Lost Mine of Phandelver
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Once upon a time, orcs were a quarrelsome race of humanoids, who were as likely to stick the pointy end of a blade into friends, neighbors, and leaders as they were an enemy. But alas, that was then and this is now. These days, orcs are no longer a monster you’ll find in the current…
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What if instead of wakey wakey eggs and bakey, the party woke up to a daytime wilderness encounter? Or, how about all three? Where would one find eggs, bacon, and a daytime wilderness encounter along the Triboar Trail, anyway? Why, Abner Feldman’s farmstead, of course! Oh Abner. You poor, unfortunate bastard. The morning is heavy…
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We can repurpose Abner Feldman’s farmstead (see yesterday’s hobgoblin daytime wilderness encounter) as the stage for a hobgoblin nighttime wilderness encounter as well. Everything doesn’t need to jump out of the bushes at the party once they bed down beneath the stars for the night, you know. In fact, who’s to say this couldn’t be…
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I’m rather fond of hobgoblins. In my mind, I see these mid-tier goblinoids as the Uruk-hai of Faerûn. Militaristic. Disciplined. Fearless. To me, the portrayal of hobgoblin vs. goblin is something akin to the Uruk-hai of Isengard vs. Mordor and Moria orcs. The former are larger in stature and operate as a disciplined fighting unit…
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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…