Tag: dd

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A new project or three

First, a couple updates on the fiction front.
I recently heard back from an editor I respect and admire greatly that a story I had submitted has made it to the final round of consideration for an upcoming anthology. Great news! The last anthology this editing team put together landed them an Aurora award – I was lucky enough to have made it into that one as well.

I have another story that has made it past the first round of cuts for another anthology, and am waiting patiently to hear back from several others. I’ll keep you posted.

Following the successful launch of my first two short D&D adventures on the DMs Guild, I sat back and watched the money roll in.

Ok, that’s a lie, because a) I immediately got sucked into a much larger project, and b) everyone knows there is no money in writing these days.

I finished another adventure, but the story just didn’t seem to be over. So in the grand old tradition of Dungeons and Dragons, I just… kept going. The adventure is now going to be a trilogy, and my plan is to release them all together because waiting for things is annoying.

I am very lucky to know one of the smartest D&D minds out there, one of my best pals, who is able to very clearly tell me when my ideas are getting off the rails. Usually, it’s things like “Resist overcomplicating this at all costs.” Every creative person out there knows the value of having people around you can bounce ideas off who won’t immediately go to “You should do this!” And I happen to have a few of them.

So about this new trilogy? My working title for it has been “The Glimmering Plague” and involves a group of dwarves uncovering an ancient elven artifact that’s been corrupted. after wreaking havoc on the nearby village, the story gets bigger from there, putting the players, the elves, and the dwarves all in conflict, while dealing with a growing horror that threatens the entire region. Since I need to have a photo to go with this post, I’ll give you a little teaser of something that happens in the first act of the trilogy. Hope you enjoy it!

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The second foray

I mentioned yesterday that I had published two adventures, but didn’t say much about the second one. This was another adventure I wrote for the two-year Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign we recently completed.

One of my players is a huge fan of new and interesting things in D&D. In this case, his wizard was hoping to find spells and other types of magic that he (as a player) had never seen before. We’ve all been there. We’ve all seen a +1 longsword and thought, well, what’s so special about this longsword?

The adventure I originally wrote involved wolves, the cold, and an ancient underground library dedicated to Jergul, a dead god in the Forgotten Realms. It also contained the first spells created with a Far Realm theme, something my player was very interested in.

This version has been generalized and no longer takes place in the cold, but rather a generic Kingswood type forest of lush and green and sunshine. The perfect place for a horror story, in other words.

I’m really enjoying this type of storytelling – our group is currently on a break – defeating Auril the Frostmaiden takes a lot out of you – and this is as close as I am getting to running a game at the moment. I’m playing in two, but I’m sure forever DMs out there will agree it’s hard to let go of the chair.

The Den and The Changelings have garnered a handful of sales this weekend, and I’ve been telling my daughter it’s time to quit my job. I have already made enough for a cup of coffee – but from Tim Hortons, not Starbucks.

The teaser from the adventure:

A horror is growing in the woodsā€¦
Beneath the ancient boughs of the Kingswood, something stirs. Mutilated animal
carcasses litter the forest floor, their remains too gruesome for even the bravest
hunters to stomach.

Villagers speak of goblins, werewolves, or something far worseā€”unseen horrors
whose howls pierce the still of night.

A hunting party ventured into the woods to uncover the truth, only for one survivor
to stagger back, delirious and dying.

Unbeknownst to all, the pack of wolves that once ruled the forest has fallen victim
to the sinister power of a forgotten necromancer’s lair, their corrupted spirits bound
by ancient magicā€”and hungry for blood.

A horror Story for levels 3-5

Here is a link to The Den on DMs Guild:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/510010/The-Den?affiliate_id=3648540