Electrifying!

Yesterday was a full day of food, friends, and D&D! We usually play on the first Thursday of each month, but if there are five Thursdays in a month, we try to sneak in a Saturday game. Warning: this post includes some RPG violence. If you prefer to avoid reading that part, skip straight to the “Budgeting” heading below.

My players have been leaving rooms unexplored at their backs more regularly in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and this time it came back to bite them. Xanathar’s Guild members snuck into the main room and set up an ambush. Valorik went down, and Urg had to fall back under a hail of arrows and Javelins as they entered, leaving the party scrambling to react. While they managed to overcome the initial surprise and win that battle, it ended up costing them a healing potion, eight hours for a long rest to recover, and a hit to Urg’s pride. Once they woke up from their early nap, they decided they had enough of level one and headed down the long stairs to the Arcane Chambers. 

The first thing they found was a goblin bazaar. There, the goblin’s leader happened to be holding prisoner one of the betrayers of the revenant they have allowed to tag along with them. My players have decided to help the dead guy take revenge against his three former party members who beat him to death and threw him in a pit. I was a little surprised that “let the revenant beat the prisoner to death” was left on the table as an option, but they decided on a swift execution instead. 

Finally, in the last set of rooms explored yesterday, one room held a copper door that they strongly suspected was electrified. Ghouls popped out of some barrels to attack them, and Valorik had the great idea to shove his attacker into the door. I decided to give my ghouls a chance to dance out of the way of the door-yes, I’m a mean GM-and this blinded ghoul managed to dodge the door twice, Daredevil-style (Marvel’s Daredevil). The ghoul lost his acrobatic superpower when he regained his sight, as the third shove sent him tumbling against the door, electrocuting him with a strong zap. 

I would have felt a little bad about not letting the shove work the first time. It was a clever and creative idea, and I love it when players use the room to their advantage. I felt less bad about it when I found out Valorik had been using a shield along with two-handedly wielding his weapon. To be clear: no, he does not have three hands. We corrected that, so maybe they will be clearing out monsters with a little less ease from now on. Overall, I thought it was a great session, with some fun tidbits for everyone. 

Budgeting

It is budgeting season at work now, so I have had little time to work on book stuff or other hobbies. I’m still very new to this company, which makes everything take longer than it normally would for me. I have to learn it all as I go, and then there is the rework when I find something I missed the first time. Fortunately, everyone is great about the learning curve and working with me to ensure our budgets are updated and submitted on time. 

I’m also still on schedule for the book release, despite not having much time recently to work on it. It helps that I set the release date out far enough. I’m not stressing myself out with everything yet to complete. I know some people work well under tight deadlines at the last minute, but that is NOT me. I need schedules with reasonable timelines for which I can adequately prepare. If you are looking at taking on a publication project of your own, make sure you know how you work best and plan accordingly. 

Another action-packed weekend in the books! Have a great week everyone!