To prepare for Session 1, I wanted each player to receive a message from their faction that basically tells them to investigate someone specific in the town and to group up with other adventurers to avoid suspicion. Each player received a different note with a pre-planned track to lead to one of the four intro adventures. Each NPC would direct the players to talk to the next NPC, then the next, until the final NPC gave them the info for that specific adventure.
Here's what the plan was for each character:
Bears and Bows:
Skotizo (Emerald Enclave) - Received a note from their faction saying they should investigate leads with Grund (21) → Jalessa (11) → Harburk (11)
The Haunted Tomb:
Durnir (Order of the Gauntlet) - Received a note from their faction saying they should investigate leads with the priests at the Allfaiths Shrine (1) → Mangobarl (8) → Minny (14)
Bloody Treasure:
Pocahontas (Emerald Enclave) - Received a note from their faction saying they should investigate leads with Tantur Smithy (9) → Dornen (12) → Mellikho (18)
The Last Laugh:
Falwyn (Zhentarim) - Received a note from their faction saying they should investigate leads with Chansyrl (6) → Haeleeya (15) → Vallivoe (22)
Here’s what one note looked like:
Did I stain them with coffee, dry them in the oven, roll them into tiny scrolls, and seal them with a fake hot glue gun seal before asking my husband to hand-deliver them to our friends’ houses? Yes. Was it worth it? HECK YEA! Don't they look so cool?
Did two of the players forget to bring their scrolls to the first session? You betcha. I had to send their messages to them via Discord ðŸ«
We started the session off by having everyone make their character sheet by hand based on the D&D Beyond character info. This was my husband’s idea and it was really smart, because it forced everyone to acknowledge each element of the character sheet and pay attention to their specific character’s information. It also took an hour which was unexpected, so the session was a bit short.
I gave everyone their character token, which is a 1” clear cabochon adhered to a 1” character picture with diamond glaze. I also hot glued a felt backing that lets it slide more easily when moving around. My husband came up with this idea for our other campaign and I really loved it - we also have a bunch of enemy/ally/treasure tokens that can be used in all different scenarios.
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FINALLY we started the session. I decided to start off each session with a d10 roll for the weather, using this weather table. For the beginning sessions, the weather is going to be very tame. Their roll for this session: A thin, cool mist that gently obscures the distance, creating a mystical ambiance.
I read out a brief description of Red Larch, and then told everyone that they are having a “meet cute” moment where they each arrive from a different road and see each other at the same time standing at the center signpost. There was some silly banter back and forth with incomplete introductions, and then the campaign officially began!
Durnir - “Well I’d like to go get a drink, if anyone would care to join me.”
The group agreed and then realized they don’t know where to get a drink in this town. They looked at the signpost and decided that The Swinging Sword sounded like a tavern, so they started heading in that direction. They passed the Allfaiths Shrine on the left and the clothier on the right. The Swinging Sword was the next one on the left.
As they walked in, the proprietor ushered them back out, basically saying that they can come back when they prove their trustworthiness and usefulness to the town. It’s too dangerous to allow them to come in given the current climate. They attempted to coerce her with money, which didn’t have any effect. She suggested they go speak to someone at the Allfaiths Shrine next door if they are looking for sympathetic listeners.
They took her advice and headed next door to the Allfaiths Shrine. Imdarr and Lymmura welcomed them graciously and the group for some reason became obsessed with which gods they worship and whether other gods are better. Durnir finally announced that he's from the Order of the Gauntlet, and Imdarr and Lymmura exclaimed with joy and gratitude. Durnir asked if they have any leads on how they can be of assistance, and Imdarr told them they should go speak with Mangobarl, the baker.
The group headed right out to go to the bakery, but at this point Skotizo decided he was going to hang back and try to find Grund. He asked a random person on the street where Grund could be found, and he was directed to The Market at the southeast edge of town. He left, and Pocahontas decided to go with him.
Durnir and Falwyn forgot to ask directions to the bakery and just decided to walk there until they found it. They passed Chansyrl Fine Harness on the left, and then found Lorren’s Bakery on the next left.
They. Loved. Mangobarl. He’s got the attitude of a kid who tells lots of tall tales and is constantly trying to win approval and get people to believe him. Durnir asked if he could have some day-old bread, and Mangobarl happily gave it to him for free. Falwyn bought some honey cakes. Mangobarl was PUMPED to have customers and eager to have a new audience to share his stories. He told them a ridiculous story loosely based on information he heard from Minny’s granddaughter’s scary experience (including catching a fish twice his height!), informing them at the end that Minny didn't believe him when he told her that story.
Falwyn really pressed Mangobarl for more details about where his experience took place, and he started loudly proclaiming that he DEFINITELY went there [he didn’t] and simply can’t remember where it all happened. She continued to press and he continued to lie profusely. Durnir told him that he believed him and would go to Minny and tell her that she was wrong about the fish story.
Cut to Skotizo and Pocahontas, who were approaching The Market. Before they entered, Pocahontas asked Skotizo if he received a note. Skotizo was a little resistant to answering, but he admitted that he was sent by the Enclave to talk to Grund. Pocahontas said she was sent to talk to the blacksmith. Skotizo agreed that they should go to the blacksmith after talking with Grund.
As they walked into the clearing, they were presented with a single stall run by Grund - Grund’s Pickle Emporium. Grund was very excited to have customers and offered them some really gross samples. When they pressed him for information, he told them they should go talk to the butcher and her husband.
Falwyn and Durnir were making their way to Minny’s, and Skotizo and Pocahontas spotted them before they went in. They joined back up and entered Minny’s together. Minny told them about her granddaughter’s experience at the old tomb outside town. She said she could direct them to where it is if they brought her a map, which the constable might be able to help them with.
They headed to the butcher shop and met Jalessa, who advised them to go talk to her husband. Harburk was taking a nap in their home and was startled awake by their knock on the door. He was thrilled to have some additional help in resolving some of these rumors of banditry, and happily gave them a weathered map. He marked the spot where he heard about banditry off Cairn Road.
[I stained the map with coffee and also burned the edges. I then folded it a bunch and crumpled it up so it looked like it was in someone's pocket for a while. Here's the final result:]
The group realized that Harburk's marking was about 8 miles outside of town and it would take a while to walk there. Luckily, some workers came out from the bunkhouse and offered to loan them horses for a 5gp deposit per horse. They gladly accepted, handed over the gold, and rode off to their next goal.
[I never really considered that the group would be concerned about how long it took to get somewhere, and I really didn't want to play out the walking and camping that would be required to get places, so I just invented the horse loan so they would stop trying to plan a multi-day campout for one mini encounter.]
Falwyn wanted to go back to Minny’s to get the location of the tomb. Durnir wanted to go to the bakery again to get more rations and chat more with Mangobarl. Pocahontas and Skotizo wanted to go to the blacksmith to get more information. They split up with an agreement to meet back up at the signpost when they were done.
Durnir got more day-old bread from Mangobarl, and continued to assure him that he believes his stories even if no one else does. Falwyn headed to Minny’s and got the location of the tomb drawn on her map.
Pocahontas and Skotizo headed to the blacksmith’s, who were very busy and didn’t appear to have time to talk about idle gossip. Pocahontas noticed that Laefra had a delicate necklace with the symbol for the Emerald Enclave. They told her that they’re from the Emerald Enclave, to which she responded that the Enclave saved her life as a child and she owes them a debt. She told them to go talk to Elak Dornen, as he was in there yesterday discussing some strange business.
Meanwhile, Falwyn looked around town and decided to go visit Dornen Finestone, which is next door to Minny’s. She asked him some questions about his quarry and whether he had any magic items for sale. He was confused and told her that he sells stone slabs - this is just a quarry and they don’t have anything fancy. Falwyn slipped on her fake signet ring in an attempt to show off some imaginary wealth. Dornen immediately shifted into seller mode, and suggested that with the right amount of money, he’d be happy to show her some of the things he’s found in the quarry. She obviously didn’t have the money, and instead attempted to flirt with him to get access. She rolled a nat 20, but unfortunately Dornen is gay and was not interested in her companionship.
Pocahontas and Skotizo attempted to stealthily make their way through the town to avoid the rest of their companions. Skotizo rolled poorly and ended up just peeking around a building in wide view of everyone. Durnir threw a piece of bread at him and then pretended it wasn’t him. Skotizo had no idea who threw the bread and was confused. [I still don't know why they were being sneaky.]
Pocahontas successfully snuck around everyone and into Dornen Finestone, narrowly avoiding Falywn who left minutes before. Pocahontas interrogated Dornen about the strange happenings that are going on in town. He mentioned Tricklerock Cave and suggested she go speak to Mellikho if she’s so interested in fairy tales.
Everyone met back in the center of town and decided to go investigate the lead from Harburk first. Pocahontas stayed behind because she wanted to talk to Mellikho.
Pocahontas asked Mellikho about Tricklerock Cave, who very eagerly told her that she should definitely go investigate it. When Pocahontas accused her of trying to send them somewhere to die, Mellikho vehemently denied it and said she just wants them to experience true adventure. Pocahontas rode quickly to catch up to the rest of the group, who stopped ½ a mile from where Harburk marked on the map.
Everyone followed up on their letters except for Falwyn!