Triboar Trail
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From the introduction of Lost Mine of Phandelver: “Known roads may be well traveled, but they aren’t necessarily safe. Fell magic, deadly monsters, and cruel local rulers are all perils that you face when you travel in the Forgotten Realms. Even farms and freeholds within a day’s walk of a city can fall prey to…
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I’ve never been a fan of the Goblin Trail encounters in Chapter 1: Goblin Arrows. They feel like incomplete encounters or, dare I say, lazy game design. Yeah yeah. The game was designed with new Dungeon Masters and players in mind, so why not introduce both parties to the Wisdom (Perception) mechanic by tossing a…
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If you’re going to encounter goblins along the Triboar Trail, it will likely be along the western half of the trail, or as I like to refer to it: “Cragmaw Country.” As one of the stealthiest creatures in the Monster Manual – further blessed with darkvision to make their sneaking in the dark even more…
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Just as there is no daytime result to roll for ghouls on the Wilderness Encounters table in Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web, there’s also no nighttime result to roll for the ogre. It would appear that ogres are afraid of the dark or, at a minimum, have enough sense to realize they’re at a disadvantage…
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Out of the eight monsters listed on the Wilderness Encounters table (Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web), the ogre is one of my favorites. There’s already an ogre by the name of Gog in Lost Mine of Phandelver. Gog aligns himself with Brughor Axe Biter and his company of orcs at Wyvern Tor. However, if the…
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Since characters often deploy their long rest mechanic at the end of an adventuring day, it’s not uncommon for a nighttime random encounter to occur as the party sleeps – especially when camping outdoors. It’s why there’s almost always a discussion around which characters are standing watch as the rest of the party dozes. And…
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Ghouls are the only monster on the Lost Mine of Phandelver’s Wilderness Encounters table (Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web) that does not call for a daytime encounter, and I approve! These are creatures of the night, and they’ll make for a more memorable encounter when they go bump in the dark. That being said, there’s…
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The nice thing about stirges is their ability to subvert expectations for what some players might steel themselves for during an evening spent out under the stars. For a nighttime random encounter, stirges don’t come crashing out of the bushes with a roar or a war cry. Certainly not when, under the cover of darkness,…
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During daylight hours, characters are most-likely to encounter stirges while the foul little beasties are sleeping, since the monster’s darkvision trait suggests a nocturnal nature. Like bats, stirges sleep upside down, hanging from the upper reaches of wherever they roost. In Lost Mine of Phandelver, that would likely be a mine, cave, or ruin. Or…
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When prepping for Lost Mine of Phandelver’s Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web, I would recommend Dungeon Masters put some forethought into how they would deploy each of the monsters found on the Wilderness Encounters table before it actually comes to a dice roll in game play. You’re the Dungeon Master, and you’re keeping enough in…