Leicester's Ramble: DragonFlight 2025: Games and More Games

Ok, this will be a long one, so either grab some coffee or come back when I'm less vociferous. I ran five sessions through the three day weekend, three of Shadowdark and two of OSE-B/X. Had full tables for all, and a lot of good play. Met a few folks, saw a few old friends, and generally enjoyed the scene.

With five sessions, I'll just be hitting the highlights, and some impressions.

Friday Afternoon: Shadowdark; Adventure: The Howler.

After my recent test-run of the adventure using Shadowdark, I posted it up as my first session. This is the only session for which I pre-selected the adventure. I had a full table, plus a few folks on standby. My intent is to get as many people to the table as I can since picking and choosing games at a con can be a fraught affair. So I ran a table of nine for this game. Which meant that foes were bulked up and hazards slightly inflated to keep up with the crew.

Cast summary:

1 Ras-Godai
2 Fighters
2 Priests
2 Wizards
2 Thieves

The party found Gundrin's corpse, and was set upon by the vultures. After emptying pockets, they advanced to the tomb, where the goblins ganged up on them. Shooing them away, they entered the tomb to investigate. One thief scouted into the dark. The purification room had LOTS of spiders, and there was much whiffing. The thief aced his find traps roll and everyone made it down the trapped corridor with no harm. Rains was stabilized and ranted before pointing out the Howler. Light died during the battle, and the Howler absorbed a spell and magic sword to heal (And the players had thought the GM was being generous with those magic items...). The Howler was distracted with other thrown magic items, and set on fire. It fled, leaving the PCs to explore. They dodged a gas explosion from a brazier, and identified mystery mushrooms by taste test. They then found the mummy sarcophagi, and in contrast to the last party, did NOT read the inscription out loud. After discussion, they chose not to risk potential powerful undead. The PCs gathered up scattered loot and carried the two doomed explorers back to town to reveal their fates.

DM Notes:

It wasn't too bad running a large table. Everyone was a "grownup" and worked and played well together. Of course, there were a couple of players who took a bit more initiative at the table, but not to the session's detriment. I did a rough initiative houserule, with the highest scoring player going 1st, then rotating turns either clockwise or counterclockwise around the table. The enemies went at a selected turn within the combat round, usually at "that water bottle." I stuck with this system for Shadowdark throughout the weekend. The adventure ran better with familiarity, and I was able to use the Howler to better effect, particularly during the light loss. Accordingly, the players took advantage of its compulsion to lure it towards the strongest fighter before immolating it.

Friday Interlude: Daggerheart game

We got into a Daggerheart game last-minute, and played through the quickstart scenario. The five PCs (spread of basic classes) escorted a magic relic to a powerful mage for repair. There was fighting bandits, trying to figure out how to get into the mage's treehouse, then protecting the mage against a wave of undead as they performed the necessary rituals to re-enchant the relic.

Impression: Neutral to cautiously positive. I liked the 2d12 roll system with the boon/bane aspect where either the player or GM gets a point to use later to some effect. A number of the benefits or traits on the character sheet are open ended, or just a phrase: "Not today!", "They don't see me coming." where the player can incorporate the bonus with justification. And, with the open ended idea, there is are storygaming elements cooked into the system: relationships, collaborative scenes, etc. It wasn't too heavy handed, and generally light with respect the scenario. Then there is the no-initiative design, where players are invited to "take the spotlight" during actions or play. It took a bit of adjustment, but played ok at the table, particularly in combat. We did all mention how it might be challenging for less outgoing or confident players to take their turn, and of course, scene hogs. But I understand there are some house rules, and a good gamerunner would need to stay on top of it to make sure everyone got a moment to shine. I asked a bit about leveling and added spells/abilities with level. The full game includes card decks, and players choose abilities from decks assigned to their character class. I'd have to try a mid-level game to see if it continues to flow well or there is the threat of action economy bog-down. But a final positive, at least for me - the whole game is in a single book, so something approachable. I don't know if I'll add it to the collection, but I wouldn't turn down another session of the game.

Saturday Morning: Shadowdark; Adventure: "Notebook Failure Dungeon"

I've run this one a few times, and it lives in my adventure quiver. And this party needed to explore it.

Cast summary:

1 Sea Wolf
2 Fighters
2 Priests
1 Wizard
1 Witch

The PCs included two dwarves, so some "institutional knowledge" was shared as fit. The PCs crossed the entry chasm by felling a tree. And didn't want to fuss with the tentacled crawly thing. I swear, no sense of adventure. They entered the complex, then were ambushed by the goblin guards as they crossed the collapsing walkway. My dice failed me and no one fell into the chasm. One goblin was golfed into the chasm on a Nat 20. Some exploration, and the PCs found the former galley, as well as the scene of the "goblin defecation contest." They chose not to engage or get drawn into the contest... Another fight occurred at the barracks location with the final two gobs escaping to warn the boss hobgoblin shaman. The witch used her cauldron spell to make an improvised javelin mortar to fell one (The spell uses the term "expel" in the description, and I'm not denying someone's use of vocabulary.) The boss was confronted. One guards ran screaming with a willowman image and the remainder were slept. He revealed the location of the captive dwarf, and Kotrin was rescued. She sniffed out the hammer, and the ooze slapped around a couple of PCs before it was defeated.

The hammer was retrieved, the party guaranteed reward and hospitality by the dwarves, and the captive hobgoblin boss lost his footing and fell into the chasm.

DM Notes: Good player play and interaction. They went through A LOT of torches. We had at least three outages during play. Which gives the GM free attacks... I think everyone used their luck token. I've taken to giving each player a "luck Meeple" at the start of play as a reminder that they have a luck point.

Saturday Afternoon: OSE-B/X; Adventure: Vats of Rats

Another repeat offender in the adventure quiver.

Cast summary:

1 Cleric
2 Halflings
1 Thief
1 Wizard
1 Fighter

The party interrogated the captured man-rat and picked up a few rumors from the reeve and others. Off to the canyons north of town. They found the caged rat-men imprisoned by the ire of "Mistress." The rats pointed out the concealed side door access, which the party rushed. They immediately surrounded and intimidated the confused man-rats in the entry hall before basically shouldering past them into the complex. After a fight with a few guards, the party stumbled into the boss's bedchamber. More intimidation of an addled servant rat as a bloody batch of adventurers lurched in. The room was tossed and goodies found. More guards attacked and were slain. Onward. Into the dissection room. The party tried to break into the main lab, but the door was well-secured. The vivimancers appeared, dumping spore cloud into the room, incapacitating half the party. A desperate fight against more rat-man guards, accompanied by some massively-failed oil flask throws by the mage. The guards finally beaten, the party negotiated asylum for the vivimancers, and they were allowed to depart, empty handed of resources. The rest of the compound was looted, man-rats liberated, and mutations gained by drinking from unlabeled bottles.

DM Notes: Dammit Steve, why didn't you remind me that you'd played through this scenario before? Oh well, fun was had. I leaned into the involuntarily uplifted man-rats, the majority who just couldn't handle conflicting orders from "Mistress" and a party of heavily-armed adventurers. A reminder that there are plenty of types of interaction that can create a win-state. The barricaded door came from multiple strong PCs rolling 6's on their open doors check. Yeah, they've clearly jammed a chair under the doorknob.

Sunday Morning: Shadowdark: Adventure: Stonewill Estate

Cast summary:

1 Ras-Godai
1 Fighter
1 Priest
1 Wizard
1 Thief

With two goblin PCs, there weren't going to be any surprises, but at least they still might be creeped out. Stepping into the campaign world, Solange at the Hidden Hand gave them the job to find the Stonewill's relic that was rumored to give them a leg up in their influence among the Merchant Guild. The party spent time scoping out the joint, aided by one party member having a merchant background, so no one would notice them hanging around the neighborhood... After contemplation, they hopped the wall into the back courtyard at night. The back door was found to be trapped (via random roll), and a second-story approach was considered.

this again

Accessing the second floor back balcony, they were set upon by one of the guard manikins. Some time was taken to investigate the mechanism. Which gave time for another couple to attack. There was some discussion by the halfing thief to dress up as one of the daughters in hopes of fooling the things, but this was eventually abandoned. The party slunk down the hall, identifying rooms, before finding the reading room. Books and booze were swiped. Then the chest was found. It could be the relic. Do we just want to drag it out of here? What if it isn't the relic? Maybe we should open it... Say hi to Sybil. She woke up as they were discussing finding yet another doll in the place. She shared some of her background, then getting bored of the conversation, charmed the fighter and proceeded to attempt a walkout. The priest successfully cast protection from evil on the doll, which breaks possession in this game. Is the doll possessed? Of course it is. Say hi to "Sybil," a demon with an extensive memory of rumors and secrets. The halfing merchant interrogated it, and was satisfied that it held valid knowledge. So, you want a new job? Why not? You got me out of that doll. Back to Solange, with the backdrop of the Estate catching fire (which spread to the surrounding blocks). The demon was introduced to Solange, and the PCs took the next packet boat out of town as soot drifted down...

DM Notes:

We got through this in 2 hours out of a 3 hour session. Which is fine, since entry to the house is an open-ended affair. The party chose a rather direct route. I could have moved the doll to require more exploration, but mostly they would have interacted with a couple more types of manikin and tossed some more rooms. Although the setting does include "screamer" alarm manikins, which would have set off a timer for city guards to appear. But there is always the possibility of Scary Doll Fatigue. Again, some good creative play around the table.

Sunday Afternoon: OSE-B/X; Adventure: Vobleavira Haven

Cast summary:

1 Cleric
1 Halfling
1 Elf
1 Wizard
2 Fighters

Been awhile since I ran this one - last time was a con game, as well. The party got their rumors and were dropped at the front door. Again, guard goblins were overwhelmed, intimidated, and browbeaten. They shared what meager knowledge they had, and the party left them with some bribe rations. They found the main hall, swiped a banner, then stumbled on the temple. The imp gave them fits until they slayed it. More exploration, and the ghost appeared:

The party fled, slamming a door behind them and stumbling into a storeroom. They found a tunnel below and entered. A tripped explosive trap clued them into more possible traps, and they found a crate of blasting powder. This led them to the thief Dufay's quarters, and they looted it of the finer things in life. But, they also found a map of the complex. Off to the priest Pere Koch's chambers. Where they encountered a mystery priest and his followers seeking out "heresy." Some back and forth, and the priest was directed to the temple. He chose to leave rather than confronting the party. The party searched the place, finding that the "priest" had taken several important resources. And the rune-circles? Of course they stepped into them. With that, we'd better find that priest and get the coffer back. They paused to loot the robing room (since they had a key) and were again confronted by the priest. His motives revealed, they fought. The priest managed to fear the elf, but found his acolytes slept and himself held. Such an ignominious fate. Of course, now's the time for the ghost to appear. A grenade is effective, even at half-damage. As is whatever magic the party recovered. The ghost neutralized, the bones were returned to the coffer.

DM Notes: Another fun run-through of this scenario. This was the first party to find Dufay's quarters, with the huge resource of the map. We had one young player, who got to do some cool elf-shit. And in the interest of play, I softened the imp, since no one had any magic weapons at that point. Likewise, I gave everyone benefits from the rune circles, rather than class-specific as I wrote in the adventure. So the halfling had a locate spell to lead the party to the coffer (and Chaos priest). The first occurrence of the ghost was pure random encounter. The second showing was flexed, as I rolled a random encounter, but the narrative (and time) indicated that the ghost should appear again.

Overall - a good con, and I was wiped out from social interaction by the end. Monday was not a productive work day. Regarding games, I was surprised at the number of 6+ hour sessions offered this year. It felt like long sessions hamper peoples' flexibility to join and explore different games. I keep mine to 3 +/- hours. Besides, that's what my little brain can handle.

Oh yeah, helped some vendors: