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Pebble in a Pond

Hidden 9 mos ago → 9 mos ago Post by Benzaiten
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Benzaiten

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ENTRIES


Welcome! This little section of mine is a mere way to keep my fingers typing, a sort of personal project with no deadlines, no stress and nothing to achieve. I will use this mainly as a form of a "blog" only for my eyes. You may find reviews here of any sort of things. Peruse at your leisure.

Table of Content

A list of all the things, as you would imagine.

In Order of Appearance

Blog PostDateTypeDescription
Adventurers League: Season 1 (Campaign)scheduledDND 5e Modules - Experience ReportAdventurers League is a DND 5e organized play program, here reimaged as a campaign! And not only that, but as a 1x1 campaign - one player, one GM! Join us in our struggles to unearth the hidden secrets around draconic artefacts and rumors within the city of Phlan.
Superman (2025)scheduledMovie ReviewThe 2025 Superman establishes a new era for the well-known character of Kal-El, introducing him as an established hero and skipping the origin story in favor of a newer, fresher perspective on his involvement in international affairs as he comes head-to-head with a raging, though refreshingly self-aware Lex Luthor.
Fantastic FourscheduledMovie Review....
Adventurers League: DDEX1-1 - Defiance in PhlanscheduledDND 5e Module - Experience Report....
Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil
by V.E. Schwab		scheduledBook Review....
AstrobotscheduledGame Review....
Blue PrincescheduledGame Review....
Adventurers League: DDEX1-2 - Secrets of Sokol KeepscheduledDND 5e Module - Experience Report....
IndieCon 2025scheduledEvent....
Cuenca, SpainscheduledTravel Location....
Segovia, SpainscheduledTravel Location....


Note: In this moment in time this is merely a formatting sheet. There are no posts yet and the links lead nowhere.
Hidden 9 mos ago → 9 mos ago Post by Benzaiten
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█ A D V E N T U R E R S L E A G U E
█ A D V E N T U R E R S L E A G U E
Introduction

Welcome to this little corner of the interwebs. About a bit more than a year and a half ago, I joined a DND group that would become my main introduction to the game alongside a bi-weekly game I was already in at that point. In that weekly game, I met my current girlfriend, who was brandnew to DND. Skip to now, and we have started playing DND between the two of us, in addition to our shared and not shared campaigns. By now, she is in the process of running The Shattered Obelisk for me, as her first delve into GMing. But it all started with me running a small tiny one-shot for her, just the two of us, because some friends (who curiously also met and fell in love through that same DND game that we did!) suggested it was their favorite shared activity - DND just between them.

One player. One GM.

This series of blog entries is meant as a documentation of that journey for us. As I guide my one and only player through an adjusted Adventurers League, I want to keep record of each of the adventures, the overarching plot points, and review how easy (or troublesome) prepping each of the adventures is by itself and in terms of turning it into a functioning campaign (which it was not designed for).

This first entry is an introduction to this whole endeavor. You'll get an overview of what Adventurers League even is, how we got here, who the player characters are, what the story is about and what the setting looks like.

So without further ado... Enjoy this hellride.
Adventurers League

What is Adventurers League about?
Adventurers League is a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (DND 5e) organized play program created in 2014. As an organized play program, Adventurers League supports a structured play across multiple tables. It functions as a shared campaign where a Game Master (GM) can run an adventure from any season of Adventurers League and any player with a character of a fitting level for that official adventure may play at the table. The players then play through the 4-ish-hours adventure and, upon ending it, receive a variety of experience points through combat, solving secrets and/or completing quest parts. The GM then receives a set amount of experience points for running the game. Any run and played in game is being tracked by an official track sheet each player and GM is supposed to fill out individually. The player can then look for their next adventure befitting their character level, which might be run by a different GM. All adventures must be official Adventurers League content.

Each of the seasons of Adventurers League are tie-ins to one of DND 5e's published campaigns. Published campaigns are modules that are meant to be played through at a set table, with one GM and a set amount of players that do not change. As opposed to Adventurers League, these are proper campaign where PCs (Player Characters) know each other, adventure together, and grow together. Other than the numbered seasons, there are various adventures known as 'Season 0' or 'Season Agnostic' adventures. Here is a little overview of each numbered season of Adventurers League and their corresponding official published campaign.


What does 1x1 mean?
For those who are unfamiliar with it: DND is usually played at a table with one Game Master and several players, usually between 4-6. The GM controls the world, the "NPCs" (non-player characters), the enemies, the weather - everything from the smallest grain of salt to the biggest gods is in the hands of the GM. If they run a published adventure, then that adventure is a guideline for the GM, giving a plot with locations, NPCs, enemies, loot, etc. The GM is there to interpret the actions the players take in this game and have the world and other characters in it react accordingly. The players decide to loot the wine cellar of a pub? The GM decides how much wine there is, how easy it is to steal, and will likely have the pub owner and local law enforcement react accordingly.

Usually a table has multiple player characters. So as a player, the attention is not entirely on you all the time. You share decisions, you can discuss, different characters might have different approaches or opinions, and you can support each other when shit goes down.

At a 1x1 table that looks different. Every action in the game will be dictated by that one player because games like DND require players to be active. Of course, the GM sets the scene, the tone, the things or people available to interact with. But now you are only one player, there is no moments anymore where your fellow players might take some spotlight by doing shenanigans and you are free to sit back and enjoy their roleplay. You are in the center at all times. So in a 1x1 game, the only other player at the table is the GM - who is not about to tell you what to do or how to solve a problem. This might sound taxing and overwhelming, but with a good GM and with fun in the foreground, this can be incredibly invigorating. You also have no one there to oppose you, you can try whatever you like, be as stupid as you like, without fearing you might step on toes, ruining the fun for anyone, or get other people's characters accidentally killed.

And if the GM is one to incorporate backstories, you are sure to have a very tailored ride. All of your backstory lore will come to fruition, every personal NPC will eventually show up, and your character can do whatever they want without fearing to be pushed into a direction that is not suited for them, just because you have to stick with the party. This of course only applies if the story that the GM builds is build around your character, at least partially (which most GMs attempt to do). If you play a written adventure, like a campaign book, then you still have some rails to stay on - otherwise, why use a campaign book at all?

The same applies to the GM too, though. Where the GM usually has around 4-6 players who all discuss what to do, roleplay with each other, have their own ideas and can entertain each other but also help with riddles, mysteries, problems and other obstacles, now the GM only has the one player. This might make it harder to get a minute to think on your feet if your player zigs instead of zags but it will also hone your improvisation skills, which I personally have thoroughly enjoyed! You have no time to look something up while players discuss where to go next because there are no discussions between players. Luckily you can always tell your player(s) you might a minute to think or look something up and no one will ever have a problem with this. GMing is a ton of fun, but it requires to hold a lot of information and sometimes we don't have everything at our fingertips.

And personally, I find it much easier to let go of anxiety and be in the moment when it is just me and my girlfriend playing. I can try my hand at improvisation and find the boundaries of my creativity, where I shine on spontaneity and where I might need to prep instead. It's the ultimate safe space. And playing DND together is incredibly connecting. You are creating a whole story.

I can also recommend playing DND together as one of the best activities for long-distance couples.

But what if I turned AL into a campaign?
That's right! Instead of picking any of the plenty DND 5e official campaigns or even fan-published third party campaigns (and there are more than you can play in a lifetime!), I decided to undergo the cruel challenge of turning a fractured, loosely tied-together drop-in-and-out type of game into a coherent story with recurring characters, enemies and in-game challenges that allow for a build-up and eventual climax.

But whyever would I do that? In short: My girlfriend, who is new to DND and obsessed with it, wanted me to run a 1x1 for her because more DND is always a good idea. Because this was a trial shot, trying our hand at a 1x1 for the very first time, I chose to run a self-contained "one shot". And I chose one that I had already prepped and knew perfectly well because I had run it at my job, at a primary school. So I set it up and I ran it for my woman, who LOVED it. She absolutely fell in love with playing DND just between the two of us - though we are both in proper campaigns, together and apart... That's actually how we met!

So for this first one-shot - which is a self-contained adventure that can be run in one sitting (hence the name), usually taking around 4 hours - I had her make a proper PC (player character) and a sidekick according to the sidekick rules presented in Dragon Of Icespire Peak (one of DNDs actual starter campaigns).

After we ran the first of the four quests in this one-shot, it became clear very quickly that we could not just "roll some dice" and leave it at that. My intentions to run this as written and leave it as lackluster as it is soon dissolved as my girlfriend's excitement and passion for the game came to surface. So as we went on, I began to tie things together better, introduce characters with the intention to keep them around and build out the city that functioned as our setting. And suddenly I had a living breathing campaign on my hands. Albeit a shaky one with plenty of plot-holes and dark corners that I hoped my player would not visit so soon as they were naught but a void. It took no time at all for my woman to start forging bonds with NPCs, explore some parts of the city and involve herself in the scheme that was ongoing.

So... Here we are. Running Adventurers League as a 1x1 campaign. One player. One GM.
The Player Characters
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D I V I N E S O U L S O R C E R E R
Aasimar | Charlatan | Chaotic Good

Cass is a chaotic nature with a deeply good heart, though she sometimes masquerades it behind negotiations for a bigger coin reward. She means well, as long as the people seem cooperative and are kind. Cass does not consider herself a "hero", if anything it comes to her accidentally. With her chaotic nature, she prefers to do instead of plan - because why plan when one can improvise, hm? In doing so, she can sometimes forget that things don't always have to "work out" and can indeed get worse and turn to shit. Luck can run out. And her overconfidence and stubbornness can lead her into some uncomfortable corners.

She might gain her powers from a divine entity, but she left that life of structure, rejecting her previous "destiny" in favor of adventuring and paving her own path. Soon after she met Talon, who joined her on that road of self-realization.
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C A S S A N D R A " C A S S " C A E L U M
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T A L O N H E A R T H W O O D
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O A T H O F D E V O T I O N P A L A D I N
Half-Elf | Acolyte | Chaotic Good

Talon is the golden retriever himbo who follows Cass at her heels and does what she asks so long as it aligns with their shared moral compass. He's a good boy with less brain than brawn but more heart than most. He is loyal, a little naive at times, well-intentioned, hard-working and an avid tea-lover.

He is eternally optimistic, with nothing able to sour his mood. A true good heart, he does things first and foremost to help people and he does not need compensation in return. Everything he does is for the common people. Sometimes this leads him to blindly trust people he maybe shouldn't, or distrust people that he misjudged at first glance. He is very protective of the common people, and of his adventuring partner Cass. He met Cass after dropping out from his soldier-career and somehow just stuck with her.

Talon was created by my girlfriend, originally using the sidekick rules until he got a full PC upgrade. He is piloted by the player, but voiced by the GM.


The Game


The Story
Being that Adventurers League functions as a drop-in-and-out type of game, the story is merely a loosely connected ensemble of quests which all share a theme. That theme for Season 1 is dragon-based.

The players arrive in Phlan, at Madame Freona's Tea Kettle, the local tavern, which works as a sort of hub across the season. From there on, the characters are approached by different quest-givers and asked to investigate various problems. Rumors of dragon artefacts making their way into the city and surrounding area gain traction. Meanwhile the corrupt Black Fist guards have their own agenda in the city. And soon whispers of the Dragon Cult having something to do with these happenings are getting louder...

Throughout the quests, the players come into contact with various members of the five factions working (often in secrecy) to protect the Sword Coast region.

The Factions

The Setting: The City of Phlan
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