They started the adventure in a Fairly Tiny Sphere Called Insula
And they lived in the Village of Yondalla's Port
SpellJammers & Beholders
2023 - ONGOING | Foundyvtt | D&D 5th Edition
Spelljammers & Beholder is a D&D 5e campaign I run for my friends and girlfriend as the Game Master. Initially, I planned to use the official Spelljammer adventure, but I didn't like it.
Instead, I used "WildJammer: More Adventures in Space" to create a pseudo-original story in an original setting. I call it pseudo-original because I combined Spelljammer and Faêrun lore with a mix of "What Ifs." This way, my lore-expert players get surprises, while my lore-newbie friends receive occasional lore dumps.
The SECTIONS
I host the sessions on FoundryVTT and create maps and dungeons using Inkarnate and Dungeon Scrawler, using tokens from 2 Minute Tabletop. We've incorporated a lot of homebrews and house rules, documented in a guide I created.
We play every Sunday, and I communicate with the players via WhatsApp. Each Wednesday, I send a survey to confirm availability for "Sunday at 2 PM." If at least three players respond "Yes," the game proceeds.
The Map of the Gnoll Dungeon
My DM guide to the Gnoll Dungeon, with each trap, setups and secret room
Gnoll Dungeon
One of our most recent adventures took the party on the trail of the notorious Gnoll, Captain Shenarak. They discovered a secret passage in the slums leading to a dungeon teeming with Gnolls, Witherlings, and Hyenas.
The party of five had to navigate strategically through narrow, dark corridors, with the constant threat of Witherlings dropping from the ceiling to flank them.
My goal was to challenge them with tough decisions. For instance, instead of putting the Barbarian in front, they chose the Hadooze Ranger for his dark vision and high wisdom to track and detect traps, while keeping the Artificer in the back despite the risk of flanking.
In the end, the party fought valiantly. Memorable moments unfolded, and through creative thinking, they outwitted Captain Shenarak and freed the enslaved hostages.
OWLBEARTA
The players' Spelljammer, Owlbearta, is not just a home; it's also an arena. So frequently is it used for combat that the Artificer PC spent downtime creating communications and secret passages, all due to encounters with...
SPACE CLOWS
One particularly memorable encounter involved the players being flanked by a dozen Red Baron planes in space. Initially, it was a naval-style battle, but soon the planes started crashing into the Spelljammer. The crew split, with some continuing the battle and others checking the lower levels.
Each Red Baron had a Space Clown pilot and some Vargouilles. Once inside the ship, each clown cast "mirror image" and vanished. This left the players with nine fake clowns running around, while the real clowns attempted to ambush NPCs and unaware players to cast "Phantasmal Form" and steal their image. If the party didn't investigate, they risked NPCs being knocked out and transformed into Vargouilles.
The encounter turned into a mix of "The Thing" and "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," where trust was scarce as players hesitated to believe anyone.
Four players were downed that day, but only an NPC died. It was a really fun, traumatizing and memorable session.