The Reroll: A Weekly D&D Chronicle (Issue #7)

Welcome back, dear reader, to another issue of The Reroll, a chronicle of my weekly Dungeons & Dragons game.

This week, the crew of the Morning Zephyr rides to the Greenhaunt, an ancient forest in the north of Breland, currently overrun with red dragons.

The Adventuring Party

Allow me to reintroduce the Morning Zephyr crew:

• Krass Redbeard, a pirate captain who wields a sword of silver flame

• Alucard d'Cannith, a gifted alchemist and dragonmarked heir

• Ilsen Sine, a haunted psion with a hunger for power (and brains)

• Hellggaah Boromar, a clawfoot rider with a powerful dragonmark

• Spein Veyn, a spore druid and former member of the Gatekeepers

• Osz, a monster hunter specialized in artillery and explosives

Last Week's Tale

The adventurers arrived at Argonth, Breland's moving fortress, where they met with King Boranel to discuss the impending Githyanki threat.

King Boranel revealed that the Githyanki claimed the penal town Black Pit as a base of operations, and their red dragon mounts currently roost atop the Blackcap mountain range and within the Greenhaunt woods.

The Brelish military hasn't retaliated yet because they fear spreading themselves thin. Breland already has multiple enemies within its borders: necromancer bio-terrorists testing drugs on the population, the spies from Aundair infiltrating the Sharn Watch, and a group of political extremists called the Swords of Liberty calling for an end to the Brelish monarchy.

To Boranel, the Githyanki are nothing more than a cherry atop a shit sundae, so he's looking to the adventurers to lead the charge.

And rightfully so. Lest we forget that Ilsen Sine is the sole reason the Githyanki came to Eberron. He'll soon be powerful enough to contest the Githyanki queen, Vlaakith CLVII (157th), and she doesn't care for the thought of someone else in her seat.

This could all be solved by Ilsen turning himself in, but that's not an option he or his friends are interested in entertaining, so here we are.

This Week's Adventure

The red dragons are key to the Githyanki's strength; a single one can level a town, hold it against retaliation, and deter further resistance. Removing red dragons from the equation dramatically improves Breland's chances if an open conflict should arise between them and the Githyanki.

Because of this, the adventuring party plans to confront the red dragons themselves, beginning with those residing within the Greenhaunt. There are ten of them, but they're far younger than the two atop the Blackcaps, and the party earned a blessing back in Fernia for this very task: they're immune to fire for 24 hours.

Behind the Screen

Last week's session left me wanting more, so I've decided to cleanse my palette on a classic dungeon crawl this week. An enormous forest is an ideal location for a dungeon, and ten young red dragons living under one roof sounds like an episode of Love Island.

So, yeah, this week, we are literally playing Dungeons & Dragons.

To begin making a dungeon, I need to collect the following information:

• The dungeon's surrounding environment

• The history of the dungeon (what it was initially, what it has been)

• Who or what currently occupies the dungeon, and why

• A map of the dungeon

The Surrounding Environment

Our dungeon is located in the Greenhaunt, which, lucky me, has very little published information about what it contains.

Eberron: Five Nations, published in 2005, states that the neighboring hamlet of Hatheril is famous for goodberry wine made by local druids living in the Greenhaunt. The Eberron Campaign Guide, published in 2009, states the Greenhaunt contains monsters and Dhakaani ruins.

It's very little information to go off of, but to an Eberron nerd like myself, it's all the info I need. Simply put, a group of druids living in a forest containing monsters and Dhakaani ruins says a lot. 

The Dungeon's History

"The Dhakaani" refers to an ancient goblin empire over five thousand years ago.

Their reign was absolute until they had to defend the planet from interdimensional Lovecraftian horrors called the Daelkyr. It came at the cost of their empire, but the goblins managed to push the creatures back into the holes they crawled out from.

These "holes" I refer to are manifest zones, which are places on Eberron where specific planar energy manifests. In this case, the Daelkyr emerged from zones tied to the plane of madness known as Xoriat. Once the goblins defeated them, an order of druids called The Gatekeepers sealed Xoriat's manifest zones, preventing the Daelkyr from escaping again.

The Gatekeepers are still around today, maintaining those same seals placed thousands of years back. And if their name rings a bell, it's because that's the same order Spein Veyn was a part of, as mentioned earlier in this post!

So with that context, let's try taking another pass at the Greenhaunt, this time making it contain more than just wino druids, non-descript monsters, and vague old stuff.

The Greenhaunt is a site from the ancient conflict between the Dhakaani Empire and the Daelkyr. Before it was a forest, it was the site of a Dhakaani temple dedicated to communion with celestial beings. This temple was corrupted when the Daelkyr emerged, forming a manifest zone to Xoriat. When sealing the manifest zone, the Gatekeepers received help from the temple's celestial beings. This union of druidic magic and celestial power caused a verdant forest to spring forth, burying the temple deep within its heart.

Not bad!

We can check off two items on my list:

• The dungeon's surrounding environment

• The history of the dungeon

So, next up is...

The Dungeon's Occupants

Red dragons are pretty predictable creatures, especially when they're young. Like humans, they tend to be more exaggerated versions of themselves as they search for identity.

For context, young red dragons are anywhere from 25-50 years old, with young adult dragon ages ranging from 50-100.

Here's a neat sizing chart I found:

Red dragon nature is akin to wildfire, consuming everything they can and always wanting more, be it food, gold, knowledge, or whatever they covet. They typically reside in places of majesty, like mountains, places of power, like volcanos, or places of ruin.

Based on that, it seems like both the dragons on the Blackcaps and the dragons in the Greenhaunt are pretty content in their temporary homes!

But why are they here?

Red dragons and the Githyanki have a long history of working together. I'll keep it short in saying their respective leaders forged a pact long ago, which promised the Githyanki a permanent contingent of red dragon allies.

The task doesn't exactly enthuse the modern red dragons picked for this duty (they loathe having to work for another species), but most only serve the Githyanki when they're young and leave once fully matured.

What red dragons get out of this deal is treasure, whatever each dragon considers that to be. They accompany the Githyanki on raids, and in return, they keep a portion of the spoils. This deal gels with a red dragon's nature, which again is all about taking and more taking.

With our research concluded, we can now move to the final item.

A Dungeon Map

I've created my own dungeon maps using programs like Dungeon Map Doodler or Inkarnate. Still, the process can be rather time-consuming, and players almost always skip entire sections of the dungeon you painstakingly planned every inch of.

I don't blame the players; they're just playing the game in front of them, but it's a big reason why I don't like mapping dungeons myself. If I were selling them, it'd be a different story. But in my experience, the sweat ain't worth it.

I turn, then, to the many mapmakers I support on Patreon!

For this adventure, I'll utilize a series of maps by creators Cze and Peku titled "The Temple of the Couatl."

(To avoid spoilers, I can't show every map in the series, but here's a sneak peak!)

Official Eberron publications tend to depict Dhakaani architecture in a Mesoamerican style, so "The Temple of the Couatl" is a perfect fit.

So, with my checklist completed, I now focus on the player interaction points. This part is where we use all that lore we fleshed out earlier to create meaningful scenes for the adventurers to play out.

Here's my typical scene structure for a dungeon delve:

• the prelude

• the entrance

• the contents

• the encounter

The Prelude

A dungeon's prelude could be a nearby town or a camp outside its entrance. The prelude location should build suspense for the dungeon to come while also offering players tidbits of lore and purchasable supplies.

For our prelude, we're using the hamlet of Hatheril, located on the left side of this map.

Since the young red dragons reside in the nearby forest, I'll have a Githyanki raiding party occupy the hamlet, giving off serious over-staying-their-welcome vibes. The raiding party is only there to wait on the dragons, so they're killing time terrorizing villagers and drinking their booze. They're also just henchmen, so I won't make them outwardly hostile to the adventuring party, but if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll get.

The Entrance

Entering a dungeon typically involves some kind of puzzle to be solved or an obstacle to overcome in order to gain access inside.

Think of this part like the Doors of Durin from Lord of the Rings.

You don't always have to think outside the box with this, either. Sure, having to answer a riddle or conjure a particular element is a neat way to open a door, but a super heavy door or massive cave-in is easily just as challenging. Whatever fits the theme of the dungeon beyond.

For this one, I'm placing two dragons outside the entrance battling each other to settle a dispute. If the players can somehow bypass the dragons, entering the dungeon will be as simple as opening the doors.

Contents & Encounter

Typically, each room on a dungeon map is numbered or ordered in some way, which directly connects to a key that the Dungeon Master keeps private.

These empty dungeon rooms might contain hazards, traps, treasure, moments of respite, or pests like bugs, oozes, and undead.

Of course, not every room needs to contain something, but every room should serve some purpose, even if it's just a decision between a door on the left or a staircase on the right.

Cze and Peku did a great job detailing the rooms in The Temple of the Couatl, so I based each room's contents on what's illustrated.

I wish I could share my map key with you, dear reader, but my players read this blog, so I'll save it for next week.

That also goes for the encounter, otherwise known as "the boss battle" or whatever nomenclature you prefer.

I like having a big end to my dungeons. And I somehow managed to tie quite a few of their backstories into this one, which isn't always possible.

All I'll say is I'm pretty excited to see how my players react.

Assuming they survive, that is.

The Roll-Up

What?! I skipped the part where I talk about the players?!

That's right! This week, my players made their way to the town of Hatheril before hiking their butts to the Dhakaani ruins. Heck, they even killed two of the dragons and made it inside!

But as their dungeon delve has yet to conclude, I think it's best to save their tale for next week's issue.

Until then, happy rolling! - Dace