Introducing Dungeon Crate Adventures!

Welcome to the world of Halcyon!

Like other fantasy locales of Faerun, Middle-Earth, Westeros, Golarion, Midgard and Azeroth, Halcyon is a world full of adventure. A world full of danger. A world full of dungeons to explore, monsters to slay and XP to earn.

It’s in the world of Halcyon we’ve set a new series of stories from Dungeon Crate Adventures, which will only be available with Dungeon Crate subscriptions.

The first adventure, “Xander’s Lost Orb,” is set in Halcyon within a country called Rhimms. Though the adventure is focused on a dungeon delve, it reveals larger things at play within the world. Orc tribes are raiding. Lords are saving their kingdoms. There’s adventure (and gold!) to be had, too.

Future installments in the series will be similar to “Xander’s Lost Orb.” It’s meant to be a single session experience, and you should be able to sit down and play in a few hours. It’s also meant to be played with minimal preparation from GMs. With “Xander,” the GM should be able to skim the adventure booklet before sitting down at the table and get right into having fun.

What game system do you play? Our adventures will work just fine. Adventures are easily adaptable to different systems (Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Dungeon World, etc.) and, though they’re designed for specific levels, adventures are easily adjustable to play with whatever level your group is playing.

The adventures fit into a four-page booklet, but we are creating so much content that it can’t all possibly fit into those pages. Each adventure will also have free digital extras. “Xander’s Lost Orb” has dungeon maps (both player and GM versions), stats for the orb, encounter difficulty adjustments and additional lore, all available for free on our site.

And we’re not nearly done. Further adventures will explore other corners of Halcyon. What is going on in the islands of the Hook Sea? Will we find pirates? What danger lurks in the Nomad Territories? Perhaps there be dragons? What masterful and magic items are being forged in the Broken Oak Mountains? Will we unearth ancient dwarven kingdoms?

There’s a lot going on in Halcyon, and we plan to explore it all.

All those adventures will also tie into one another. Heroes of Halcyon will travel across the continent. The outcomes of some adventures will affect the events in others.

And what mysteries lie within the world? What connects the Dead Hands Thieves Guild with the lost orb of Xander? What do the markings on the maps mean? Why are orcs once again raiding from the Kiln Mountains?

We have a long way to go to explore all of Halcyon, and we need all the adventurers we can get.

Join us!

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 

Treasure ideas that aren't gold or magic

http://www.dndui.com/webcomic/13OzBow_web.php

There are things more valuable than gold pieces.

In most RPGs, there’s always a few gold pieces in that goblin’s pocket or hidden in a small alcove in the wizard’s tower.

But all that gold (and occasionally electrum and platinum and silver and whatever), can get a little boring.

It’s a lot more fun for everyone when they find something of value that isn’t something to throw in their pockets and spend at the next magic item shop they can find.

If you’re as bored of gold as we are, use these treasure ideas in your next game.

Art. When players open the treasure vault expecting bags of gold coins or piles of gold bricks, they find a collection of priceless art. A whole host of adventure threads will spill out when they try to figure out who the art was stolen from or where they can fence the items to get the gold they want. Or which ones they want to hang on their wall.

Property. The deed to an old fort or a wizard’s abandoned laboratory is way more exciting than another gold necklace worth 15 gp. What are you gonna do with it? Rehab the fort and make it your party’s hideout? Raid the wizard’s lab and find some magical wonderment within? 

Keys. Unlike some dungeon-delving video games, there aren’t enough keys when playing D&D. Maybe the key unlocks a special room in the dungeon or maybe it unlocks a completely different building or dungeon altogether.

Books. Adopt something from a favorite video game. In Skyrim, you’ll often find books on the shelves in dungeons and houses. They have lore about the Elder Scrolls world or are sometimes a short story. But every so often, you’ll read a book that gives you a bonus to a skill. You can drop books into homemade dungeons that give a player a permanent or temporary bonus if the spend rest time reading them.

Favors. When the king gives a quest, he often promises a monetary reward. But what if the kingdom is strapped for cash? The king can offer a favor. Accomplish a task, and he’ll owe you one. It will invest your players in the story, and it gives them a way to solve a future problem. Someday, they may find a foe that seems too tough to defeat, but they could call in a favor with the king for some help.

Disguised items. Maybe an expensive gem is hidden in the hilt of a plain-looking axe, or a magic scepter has been turned into a strange centerpiece on a banquet table. Or perhaps the magic sword you’ve been questing after has rusted over time.

People. Instead of a treasure room or a pile of gold, maybe players find a room full of imprisoned people bound for the slave trade. It could be fulfilling for players to free them plus they may gain a couple loyal followers in the process. We once found a friendly goblin imprisoned in a sewer lair, and he ended up helping out party on multiple occasions. He was more valuable than any masterwork dagger.

Something not from this world. Another fun idea is to drop anachronistic or simply otherworldly items into a medieval fantasy realm. What’s this motorcycle doing here and how does it work? What is this laser gun? 

Get more inspiration and adventure at Dungeoncrate.com

April Crate Overview

Photo by Justin Andrew Mason  http://www.pathstoadventure.com/

Is anything more satisfying that looting the throne room after defeating the big bad villain? Or sifting through the pile of treasure after slaying the evil dragon?

Every RPG hero - or at least the thieves and rogues among us - dreams of swimming through piles of treasure Scrooge McDuck-style.

This month’s Dungeon Crate brings a pile of gold, gems and treasure chests to your front door. The theme is treasure, and it’s full of a bunch of great stuff to drop into your games.

Bag of coins / Set of Ingots

Counting treasure on our character sheet isn’t nearly as fun as doing it with actual coinage. Having actual coins in the game helps things become a little more immersed in the game, and players care about the coins in their characters’ pockets when they have actual money. Some of you got a bag of coins while others got the set of character ingots from Rare Elements Foundry.

Treasure pile

When it’s time for your players to find some treasure, why not have them find some actual treasure. This pile of money from ReaperMiniatures is great. We have this miniature already, and (after slapping a little paint on there) it’s a great piece to display in the dungeon. It’ll go great with all our other Reaper pieces.

Treasure chest

Need a place to store all those coins, gems and other pieces? We absolutely love this wooden treasure chest from Elderwood Academy. It’s a cool little piece that’s been hand-assembled just for you and burned to get that smokey brown color. We’ve gotten comments on how people loved opening the box and getting a whiff of handcrafted wooden goodness. This treasure chest also works as a spot to keep your favorite set of dice. (That’s what we’re using ours for.)

 

Gem tokens

At some point, it becomes unwieldy to carry around all those coins. Adventurers who start packing in all kinds of gold will eventually exchange them for platinum. Once they have too much platinum, what do they do? This set of gem tokens, marked with denominations, will help you keep track of that treasure hoard. Advanced Deployment did a fantastic job with these.