Preparing X1 - The Isle of Dread

Cabin view including ski tracks.

This time of year for over fifteen years, I have retreated to mountain cabin in central Norway for four to five days of intense gaming.

Our yearly winter trip has become a fond tradition for me and my friends that now live scattered across Norway. Still we get together, almost all of us, every year.

We have run many different games over the years, but Warhammer FRP (1st and 2nd edition) have featured prominently with the occasional round of D&D, Kult (Swedish horror game) and EarthDawn.

This year we are going to do something that I have been looking forward to for a long time. Running one of my favorite modules: X1 The Isle of Dread by Tom Moldway and David Cook. I do not think I need to tell people why X1 is great, this great person has done so and this great person as well.

With my personal nostalgia out of the way, I will turn to how I have been preparing to run it.

I am using the module with D&D 5e, so there is something new as well as something traditional. I am also leaning on the play test version of the module as well as the original version (and even a Norwegian translation of the module from the Norwegian edition of the Mentzer Basic D&D Expert-rules, aka “Blåboka” in Norwegian).

So how to prepare the sandbox?

Isle of Dread module-cover (1983 cover)

Well, the first thing to realize with a hexcrawl-type sandbox is that it is only a framework and that, as a DM, you have to create the details of, and connections between, the seeds that the sandbox gives you.

I have read somewhere (but I cannot remember the source) that a sandbox is about emergent stories.
Not the stories you, as a DM might want to tell, but the stories that you as players (the DM also being a player) find as you explore.

Sowing adventure seeds

Consequently, I have spent my prep time taking the seeds that are already in the module and trying to fill them with good stuff.

The first thing I did was hack the encounter tables. There are significant variations between the play test encounter tables and the original ones. I wanted to stay close to the original ones but I had to remove a few monsters because I did not have the time to convert them. Weighing the different results of an encounter table is also a fun exercise and it lets me prefer some encounters to others without implementing the quantum ogre.

The second thing I did was create rival NPC adventuring parties. This is not in the play test version, but the rival adventuring parties suggested in the original module are nice and I love making NPC parties. Now I have an evil band of adventurers looking for a temple, a neutral band of treasure hunters and a good pair of adventurers looking for a powerful fey.

The third was creating a web of relationships between the village chieftains, their witch doctors and war chiefs. I made a few choices and clarifications about how the villages and clans of the module interact. Adding some political intrigue to this module is exiting because the structure of clans in the villages opens up another level of complexity.

The last point was writing a paragraph of additional detail about the major encounters on the island. Detailing the current plans and some personality traits of the leaders of the isle have really made the island come alive.

Improvisation

Another reflection after preparing this module is that the loose structure is very useful for providing the DM with a room for improvisation without having to resort to railroading the players. In other words, the undefined parts of the module are actually the most exiting parts because it is where the players have room to unfold their ideas and plans (or schemes…)

I have made sure there is still enough room for those on the Isle of Dread.

Encounters at the Slaugthered Rose

I previously posted an inn called the Slaugthered Rose.

Fashion plate from Costume Parisien, 1823

I will be using that inn to lauch my players into my 5e version of the Isle of Dread module (released for D&D Next as part of the playtest).

Here are a couple of encounters that I'm planing to run for my players that i figured i might share with you:

Encounter one: A cryptic warning from a cloaked stranger

This encounter should run within minutes of the PC's entering the Slaugthered Rose.

A cloaked elf with shortish hair in a Small pony-tail approaches the PC's. «I need to warn you» he whispers to a random PC and then signals for all of them lean closer. «A foul wizard is in town. He is searching for you», he points a finger at a PC, «and you would do well to stay clear of him». After speaking his piece the elf moves off.

The PC's will probably try to question him further or even try to stop him. He will repeat the above information, but refuses to elaborate, tell them why he is warning them or give his name. A DC 10 Wisdom check reveals that he is clearly very determined to keep it this way.

The elf makes no aggressive moves, but reveals a shortsword beneath his cloak if he feel threatened. Should the PC's attack he will spend a round or two dodging their attacks, using a bonus action to disengage and appeal to the other patrons for help.

• There is a 1-in-6 chance that 1d4+1 commoners will come to his aid. 
• There is also a 1-in-6 chance that the barbarian Dhuin will become emotional and assist the elf with his best violence.
• Finally there is 5-in-6 chance that mr. Blacksail will send for the guards.

D3+1 guards will arrive in 10 rounds after being summoned. When they do there is another 4-in-6 chance that 2d4+1 commoners will assist the guards in subduing the characters. Another 1d6+1 guards will arrive after five minutes.

As all of this goes on the elf will defend himself to the best of his ability: Elven rogue 3; Spd 35ft;  AC 15 (leather armor); hp 16, Melee attacks Shortsword +5 to hit; Hit: 4 (1d6+1) and Dagger +5 to hit; Hit: 3 (1d4+1). S 12 (+1), D 17 (+3), C 11, I 11, W 12 (+1), Ch 12 (+1). He is also quite Acrobatic (+7) and Athletic (+5) which he will use to keep is distance from the PC's.

Unless this encounter ends with the PC's in chains or somehow on the run the elf will leave and they will have to ponder his strange words to them.

Pirate Girl by flo-moshi at deviantart (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Encounter two: The pirate lady

This is a role-playing encounter and, as such, it requires the DM to tweak it's details to the setting and the campaign. It's focus is to introduce an NPC that has an interest in the PC's, but given the mistaken identity plot she may also have mistaken the PC's for someone else.

An elegant lady dressed in breeches with white long socks, a silk blouse and sporting a red bandana approaches the PC's. She introduces herself as Sorine Pavel and asks what the characters are up to or simply if she could join them for a drink.

They may become suspicious of her, in which case she will back off, but she is also very charming and will quickly hint that she has something to offer the PC's.

If they accept her company Sorine will tell them about a sea journey she has just returned from.

The captain of the Lamprey wanted to stay well clear of the isles in the Dread Sea. Some of them may be haunted you know and their inhabitants are wild men... flesh eaters.
Still we came close to one after a hard night fighting to stay alive during a vicious storm. We could hear the sounds of drums... It gave me the creeps. Then later we heard a roar. A terrible roar.
There are stories of brave adventurers exploring some these isles. A few have even returned, some with gold and some with arcane secrets.

Sorine is clearly interested in any rumors about historical expedition to these islands, or even better to hear of current plans for an expedition.

Sorine is on a secret mission to find an expedition to join or possibly to initiate one herself. Her taskmaster is the court of the Empress of Bavmoria for whom Sorine is a spy.

The DM has to decide if Sorine is mistaken about the PC's indentity or if she's not. In my campaign she is not. (Stats wise (5e) she is a Rogue 3/Figther 1 human with a +6 bonus on Charisma (Deception & Persuasion) tests. If i might a nice way to do it i might publish her full stats later)