After completing the Moonbridge Raid trilogy, we entered the exciting world of homemade adventures.
I called my first mission the Sanna Valley Raid. It ended up being a major campaign that took us 22 playing sessions to complete. I learned a lot about being an Adventure Master while making and running this campaign. I'm currently working on compiling a shareable guidebook (my notes were spread across several documents and files, and not everything was explained well for others to use). Once the guidebook is complete, my plan is to share it on this website in the Tools section.
In the meantime, the campaign inspired a fair bit of creative writing from myself and my players. I plan to post adventure summaries and stories on the blog while I'm working on the guidebook.
We'll kick this off with the Player Briefing:
Sanna Valley Raid
Player Briefing
“You’re right on time,” Simeon said as our team stepped into the clearing. The sun was just starting to set.
“What’s the mission?” I asked, plopping down on a fallen log to watch the fire.
“The OverLord is going to send you into the Sanna Valley, in the midst of the Stone Hills.”
I furrowed my brows. I knew where the Stone Hills were, but had not heard of the Sanna Valley.
Simeon laughed. “It’s a small valley. There’s a couple of towns there, and the OverLord is going to be planting a long term LightRaider unit to start a mass rescue of the inhabitants.”
“You want us to do a long-term mission?” I asked. “Like, months and years?”
Simeon smiled. “No, you’re not ready for that, yet. You’re the advance party.”
“Advance party?” I echoed.
“Yes, your mission is to prepare the way for the long term team.”
“How are we to prepare the way?”
“Yes, glad you asked. In the southernmost town of Hawold, there’s a temple that used a crystal ball to do fortune telling. I say ‘used to’ in the past tense, because it broke today, from an ‘accident.’”
I snickered. Accident was code for ‘divine coincidence.’
“Anyway, the time is ripe to disrupt the enemy’s activities in the valley. They’ll want to replace that crystal ball, of course. Your main mission is to find out where the replacement is coming from, and delay the shipment, even destroy it. During the confusion, the long term team will come in and start their work.”
“Is that all?”
“Follow the OverLord’s leading, of course. Usually disruption missions involve a bit of detective work to figure out what the enemy’s plans are, then delay or sabotage them as best you can. The more confusion and chaos you give to the dark creatures in the area, the better, so if other opportunities come up, do that as well. Help people who need help. Figure out which Dark Creatures are the masterminds behind various sins in various areas, figure out what their plans are, put a stop to it if you can. That sort of thing. The OverLord won’t tell you everything at first, in case you get arrested and tortured. The less you know, the less there is to reveal!”
Tortured? I gulped. “Uh... is there a dragon in the area?”
“Yes. Sanna Valley is under the control of a dragon named Krokerdes.”
“What do we know about Krokerdes?” my teammate asked.
“She is openly worshiped by many, but rarely seen. Fortune telling and divination seems to be a central part of her cult, according to our scouts. I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more than that.”
“How are we getting there?”
“Hollow Tree. This particular tree is just south of the valley in a canyon filled with dense forest, at the extreme Southern edge of Krokerdes’ realm, to avoid detection. When you step out of the Hollow Tree, head North to get to the valley. The OverLord wanted me to make it clear that you are to stay in Krokerdes’ realm for this mission, so do not head South from the Hollow Tree. He alone knows the reasons, of course. Along the way, you should meet with one of the OverLord’s servants who will tell you the next step of the journey. Keep an eye out for other messengers from the OverLord along the way, of course.”
“Who’s the other team?” I asked. “The Longterm-ers?”
“Shaundra and Tennille’s team. Do you know them?”
“The names sound familiar. I may have met them once or twice.” Seems they had a couple other members of their team, too. They were from a different year at the academy. Several years ahead of us.
“They aren’t back from their current mission, yet. I imagine you’ll have a few days head start on them.”
“Only a few days! When do we leave?” I asked.
“No time to waste. This opportunity of the broken crystal ball will pass us by if we do nothing. You leave first thing in the morning. Be at the Hollow Tree before the sun comes up.”
“We’ll be ready,” I vowed.
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