She Kills Monsters

Today I played D&D at the Flea Theater. They were kind enough to invite our meetup group to play in their space this morning and see the play She Kills Monsters after the game. I had a thoroughly good time at the game and the play.

We started in the lobby of the theater at about 10 this morning. It was an interesting mix for the first 20 minutes as members of the D&D meetup group were mingling with participants in their playwriting workshop. Eventually the groups split up and we got down to business. I ran ELTU03-02 Blue Wounds, the first part of a major quest that revolves around an outbreak of the spellplague in Elturel. My party was small but dedicated, and they managed to fight their way through hordes of plaguechanged monsters to save some innocent citizens. My players were a mix of brand new and experienced, and everyone got into the game and had fun.

As the actors from the show started trickling in, several of them sat down to observe parts of the game. They watched, asked questions, and were generally very pleasant.

The game wrapped up around 2 so the theater could get the lobby ready for the show. Having some time to kill before curtain at 3, I took a walk South on Broadway and happened across some sort of Occupy march. It stretched across at least 4 short blocks and filled the entire sidewalk. I couldn’t hear what they were chanting, but they were making quite a ruckus; the signs that I could read from my vantage point included gay rights, pacifist and economic messages.

Back at the theater, I waited in the lobby for a few minutes before the house opened. They had a display of some line drawings which were apparently inspired by a D&D campaign run with the express purpose of getting artists’ to react to it. Members of the theater staff chatted nearby with some of the players from the morning about everything from top shelf vodka to gaming.

The show itself was a lot of fun. The story revolves around a woman getting to know her sister by playing the D&D adventure that her sister wrote. The intertwined ‘real-life’ and ‘adventure’ worlds interact in both humorous and poignant ways. The game is treated seriously enough to satisfy gamers, but should still appeal to a lay-audience. I was most impressed by the detailed and imaginative props. I won’t give too much away, but I will say that it is worth watching just to see some iconic D&D monsters brought to life on the stage so effectively. It runs through most of December, so check it out if you can.

Bark at the Moon - Conclusion and Review

Excerpted from Olaf Olafsen's address at the opening ceremonies of the Hammer Festival:

Well met and welcome, fellows! I am truly glad to be here today to see all of your stern, hairy faces. It brings a warmth to my heart that not even the finest ale can match. I am especially glad because it was not long ago when it seemed as though I would never see you again. Last week, my cousins and I... stand up Thump, and there's Beric over by the cheese plate... well last week we faced terrible dangers on the road to the festival. The town of Silver Lake was beset by werewolves. Their warriors had been defeated and their children carried away. 

The source of the problem was to be found on a nearby island named Wolfheart; a crossing into the feywild had opened with the full moon, releasing the foul creatures upon this poor, unsuspecting town. Once through the crossing we were set upon on all sides, and our enemies were tireless. We took no rest as we tracked our quarry across the dense forest, trying to find the poor children. Wave after wave of enemies crashed against us, and our hammer arms were nearly exhausted. Luckily we were accompanied by brave warriors. Although they were not dwarves, they exhibited the strength of true hammer warriors. No enemy could escape Bargidigos' sharp eyes and deadly arrows; Gould was a master of finding and exploiting enemy weaknesses, and Shamash' fearsome visage made the blood of our enemies run cold with terror.

Our band struck fast and hard, which is the way of the hammer! We struck blows long after our arms were tired and sore, which is the way of the hammer! And we fought for justice and law which is the way of the hammer! We would have been lost if not for the way of the hammer! Which is why this festival is so important, to dwarvenkind and to all people who would fight against the forces of chaos and decay and build a better world. The first event today will be the 15 pound hammer toss for height...

Tonight we finished Bark at the Moon. We had a great time playing this adventure, and I thought it was a great example of 4e adventure writing. The story was gripping, the encounters were challenging and interesting, and the pacing was superb. I don't want to give away any details that would ruin the experience for players, but here are some quick thoughts:

The adventure is flavoured strongly with fey creatures and were-beasts of all kinds. None of the encounters were throw-aways. Each one had a unique play style, while also staying within the themes set by the larger story. We fought in varied terrain and our tactics in each fight were very different. Even though we were fighting similar foes in each encounter, there was enough variation to keep us guessing. Few adventures achieve this balance of strong theme and variety.

Managing our in-game time created a lot of tension at the table. We were constantly weighing the time cost of a rest against the value of renewing our surges and daily powers. We could feel the deadline approaching and we risked everything to meet it. The adventure managed to create this tension entirely through the storytelling. I felt that a character death was a very real possibility, and that made our eventual victory that much more satisfying.

Long story short: I highly recommend this adventure as a player, and I learned a few things that I look forward to using as a DM in future sessions.