EG1 Draconic Awareness - Dimgaard D&D Adventures and

EG1 Draconic Awareness By Dan Hass

At the edge of civilization, rumors proliferate of a population of dragons. Such stories are always present at some level, but there is a definite upsurge lately that implies there is some basis in fact. Can heroes discover the truth about dragons in the Alshon Region? A Dungeons and Dragons® 5th Edition Adventure for 1-8 1st level characters. Episode one of Encounters with Gold.

1 EG1 Draconic Awareness By Dan Hass

Contents Adventure Summary .............................................................................................................. 2 Preparing the Adventure........................................................................................................ 2 Running the Adventure .......................................................................................................... 3 Adventure Background .......................................................................................................... 3 Adventure Outline.................................................................................................................. 4 Starting the Adventure ........................................................................................................... 5 Encounter 1: The Corrupted Wood ........................................................................................ 6 Encounter 2: The Guards ...................................................................................................... 7 Encounter 3: The Enclave ..................................................................................................... 8 Concluding the Adventure ..................................................................................................... 9 Appendix 1: DM Maps ..........................................................................................................10 The Berrywood .................................................................................................................10 Enclave Camp ..................................................................................................................11 Appendix 2: Magic Items ......................................................................................................12 Monogram on Bag of Holding ...........................................................................................12 Credits Editing Contributor Cover Art

Jeremy Esch Brandon Twyford Fernando Olmedo (his work)

You can join the Dimgaard community (get additional content, contribute to the campaign, play in Dimgaard games, etc.) at https://www.patreon.com/Dimgaard. You can also find volume of Dimgaard modules and supplements on kickstarter by going to www.kickstarter.com and searching for “Dimgaard”. The current kickstarter with three more episodes from this series is available at www.kickstarter.com/projects/1000694697/dimgaard-vol-xxiv-5e-dnd-adventures.

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Copyright 2017 Dan Hass Endeavors ® Referenced Trademark of Wizards of the Coast

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2 EG1 Draconic Awareness By Dan Hass interaction between the PCs and NPCs Adventure Summary depending on the inclinations of the players EG1 Draconic Awareness is a Dungeons and DM. The module deliberately gives just and Dragons® 5th Edition adventure enough information about NPCs to move designed for 1-8 1st level characters. It the plot along, leaving a lot of room for a requires a Player’s Handbook® (PHB), a DM to individualize these to her campaign. Monster Manual® (MM), and a Dungeon It makes things smoother if the DM spends Master's Guide® (DMG). Xanathar’s Guide a few minutes deciding how she will deliver to Everything® (XGE) is also referenced. the NPCs’ interactions. Some DMs revel in While the encounters include scaling for 1the opportunity to assume the personas of 8 characters, parties of 1 or 2 PCs and 7 or multiple NPCs over the course of a session 8 PCs are fringe circumstances that may while others prefer a summary approach. play oddly. Specifically, parties of 1-2 are The decision is a matter of style and highly susceptible to a single bad die roll, showmanship. Similarly, many players look and 7-8 can slow play dramatically. Ideally a forward to opportunities to interact “in party will be 3-6 PCs. character” while others prefer to summarize. The Digital copies of the encounter maps Neither approach is “correct”; both are valid are available here. ways to collaboratively build a story, but the The Dimgaard campaign guide is available DM should try to anticipate her players’ here. preferences (and decide her own) and prepare accordingly. Campaign Choice A battlemat or dungeon tiles may be While Encounter with Gold is set in helpful, but not necessary. Dimgaard, it can be used in any campaign Items for Review setting with some adjustments. The key element is the conflict between dragonkin ➢ MM. commoner, green dragon wyrmling, guard, swarm of ravens, twig blight and the greater non-draconic races.

Dragonkin PCs It is important for the party member’s goals to be aligned. D&D is not a competition. Dimgaard adventures presume the party will have cohesion and be working together. Even with that presumption, Dimgaard adventures are difficult. If the PCs are hostile to each other and actively work against each other success becomes virtually impossible. The storyline of Encounters with Gold deals with totalitarian forces who would enslave all non-draconic races. While it is reasonable that a player may think it is fun to side with the evil, bad forces, it simply is not playable. A player who creates such a character is actually simply creating a character that must be considered a villain, and therefore an NPC. It is incumbent on the DM to take the steps necessary to prevent this situation.

Preparing the Adventure It is always a good idea for the DM to read through an adventure before running it. EG1 Draconic Awareness is no different. There are some rather complex encounters that will benefit if the DM spends a few minutes deciding how she will play them. EG1 Draconic Awareness can be run with a lot of PREVIEW

➢ Spells. aid, ceremony, (contagion) Seizure, goodberry

Dimgaard Philosophy Dimgaard’s primary principle is that D&D should be an entertaining experience. In particular, it should be fun and interesting. The “best” D&D is a collaborative storytelling event where the DM provides the framework and supporting details, while the players contribute by roleplaying the heroes (their characters) that results in epic tales. “Epic” implies that the heroes be challenged and that success is a question to be decided by the heroes’ deeds and choices. The Lord of the Rings is only an epic because the reader doesn’t know until the final pages if Frodo, Aragorn and the rest will achieve their objectives or die, fruitless, in their efforts. A great Dimgaard session (and really any D&D session) is where there is the finest line between success and failure and the heroes just manage to win (occasionally, just surviving is “winning”). But for those narrowest of victories to have true meaning, they cannot be foregone conclusions, and likely there will be times when the PCs fail – Boromir comes to mind or Gandalf’s expedition to Isengard where he was captured.


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Running the Adventure

EG1 Draconic Awareness By Dan Hass

EG1 Draconic Awareness is made up of three encounters. An encounter is “something significant that happens” (on average an encounter should take 20 to 40 minutes of game time). Generally, these will fall into two categories: roleplaying or combat. Often the decision as to what type of encounter it will be is based on the PCs’ actions. Sometimes a combat encounter may evolve into a roleplaying encounter when mistaken identities, misunderstandings, or action based on false assumptions are corrected, thus ending the violence. Other times conversations, interrogations, or negotiations can become heated and erupt in violence changing a roleplaying encounter into a combat encounter. The Dimgaard philosophy gives the DM opportunities to reward good roleplaying. Good roleplaying can generally garner players an easier path to achieving the desired outcomes. However, it takes stellar roleplaying to completely avoid combat. The world is a dark and violent place where opponents with short tempers often find violence the most direct route to achieving their goals. The encounters in EG1 Draconic Awareness challenge PCs in different ways. The combat encounters are expected to meet the definition of hard (DMG p.81), but additionally there are encounters to test the PCs’ ability to deal with diplomatic situations and pose difficult questions about their characters’ morals.

Modification “Exploits” Technically each encounter uses a medium XP budget per the encounter building guidelines. And for many parties a medium encounter may turn out to meet the definition of hard as PCs may be built for roleplaying and the party may not have optimized their tactics. Modifications have been made to the creatures which do not increase the calculated CR of the creature but do increase the challenge of the creature. These are denoted with a 1. These are not intended to be used with all parties, nor does a DM need to use every suggested modification. The DM should gauge the effectiveness of the party and decide which of these to use (keeping in mind the definition of hard encounters). PREVIEW

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The Cult’s Plan

The Cultists under Orthis realize the great opportunity Xisiar (the wyrmling) presents. Even as a wyrmling, he is a formidable foe for most adversaries. Further, he can be a unifying presence for other cells of the Cult of the Green Dragon. If the Cult can bring together their various members in a strongly defended location, they hope to form the beginnings of an empire. They have deceived Sir Hambis into believing that they want to simply live in peaceful anonymity adjacent to him and (falsely) offered fealty in return. In the meantime, the combination of Xisiar’s plant growth and the regional effect he generates from establishing a lair (MM 96) has transformed the Berrywood into a sinister, corrupted woods. Now that it is clear that Sir Hambis can be relied upon to keep the cult’s presence a secret, Orthis has gone to escort another enclave to the Berrywood.

Adventure Background A while ago, the half-orc wizard Cebak acquired several unhatched green dragon eggs by swindling the Cult of the Green Dragon. He managed to incubate nine of these, and raised them for several months. Cebak’s goal was to raise the dragons to be loyal to him and use them as a basis to build his own empire. But he could not protect them, and the location of the tower he built became known to his enemies. With doom looming, Cebak entrusted the nine baby dragons to allies who shared is evil ethos, and attempted to flee. But he was not able to escape. He entrusted the oldest of these baby dragons (named Xisiar) to an evil, hermit druid he was friendly with named Nurc. However, Xisiar is sociable and as Xisiar approached wyrmling age he yearned for contact with other creatures – putting him at odds with Nurc. The situation became untenable for Nurc. Nurc made contact with the Cult of the Green Dragon, and exchanged Xisiar for consideration from the Cult to be determined later. Not wanting to risk travelling with Xisiar, members of the Cult came to Xisiar. They settled on the idea of establishing a secure enclave in the Berrywood. To that end, the


4 EG1 Draconic Awareness By Dan Hass cult’s cell leader (Orthis) negotiated an Adventure Outline agreement with Sir Hambis, who has the The PCs are enlisted by the Verdadis rights to the Berrywood (from Count Landis representative Jameson to locate any of Schmitford). Over the past weeks, the possible baby green dragons for a reward cult’s community has grown and thrived. and substantial consideration. During his affiliation with Nurc, Xisiar The PCs learn of the Berrywood, where learned to cast plant growth, and he has the community of Tallywood has used this to increase the yield of the experienced suspicious behavior. Berrywood so that the cultists can offer a The PCs may interact with Tallywood’s tribute to Sir Hambis equal to what he was residents, but ultimately should reach the harvesting from the forest before the Cult conclusion that they need to investigate the settled there, and still have enough for their Berrywood, where they are attacked by twig needs. blights and swarms. In addition, the Verdadis are family has In the heart of the Berrywood, the Cult of learned of the cult’s activity in the the Green Dragon has established a camp. Berrywood. It is protected by guards stationed to watch the approaches. The Verdadis Family In the camp, the cultists (currently all It is lost to history where, when, or how the green dragonborn) are vicious and evil, but Verdadis family’s bloodline became they are also protected by Xisiar, whose intermingled with that of a green dragon, but breath weapon is too powerful for them to it did, and it is strong. Almost every family withstand and it becomes a matter of member manifests the draconic ancestry to escape for the PCs. some degree. For most of the family’s history, they lived in fear of the One True Rests Faith, or the reactions of the populace if The PCs are expected to complete 6+ their secret became known. medium or hard combat encounters without About fifty years ago, Osun Verdadis taking a long rest. Even short rests should retired from a successful adventuring career be cautiously allowed since many PCs’ to build a fief in some open territory to the resources recharge on a short rest. Further, east of Mooresgate. It became known as at the start of the adventure, the PCs have the Barony of Verdadis and quietly just completed a long rest, and a PC can prospered. benefit from a long rest only once in any 24As it grew, it drew the attention of the hour period (PHB 185). Duchy of Trussia (which has Mooresgate as Once the action starts, the PCs can’t take its capital). The barony became a vassal a long rest. If they insist, within the state of the duchy and thrived. Berrywood, if the PCs attempt a long rest, The (true) rumors are that the Barony of the dragonborn attack them. Verdadis is a haven for dragonkin who are content to live quiet private lives with respect for the One True Faith (though not necessarily adherence) and a willingness to recognize the importance of peace. The Barony of Verdadis has been the target of several campaigns over the years. Some by adventurers, some by Pholtans, and some by the Inquisition. However, the political influence of the Duchy of Trussia has prevented a full crusade. Not appearing in this episode, but key to later episodes is the Dragon Cabal – an organization of dragonkin operating throughout Dimgaard to unite dragonkin, restore dragons as the rulers of the region, and subjugate (or exterminate) any nondragonkin that won’t recognize their claim. PREVIEW


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Starting the Adventure 1st Level Downtime Technically, PCs have an indefinite amount of downtime prior to starting (though no money to spend.) There are many beneficial downtime activities that cost nothing though. For example, Performing Sacred Rites. The first task for new PCs is to establish a reason to adventure together. The DM can simply presume a relationship, but this adventure is deliberately condensed (though still providing 300 XP) to allow for the players and DM to spend considerable time up front constructing an integrated backstory that will allow the players to justify their characters deciding to become adventurers and trusting the other PCs. Success will quite likely hinge on the PCs working together with goals that align – or at least don’t clash. Some options: ➢ Benefit of a ceremony spell ➢ Benefit of Inspiring Leader (6 temp hit points) ➢ Benefit of aid ➢ Service of a mastiff guard dog ➢ A supply of goodberries ➢ An artificer infuses a stone with revivify ➢ Performing Sacred Rites (DMG 129) The PHB 187, DMG 127, XGE 123 and the Dimgaard Campaign Guide all have suggestions for downtime activities and the DM may develop some of her own. There is also several (playtest) options available through the Unearthed Arcana (here).

PCs’ Resources Managing the PCs’ access to extraordinary equipment is another tool to modulate the difficulty of the encounters. If PCs are underpowered, downtime can contribute resources (potions, scrolls, etc.) to increase their effectiveness. Stronger parties may not need this type of support. When the downtime is resolved, read or paraphrase: You have come into your own. It is time to establish your independence. In that endeavor, you have made the acquaintance of others with a similar goal. While waiting for opportunity to strike, you enjoy a simple breakfast in the river city of Leischport.

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With introductions resolved, the DM can launch the action of the adventure with the following: There are echoes of recent events circulating through Leischport – particularly stories of green dragons and death cults. As the dishes are cleared, a middle-aged man in well-worn traveler’s clothes approaches. “I’m Jameson. I’m not from this area. I serve the Barony of Verdadis – several days travel to the north. The ruling family has an interest in the rumors of dragons. “It is important to me that I get any information regarding actual dragons or their kin before others do. While we are remote, we are not without influence among the local nobility, and we can arrange a worthwhile compensation for conveying this information to us first – and we won’t even oppose passing the information along to authorities after a suitable delay for us to decide our actions.” It is suggested that Jameson offer a reward of 50 GP for bringing him the information first. Presumably the PCs will need to investigate to discover that the Berrywood has become inhabited by the Dragon Cult. The DM can decide which of the following to reveal and may tie them to an ability check.

Rumors ➢ Several times in the past few weeks there have been sightings of baby green dragons. Many of these can be discounted, but many are also true. Whether there are still dragons in the area is unsure, but definitely there were dragons in the area recently. ➢ Several days ago, a suspicious group of humanoids were seen traversing from the west to the Berrywood. Reports are that they were heavily cowled, and the few people who interacted with them insisted they spoke Draconic. ➢ People with acquaintances in Tallywood mention that the Berrywood has grown into a jungle nearly over night – well, within the past couple weeks. Sir Hambis, the lord of Berrywood, seems unconcerned even though the peasants who have historically gathered the bounty of the forest have been pressured to stay out of the forest by the Lord’s sheriff



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Encounter 1: The Corrupted Wood Sir Hambis and Cult of the Green Dragon Several days ago, the leader of a cell of the Cult of the Green Dragon (a green dragonborn named Orthis) took an audience with Sir Hambis. Orthis offered to free Sir Hambis’ peasants from the work of foraging in the Berrywood while still providing the same amount of food (because of the increased productivity from plant growth). This has been working well for Sir Hambis, and he wants to protect it. He hopes to retrain the unskilled peasants who harvested the forest for more sophisticated crafting to improve Tallywood’s economy for everyone. He is working to secure apprenticeships. While it may seem that he should know that something unnatural is afoot (as blights have begun to attack his peasants near the forest), he is willfully ignorant and makes every excuse as to how the occurrences (swarms, blights, rapid overgrowth) are natural. Map. The Berrywood Background. As the cult has settled into the forest, the presence of the dragon has begun to corrupt it. The descriptions of those familiar with the Berrywood were of an idyllic, berry-filled woodland, but as you enter the forest, the shadows are darker than can be explained by the canopy, and the trees are twisted and gnarled with no visible explanation. Running the encounter. The PCs are free to interview the citizens of Tallywood and can even receive an audience with Sir Hambis. They will all convey that the bounty of the Berrywood is being productively gathered. There have been some instances that could be viewed as sinister, and the villagers now know to enter the Berrywood only with an armed escort, but that the village is better off.

Green Dragon’s Regional Effects PCs who learn of the swarms, blights, sudden overgrowth, and lack of game (like deer and rabbits) may discern that these are regional effects of a green dragon. The DM can convey this at any time, and may want to convey it as the result of an Intelligence (Arcana) or Intelligence (Nature) check to note that the plant growth is not natural. PREVIEW

By agreement, at noon a contingent of villagers enters a clearing near the forest’s edge where they find baskets of nuts, berries, and fruits (but no game). Scaling the encounter. There is one Twig Blight for each PC. If there are 6+ PCs add an additional twig blight. Twig Blight. MM 32. Hit Points 7 (1d6+1) Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft. 1 Saving Throws Wis +1, Cha -2 1 Skills Acrobatics +3, Stealth +3 Nourished. The plant growth has increased the blight’s speed and maximized its hit points. 1 Poisoned Claws. A creature hit by the blight’s claws is poisoned. At the end of each of the creature’s turns it can end the poisoned condition with a successful DC 14 Constitution saving throw.

Concluding the encounter. As the PCs proceed deeper into the Berrywood, they encounter swarms that are a product of Xisiar’s regional effects.

Hazards (Traps) The demands of the adventure day are impossible to implement in a standard, fourhour session. A combat encounter will consume thirty+ minutes even though it lasts only three rounds. If the DM is presenting 6+ combats, it leaves little time for anything else in a session. To allow for story building, character development, and roleplaying, Dimgaard adventures simulate the results of a combat encounter with hazards – a type of trap, environmental effect, disease, or similar mechanic. These can be applied to the party and resolved with minimal session time spent. By implementing 2-4 of these events, the session has time for non-combat encounters and activities. If the DM feels the extra resource taxes are unnecessary, she can exclude them. However, the XP awarded is necessary for the PCs to reach 2nd level. Disturbed Fauna Creature event There is no cheerful noise in the Berrywood – no chirping, no critter chatter – only distant squawks and wails. Suddenly the screeches grow in intensity as clouds of ravens attack. There is one swarm of ravens (MM 339) per PC. They surprise the party and each attacks one party member and then dissipates. Any PC hit by the swarm must succeed on a DC13 Constitution saving throw or be infected with Seizures (see contagion). Against any target that has a passive Perception of 13 or which cannot be surprised, the swarms attack with disadvantage.


EG1 Draconic Awareness - Dimgaard D&D Adventures and

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