Q&A with Xander's Lost Orb Author Kevin Coffey

You’ve noticed by now that this month’s Dungeon Crate is centered around an adventure, “Xander’s Lost Orb.”

With the four-page adventure, the online extras and the box’s contents, you can sit down and play the adventure with very minimal preparation.

“Xander’s Lost Orb,” which takes players on a quest to find a lost artifact, was written to be a single session game, perfect for GMs who want something to drop into campaigns, gaming groups who want to take a break from their regular campaign or as an introductory adventure for players new to fantasy RPGs.

“Xander’s Lost Orb” was written by Kevin Coffey, so we talked to the adventure designer about his ideas, his process and how the adventure fits into our larger world of Halcyon.

Dungeon Crate: What’s the adventure about?

Kevin Coffey: On its face, it’s a fairly simple quest adventure. A lord wants you to find a magical orb that helped his grandfather, Lord Xander Bathall, keep the peace. Orcs are once again threatening his lands, so the lord wants to find his grandfather’s lost orb. A map leads to a ruined temple and then the players will have to explore the ruins. It gets more exciting from there.

It works as a simple one-off adventure. The lord gives you a quest, you try to go find the item. But it also connects into Halcyon and further adventures. What’s going on with the orcs? What happened to Xander? What is the orb? How does it work? Where will they find more information? Can the lord be trusted?

It’ll all come into play with the adventures that come after.

DC: Where does it take place?

KC: The lord, Theophus, is the warden of north Rhimms, a country in the larger continent of Halcyon. Wayne from Dungeon Crate designed the entire continent, and it’s huge. His world map is gorgeous.

Anyway, the orcs are descending out of the Kiln mountains and wreaking havoc, and Theophus is having a lot of trouble. The adventure places them in Cairn, where Theophus has a castle, and into the forests near the mountains. Future installments will venture out further.

DC: Where did your idea for the adventure come from?

KC: Since this is Dungeon Crate Adventures’ first published adventure, I wanted to do something relatively simple. It also has to work in a single session.  So, I thought an item quest and dungeon raid was a fun way to do both.

You can run it however you want, but I wanted it to connect to larger happenings, so there’s some mystery woven into the adventure to give GMs further adventure hooks and let me continue the story.

DC: Will it connect to other adventures in Halcyon?

KC: Yes! Other writers are doing other adventures, and we’re collaborating about what is happening in different parts of the world.

I know I keep saying it, but the story of “Xander’s Lost Orb” will most definitely be continued in further adventures.

DC: What will those adventures be?

KC: Well, I want people to play “Xander” first.

But even if not, here’s my spoiler alert: The adventurers find the orb in a ruined temple after fighting through some orcs and a bunch of undead. But there are clues as to who else might have been there. And Theophus probably won’t be satisfied with just the orb. That’s not going to solve all his problems.

After “Xander,” I’ve written one adventure, and I have outlines for others. The story keeps going and will take adventurers to some fun and interesting locations and dungeons.

I’ve played Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder and other RPGs for a long time, so I’m trying to tackle scenarios I’ve never played before. I want to keep things interesting!

Behind the Scenes of the Cursebreaker Dice and Elderwood Academy

A lot of work goes into the stuff on your gaming table.

Those miniatures get sculpted. That dice tower gets constructed. Everything gets painted. (Sometimes by you!)

When it comes to the dice towers, rolling trays, dice boxes and other items made by Elderwood Academy, a lot of care goes into the beautiful items they produce.

Quentin Weir and Dan Reiss launched Elderwood Academy with their awesome hex chests, and they’ve since expanded to making all kinds of awesome RPG accessories.

One of those is the Cursebreaker die, a laser-engraved wooden d6 that came in the latest Dungeon Crate. We talked to Dan about the process behind designing and manufacturing these killer dice.

Dungeon Crate: So, where did the design process start with these dice?

Dan Reiss: This is a good one! Quentin does work in board game design and was working on a game with over-sized novelty dice (Monster Dice), which turned out to be fun things on their own right, so we started developing some art for them along with the Cursebreaker name and voila!

DC: Have you ever done dice before? Will we see more of them?

DR: These are our first set of custom dice, and we do love them internally, but we also know how much we would have to develop to get a whole set of polyhedral dice going. That said, we do love our dice and would enjoy bringing any fun and novel dice out that enrich the gaming environment.

DC: Are they laser cut like the designs on your other products? Or what is the process?

DR: All of the dice start out as what's called "rough-sawn" lumber. We plane, saw, and sand the wood until it's smooth and the right size before cutting it into cubes. Each cube needs to get cornered and sanded by hand before it goes into a laser (pew pew!), where we engrave the art on the dice.

DC: Is it fun doing custom pieces?

DR: We love to make custom work around the shop! We did a set of dice recently that had a "will you marry me" face in place of the 6.

DC: That’s awesome! I know you guys have some more projects on the way. What else will we see from Elderwood Academy?

DR: We have about 5 projects in the works around here, ranging from boxes, to improved products, to, ahem, dice, but nothing has congealed quite yet with what we want to move forward with :)

May 2017 Dungeon Crate Overview

Photo by Justin Andrew Mason

Don’t you just love coming home to find that little grey box of joy waiting for you?

That’s what we feel like when we open our crates, and this month’s is extra special.

May’s theme is “Xander’s Lost Orb,” and it’s titled after the very first installment in Dungeon Crate Adventures, a series of fantasy RPG adventures exclusive to Dungeon Crate.

In May’s box, you’ll find the four-page, single-session adventure and a bunch of items to help you run the game.

We really hope you dig it. If you play “Xander’s Lost Orb,” let us know what you thought. Send us photos of your table and tales of glory!

Onward to May’s special Dungeon Crate...

Art by Wayne Brekke

Xander’s Lost Orb

In this adventure, you’ll be tasked by Lord Theophus to locate a magical orb that helped his grandfather, Lord Xander Bathall, unite his lands and fight back against marauding orcs. The adventure will take you to a ruined temple filled with more orcs and, as it turns out, an evil wight that has made the old temple his home.

We dig this spiffy little adventure because it’s a fun dungeon delve that you can drop into any campaign. If you’re looking to start a new campaign, this will be a perfect starting adventure that gives you a look into the world of Halcyon. We’re looking forward to where this takes us.

Also, check out the artwork from Dungeon Crate’s Wayne Brekke. That dude runs Dungeon Crate AND he can draw? So, this is how jealousy feels.

Laser-engraved wood Cursebreaker d6

Small Cursebreaker D6

We love this thing. Our friends at Elderwood Academy made this Cursebreaker d6 special for us, and we loved it so much that we incorporated it into “Xander’s Lost Orb.” (There’s a specific trap that uses it in the adventure. Roll at your own peril.)

Elderwood Academy makes some cool stuff and this d6 is no exception. It is laser-engraved on each side with our own custom design. We wish we could get even more of these.

Barrow Warden (Wight) - Reaper 

Barrow Warden miniature

Inside the ruined temple in “Xander’s Lost Orb,” a wight is lurking. Long ago, the undead knight took up residence inside this temple, and he’s been turning the tomb’s would-be plunderers into his servants. Reaper Miniatures supplied a fantastic looking miniature, the Barrow Warden, to represent the freaky wight. He’s wonderful. (Isn’t all their stuff so good?) The Barrow Warden wields a sword and his freaky mouth is wide and ready to consume some adventurers. In future campaigns, you can use him as a lich or a zombie lord or really any big, bad, undead enemy.

Zombie Miniatures

Spoiler alert: There are zombies in the adventure, too. You know how the wight has been capturing those who come into the temple ruins and turning them? Yeah, he has two zombies with him. This pair of minis from Reaper Miniatures are ugly, shambling goons ready to take you down, too. We love pieces like this because they’re useable in future game sessions. And who couldn’t use more zombie minis?

Dry-Erase Character Sheet

All these miniatures mean it’s time to bust out the paints!

Dry-Erase Character Sheet

This is one of the coolest things we’ve ever put in a box. Seriously. Keep your character’s most important stats front and center with this acrylic dry-erase character sheet. Advanced Deployment created this little card-sized sheet, which has space for HP, AC, speed, initiative, level, ability scores and your character’s name. You’ll never have to shuffle through your character sheet again. (At least, not until you have look up your spells.) Don’t have a dry erase marker? Don’t worry. We tossed one in the box.

                                                                                                                                      

Inspiration Token from Deep Dungeon Games

One of the coolest mechanics in Dungeons & Dragons’ 5th edition is inspiration. Pull off an awesome attack? Really get into roleplaying your character? Gain inspiration, which you can cash in to get advantage on your next roll. Inspiration can also be handed over to another player. We love this token from Deep Dungeon Games (run by Dungeon Crate subscriber Hobie Hill), which you can hand out to players when they really knock your socks off.

Dungeon Doodles Sticker

Matt at Dungeon Doodles does some really cool stuff. If you have an RPG character you love, but you’re not blessed with the art talent to flesh out his or her look, you can turn to Dungeon Doodles to illustrate your character. (Or even your whole adventuring party.) This month’s box has a sticker of one of Matt’s awesome doodles.

Digital Dungeon Crate

We ended up making more content for Xander’s Lost Orb than we could fit in the adventure book. Instead of hoarding it all for ourselves, we dropped it online so you can have it. No additional charge. We promise.

This month’s digital extras include player and GM maps, extra lore, extra artwork, stats for the orb in question and a document outlining quick adjustments based on party level. We want to make as little work for GMs as possible.

How to set the mood at the game table

It’s time to roll dice.

Everyone’s excited to get going, fight some goblins, tip back some beverages (be they boozy or Mt. Dewy) and have a good time.

But when it’s time to get into the game, you may have to do a little bit of work to keep everyone in the mood (whether you’re the GM or the player).

We have some tips, and they’re all about immersion.

Keep in character. Remember to keep your out-of-game talk and in-game talk separate. If you refer to your +2 plate mail to the waiter at an inn, they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about. If you’re the GM, encourage players to speak in-character whenever possible.

Find some music. If you haven’t heard of Midnight Syndicate or artists like them, welcome to an RPG musical rabbit hole. There’s music for everything from tavern tunes and atmospheric sounds to gothic horror orchestrations and mystical music. Your favorite film scores also usually work well.

Here are some links to check out:

Ambient Mixer

DMDJ

Purple-Planet Royalty Free Music

 Bust out those maps, minis, coins and tokens. Though theater of the mind can be fun, a lot of players dig the physical representation of the game. It can help visualize everything.

Create some terrain. For the hobbyists out there, this is where you shine. Get out the Styrofoam, card board and craft paint and whip up some set pieces or whole dungeons. It feels more like you’re living in the world than looking at a flat representation of it.

Make props or maps. Do the players find an old map? Print or draw one out, pour some old coffee on it to age it, and hand it over. Do they find a special gem covered in magic symbols? Pick up a fake gem or rock from the craft store and carve or draw symbols on it.

Crafting Links: 

The DMs Craft with DM Sctotty on YouTube

DMG Info on YouTube

Black Magic Crafts on YouTube

Worlds of Waynecraft on Facebook

Worlds of Waynecraft on YouTube

Make the story stem from the player’s choices. This is more of a gameplay one than something physical provided. Railroading players into a story isn’t as fun as seeing what they do when presented with a situation and taking things from there.

Remove distractions. Everyone has phones and tablets and eight million other things going on. If everyone left their phones at home or (more realistically) left them off the table, ate dinner before the game rather than during or kept the non-game talk to a minimum while you played, that would be nice.

Pay attention. There’s nothing that takes you out of the game faster than having someone need to repeat themselves because someone wasn’t paying attention to the gameplay.

Be prepared. Make sure your character sheet is up to date, you know how your abilities work and (especially for your spellcasters) you’re aware of what spells you have prepared.

Make the places real. A little preparation goes a long way for this one. The players are at a tavern. What kind of wine do they serve? What’s the bartender’s name? When they’re raiding a castle, what does it smell like? What’s on the tapestries? Place names and descriptions are great, but a little extra detail keeps everyone in the world.

For more inspiration check out Dungeoncrate.com