OotA: Ep. 1: Prisoners of the Drow

Deep Gnome Rogue

Between life, work and, recently, parenting, I've had to pause our main campaign, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, as I don't have the time to travel to my old and trusted RPG group. However, last thursday, me and two of my more local friends got together for some coffee, applecake and the latest DnD campaign. 

Miniature Moment: Elementals and Cultists (part two)

To continue my painting challenge and stay true to my promise, I started work on the rest of the elementals and their cultists. There were only two elements left, and since we always double up on our painting services here on Sword Coast Junkie, there wasn't much choice this time. 

On to the minis!

 

A halfling rogue plays with fire deep inside the temple.

Book review: Exile, by R.A. Salvatore

Let's continue our journey through the Underdark with the second part of the Legend of Drizzt series, Exile. This is the book that inspired Chris Perkins while he was writing Out of the Abyss, this season's large DnD campaign. In the foreword, he writes that the book reminds him of Alice in Wonderland. I, too, thought of Alice's adventures while reading Exile, but the read hardly inspired me. Frankly, I found this book quite dull.

My main problem with the story is that Drizzt wanders around the Underdark and things just happen to him. He's hunted by the drow (and a zombie version of his father) and while that may be incentive enough for anyone to move on, it just doesn't make for an interesting novel story. Salvatore throws in lots of encounters, and like Alice in Wonderland, each encounter seems to exist in a vacuum.

Miniature Moment: Elementals and Cultists (part one)

This summer I picked up a copy of Temple of Elemental Evil: the Board Game. It's a part in DnD:s Adventure System games and, so, it contained a lot of miniatures. I figured that even if the board game was bad (I hadn't played the series before) I could use the minis in my DnD campaigns and other adventures.

While reading Homeland by R.A. Salvatore (read the book review here), I got the urge to paint the Earth Elemental, after its appearance in the book. Before long I had also painted the Earth Cultists and carried on to the Air Elemental and cultists. It is now my ambition to paint every miniature in the box since it really makes the game come to life. DnD:s monster gallery wouldn't be the same if they were all the same green color, right?

Earth Elemental and Cultists

Book review: Homeland, by R.A. Salvatore

It's time for a new feature on Sword Coast Junkie: a book review! I've read vast quantities of D&D-related printed media recently, so these columns will be the place where I gather my thoughts, summarize the plot elements and ultimately decide whether I recommend the book or not.

Homeland is the first book about D&D superstar and posterboy Drizzt Do'Urden. Chronologically only, though, since he first appeared as a sidekick in The Crystal Shard, Salvatore's first book set in the Forgotten Realms. Apparently, the fans liked Drizzt more than the main character, so an origins story became the next project.

HotDQ: Ep. 2: The Raider’s Camp (part 2)

Our four adventurers continued on through the night, following the trail of the Greenest invaders. The bee encounter had taken some time, giving the raiders opportunity to arrange a rearguard.

The party happened upon such a gathering while sneaking closer to a small cooking fire. Some kobolds and guards had taken up camp and now tried to make supper. It was obvious that the two factions did not get along well. While Kerr hid from plain view, the rest of the party closed in and tried to fit in as cultists. The guards fell for the lie and welcomed the PC:s for supper. After some subtle questioning that didn’t lead to any new clues (the cultists were recently drafted) the party decided to kill their newfound “friends” while on guard duty. Successful ability checks were made and the kobolds scattered as soon as their humanoid masters were no more.

HotDQ: Ep. 2: The Raider’s Camp (part 1)

We started this adventure with describing and playing out Thryggvaels introduction, mentionedin his own post. When “Tryggve” joined the other characters in the Greenest keep, he found them to be quite a loose outfit, only tied together by a common enemy, the Cult of the Dragon, who had ransacked the town, humiliated Victor’s noble pride and now threatened all of the Greenfields.