DM Prep - Sunless Citadel

Tales from the Yawning Portal is out, and we're starting it at my FLGS (Emerald Knights in Burbank), and I've agreed to run a table! I've run games in the past at The Game Keep in Nashville, TN, but they were always Expeditions, not Encounters. I've also started "home games" for a group of students at my former and current schools. These were always super off the cuff and never progressed further than the first two chapters. I attribute a lot of this to lack of experience and maturity from the players, but also a lack of preparation on my part. My expeditions always went a little bit better as the players usually had much more experience and understood the more subtle nuances of the game.

All of that is to say that I'm planning and organizing the hell out of my AL game. Maybe too much. We'll see tomorrow.

So far, I've crafted a nice story hook to get the players into the adventure. Tales from the Yawning Portal really doesn't give the DM any sort of hook as to why the PCs are jumping into this dungeon, and I like a little story with my D&D. To that end, I've cobbled together a little hook from some supplemental material off the DM's Guild and my own brain. Specifically, the Yawning Portal Campaign published by ES Brun. I really liked his hook for Sunless Citadel. Basically, the party has been sent to Oakhurst by the famous "Company of 8" (adventuring party one of my characters is a member of) to obtain a magical apple renowned for its healing abilities. When they get to Oakhurst, a group of Goblins is in the process of setting up a stage to auction the apple. The auction is the next day, giving the characters enough time to explore the town briefly and learn about the various rumors surrounding the Apple and the Sunless Citadel. They will have the opportunity to go to the Goblins before the auction to make a deal, but the Goblins want 100GP for it. With a successful persuasion check, contested by the Goblin's Charisma, they can haggle it down to 70GP.  Once they've obtained the Apple, the Company of 8's representative, Shule Siltwhistle, asks them to find out where the Apple comes from, as the company really doesn't want to have to keep paying for the item. This will spur them towards exploring the Citadel.

My adventurers will show up to the table, hopefully with a fully created character, and I want to quickly tie them together as an adventuring party. I'll be handing them a list of about 20 different character hooks to choose from. They will write their PC name in one and then pass it to their left. Once everyone has placed their name in a field, we will then pass the page around again, and they will need to put their name in the second field of one that's already been filled out.

For example: "__________ ran afoul of a group of bandits while traveling through the Neverwinter Woods. ____________ rescued the unwary traveler."

My hope is that this little bit of information can tie the two characters and create opportunities for character development, even in this quick/fast paced situation.

On top of all of this, I've gone ahead and created a modular dungeon. The PC's will start the Citadel by descending down a 30ft rope onto the top of an underground plateau. From there they descend down a series of switchbacks to the base of the citadel.

 I'm hoping the visual will create some excitement for the brief combat here, though once the characters get to the bottom... the real fun begins.

I've drawn and cut out each separate room for the dungeon to create a fog of war type effect as they explore the dungeon. To be even more of a dick DM, I will be removing the rooms when they get 2 rooms away. This will force them to have to remember what they've seen and not rely on the visual clues left for them. I'll be suggesting to the party that they make one of them the official map keeper to track where they've been.

All in all, I think it's going to be a fun module, and I'm anxious to see how it all turns out!