywho, back to the Death Domain...

Death Domain Bonus Proficiency
When you choose this domain you gain proficiency with Embalming Tools. Using downtime you can reinforce Zombies and Skeletons you create to have +1 hp per Hit Die. Also applies to Bone Golems and Flesh Golems you create.

Disciple of Death
Starting at 1st level, each time you cast a divine spell that deals damage it deals +2 necrotic damage. This bonus damage is also reduced if the spell involves a save for half damage.

Channel Divinity: Injure Life
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to badly injure your enemies. As an action, you present your unholy symbol and evoke negative energy that can damage enemies equal to five times your cleric level in hit points. Choose any creatures within 30 feet of you, and divide those hit points among them. The spell has no effect on undead or constructs. Victims of the effect get a Constitution saving throw for half damage.

Channel Divinity: Death God's Blessing
At 6th level, when a creature or ally within 30 feet of you successfully hits and deals damage, you can use your reaction to add +5 to the damage, using your Channel Divinity. You make this choice after you see the damage roll, but before the DM says whether the target dies or not.

Death Strike
At 8th level you gain the power to infuse your weapons with the power of death. Once on each of your turns, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 necrotic damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Master of Death
At 17th level, you gain the ability to command undead and denizens of the underworld. You can use a bonus action to verbally command what each of those creatures will do on its next turn.

Thoughts on the Death Domain presented above? Post your comments below.

The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (in Toronto)

The posting below is partially for my own personal use - mostly for the purposes of record keeping.

This morning I googled the following words:

haunted halls of eveningstar toronto

Small surprise my campaign postings on Meetup.com came up. (Now that doesn't mean that my campaign is the most popular version of The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar in Toronto - far from it. That honour will always be held by Ed Greenwood (who also lives in Toronto), who created the Forgotten Realms and wrote the original THHoE module. But my campaign is hopefully in the top ten*.)

* I am operating sort of a "drop in" style game which is open to everyone, allowing people to drop in to the game, pick up a character sheet or make their own, and just play. I have the regulars who are there every session (or nearly every session) and others who are less frequent. Each player gets added to a mailing list and invited to future sessions. Thus, by sheer numbers, you could argue my game has the most players Toronto has ever seen playing The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar - with the exception of Ed Greenwood's game itself.

I find the drop in method of running a game is well suited to THHoE because the PCs can return to Eveningstar at the end of each session (unless it ended on cliffhanger), rest, and then return to the dungeon the next session.

While the module I am using is from 2nd edition, I have converted everything to 5th edition for my "Monday Night Modules" game which I run roughly every 3 weeks.

SESSION POSTINGS ON MEETUP.COM

June 27th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session I)

July 18th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session II)

August 8th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session III)

August 29th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session IV)

September 19th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session V)

October 3rd Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session VI)

October 24th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session VII)

November 14th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session VIII)

November 28th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session IX)

December 12th Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session X)

And then there is next week's session... Which is now 1 week away. I am excited to return to the game after an almost 1 month hiatus for xmas holidays. (The game is full, but to those people interested in joining future games you can message me via Meetup and ask to be put on my Mailing List.)

January 9th 2017 Session - The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (Session XI)


SYNOPSIS OF THE FIRST TEN SESSIONS

Synopsis of Session I

• Individual PCs encounter Purple Dragon Knights on the outskirts of Eveningstar looking for a wanted man with mustaches and a hooked nose. They don't say the nature of his crimes, but do say he is very dangerous. They offer a reward for information leading to his location and capture.
• The PCs gather in the tavern where they meet Wrathgar, a human ranger, who has previously gone to THHoE and lost his entire party to a room filled with green slime. He says he is looking for people to join him so that they can finish exploring THHoE. Plus he has an Adventuring Charter (which is expensive), so if they want a job in this line of work, they really need his charter.
• Party kills a dire bear in a cave south of the entrance to THHoE.
• Party enters the foyer, explores.
• Party finds a privy, encounter a strange creature inside a hole behind the privy, and find 3 potions. End of session.

Synopsis of Session II

• Party explored the dungeon towards the NE and ended up yanking on Ed Greenwood's chain. (People who know the joke will understand this.)
• They encounter wolves kept in kennels and zombies kept in the last kennel. End of session.

Synopsis of Session III

• Party continues exploring the NE of the dungeon.
• They meet an old blind man making chili (a seer working for necromancers evidently).
• They also find a key hidden in a secret cubby hole inside a privy.
• Party was attacked by undead coming out of columns in a room with a pool. Found a footman's mace in the pool. End of session.

Synopsis of Session IV

• Party explored towards the west end of the dungeon, towards the throne room.
• Party managed to get past the lightning statues, eventually figuring out that BEW ~ means BEWARE of lightning.
• Killed an undead bear.
• Chipped a painting out of a wall.
• Returned to Eveningstar. One party member nearly drowned during a random encounter en route. End of session.

Synopsis of Session V

• Party sold the painting for 20 gold bars (worth 500 gp per bar), divided up the bars and then made some purchases.
• On the way back towards the Haunted Halls, they stopped to investigate some old ruins hidden behind trees and ended up being waylaid by a huge spider in the woods. Injured, they went back to Eveningstar to recover.
• Days later, the party returned to the Haunted Halls and explored in the NW corner of the halls, encountering a stirge, and later an undead spectre obsessed with keeping the party away from her mirror. They defeated but did not destroy the spectre, found a valuable necklace, and decided to leave that chamber. End of session.

Synopsis of Session VI

• More exploring. (I think this is the session where the party decided to explore the Kobold Keep and ran away... I am not sure. My synopsis notes are incomplete.)
• Party returned to THHoE, explored a section to the N of the throne room, killed a stirge.
•  When exploring the hallway with statues they got attacked by an unknown source.
• The session ended with the party at the north end of the hallway with the statues.

Synopsis of Session VII

• Party discovered that what had attacked them last session was a strange shapeshifter disguised as a statue. They promptly killed it.
• Later they found a musty and moldy library, with 6 chests in a corner. Having become wary of strange chests they decided to shoot it. When it bled grey slimy blood and turned to face them with teeth bared, so did the other 5 chests. The party later ended up fleeing from the swarm of Jumping Mimics as they proved too difficult to handle.
• The party returned to Eveningstar, rested, caroused, and returned to the Haunted Halls once more.
• In the foyer they found signs that another party had recently been in the halls, some of their weapons and equipment in the foyer. Two of the weapons were magical. End of session.

Synopsis of Session VIII

• Party explored a southern portion of the Haunted Halls, finding a strange chest that appeared to be air-tight. They decided to open that later...
• Door #1 would not open and a magic mouth informed the party the way was blocked.
• Door #2 blinked a pit in front of the door and the party had to problem solve a way to rescue their teammate from the pit without falling into the blinking pit.
• Door #3 dropped a large stone block on the person who touched the door. All of Elowyn's metal items were teleported to room 3.
• Door #4 caused a spectre of a human woman to appear who informed the party of loot further to the west.
• Party found a secret door and a corridor.
• Door #5 revealed a short corridor, but also had a secret door at the end.
• Party headed west, where they heard strange moaning in a room to the SW. They continued west to a dusty room and encountered a wraith. The wraith killed Varrick, who became a wraith 1 minute later.
• The rest of the party promptly ran away. End of session.

Synopsis of Session IX

• After setting up their tent in the Eveningstar marketplace, the party recruited 3 new adventurers (including Varrick's replacement, a dwarf) to help them delve into the Haunted Halls.
• On the way there they found strange wagon tracks and a barrel of 50 black candles with wicks made of human hair. (They later learned these are used by priests of Myrkul, the god of death.)
• Entering the halls they noticed a draft and found a secret door that had gone previously unnoticed. Opening it they found a room with draperies and a beautiful dead red-haired woman with a fancy dagger in her woman, the victim of an apparent human sacrifice.
• The party returned to the Haunted Halls, with Estrel now carrying a lantern, fully healed and having acquired a mostly empty spellbook. She now owes Elowyn 80 gp.
• Continuing onwards, the party went to the throne and then NE, into the antechamber with all the corpses. The warlock Zulm decided to eldritch blast one of the corpses and woke up a sleeping carrion crawler. Battle ensued. The sounds of battle also woke up a nearby sleeping kobold behind the crossbow slits, it fired a shot and missed, then ran off to warn other kobolds that there are intruders in the halls...
• The party continued onwards, later encountering a priest of Myrkul and an acolyte. They dispatched both of them, during which the dwarf got caught in a Hold spell. The party looted the priest's chamber and the acolyte's room, finding more black candles with human hair wicks. They also found 4 recently decapitated heads, a Speak with Dead scroll, some chunks of obsidian, and some Zhentarim gold coins. End of Session.

Synopsis of Session X

• Four new recruits, drudged into service due to the fact that they didn't have an adventuring charter (without which they would be arrested for violating one of Cormyr's laws prohibiting the bearing of weapons), arrive at the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar.
• Bolstered by new numbers the party returns to the dreaded library where they first encountered six mimics and bravely ran away. This time, girded by numbers they felt certain of their success...
• And then the Mimics ambushed them from above. The battle was a mess and one of their number nearly died and was only saved by his lucky family heirloom (a demonic carved statuette). Towards the end the party managed to fight as a more cohesive unit, defeating 5 mimics...
• But where is the 6th? Out wandering the Haunted Halls?
• Later the party returned to the throne room where they explored to the south west and found a blackened and charred room, within they found the bones of a skeleton tangled around a stone warhammer, piles of dust in the corners, and two secret doors. They also found a third secret door behind the throne itself after Kiki the halfling druid noticed a draft behind the throne.
• Beyond the throne the party found an ancient armoury, and in a pile of dust and rotting clothing in the NE corner they found a cheap bronze ring and a pouch containing a Magestar - which Estrel recognized as a very expensive and sought after magical item which allows wizards to heal themselves.
• According to Estrel a Magestar can absorb any spell cast directly at it. The level of the spell is then converted into healing energy equal to 1 hp per level of the spell. Eg. Fireball = 3 hit points. However Magestars have an unknown capacity. They can only absorb so much and then they explode. So casting too many spells into the Magestar is clearly reckless.
• Traditionally wizards would use a Magestar at the end of the day to get rid of any unused spells and then heal themselves accordingly. Magestars can only be *bound* and mentally commanded by an arcane spellcaster (or someone possessing arcane spell-like abilities). Once bound they fly around the owner like an Ioun stone, and then when mentally commanded (or if the owner falls unconscious) the Magestar will heal the owner the full amount.
• Estrel estimates it is worth 20,000 gp as they are highly sought after by wizards and should fetch a good price. Also the methods of making Magestars have been lost, so no one has made any new Magestars in centuries. These days they are usually kept as family heirlooms. Some Magestars slowly die and lose their powers, but the one the party has found looks to be fully functional.
• The party peered down the hallway to the SW. It is a long and dark hallway...
• Note - They also didn't finish searching the blackened and charred room. End of Session.

UPDATES, 2017

Synopsis of Session XI

• Three new recruits, drudged into service due to the fact that they didn't have an adventuring charter (without which they would be arrested for violating one of Cormyr's laws prohibiting the bearing of weapons), arrive at the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar.
• There was much falling down slippery and slimy stairs, during which the gnome rogue Spork was attacked by a Stirge and nearly died. Fortunately his teammates managed to kill the Stirge become he could succomb to death and save his life.
• The party encountered a regenerating skeleton whose bones began rattling back together and knitting themselves. During this the gnome Spork decided to push open a stone coffin, which burst open - throwing the coffin lid across the room. The dreaded mummy stood up within the coffin and the fight continued. It took awhile but the party eventually took down the mummy. The elf Elowyn got Mummy Rot and later paid to have a Remove Curse cast at the Temple of Lathander back in Eveningstar.
• The human wizard Mar found a strange hole in NE corner of the room and opened a tiny tunnel going east. Later the elf Elowyn explored it and saw a floating skull in the room. The dwarf paladin Fargrim (aka Grim) explored the tunnel too and determined that the skull was actually dangling from a wire and there was no undead present.
• After searching both the floating skull room and the mummy room, the party found a necklace with 14 rubies on it, a Manual of Stealthy Pilfering, a magical longbow, a magical shortsword, a chest full of gold, silver and 3 pearls (and pearl dust), and a gem encrusted scabbard fit for a shortsword.
• The party returned back to town and did 3 days of resting / downtime. Various things were purchased, Elowyn had a Remove Disease/Poison, a Lesser Restoration, and a Remove Curse cast on her before finally removing the Mummy Rot. Various other things have yet to be sold. The Manual, Longbow and Shortsword were identified by Lady Thorne.
• Lady Thorne offered to purchase the shortsword and was apparently deceptive about why she wanted to buy it. This made some party members suspicious about its value. The wizard Mar went through the process of also Identifying it and also decided he wanted the shortsword... "because it would be useful for, ah, casting magic..." Anyone familiar with this module will know there is a longsword in the module of exceptional value... no spoilers here. But suffice to say I changed it to a shortsword instead. Mar revealed to the two druids Nomuck and Kiki what the sword is, but the three decided to keep it a secret as a "get out of jail free card" for later.
• While carousing Spork had a whirlwind romance with a gnome weapons merchant from Suzail. He hopes to see her again someday.
• By the end of the session the party began the trek back towards the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar.

PERSONAL NOTES REGARDING THE HAUNTED HALLS OF EVENINGSTAR

One of the things I love about this module is that it allows the DM a lot of freedom to add their own things to the dungeon. Roughly half of the dungeon's first level is left blank, so that the DM has to come up with their own things. So I filled in the blanks with undead, traps, necromancers, priests of Myrkul and a plot involving Zhentarim smugglers. (Oh and 6 mimics...)

Beyond that it is also a classic dungeon crawl, a great way for first level characters to meet while seeking riches, and there is a lot of room for the DM to add extra plots. The whole Estrel vs the Zhentarim plot for example.

There is also the Kobold Keep above THHoE, and the lower levels - which has several ways it can be reached, and are left up to the DM as to how many lower levels there are, what they contain, and the shape of the dungeons within - although it is implied that the lower levels are significantly harder and PCs should return to this later. Ed Greenwood also lists a number of nearby places in Cormyr where PCs can also explore.

Estrel is now effectively a henchman - as is Wrathgar, who carries the Adventuring Charter. I am a big fan of using henchmen, hirelings and a variety of other NPCs to fulfill roles in the game. Everything from messengers, couriers, adventure hook providers, allies, possible neutral 3rd parties, and even people who might be allies now but later become villains or rivals.

The following books have been useful:

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Both the 1st Edition and the Revised 2nd Edition)
Forgotten Realms Adventures
Forgotten Realms Hall of Heroes
Cormyr (the accessory, not the novel)
Volo's Guide to Cormyr
Forgotten Realms Book of Lairs
Ruins of Zhentil Keep
Four From Cormyr
Ruins of Adventure
Curse of the Azure Bonds
Into the Dragon's Lair

There is also a number of Dungeon magazines I have found useful. Too many to list them all here properly.

THE FUTURE OF MY FORGOTTEN REALMS CAMPAIGN

I have read up on a number of other modules and adventures also set in Cormyr, not far from Eveningstar. I am trying for now at least to limit the campaign to that one region, and to a lesser extent the Dales, Sembia and the area around Zhentil Keep.

My goal is to run several of the modules listed above and various modules from Dungeon Magazine, as my goal for "Monday Night Modules" is to run a campaign that is fueled mostly by modules and requires very little work from the DM - excluding all the reading I have been doing to become an expert about all things Cormyr or the GCR, the Greater Cormyrean Region.

Part of my goal is to make Cormyr the central base for the characters so that the adventuring hooks keeps them in Cormyr, the Dalelands, Sembia and regions close to Cormyr. As long as I avoid adventuring hooks from other locations, and only rarely visit farflung locations for the sake of spicing things up, the PCs should become invested in the local flavour and politics of Cormyr. They will buy homes, build keeps, invest in businesses, clean out every dungeon in the region, take part in all the major events from the modules Ruins of Adventure, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Into the Dragon's Lair, Four From Cormyr and others. The result will be a very detailed experience, a world players can truly sink their teeth into, and by the end they will feel a sense of accomplishment and be bonafide experts in all things Cormyr.

Then maybe, and only then, will I expand the game (or possibly restart it) to a different region of the world.

I should also note my game is set historically before the Time of Troubles. Four years before it, as the game started in Summer 1354, and the ToT isn't until 1358. This means the PCs may end up living through the events of that rather interesting time period.

It is also only 2 years after the events in which Gondegal the Usurper King proclaimed himself King of Arabel and briefly conquered part of Cormyr before running away when his mercenary army fled. So there might be plots connected to Gondegal and stolen treasure looted by the mercenaries, as that happened only 2 years prior.

Ruins of Adventure should be approx. 1356 or earlier. It is basically a prequel to Curse of the Azure Bonds.

Curse of the Azure Bonds happens in 1357. Module is for 4 to 8 PCs of 6th to 9th level.

Time of Troubles, as mentioned above, in 1358.

There is also the Tuigan Horde invasion in 1359-60. Didn't actually reach Cormyr, but Cormyr did send troops and presumably adventurers. The Tuigans were defeated at Phsant, Thesk in 1360.

The Goblin War in 1370-71, invasion of Cormyr. (While referred to as the Goblin War, most of the baddies were orcs being led by a dragon named Nalavarauthatoryl.) The events of this is from the module "Into the Dragon's Lair", so evidently time would need to pass for the PCs to reach that module. They also should be approx. level 10 by then.

Civil War in Sembia in 1374.

The Spellplague in 1385. I would rather avoid the Spellplague entirely - I feel that whole thing was mistake made by Wizards of the Coast. Changing the maps / everything would be rather annoying. I prefer to use the original maps that are circa 1990. If the game manages to go through 31 years of game time I think I might have a plot involving the clergies of Cyric/Shar trying to rip a hole in the weave of magic, but the PCs will successfully stop them. Do that and I never to deal with that whole annoyance.

CAROUSING

The good news is the players in my game spend an odd amount of time carousing. They will regularly "rest and carouse for 3 days" before returning to THHoE for more adventuring. In theory carousing could be used to have the PCs carouse their way through months or even years of the timeline...

You carouse for 8 months. You wake up in an abandoned building with strange azure tattoos on your body... Tada! It is 1357 already. You don't remember how you got here.

I presume they will also use downtime between adventures in other ways too, as the game continues, but we shall see.

eg. They might decide to carouse their way through the Time of Troubles, thus avoiding it entirely. We shall see about that too.

Dungeon Magazine Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

Below is a list of adventures set in the Forgotten Realms published in Dungeon Magazines, between issues 1 and 150.

I have ranked the adventures by their minimum recommend character levels. I have also marked the five part series Mere of Dead Men in blue. You know, because we love sea monsters. :)

• Elminster’s Back Door, by Ed Greenwood for any levels — Dungeon #30
• Below Vulture Point, by Jeff Fairbourne for levels 0-1 — Dungeon #39
• Thirds of Purloined Vellum, by Graham Robert Scott for level 1 — Dungeon #88
• The Raiders of Galath’s Roost, by Skip Williams for level 1 — Dungeon #87
• Within the Circle, by Sam Brown for level 1 — Dungeon #130
• Euphoria Horrors, by Alan Grimes for levels 1-2 — Dungeon #34
• …And A Dozen Eggs, by Randy Maxwell for levels 1-3 — Dungeon #30
• The Inheritance, by Paul Culotta for levels 1-3 — Dungeon #26
• Irongard, by Ed Greenwood for levels 1-3 — Dungeon #18
• Into the Nest of Vipers, by Matthew G. Adkins for levels 1-3 — Dungeon #75
• The Beast Within, by Paul Hamilton Beattie, Jr for levels 1-3 — Dungeon #65
• A Wizard’s Fate, by Christopher Perkins for levels 1-3 — Dungeon #37
• Welcome to the Krypthome, by Samuel Heath for levels 1-3 — Dungeon #52
• The Frothing Miscreant, by Robert A. Van Buskirk for levels 2-4 — Dungeon #80
• Masqueraider, by Randy Maxwell for levels 2-5 — Dungeon #14
• Slave Vats of the Yuan-Ti (Mere of Dead Men Part I), by Jason Kuhl for levels 3-5 — Dungeon #69
• Witches’ Brew, by Steve Johnson for levels 3-5 — Dungeon #67
• Ssscaly Thingsss (Mere of Dead Men Part II), by Kent Urtman for levels 3-6 — Dungeon #70
• The Serpent’s Tooth, by Nigel D. Findley for levels 3-6 — Dungeon #19
• The Oracle at Sumbar, by Paul Culotta for levels 3-6 — Dungeon #48
• The Muster of Morach Tor, by Russell Brown for level 4 — Dungeon #144
• Huzza’s Goblin O’War, by Paul Culotta for levels 4-6 — Dungeon #63
• The Glass House, by Wolfgang Baur for levels 4-6 — Dungeon #15
• Nymph’s Reward, by Jeffery L. Fairbourn for levels 4-6 — Dungeon #29
• Dreadful Vestiges (Mere of Dead Men Part III), by Steve Johnson for levels 4-7 — Dungeon #71
• Visitors from Above, by Shonn Everett for levels 4-8 — Dungeon #28
• On Wings of Darkness, by Craig Barrett for levels 4-8 — Dungeon #34
• Forest of Blood, by Wil Upchurch for level 5 — Dungeon #103
• Mistress on the Mere (Mere of Dead Men Part IV), by Paul Culotta for levels 5-7 — Dungeon #72
• Grimjaws, by Jennifer Tittle Stack for levels 5-7 — Dungeon #62
• Sleep of Ages, by Eric L. Boyd for levels 5-8 — Dungeon #69
• Ex Libris, by Randy Maxwell for levels 5-8 — Dungeon #29
• Training Ground, by Rick Maffei for levels 5-8 — Dungeon #67
• The Door From Everywhere, by Roger E. Moore for level 6 — Dungeon #88
• Eye of Myrkul (Mere of Dead Men Part V), by Eric L. Boyd for levels 6-8 — Dungeon #73
• Grotto of the Queen, by Paul & Shari Culotta for levels 6-9 — Dungeon #64
• Operation Manta Ray, by Paul Culotta for levels 6-9 — Dungeon #66
• The Pipes of Doom, by Kristofer Wade for levels 6-10 — Dungeon #28
• The Chasm Bridge, by Desmond R. Varady for level 7 — Dungeon #101
• Tears for Twilight Hollow, by A. L. McCoy, C. Perkins for level 7 — Dungeon #90
• Steelheart, by Paul Culotta for levels 7-9 — Dungeon #53
• The Ship of Night, by Wolfgang Baur for levels 7-9 — Dungeon #20
• A Question of Balance, by Nigel D. Findley for levels 7-12 — Dungeon #14
• Storm Season, by Paul Culotta for levels 7-12 — Dungeon #61
• Woe to Mistledale, by Skip Williams for level 8 — Dungeon #100
• ‘Til Death Do Us Part, by J. Mark Bicking for levels 8-10 — Dungeon #29
• Into the Silver Realm, by Steve Kurtz for levels 8-12 — Dungeon #43
• A Blight on the Land, by Richard Green for levels 8-12 — Dungeon #38
• Requiem of the Shadow Serpent, by Anson Caralya for level 9 — Dungeon #139
• Practical Magic, by Jason Nelson for level 9 — Dungeon #113
• House of Cards, by Randy Maxwell for levels 9-12 — Dungeon #19
• Twisted Night, by Stefan Happ for level 10 — Dungeon #149
• The Akriloth, by Matthew G. Adkins for levels 10-12 — Dungeon #79
• Spiral of Manzessine, by David Noonan for level 11 — Dungeon #94
• Dungeon of the Crypt, by Eric L. Boyd for level 13 — Dungeon #127
• Blood of Malar, by Eric L. Boyd for level 13 — Dungeon #126
• Prison of the Firebringer, by Richard Baker for level 13 — Dungeon #101
• Secrets of the Arch Wood, by Skip Williams for levels 13-20 — Dungeon #121
• The Fireplace Level, by Eric L. Boyd for level 14 — Dungeon #128
• Man Forever, by Jason Nelson-Brown for level 15 — Dungeon #137
• The Harrowing, by Monte Cook for level 15 — Dungeon #84
• The Twisted Run, by Wil Upchurch for level 17 — Dungeon #129