#the frinsville few

[dailyadventureprompts]

Not gonna lie, the shore game actually sounds pretty fun. One thing I might do if I did this was on one of the earlier days the party is there have them find like some kids playing a simplified version so they at least had a general idea; Xemplaris using the more complicated & complete rules from the original game. But honestly I'm tempted to just have like a shore game tournament if I ever need like some filler or something.

Minigame: Klac

The game of Klac is enjoyed across a myriad of kingdoms and involves players collecting marbles of various materials and then trading them by way of a dexterity based game played in groups of two or more. The exact rules of Klac shift from region to region as local customs and idiosyncrasies solidify and it's not an uncommon sight to see players in more metropolitan center argue about nuances of the rules longer then they end up playing.

Still, the thrill of victory and collecting exotic marbles draws players of all ages to the game, especially adventurers and merchants whose journeys across the world allows them to amass a small horde of marbles as souvenirs of their many travels.

What separates Klac from other marble games is the variety of the pieces involved: Clay marbles are common, as are glass in those regions where the art is practiced, but one can also expect to find pieces made of metal, wood, or stone which can fundamentally affect how marbles behave, with some marbles even being made of patterned ceramics or semi-precious stones. Size likewise is no set factor when it comes to marbles with anything able to be held between the first two joints of the smallest player’s fingers seen as valid for competion. Some specalized artisans are even known to make trick marbles: hollow clay ones that will crack apart when struck rather than being knocked out of the ring, wooden ones with metal inlays that affect their trajectories,  glass ones filled with a mixture of water and mercury to affect thier velocity, hemitite that adheres to others or knock them off course. These diverse (and in some cases frankly unfair) pieces are what make klac such a draw for those who obsess over it, who go to great lengths to uncover new strategies for what seems at first like a simple game.

How to Play Klac at the table:

Since you can't expect your party to drop everything and play out an actual marble game, here's an easy way to play:

have every player roll 3d20 and mark down the numbers, except 1-5, and 16-20, which are immediately discounted, simulating a marble rolling off the playing field.

Starting with the person who rolled the highest, check around the table to see if there are any matching numbers, which cancel eachother out. A quick way to do this is to say " Fifteens, fourteens thirteens" and have a quick raise of hands. This represents marbles knocking into eachother, and knocking them out.

After all matches have been removed, players tally their remaining numbers, highest number wins. in the event of a tie, have a roll off.

Adventure Hooks:

It's a well known fact that rich people love to waste their money on extravagances, and a local jeweler makes an earnest living carving gemstones and casting precious metals to make Klac pieces for her wealthy clientele. When her shop is robbed she reaches out to the party for fear that some of that same clientele may blame her once they realize that their property has been stolen and use their influence to ruin her reputation. As the investigation progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that the thieves weren’t after valuables, but a specific set of marbles commissioned by a particular client, Who just so happens to have stated the outcome of some very important noble dealings on an upcoming klac game.  There’s a deeper mystery here than who stole the marbles, as this deal has massive ramifications that might stretch across the kingdom should it default.

While Traveling through the wilderness, the party encounters a naiad playing Klac on the shoreline and has the opportunity to ask for directions towards their goal. On closer inspection however it appears all of the waterfey’s marbles are in fact pearls of astonishing size and luster. Gambling with the fey is never a wise idea, but with a small fortune on the line perhaps they can afford to be wise another time.

After playing a couple rounds of Klac in the local roadhouse, the party will hear a couple of their fellow gamblers discussing an eccentric local magistrate in possession of a massive collection of rare and beautiful marbles known for inviting complete strangers into his home for the sake of a rousing game or the chance of trading an interesting piece. Knowing an opportunity when they hear it, the party head to the next town over and have just been welcomed past the threshold (and out of the downpour that broke out while they were waiting) when they hear a thud and a tremendous clatter from up the stairs that might be confused for thunder. Rushing up stairs they’ll find the magistrate murdered, his pristine display shelves overturned, and a cowled, avian figure silhouetted in the now open window before diving off into the night.   This trespasser is the kenku Tonk, a roving thief and Klac hustler who’s heard stories of a lich who was sealed inside his phylactery by a group of heroes past, a perfect crystal sphere one could confuse for a marble.  With the murderer in the wind and a hysterical butler accusing them of being accomplices, time is running out before Tonk finds a means of releasing the lich in exchange for a cure to the kenku curse of wordlessness

The Rules of Klac

It’s often said there’s as many ways to play Klac as there are people to play it, but generally the rules resolve down to something like this:

Each player keeps thier marbles in a bag, which they give a shake before the game begins, drawing out a handful of marbles. ( A decision to weigh carefully, as a larger handful means more options for victory, but also more on the line).

Each player then selects five marbles, and puts the rest in a communal cup/bowl/other openmouthed container large enough to contain all the marbles. (They’ll want to select the marbles that are larger and heavier, and/or ones too valuable to lose)

a circle is drawn on the floor, generally seven feet across, with another 1ft circle inside. The cup is then upended over this circle in such a way that the marbles pour out. The cup is then placed right side up in the middle of the circle, displacing the marbles. (all marbles that roll out of the outer ring are put into the cup)

Whoesever marble is closest to the outer edge of the outer ring starts first, and play proceeds clockwise form there. Players must flick one of their five chosen marbles (called a striker) and try to knock other marbles out of the inner ring, If they successfully knock one out, they take that marble into their “ante” and get to take another turn, shooting their first marble again and again until they fail to knock anything out of the inner ring. If the player knocks anything into the cup in the middle of the ring loud enough to make a “Klac” sound, they must instantly stop their turn and put any marble that hit the cup (including their striker) into the cup.

If a player’s turn ends and their striker is still inside the inner circle, it is counted as being a valid marble for knockout allowing other players to knock it out of the middle circle and add it to their ante

When it cycles back to a player’s turn, they may either continue playing from one of their currently deployed striker, or surrender it, chosing one of their four remaining potential strikers and shooting from the outside of the ring again. Players with no more strikers cannot take turns

Play ends when all the marbles are cleared out of the inner circle, or when all players are out of strikers. Each player keeps whatever marbles are in their ante, with the player who got the most marbles also taking whatever ended up in the Cup. All marbles still in the outer ring are returned to their owners ( this becomes a meta-game in high ranking klac circles, who may take disadvantageous moves to knock particular marbles in/out of the outer ring should they be deemed valuable enough)

In friendly games, trading marbles back to their owners is encouraged at the end of the night, and the bargaining that takes place is often used as an excuse to buy drinks for strangers or initiate dares among drunken friends. This also serves as a winddown period to ensure there are no hard feelings over spilt marbles.

Klak Items: 

if your party gets a taste for Klak, consider letting them begin amassing a collection of rare marbles, represented by giving them additional options when playing the abstract game mentioned above:

Better marbles that let them replace one or more of their d20 rolls with: 2d10,  2d8, 4d6, 3d6, 5d4 etc. Each of these have their own benefits and drawbacks, so rather than trying to balance them, simply reward them with one of the options for winning a rare marble in a game or going to the local marketplace to get some (with each town’s market giving a different option)

A champion Klak bag as a common magic item, which lets them add or subtract their slight of hand or gambling proficiency to any of their d20 rolls before they have to start discounting any.

Art

#minigame #dare #tavern #town #Village #city #thief #mystery #dnd #dungeons and dragons #adventure #5e homebrew #homebrew adventure #homebrew #homebrew mechanic #fey #gambling #Lich #the frinsville few #kenku

[dailyadventureprompts]

Adventure: The Heist on Hobsnight 

Setup: Every culture has their harvest rituals, but Hobsnight in the village of Tolvendell is something special. A celebration of an ancient compact between the ancient spirits of the land and the people who settle upon it, where neighbors strangers and folk from unknown land travel in disguise, and everyone is greeted with warm hospitality. 

Like any good autumnal festival, the days leading up to Hobsnight is marked with good food and myriad amusements, the most heated of which is a competition between the local farmers to see who can grow the largest pumpkin,  which will on that very night be baked into a pie and shared with a visitor from the fey, bestowing honor and bounty upon the village (and the farm that provided the gourd in question)

A halfling by the name of Dannava Thatchlock has been trying for years to outdo the rival Baffleberral clan, who’s chokehold on the art of pumpkin horticulture has ensured they’ve won the contest twelve tears running. Dannava had almost managed it too, except that two weeks ago her mammoth of a squash was smashed to bits in the field, despite the vigilant watch of her half-blind sheepdog Gus, who barely survived a poisoned hank of ham tossed over her fences. The obvious suspects are Mayor Wilthrop Bafflebarrel and his four thuggish sons, who’ve turned a decade of fey granted bounty into enduring political power in the village.

Dannava has a plan though, one that’ll blow the socks off judges, snub the Bafflebarrels, and ensure no one messes with her, her farm, or her dog ever again: She’s going to poach a Pumkin from the feywild

Adventure hooks

While there are numerous tales around Tolvendell relating to the fey, the contest with the Punpkins relates back to near the town’s founding, when the villages' founder Tolven used one of his seven wishes from the fey (a story for another time) to gain access to a place called Kennko’s lot, from which he stole a handful of magical seeds. One of those magical seeds grew into a pumpkin that fed Tolvin and his clan for a whole winter, while the rest were scattered over the Lot in his flight from his pursuers. Dannava has it on good autheoity from a pixie she once dated (again, story for another time) that the lot is now OVERGROWN with pumpkins suffused with the magic of the feywild, and while they won’t grow in a single night anymore, there are some that are REALLY BIG, possibly enough to replace the one the Bafflebarrels smashed. With the barriers to the feywild so low, it should be a cinch to pop over with a wagon, load it up with the biggest gourd she can find, and pop back in time to show everyone up. 

If you were interested in running a oneshot (or using this as the start of a campaign), have the pumpkin pinching posse be made up of a gaggle of Dannava’s cousins, friends, neighbors, and people who owed her a favor from her old adventuring days (old story, another time). Such a start gives the party a launchpad into other dealings with the fey, as well as the inner politics of the Dell

A dangerous man has come to Hobsnight, or so say the mournful hunters clad in black that have come to put him down. Only problem is that this man has adopted a mask, and is staying under the festival’s auspices of hospitality.  The locals will not turn him over for fear of upsetting the fey in their midst, the hunters are willing to pay the party from the purse of their noble patron, possibly earning the party an audience. The man himself is….difficult, clearly a little off kilter and a macabrely fascinated with violence,  he encourages the party to do what’s best for them, his own life be damned. That’s just the way of the world, isnt it? Prove him wrong.

Plenty of odd folk show up for Hobsnight, from mystics in masks , vendors looking to offload strange wares, even vagabond fey looking for some fools to ensnare. Watch what you say, smile at all and trust few, and most importantly for the Hobsnight festivities: never use a persons proper name, only referring to them as what they dress as. 

Challenges & complications

Travel into the feywild really is easier in the leadup to hobsnight, which gives the party a chance to ask for directions from any number of trouping fey moving about the region. Who they trust, and whether the directions will still be good when they get there is a matter of some luck, but they’re sure to get there in the end, right?

Kennko’s lot itself is just as promised,  a mist shrouded ruin/pumpkin patch, which just so happens to be guarded by towering, faceless guardians, all of which have been told to keep watch for “that damned thieving halfling”. Having been on guard for a long, long time, the guardians have lost most concept of what a halfling even is. They remember what a thief is, so the party must be careful when they decide to transition from intruders to burglars. 

It’s a halloween dungeon, so  of course there’s going to be pumpkin monsters animated by the primal magic of the fey. While cutting down these animate husks is easy enough, actually cutting free one of the giant pumpkins is going to be more difficult: Boss Kennko, the fey who surveils the lot from the foreboding ruins beyond is paranoid about anyone else stealing from her, and so has placed an enchantment upon her unwanted produce that only her enchanted sickle can cut through their stems, necessitating the party to stalk through her haunted domicile to obtain it. 

If you REALLY want to fuck with the party ( best saved for end of act arcs or starting a new campaign), have their return from the feywild be less easy than expected: Oh sure, they and Dannava return from the wilderness with the largest pumpkin the town has ever seen... but to silent shock rather than folksy applause. The party has been gone for a YEAR, during which the lives they left behind have spiraled out of control. 

#the frinsville few #Halloween #Village #festival #heist #feywild #fey #spooky #D&D #D&D adventure #Homebrew Adventure #Adventure #DnD #Dungeons and Dragons #halfling #politics

[dailyadventureprompts]

Hello, I was wondering if you had any adventure prompts or lore having to do with the Battle Master archetype. What kinds of quests would include learning new maneuvers and become a student of war?

Ally: Dulcin of Daelford, last of the Oldguard

“The Songs all speak of a warrior’s strength, but let’s not kid ourselves; Its wits that’ll carry you through the battle youngster, wits and control and pure dumb luck. Master those three things and by the time you’re my age all you’ll need your strength for is to carry your grief for those who didn’t.” 

Setup: Locals know Dulcin as a trustworthy if untalkative neighbor, who’s taken up the unenviable job of maintaining the signal house half way up the mountain, keeping watch for marauding giants or other great threats. Those that know him well speak of an upright soul of military bearing, quick to lend a hand on those rare occasions he makes his way down from his lofty perch to town for supplies. 

What few suspect is that Dulcin is in fact an unsung hero of the past age, a steadfast warrior who put his life on the line time and time again to ensure that generations that followed would grow up in a time of peace and plenty. Dulcin fought dark lords and demon queens and traveled to the far corners of the world following forgotten prophecieis, only to return home once his adventuring days were done to keep vigil over his mentor’s grave. 

The old hero has a few battles left in him, and if the party encounters him in their journey and tell him of the threats they face, they can expect to see him counted among their allies when they face down their final villain. 

Adventure Hooks: 

Half buried under an unexpected blizzard while trying to cross the mountains, the party is rescued from the scouring winds by Dulcin on one of his patrols through the peaks. Inviting them back to his signalhouse to wait out the storm, the party can swap news with this leathery old veteran and enjoy some of the fine vintage he’s put away for just such an occasion. 

Dulcin will take an interest in the more martial characters of the party, and will offer to show them a couple tricks that’ve got him through some tough scrapes from time to time. The old dog isn’t the best teacher, but he knows the material backwards and forewords, always pairing his lessons with hardwon advice on the de-glorified, practical side of a battle. Catching opponents unaware, stripping them of offensive and defensive capabilities, forcing them onto the backfoot without ever over extending yourself: these are all lessons that he’ll attempt to drill into his student head again and again. 

Like all heroes, Dulcin has had his share of magical artifacts, and while most have been lost over time or passed on to the more deserving, he still keeps one in reserve: The Hand of Tyr, an adamantine gauntlet said to have once been the possession of the god of righteous battle himself. The old champion never QUITE figured out all of the gauntlet’s abilities, but it seemed to be able to halt foes in their tracks with a gesture, as well as break any weapon it gripped, without hurting the wielder. Knowing it was something special, Dulcin hid it in a cave that is only accessible during the dangerous mountain thaws.  

Having traveled with quite a few other heroes in his time, Dulcin is interested in seeing where his old party ended up. Perhaps these youngsters could go check in on an old friend or two? If they’re in the area of course. 

Art 1 Art 2 

#Anonymous #D&D #D&D adventure #Homebrew Adventure #Adventure #DnD #fighter #mentor #ally #Village #mountain #winter #highlands #the frinsville few #low level #mid level

[dailyadventureprompts]

Adventure:  To Grandmother’s House we Go

Everyone in town had enough sense not to venture into the dark forest and knock on the old wizard’s door. But the adventurers weren’t from town, and lacked sense as a vocational necessity

Adventure Hooks: 

Across their journeys, the party hears tell of an old adventuring band known as the Frinsville Few, who were once the heroes of the kingdom but have now faded into the annuls of history, leaving behind a few errant monuments and a jaunty drinking ballad or two. As more and more plot threads come up empty, it seems that this retired band of adventurers was once undertook the same quest as the party. Perhaps it would be a good idea to pay these forebearers a visit, see what they discovered in their own time trying to right the realm’s wrongs. 

When problems of a magical nature bedevil a town, it’s quickly agreed that a small group of brave and trusted individuals should seek out the old wizard who lives deep in the forest and ask for her aid. They’ll only need to manage crossing through a forest of dangerous beasts and fey enchantments first, no biggie! a fine first adventure! 

In need of wits and learning far beyond their capabilities, one of the adventurers remembers that they have an old friend of the family that they can call upon, a crumudgony old wizard who spent her early years adventuring and has amassed quite a library on esoteric subjects. Perhaps they can rely on her hospitality? Perhaps it would be better to send a letter first: it’s been a while since they’ve been in touch. 

Setup: regardless of their origin or intent, all the party will find at the end of their jaunt through the forest is an incongruously urbane manorhouse deserted in the middle of the woods. Once the home of a great mage by the name of Aellna Quailswit and her adventuring companions, the structure now shelters only cobwebs and old memories, along with a pair of standoffish familiars named Snitch and Tattle.  These two feline guardians make most ungracious hosts, taunting the party from just out of reach and literally melting into shadows when caught, and have been put in charge of the manor only because their summoner is otherwise “indesposed” a fact the party can learn if they’re willing to put up with a few games of cat and mouse to appease the borded kitties. 

Mistress Aellna was quite enjoying her quiet retirement and had settled into a comfortable routine of introverted study and experimentation when an old foe came calling: Drahdeelm, a demon of shadows and fear defeated by Aellna and her companions and imprisoned decades ago , now inexplicably free.  Though she was ambushed, the wizard did not fall as easily as her old enemy would have liked and two battled furiously, leaving the house in shambles and the demon imprisoned in the wizard’s heavily warded attic summoning chamber. A problem the party may need to sort out as they sus out the wizard’s current whereabouts. 

Further Adventures: 

Piecing through her notes and questioning the various illusory staff, the party discovers that Mistress Quailswit has gone to check on her former adventuring companions: all now retired, passed from this world or otherwise having traveled on to less risky pursuits than adventuring. The stories of these adventures are for another time, but can be read up on by checking “The Frinsville Few” tag on my blog. 

Drahdeelm is a conniving foe, and will attempt to entice the party into freeing him. First with promises of aid, then later with threats in more keeping with his nature. Most dangerous however is his unique ability among demonkind: Any time Drahdeelm scares someone, he spawns a short lived shadowy clone of himself. Though these clones are weak, perish quickly in the daylight, and possess none of the prime-fiend’s powers.... they do spawn out of the victim’s own shadow... meaning outside the binding circles their sire is currently trapped in. One wrong jumpscare on the party’s behalf and their demon captive will be free to wreak havoc once again. Though perhaps this will be the easiest way to find the wizard. He DID track her down once before. 

With the demon free ( or safely ignored), Quailswit mannor could be a suitable home base for the party should they wish to “keep it warm” for the Wizard while she’s away. Equipped with a large number of magical creature comforts and a well stocked library, it nearly makes up for the fact that it’s located a few days hard hike from the nearest town. 

This adventure inspired by @wearemage of the @weareadventurers collective.  Go check them out!

#D&D #D&D adventure #Homebrew Adventure #Adventure #DnD #Forest #Press Start #wizard #witch #druid #magical mishap #mentor #seeking knowledge #seeking aid #home base #fiend #the frinsville few #rescue mission #Village #town