The Planeswalker's Stronghold

  The fine folk at WotC were kind enough to give us a single encounter with just the right Spooky theme for Halloween, Drowned Sailors! This is a very simple encounter, intended to be an introduction to the larger story arch of Storm Wreck Isle. They distributed it free, so we can use what is presented. We always look to get more content than they intended. Stormwreck Isle Map Probably the best part of this roughly 4 page freebie, is the map. It shows the jagged 5 mile island, just of the coast of what I resume to be the Sword Coast, and the only identifiable land mark is the High Road. This allows us to place this bit of Geography as we please, but I suppose the intended location is just south of Neverwinter, near Helms Hold. The island itself appears to be mostly rocky peaks, with little vegetation and is described as a center of conflict between chromatic and metallic dragons. " Ages ago, metallic dragons imprisoned a rampaging red dragon beneath the ocean floor. But the red dr...

Mearcis is a middle aged male which I most often cast as a Halfling, but occasionally as a Tiefling in less traditional settings in which I really want to telegraph the "bad news" vibe. He plays the part of a very respectable looking merchant. His base clothing is sturdy and well made shirt and pants, with shoes which were once very fine, but now are rather worn but clean and polished. He wears a fancy waste coat, taking it off only if manual labor is called for, and replaces it as soon as such work is finished. A casual observer will note a gold watch chain affixed to the coat. The affixed watch appear to be of very good quality, and can be set once per day so that it "chimes" the next time the user is told a lie. He wears a signet ring, with an symbol no one will recognize, and he will speak of a known, but distant land and his mother who was the 3rd daughter of a major trading house, alas little of the family fortune and influence found it's way to him, and h...

  The Rogue: Equipment: Very little has changed here, but I do like the elimination of the choice in equipment, providing the short sword as a primary melee and the short bow as a range option. I am a little "concerned" at the removal of the rapier, perhaps it's being removed from the weapon list, or the finesse attribute has been removed? The Rogue also gains proficiency with finesse Martial Weapons, which is a long overlooked opportunity in 5E. Thieves' Cant , but now they Can! The simple change to the Thieves' Cant feature is really next level from a world building perspective. This feature previously just gave access to a "secret" simplified language allowing for covert communication. It was one of my favorite world building aspects, creating all those subtle little interactions, and standardized meanings, but it created a "thieves only" corner of the world, and led to separation from the broader world. I think the addition of a Standard o...

  Po Panda recently asked "... what is your number one favorite deck to play?" and this poor innocent soul had no idea what a can of worms they'd opened, so here is my not so brief answer. Introduction Wow, this is a really rough question. Speaking a guy who is sometimes sighted as the reason Ante failed, helped make Storm a thing during Time Spiral Standard, and (responcble?) for the Grove of the Burnwillows is still a $15 card ( I attended a PTQ decades ago, oops), my favorite deck is a broad concept, but I'll try! General format and deck information can be found through the < Stronholds Format information Page > while specific decks will be individually linked to more comprehensive media resources. Rotating Formats: Standard... to me is all about the Grind, and the deck I reach for most often these days is...MR Artifacts. Alchemy... is my real choice of Grinds, I'm still about Mono White Clerics It's a beast, but maybe not as budget friendly for the...