Make ready the main-sail and trim those lines! It’s time to brave the dark and briny waters of this month’s winning Campaign of the Month — “Adoraith: Out of the Shadows.” A maze of shattered islands awaits beyond the haze as we return to the world of Adoraith and ask this two-time winner how best to captain a crew who seek adventures on the high seas.
~ Obsidian Portal spoke with you last in 2016, when “Adoraith: Echoes of Epirus” won Campaign of the Month and we had the chance to get to know you. What’s new in your life in the last nine years?
Goodness, the last decade has been a whirlwind. I continued publishing 5e material, releasing several adventures, until my development work ground to a halt in 2019 when I broke my back in a freak accident. The accident landed me in a wheelchair. It took several years for me to get back on track enough to consider development again. Even then I had some setbacks that keeps me sidelined.
I don’t want to give the impression that my life is all doom and gloom though. My family and I moved to my favorite place in the world, New Orleans. The people, music, food and culture has been a real lift to my spirits. Obviously, I put together a gaming group and have been able to leverage nearly 40 years of content on the newcomers. It excites me to see firsthand how different groups react to the same content.
~ Your current campaign, “Adoraith: Out of the Shadows” is a tail of sails and ships upon the Sapphire Sea that varies piracy with a little classic adventuring. Why are we all so drawn to stories on the high seas, in your opinion?
Our oceans and seas remain the last frontier we humans have yet to completely explore. There persists a mystery to the vast ocean depths that draws our wonder and imagination. Not only that, but there is a romantic notion that life on the seas somehow freeing for the body and soul. In a very real-world sense, adventure still awaits!
Turning to Dungeons and Dragons, I like to have just as much watercraft travel as overland. Many DM’s prefer to cut to the chase and get their party to their target as quickly as possible. I take a different view believing that the journey should be every bit part of the adventure as their destination. This is likely due to the tedious habit of some DMs rolling for encounters each and every day that their group travels.
My approach is to prepare a number of encounters that relate back to the main plot that I can use while traveling. Having varied terrain types opens a world of perils and creatures to encounter.
~ What’s the story, so far? And without giving too much away to your players, where does it lead next?
When the campaign began, the group wanted a chance to do achieve something that doesn’t happen too often. They asked for a story driven game where the characters reach 20th level. After 3 years, playing nearly every Sunday (I think we have 130 adventure logs), they are now 19th level and very nearly at the end.
With nearly 700 hours of sessions under our belts, the thought of summarizing the events is a bit daunting. But, At the risk of oversimplifying the story, here goes.
Out of the Shadows refers to the rise of the Cult of Tharizdun revealing itself and attempting to free the chained god. It’s important to point out that I use the 1st edition backstory of Tharizdun. One where he was one of the eldest gods and posed a threat to existence of the multiverse. Tharizdun’s attempt to unravel reality led the gods, both good and evil, to ally and imprison him. Even with the entire might of all divinity opposing him, the battle was still a near thing.
My one change is that I leaned into chaos and madness making Tharizdun a Chaotic Neutral deity. I wanted to give him a slight sympathetic angle by making his existence one of pain and madness which explained his desire to trigger the Armageddon.
Tharizdun was still responsible for the creation of the Abyss, which was formed from his wails and ravings that reverberated into infinity as his prison was slammed shut. At that time, the Abyss was a realm of chaos but the creatures that made the plane their home twisted it to their evil nature. However, any creature spawned of the Abyss would be an easy puppet for the mad god and his followers.
Tharizdun’s avatar took the form of a young black haired pale skinned child. Studying the Lament for Lost Tharizdun, the last few surviving scraps of the mad god’s scriptures, the cult learned that key to his release lay in a ritual to imbue a specific child’s body with Tharizdun’s essence. This child will be born on the “Day of Omens” October 13th but under a specific moon (a harvest moon). The cult knew that the moon played a role but their few tattered pages of the Lament did not reveal the specifics. Thus, the cult spent years hunting and kidnapping children with a birthday of October 13th. With so many possible candidates, the cult wasted no time and began performing rituals to discover the vessel for the avatar.
Enter the heroes, several of whom were orphans who aged out of an orphanage found in the pirate hold of Freeport. For reasons unknown to most, Freeport was seething with a large orphan population. Later, these party members would learn that they were orphaned by the cult itself.
Against this backdrop, a very young, no older than 8 or 9 to most eyes, fire-haired elven girl named Exie appears in Freeport. She was not kidnapped by the cult but arrived in the pirate hold by happenstance due to her serial habit of stowing away on ocean going vessels. Exie would quickly befriend the heroes and would drift in and out of their lives frequently while the party was in Freeport.
Disaster struck while the party attempted to disrupt the cult’s activities. Exie tailed the party while they attempted to disrupt one of the cult’s rituals. With Exie present, both the heroes and cult were shocked to find that the ritual to infuse the power of Tharizdun into an avatar was successful. Exie, who had one the affections of the party, was stricken. Implanted with the seed of chaos on madness.
Determined to save Exie and stop the release of Tharizdun, the party has fought to help Exie keep a grip on reality and stop her from descending into madness. However, for all their efforts, the heroes know that the clock is ticking. In order to sever the tie between Exie and Tharizdun, they must repair Tharizdun’s crumbling prison.
These events were all nearly two and half years ago. Since then, the party has ventured from one side of the game world to the other, traveled the mists of Hades, and even delved into the Abyss.
The heroes now stand on the precipice of disaster. Exie has been stolen by the cult and taken to the Rift where a planar breech has torn a hole in the fabric of reality. Within the Rift, the heroes must do battle to rescue Exie and crush the Cult of Tharizdun once and for all.
~ It looks like you published some adventures and supplemental rules in the past. Care to tell us about that experience?
I absolutely love game development but as I mentioned above, health issues have derailed my publishing. Releasing good content takes an enormous amount of time and cooperation from multiple groups willing to test the material. However, there is no better feeling than hearing from gamers how much they loved a product.
Most of the material I have published are adventures, but I did collaborate with Kelsey Dionne, creator of Shadowdark, on a book of monsters called the Monstrous Lexicon. I find monster creation much more fun than adventure writing. When creating a good beasty you don’t have to worry about how the monster ties into a storyline or whether the encounter is balanced. All you need to do is let your imagination loose and try and create something completely outside the box.
As for the publishing process, I have released material on Amazon, DriveThruRPG, and the DM’s Guild. Of the three, the DM’s Guild has been a very disappointing experience. Sales were fine but I did have a hard time working with the back-end folks. One must also be wary of their exclusivity clauses in their terms.
~ Your adventure logs and journal entries for “Out of the Shadows” have been a very enjoyable read, and the addition of images of miniatures, mid-battle, draw those of us outside the game into the story. Do these kind of detailed archives of the campaign help you and/or your players — as memory aids or inspiration or otherwise — especially as you progress into higher levels and more complex plotlines?
When I run campaigns, I prefer to engross the players in a plot line that takes a great deal of time and investigation to unwind. Fortunately, we have been lucky enough to be surrounded by players who embrace that style and take the necessary steps to stay on top of all the moving parts.
The adventure logs were meant to be written from the perspective of the character writing the update for that week. So, if that PC incorrectly interpreted clues or simply disagreed with another’s analysis the log may not reflect reality which I absolutely love. Groups of people can look at a particular event and come to very different conclusions. The truth always manages to bubble to the surface as either an opportunity for the heroes to prevent a catastrophe or as a bomb that blows up in their face.
That said, nearly every player keeps notes. Courtney in particular is very good about keeping minutes. She has a system for tracking NPCs, hooks, and events using a different colored pen for each subject. On multiple occasions her notebooks have saved the heroes from making disastrous decisions.
The pictures are something I insert now and then for posterity. I love documenting our adventures with photographs and have been doing it for years. I have pictures going back to the 1980s that I am fondly able to look back on.
~ What have been some of your favorite moments in this iteration of “Adoraith”?
As a DM, I find my favorite moments come when I am able to evoke a visceral reaction from my players. I don’t think there is any greater compliment to a DM’s effort than when the players become that invested in a campaign. I have been fortunate enough to experience many such moments but none more incredible than when Exie was taken from the party.
Mechanically, I truly enjoy creating magic items. In my world, every magic item comes with a beneficial enchantment and a curse. That said, I have removed the Identify spell from the game. Characters have to consult with the wise, research histories, and/or use trial and error to discover an item’s powers. I love watching my players weigh benefits against curses or stress about equipping an item without any idea of what the curse may be. Magic is a dangerous thing and not for the faint of heart!
~ Do you or your players have any other projects on the horizon for which we should keep a weather-eye? Any more plans for new campaigns in the world of “Adoraith” in the foreseeable future?
I have had to step back from game development due to health issues. I have done extensive work on Johnny Fraser-Allen’s, The Gloaming, 5e game setting. I also had a number of other projects in the works but everything is currently on hold. At least in regards to my involvement.
I really liked 5e until Tasha’s came out. I felt the features in that book and subsequent books were unbalanced and poorly written. I used to believe that it didn’t really matter what system you used. The only thing of consequence was the story and interactions of the players. Sadly, 5e became so lopsided in favor of the players that I spent far more time planning battlefield strategies than interesting plot lines.
There were really only two options left to me if I wanted to bring some balance back to my game. Either only use the core 5e books or switch to another edition of DnD. My table really didn’t want to return to an older system like 2e or 3.5e. As a result, for the first time in 45 years of gaming, I am retiring Dungeons and Dragons as my go to system. The plan is to run an Alien RPG Campaign to serve as a Fantasy RPG palate cleanser (I have already set up an Obsidian Portal page for the game here: https://alien-4.obsidianportal.com/wikis/main-page) and then start trying other game systems starting with Castles and Crusades.
~ And as we always do, Obsidian Portal loves to ask for any new tips, tricks, or general advice you’ve gleaned in the last almost-decade that you could share with other Game Masters, World Builders, and writers.
I am a huge proponent of homebrewing just about everything. I love to create new monsters, features, and spells that the players do not have access to or knowledge of. D&D has been around for 50 years and there are very few surprises coming out of the published material. If I want to challenge my players, especially when playing 5e, I have to customize just about everything.
Below are my player’s contributions to the interview:
Joe (Wade the human Ranger/Sorcerer)
Playing Wade, I’ve loved every minute of it, but there have been a few moments that have really stuck with me. It was around the time Wade was given his title of “the immortal” by Lin. We had found a mound that the evil lizard people were using to corrupt eggs and the group was going to go inside and smash them. Wade decided to stay back and be outside with Exie as to avoid the dangers there. Little did Wade know this would be the first of many many times when he stands in the back of the group only to get jumped but this time by a giant lizard man holding a club as he swings it, crits and hits Wade square in the chest caving in his chest and sending him flying 10 feet back. Only for the rest of the group to come out, kill the lizard man and then revive Wade for the umpteenth time in the short amount of time the campaign had been going.
For me the adventure logs are great it’s the first campaign I’ve been in where we’ve done something like this, when I started as the designated writer of them as the captain of the group I tried to give them a twist of not just a recap of the session but more of a POV from Wade, and when life got a little too busy for me to keep up I’m glad when Lin’s player took over for it, that he kept the same thing going. Of course, now we all chip in and I love how we all do it from our POV and add in a little personality to the retelling. As far as we are in this campaign however it can be very difficult to keep some things straight as to what comes next thankfully due to the journals and the notes that Meera takes, they help keep us on the right path.
The other favorite moment for me was the end of the Coraline arc when Meera finally accepted to be her “mommy” and broke the curse on her showing her true form of Sofil the Angel. It was a very emotional moment for Wade because of all the trials he had to go through to keep her safe and care for her in the landscape of Hades while also figuring out his new form of being a zombie. Wade growing up in an orphanage gives him a huge soft spot for children, and a very protective fatherly love for all of them and seeing her reach her potential filled me as a player full of love a pride that we were able to help her. I look forward to seeing her come back at the end of this campaign.
Scott (Reginald the halfling Paladin)
One of my favorite “moments” of the Adoraith campaign has been the planar travel. I read and listen endlessly to planar lore and it’s such an exciting topic for me. In my many years of ttrpg gaming and campaigns I’ve had very minimal time outside the prime material plane. (Except when I first me Pickled Dragon and he was running Temple of Elemental Evil). I joined Adoraith while the party was in Hades and afterwards went to the Abyss as well as the outlands, getting to see Sigil atop the spire and visit the gate town of Tradegate. Matt truly brought these places life making them unique and including game mechanics such as Gloom in Hades to set these places apart.
Another of the most memorable moments was when we were happy to see Demogorgon…. not because he is a swell fella but because the hatred between Orcus and him made it possible for us to escape Orcus’ palace alive.
Courtney (Meera the half-orc Fighter/Barbarian)
The adventure logs and journal entries are especially helpful when one of us has to miss a session. It’s also fun to hear another character’s version of events and how their perception differs from your own. Favorite moments: Some of my (Courtney/Meera) favorite moments include:
>Meera’s first awakening as the Dawn Champion, when all of her physical stats became 30 for the day (I’ve never felt so invincible),
>When Meera and KeeWee set off on a low stakes reconnaissance mission and ended up beating up some guy for being a jerk (not sure why a guest player thought Meera and KeeWee were too reckless),
>Anytime Meera pulls out the severed undead head in a birdcage she’s been carrying since session 2 in order to show (scare) a new PC or NPC
Jeremy (Lin the elf Rogue/Sorcerer/Cleric)
Favorite moments
Matt let me try something I’ve never done in a game before.. actively work against the party. We all came into the game as strangers from the internet, and my character wasn’t trusted at the start due to having a somewhat fancy introduction. Despite the distrust, I presented a character that proved his worth while at the same time set the party back along the way. One of my character’s goals was to get out of the organization he worked for and eventually came clean to the party. We were several months and levels into the campaign, and I felt my character had been through enough ‘party attachment’ events to have courage to reveal his ploys. I even brought cheesy, character specific Christmas presents (IRL) to the group when my character confessed. I got some grumbles, but oh boy the laughs that came out of some of the confessions were priceless.
At one point in the game, my character was cursed by hags and being controlled during long rests. I was only aware of the lack of resting for the longest time as exhaustion (2014) kept stacking up. Once it was revealed to my character that he had been up to nefarious deeds, I tried to take measures to disable my controllers’ abilities by setting nightly traps for myself Moon Knight style. When those weren’t proving to be sufficient, I turned to my most trusted party member and had them babysit my character that was bound, gagged, and blindfolded. Some of the other characters walked in on the scene and a couple of hilarious exchanges were had at my expense.
One mission we had to scale a massive cliff face to reach a fort. Some people’s initial attempts at climbing didn’t go so well, so I had my character begin stretching as I did the same around the table. My character succeeded in scaling the cliff, and other people indulged the goofiness of stretching out of game. The next time we had to climb an even more tumultuous wall, I had my character once again take time to stretch and encouraged the group. We succeeded with a minor, but quite scary hiccup. Matt was even shocked at the success of this climb, and we later found out we skipped weeks of planned content by making the climb. Stretching around the table became a thing after that anytime we had a seemingly monumental task before us. I still get a chuckle when people join in on the goofy suggestion around the table. Remember kids.. Stretch!
Matt does custom magic items complete with lore and potentially even curses. A favorite magic item that we have come across is the Gremlin Bag. It is a Bag of Holding with a Gremlin inside that is one of the vanest characters one will ever meet. My character took on the challenge of appeasing the Gremlin (more or less the curse of this item), of course many times lying to it, and haven’t looked back since. I even aided the Gremlin from an ailment at one point, and the Gremlin has honestly been one of the most valuable NPCs to the group in my opinion. The Gremlin revealed to my character his nefarious deeds while he was being controlled by the hags. We have utilized the bag in a number of instances to temporarily house people in need of saving. We used it to liberate an entire squad of harpies that have now become part of the hilarity of the bag. I even upgraded the bag at a magical forge, and some of the party suspect the Gremlin will wind up being the end game encounter as a result of my brown nosing. Despite all the vanity and requests, the Gremlin actually has standards… Please, please ask Matt about the Gremlin Bag!
Overall
Matt’s campaign and world is unlike any other I’ve ever played in over all my years of the TTRPG hobby. The world is gritty, dark, captivating, and best of all.. organic. All of our choices matter, even seemingly insignificant ones, and have consequences unforeseen for potentially months. Our characters wear their scars and have definitely learned from them. Some of our choices have even resulted in gods being
winked out of existence and going silent. We find out about them later when the general populace has no recollection of the deity. How big of a ‘whoops’ moment is that for a player?!?
I have never been in a game that encouraged complete journaling as a collective either. Took notes here and there sure, but never told the whole story. The journaling of the campaign has been awesome. Matt incentivizes it and we all enjoy it. It keeps the players invested and gives us all reminders of the previous session(s) if needed. I feel it also gets the players more attached to their characters as they are detailing thoughts and emotions they had at the table in those journaled moments that get brought to life for all instead of locked away in memories. I know I especially enjoy the creative liberties in telling moments from my character’s point of view, oftentimes including pokes at others that carries on party banter. The world, players, and characters all become more organic in how everything comes together as a resultl.
I even feel I have become a better player and GM from playing in Matt’s world. I took the journaling aspect to other games as a player and the GMs really appreciate the investment. I have taken the heavy consequences aspect of Matt’s game and applied to my own. Players get that shock factor in the moment, but usually laugh and change their approach to situations the next time while mentioning a previous big consequence. The worlds and games need to have consequences, even sometimes as a result of the party succeeding at a current, dire mission.
Raise up that anchor and make haste, mateys! We’ve strayed too long in these isles and I sense a storm coming up. Many thanks to the treasure-laden team of Adoraith and his crew as they write more grand tales worthy of a sailor’s song. And if you know a campaign just as worthy as this, be sure to nominate it in the community forums for consideration and even a chance to win the coveted Campaign of the Year!
