D&D 5E Homebrew: Ch.1 - A Sticky Situation

[Noctuary]

Hijacked for homebrew campaign since AL just wasn't taking off. Plan to use the Cragmaw cave for a different battle so no loss.


RACES
To save myself some time I simply reskinned the normal races.

Humes replaced humans
Called humes, they are the most common race. They have no special abilities, and have the second shortest life span of any race (roughly 60 years). Despite this, they have managed to set up large empires and kingdoms all over the continent and effectively achieved global dominance due to their industrious nature. Humes can be compared with moogles in this regard, and probably have the closest relationship with the moogle than any other race, as seen in many instances when moogles are employed by humes. However, races of all kinds inhabit hume settlements


Bangaa replace dragonborn
They have long faces, scaly skin, and tough limbs. They have two long ears dangling from each side of their heads, leading people to call them "long-ears". Their sense of smell and hearing are exceptionally sharp. They have a tall stature and are physically powerful, but their vocal structure makes it difficult for them to cast incantations, limiting their use of magic.



Viera replace elves
The viera have leporine features, including long ears and supple limbs. They generally wear stilettos, possibly due to the shape of their feet, although there have been exceptions. Their trademark long ears grant them exceptionally good hearing, although they are said to have excellent senses overall.
Not only do the viera's ears allow them to hear over great distances, they also allow them to listen to the voices of the spirit world. They can put this ability to great use, either to communicate with the world around them, or to summon monsters from other worlds. Furthermore, the viera have approximately three times the lifespan of humes.



Moogles raplace gnomes

Moogles sprout a "pom pom"—a red ball of fur on a thin, wiry antenna—from their heads, which they are sensitive about being touched. A moogle's wings are most often of a dark, Gothic, or bat-like design, as to juxtapose their otherwise harmless appearance and bubbly nature. Moogles resemble small mammals, ranging from rodents to felines or marsupials.



Nu-mou replaced
Canine features and long, droopy ears set this race apart. Even-tempered and thoughtful, they possess the capacity for great intellect. Like moogles, they shun water and avoid it to all cost. Though ill-suited for the front lines of battle, they make incomparable mages and weavers of magick

[Noctuary]

Didn't get as much done as I had planned but at least it's some progress. Totally painted the river on the wrong side on one of the tiles  . I might be able to sneak in the first layer of tinted mod podge if this dries in time tonight.

[Supercollider]

That's looking good - Do you have a 'hidden rooms' piece of cloth, or something that hides bits of unexplored dungeon from the party?

[Noctuary]

Thank you. I started the set on saturday but I have a 3 month old that loves walking around with dad.. so you know how that goes.
I thought about using a cloth at first but I went with a peg/hole locking system for the tiles, so as the party explores, I can just lock in a new piece.

Game day was supposed to be this weekend so let's see if I can bust it out after work today.

[Noctuary]

One neat feature about the A.L is that Dungeon Masters collect rewards for running games. Such as XP, gold, and downtime days to spend on your characters (one full reward for a single character). Along with the new season came quest cards for the DM(available for download at the dmsguild.com). A DM may complete these quests by running games in Curse of Strahd. Some rewards are bonus items and they said to expect more of this in the future. Point being I thought I should use this post to show PC miniatures I have or on order. The sword coast adventurers guide brought a new archetype for rogues legal for play, the swashbuckler. Very similar to the UA version I believe. Sneak attacks with no adv, as long as you are the only one adjacent. Free disengages for TWF and mobility. The taunt along with some other nice features. My character is a drow rogue named Kalan'tel.

[Noctuary]

I finished up the tiles and just have some small detail stuff to finish like the bridge and a few more stalagmites. I'll try and get some better photos of the water later. The mod podge left quite a bit of bubbles in the tinted layers, but doesn't look too bad.

[blackstone]

Nice how those pieces lock together. Looking good!

[Little Odo]

Nice work, although there seems to be an optical illusion in the painted pictures where a small section of the river before the bridge appears to be flowing "up-hill". I know that's not the case but my dodgy eyes can't see it any way other than that, so can we have another picture from the opposite angle so my eyes can see what it really looks like please.

[Noctuary]

Honestly I'm not as happy as I would be with the water had I have had some water gel medium to give it a more rippled flowing look. This should work for now though.

[Little Odo]

Thanks Noctuary - that looks much better and my eyes can actually see what is happening now. Great job. Can't wait to see the board in action.

[Noctuary]

Going to throw up some custom archetypes I'll be using in the campaign for my brothers. Some may be familiar. Feel free to use them in your own games or if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer why I chose a certain feature.

Don't dig to deep into the naming of the lore skill, it is just what it is called from a certain game.
Needs some slight editing still, but you'll get the point. The dragoon is on the work bench now.


Future edits:
One with Monsters
Your fascination with creatures has began to infuse part of your being with the monster magic you've learned. Beginning at 7th level you gain half your proficiency (round down) to all your saving throws that don't already gain your proficiency bonus.

You may use your bonus action to infuse your equipped weapons with monster magic. While you wield your weapons, they are considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities. They also gain a magical damage bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier. Infusing your weapons lasts one hour or you may use your bonus action to end the effect early.

If you have multiple ways to calculate magic damage (e.g. magic items, Magic Weapon, or Elemental Weapon), you can choose which to use. Foe Slayer does not stack as well.

[Noctuary]

And here is the dragoon as promised

[Noctuary]

First game went great. Session 0 started with some character building and a brief intro to the arachnid lair.

The story begins with three adventurers wondering the Forgotten Forest found in Estarian territory. The forest is usually peaceful, however it has been known to be the home of some dangerous creatures and one shouldn't travel alone or at night.

The summoner was preparing her famous celery soup over the camp fire after traveling half a day from Northelm, the major city in the area, to restock on supplies for her home in Green Grove. She was taste testing, when she heard a crack of a branch and as she turned around she was hit suddenly and knocked unconscious.

The dragoon is part of the military for Northelm and all Estaria. He and a troop of soldiers were in transit through the forest, when they were attacked during the night by unseen attackers. They were headed to an encampment to bring support and supplies along the border.


The ranger was out hunting in the Forgotten Forest looking for game to feed her and her pet panther, Talon. She had a deer fresh in her sights when she was pulled by the ankles and her head smashed onto a rock when she fell, knocking her out.

Things were dark for several hours. The dragoon awoke first smothered in a sticky rope like substance. Bound, he began squirming trying to break free, after a few strength checks, he was successful and became free. In complete darkness, he managed to light a torch from his pack. After his eyes adjusted, he began to examine his surroundings. The smell of rotting flesh filled his nostrils, and as he tried to move about the room, there was resistance trying to keep him bound to the floor. The room was covered in webs stretching from the ground to the ceiling in this cave or old mine.
He also notices another two web mounds squirming about, he performs some delicate slicing with his polearm to release an elven ranger and her panther companion. They introduced, and decided it was best to stick together to get out of this place.
Here we have the dragoon trying to get passed this path covered in webs. He performed a normal attack and the rustling of the webs alerted two spider drones and combat began. The party quickly dispatched them and continued down the trail.



Here the party is about to meet up with the summoner who just recently broke free from the webbed cocoon. She managed to find a few goods within the tiny egg sacks. However, she was bitten by a spider and failed her check unknowingly. The poison should be settling in within the hour..

[Driscoles]

I like this very much.

[Noctuary]

I like this very much.

Glad you do!
I apologize if the story isn't full of all the detail the game had. I'll also try to take more pictures. I have two halfling bodies hidden within the mine. They may or may not be holding a magic elven dagger that glows when orcs or goblins are near, and a ring of invisibility