The Reroll: A Weekly D&D Chronicle (Issue #6)
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Hey, dear reader! Glad to have you back for another issue of The Reroll, a chronicle of my weekly Dungeons & Dragons game set in the world of Eberron.
This week, the adventuring party arrives at Argonth, Breland's mobile fortress, where they seek an audience with Breland's "Bear King" himself, King Boranel ir'Wynarn.
Let's dive in!
The Adventuring Party
The gang's all here! And for those who don't, this is a tale of six adventurers: Captain Krass, Ilsen, Spein, Hellggah, Osz, and Alucard.
We have new miniatures for these characters.
We've been playing for so long that we've printed miniatures for these characters multiple times, each depicting different outfits and weapons.
I have my players design them on Hero Forge, and then I print them at home. What an extraordinary experience it is to watch your friends' fantasy characters grow and change.
Also, you're missing out if you haven't tooled around with Hero Forge before. Seriously, head to their website and make a tabletop miniature. The program is beginner-friendly, free of charge, and, most importantly, fun to use.
Our new miniatures still need a paint job, but painting is my brother's department. Once he's finished working his magic on these, I'll share them here.
Last Week's Tale
The party resolved an intense combat inside the apartment of Sharn's Lord Mayor, Cathan ir'Demell. Two Redcloak Battalion bodyguards and a round of Sharn Watch reinforcements tried stopping them from stealing a green dragonshard from Cathan's office.
Inscribed on this green dragonshard was a sigil sequence used in teleportation circles. This particular sequence keyed to Argonth, Breland's mobile fortress.
The party has been working to reach Argonth to gain an audience with King Boranel. A Githyanki fleet hovers near Breland's northern border, scorching The Greenhaunt and threatening worse. The astral raiders are a dangerous foe, especially in great numbers, which could prove devastating for King Boranel's people. But it's a party member the Githyanki came to collect, Ilsen Sine, so it's their burden, not Breland's.
Upon retrieving the dragonshard, it was on to Terminus, Sharn's lightning rail station, to utilize House Orien's teleportation circle. However, due to recent attacks on Sharn, Terminus has been closed to the public.
The party infiltrated the shuttered station, careful not to raise suspicion. It wasn't until they reached the boarding platform, their goal within reach, that Watch Officer Captain Riot stopped them.
Captain Riot seemed agreeable to the party's intent, but accompanying him were two members of Sharn's Blackened Book, a special unit of magical inquisitors, and they remained unconvinced.
Luckily, the party recognized the ruse, forcing the Blackened Book mages to reveal themselves: Aundarian spies. As to why they were here, that remains a mystery. Perhaps they were sent by someone to halt the party's progress?
With the aid of Captain Riot, the party eliminated the spies, finally securing safe passage to Argonth.
This Week's Adventure
Enter Argonth: at eighty years old, it's one of the last of Breland's moving fortresses utilized during the Last War.
This industrial behemoth holds up to 1,600 crewmembers, of which 1,400 are combat-ready military personnel. Argonth also has enough arcane artillery to level a town, extendable siege towers, and a battering-ram-like prow. So at eighty years old, yeah, it still kicks ass.
But can it kick enough ass to fend off the Githyanki?
Breland has them on numbers, but the Githynaki severely outclass the Bear King's forces; a single Githyanki warrior can handle ten Brelish soldiers at once. We're also not factoring in the Githyanki Knights, who accompany the raid, flying into battle atop their red dragon mounts.
The players have a loose idea of how to deal with this threat, but no matter how clever their plan is, the sheer number of Githyanki puts them at a disadvantage. So, if they want to succeed, they need King Boranel's support.
But unseen forces lurk in the shadows, plotting against the Bear King's rule. What will come should the might of Breland falter in this crucial hour?
Behind the Screen
Even though it's a mobile military base, Argonth is large enough to be considered a city. Thus, the players can explore and become familiar with many places and people on board.
I like to boil down areas of exploration, like cities, into named districts or zones, each with a distinctive theme and/or purpose. To get my players to explore Argonth on their own, sandbox-style, I need to create evocative names for key areas on the ship, with each area housing some event for them to interact with.
Lucky for me, Keith Baker recently released a book titled Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone, which provides updated information on Argonth and its associated non-player characters.
So here are the zones I separated Argonth into for my players to explore:
The Prow
The solid steel ram at the lower front end of Argonth is called the Prow. Besides housing some artillery, it's also the location of the brig and the cargo deck. This is where the players will also appear.
There's a Githyanki prisoner in the brig, captured on a raid by a troupe of Brelish Rangers.
King Boranel's chief advisor, Trelib d'Medani, oversees a crew on the cargo deck taking inventory of supplies. As a dragonmarked member of House Medani, Trelib bears the Mark of Detection, allowing him to detect unseen threats.
The Keep
Atop the front of Argonth is a castle housing the bulk of Argonth's firepower and a workshop for the magewrights. Magewrights are magical tinkers who perform maintenance and engineering duties aboard Argonth.
The Keep has a courtyard where officers carry out various military drills and exercises. The players can engage in a new combat mini-game called "wandslinging." It's like a gunslinger dual but with wands.
There's a gnome named Quill hanging out in the workshop. He's known as the First Wand of Argonth, making him the head of all things magical, including the Siege Staves and Long Rods (think giant magic wands, eight to sixteen feet long, fired like cannons.)
The Stern
The Stern is a series of buildings in the back of Argonth, like a small town street for all on board. Here, you'll find a mess hall, blacksmith, armory, infirmary, a Gold Dragon Inn, and a temple dedicated to the Sovereign Host.
Thort, a silver dragon ally from earlier, hangs out in the Gold Dragon Inn, drinking coffee and reading the Voice of Breland newspaper.
All the businesses have something to sell the players if they require supplies.
Cannith Tower
A massive tower rising from the back of Argonth, Cannith Tower, is the command center for the mobile fortress.
King Boranel is in the command center along with Argonth's Commander Alain. Both pour over a map of Breland, shifting miniatures into various positions while they discuss a plan of attack.
These four locations will be Argonth's touchstones for my players.
Besides adding some stakes to their visit, the above information is all I need to run the session.
By the way, the current stakes are:
The Githyanki have laid claim to Black Pit, securing themselves a foothold on the Blackcap Mountains and Breland's border with Thrane.
The red dragons accompanying the Githyanki have taken up residence in The Greenhaunt to the north. They've raised the forest to make it more suitable for their temporary stay.
The media speaks out, claiming to speak for the people of Breland, calling out King Boranel to act or suffer a loss of faith in his ability to maintain peace.
On top of all this, Ilsen, being a Githyanki, will make some waves with Argonth's crew. I'll prepare some stat blocks, just in case.
At the Table
The party arrived via the teleportation circle in Argonth's cargo deck, where crewmembers flitted about, stocking and organizing supplies and armaments. Trelib d'Medani recognized a few of their faces (they met back in Wroat some time ago) and offered to show them around.
After moving through the steel underbelly of the Prow, they arrived on the streets of the Stern, where Trelib parted ways with them to alert King Boranel of their arrival.
Temporarily left to their own devices, the party had time to slink away to some local establishments. Osz met one of the blacksmiths on board, who loaned him a wand after learning of the shared love of the forge. Ilsen traded in his armor for an upgrade, now sporting half-plate made from Cannith steel. Krass dropped by the infirmary because this man always needs healing. And Hellggah went to the Gold Dragon Inn to see what clockwork toy they offered with the kid's meal (it's a long story; they're trying to complete the series.)
Once Trelib returned, the party finally got to meet with King Boranel. After a rundown of the situation (twelve red dragons, two astral brigs, and one planar raider,) King Boranel encouraged them to explore Argonth to see if anyone or anything could be helpful. The party agreed to return once they learned more about what Argonth could offer them.
This directive split the party (they do that often), sending Ilsen, Hellggah, Spein, and Krass to the brig to interrogate the Githyanki prisoner. Alucard and Osz would visit Magister Quill to present him with the Fernian Flame they acquired a few sessions ago and to learn what weaponry was at their disposal.
Ilsen's group met Big Bara, the warforged responsible for capturing the Githyanki. She guided them to the prisoner before leaving them alone. Good thing she left when she did because Ilsen wasted no time in busting out his mechanical pet Intellect Devourer, which he let consume the prisoner's brain.
By doing so, the Intellect Devourer replaces the Githyanki's brain, placing him under Ilsen's command and allowing him to study their memories.
He plans to use them to gain access and information.
Meanwhile, Alucard and Osz had a field day with Quill, drooling over the potential damage they could cause with all Argonth's weaponry. The Siege Staves and Long Rods allow the operator to cast spells through them, amplifying the spell's power to devastating degrees. In the hands of a competent spellcaster, like some party members, that could seriously level the playing field.
The party reunited in the training yard, where we ended the evening on some "wandslinging." Some entertaining rules exist for running duals in Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone.
Players pick their Dualing Style from options like Steadfast, Weird, Overwhelming, or Quick, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Duals are then split into two phases: "the Stare" and "the Shot."
During the Stare, players can perform moves like twitching their hand, taunting their opponent, or showing off with some trick wand-spinning. Their level of success with these moves then affects how quick they are to the draw for "The Shot," determining who wins the dual.
It was a good way to introduce a friendly NPC named Captain Devra, the Citdael liaison to Argonth (the Brelish CIA), who served as a dueling partner for Osz, the volunteer test dummy.
Once the group traded some friendly blows, they retired to the Gold Dragon Inn for a bite before reconvening with Boranel.
It was there that Thort awaited them and where our tale ends for now.
The Roll-Up
I'll admit I was unsatisfied with how this week's session went but to no fault of my players.
The group has had quite a lot of combat and minimal downtime, so I decided to keep this session lighter on the action and heavier on the roleplay and exploration so as not to expend their resources. But, in the end, I would've liked to have amped up the stakes more than I did.
The atmosphere I presented on Argonth felt lackadaisical, more like a cruise ship on a sea day than a fortress poised for battle.
I didn't play up the loss of faith in King Boranel spreading across Breland. I should've portrayed a more restless, worried crew and more stress from the higher-ups.
But this is how it goes sometimes, at least in my experience as a Dungeon Master. Sometimes, the session in your head beforehand differs from the one that happens. Sometimes, the session in your head is the very thing that gets IN THE WAY of the session that could've occurred but didn't because you overplanned or whatever.
Hey, can't win'em all. Besides, I think the players still had some fun.
Next week, we're off to The Greenhaunt to confront some dragons.
Until then, happy rolling! - Dace
