This post will not contain spoilers for Season 5 because I haven’t yet watched Season 5 of Stranger Things, though I do know it features more Dungeons & Dragons than Seaons 2-4 combined.
If you were to go into Target this fall you’d see a massive Stranger Things display somewhere in the store. Part of that display would feature the D&D boxed set Welcome to the Hellfire Club, which is a continuation of Eddie’s D&D campaign. It felt late, because Eddie isn’t part of season 5.
It was not late.
Welcome to the Hellfire Club sold out at Target. It sold out on Amazon. A light informal survey of local-to-me stores have it as sold out. The physical boxed set can still be ordered on DnDBeyond.
Sure, that could be a lack of ambition from Wizards of the Coast by not manufacturing enough of the sets.
It’s much more likely that the heavy lean back into D&D by Stranger Things Season 5 drove more desire for D&D the game than previous seasons, Critical Role and Baldur’s Gate 3. BG3’s drive of interest into D&D is hard to quantify, but has an extended window over several years.
Google Trends can show you.
Search trends for Stranger Things
Here are the four adjacent media and D&D
Stranger Things is more popular than the others by far.
D&D, the game, had its biggest boom from the movie, but…
Stranger Things Season 5 nearly matches D&D: Honor Among Thieves
There’s one major difference — lack of tie-in gaming products.
Rime of the Frostmaiden contained a single adventure related to the movie. There was a boutique NPC download related to the movie, but nothing like the amazing boxed set Stranger Things got. Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus was barely related to the video game and its release timing was horrible.
Nothing sold out because of Honor Among Thieves, the best D&D marketing in the history of the game, because D&D wasn’t run as a franchise system with business units failing to talk to each other.
Both the current starter set and Welcome to the Hellfire Club are selling out.
What’s that mean for us Dungeon Masters?
Be welcoming to new and returning players.
Reduce house rules when they join you.
Talk about the intent of your table and what type of play you focus on .
Be familiar with the most popular products.
Help teach your current players to DM.
See if local cafes, libraries, schools, pubs, etc need DMs.
We are responsible for growing this glorious hobby. Thanks to the Creative Commons, various SRDs, the eternal nature of homebrewing and the thousands of other roleplaying games there is always something that’s right for someone.
Find what’s right for your family, your friends and your community.
People are interested. It’s up to you to be the reason they stay interested.
Not all desert communities are near an oasis. Long ago the Spineblooms settled in a desert area where the West Thundermoon River took a slow bend. Along that bend in the shallow salty marsh they do their best to raise some rice, as well as some fruited cacti, peppers, vines and largeflower onions in pods.
Originally the Spineblooms were a group of goliath druids, frequently connected to storms and fire. For many generations they’ve lived on The Bend in earthen huts only partially protruding from the ground.
Now, most are not magical. Instead they raise birds — herons (to fish), mynahs (pest control), bulbuls (warnings), waders (fishers) — in an aviary. They frequently trade their rice and catch upriver at the Multunyn Trading Post.
The Location
Based on a sketch by the player that included domed buildings mostly underground
Ensuring environmental oddities of The Ferments are included.
Thundermoon River
Slow, wide and muddy at The Bend, the Thundermoon River floods every early spring and during storms. It is the source of water which has to be filtered prior to use.
Auntie Dauthia Spinebloom kée Dustcaller is here during the daytime, fishing.
Elemental affinity: Water
Hazards: People frequently get stuck in the sands, animals do not. Every second round in the river a person must make a DC: 12 Strength check or be restrained.
Allies: Birds from the aviary are common here.
Max occupancy: 10 medium creatures.
The River connects to Spinebloom Commons (the main home) and lower river marsh.
Lower rice marsh
Less productive than upper marsh, the lower marsh is an edge of wild marsh plants and some rice that isn’t farmed. Within the plants one may find a mud mephit rehydrating, or the chwinga family that settled in the Farm.
Elemental affinity: Mud, water, salt
Hazards: Some chwingas settled here after the mephit flood.
Allies: The chwingas may insist they are allies while acting like foes, or they are foes acting like allies.
Occupancy: 5 medium creatures.
Lower rice marsh connects to the Upper Marsh, Spinebloom Commons and to Thundermoon River.
Spinebloom commons
The main home is inside the Commons. It has a large kitchen and a conversation pit with several small beds cut into the earth at the edges. These ‘rooms’ are frequently sectioned off with blankets or robes, with only a tiny shelf for personal goods. At the entry to the hut is a placement for staves, cudgels and gardening equipment.
Every member of the Spineblooms spends significant portions of their days in the Commons. They will clean items, repair them, play, and gather. All property is communal and the next person will want to use it shortly — it gets left there.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, dust, earth
Hazards: Interior has several changes in elevation. The kitchen has many flare ups that could occur. During certain lunar conditions the conversation pit has a dust devil in the center. Exterior is cluttered with loose tools, toys, cleaning pans and other small chore sites. It is difficult terrain and an improvised weapon is always at hand. Creatures knocked prone may take damage from the clutter.
Allies: There are always Spinebloom children present. Roll 2d4 to see how many. Half will be small. 1d4-1 adults are also present.
Occupancy: 8 medium creatures outside and 8 medium creatures inside.
Spinebloom Commons is centrally located and connects to every other zone, except the Path of Dragons.
Upper rice marsh — also known as Marsh Chwinga
Once upon a time the upper marsh was highly productive for rice, eels and herbs. Now it has long furrows of damage from two dragon/ken invasions and the curse of the chwingas make it flourish for foods while everyone dreads entering the space.
Elemental affinity: Water, mud, plants
Hazards: Chwingas may take a soul. When a creature drops to zero HP and fails two or more death saves the chwingas can choose to stabilize it, mud wrap the body and have it kept until the mud breaks. There is currently an elven mage encased. The Spineblooms have not attempted to free the elf as its group tried to damage their home.
Allies: In this space the Chwingas act through their blue thoughts, sideways from morality of people.
Occupancy: 7 medium creatures.
Chwinga marsh connects to the lower marsh, the Commons and the aviary.
Unkie homes
Adult and middle aged men are the Unkies. They are kept aside from the Commons and the Aunties. They maintain the extremely competitive nature of goliaths, using their abilities and size to show off during the days.
Most of the Spinebloom Unkies came of age during The Awakening. The elements rage within them, frequently out of control. Lalok is peaceful. Others have wandered away with the few that stay not quite fitting in with the farm’s demeanor weaving with nature and kin to grow and thrive as one.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, fire, air, water
Hazards: These homes have doors with locks and they can be barred from the outside. Random spouts of elemental anger pop up regularly.
Allies: Unkies are usually around, but disorganized and will wrestle solo.
Occupancy: 5 medium creatures outside. Each hut fits 1.
Unkie homes connect to the Aunties, to the Commons, to the River and to the path.
Auntie homes
Most of the women of the family live in smaller huts here by ones and twos. These small dugouts are protection from the elements, but few have cooking hearths.
Two took significant damage during a dragon attack, one of which collapsed and is now a pit.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, dust
Hazards: The pit-home is a ten-foot fall.
Allies: Aunties are frequently in the area able to help with militia actions.
Occupancy: This is a larger space able to hold 12 medium creatures outside.
Auntie homes connect to the Unkie homes, the path, the aviary and the Commons.
Fruitful Aviary
A mix of cacti and spined bushes the aviary is the home of the non-waterfowl that companion with the Spineblooms. Some of the cacti have fruits that the family eat, turn into jam, and use for meads.
Unkie Lalok Goateye Spinebloom is found at the aviary most times of the day, sometimes sleeping near the spiney bushes. He can create a small pool of water for the bird bath if need be.
Elemental affinity: Plants, water
Hazards: The maze of briars and cacti are spiny everywhere. Those knocked prone will take damage.
Allies: Many birds and Unkie Lalok are present
Occupancy: 4 medium creatures usually separated by the plants.
The fruited aviary connects to the Commons, the Path of Dragons, the auntie homes and the upper marsh
Path of dragons
A few months ago this path was simply “the path.” It is bare trail with scratched ruts in hard dirt that heads towards the West Thundermoon Mountains.
Then dragons and their ken attacked. They attacked again. Since the river is where the Maltunyans visit, the path is now the Path of Dragons. Everyone assumes more dragons are coming soon. They left one of their own behind.
Elemental affinity: Dust, sand
Hazards: Drakes, dragons and their Ken may come at any time.
Ask a Spinebloom and Auntie Dauthia is a Spinebloom. If you can convince Duathia to talk she may, eventually tell you she’s a Dustcaller, a separate desert goliath collective that lives even more remotely. She’s mastered the ability to use small dust devils to carry fishing lures and nets around the river, until she catches something.
Every member of the family has a different tale about what Auntie Dauthia did before they found her injured along the path. She was a thief, a sorcerer, clergy with the Reformed Church of Quar, a warrior of the wilds or some other mystical thing. They all agree that there is no better fisher in all the land and likely the world.
Unkie Lalok Goateye Spinebloom
Lalok once left the home to work in a caravan. He’s wandered the Ferments and Western Wildes, seen Telse and the Evereflow, visited the Cliffs of Galinor, and Fort Ooshar. He’s seen everything.
He’ll never tell you about his encounters protecting the caravan. It”s the cities and his friends he tells tales of while sipping on cacti mead and with a flutter of sandpipers around him. He still has a massive pike, a shield the size of a table and a helm missing a third of an eye ridge where is slightly bulging ‘goateye’ is.
Adversaries
Chwingas
These elemental sprites act on their own will, with purposes that center the elements, not people. Though intelligent, it is impossible for normal kin to understand what the chwingas want. They are extremely active when Unkies or ken are in the area. If someone tries to visit the encased elf the chwingas attempt to block that path through mischief and thievery.
Dragons and their ken
Twice ken and dragons struck at the Farm. They damaged upper marsh while attacking the Auntie homes and the Commons. These powerful magic users are not local to The Ferments and remind most of the myths of a time unification, before companionship.
Downtime and Quests
Guarase is searching for answers as to why the dragons and their ken came to the Spineblooms. The two attacks leave few clues and lots of damage.
There is a body and two members of the family were away during The Awakening when magic came back to The Ferments
As seems to be a now-trend, I published fewer articles and stories in 2025 than I did in 2024. That drift towards being a consumer of writing more than a writer is one that challenges me in my soul.
Upon reflection unlike other slow periods of publication this is not because I microblog on social media too much. Instead it is a combination of stressful but wonderful work and helping Aslan recover from a back injury. Our beautiful red lab is now walking again, but it’s taken 90 days to get close to normal and will take a few weeks more.
The biggest win of the year is not something written — my presentation on how to use RPGs as training aids prior to natural disasters. I’ve now delivered it at AIRIP, GSX, the Global Security Briefing and in just over a week I’ll present a version to OrcaCon, a local-to-me gaming convention.
Let’s review my favorite writings of 2025
Full Moon Storytelling
These selections may not be what was most read on the blog. They are what I enjoyed writing the most.
Your players aren’t supposed to die – one member of my D&D campaign passed away last year. We celebrated his life by playing a multi-table, public session of the game he loves in public.
Potential – a personal essay on what it means to be anti-completionist, an essay writer, a blogger, someone with narrative thoughts without a novel.
Art by Dragons of Wales in the forthcoming book Dragons of the Dwindling
Inkling Dragon – when Dragons of Wales offered sketched commissions I had to take part. A goal of mine is to eventually replace every standard D&D dragon in the World of the Everflow with Dragons of Wales’ style of dragons, particularly those from Deep Time. The Inkling Dragon is my dream of what a dragon who works as a writing assistant would be.
The Ferments: A campaign one sheet – my regular D&D group transitioned to me being a player, but we weren’t playing enough. Borrowing from the West Marches concept The Ferments has the action come to the players, who defend their homes from a world with threats like fire tornadoes, earthquake swarms and mud mephit slides. A large part of The Fermends involves Militia Actions, a way to include local forces in larger combats while centering the player characters.
Capturing the magic of the mundane Utilize action – the main campaign still runs with the 2014 5e rules as the baseline, but The Ferments uses a foundation of 2024 with dashes of Black Flag, Advanced 5e and 2014. One thing that’s fun about 2024 is that the Utilize Action can become a Blades in the Dark style clock. My review of the 2024 Player’s Handbook was my most read D&D writing of the year.
Review: Sanguine by Found Familiar Coffee – getting back into cupping at home reminded me of tasting something like 350,000 roasts and origins back in my coffee quality days. I’m doing this without publishing, but if people want me to cup more coffee and share my thoughts I’d love to do it again.
My weekly column, the Ship’s Log continues. The nature of a weekly column is that most subjects are only relevant weekly. Four of the newsletters this year felt bigger than that.
Watching them grow up – when Danny Leyva transferred to Necaxa it was a crisp reminder that the young talents that came through Defiance, where I used to work, were teens, but now they are men, full on adults with wonderful path in front of them.
Humanity requires that we care – watching Reign FC lose in the playoffs I cried tears of joy. My home team, another former employer, lost. But I was happy because it was a symbol of the joy available in soccer when the world can be so harsh.
The Campaign of 2025 – of course I did a D&D+Sounders mashup. Similar to what happened the last time Wizards of the Coast released a new set of core books I created the key players for the Sounders as if they were D&D characters.
Factal
Work is mostly leading the blog, writing marketing emails, producing/presenting the Global Security Briefing and managing social (yeah, I’m a marketing generalist who does a little of a lot on a small team).
There are two things I helped write that I want to share with my D&D readers.
Factal North America lead editor Joe Veyera was on shift during Factal’s earliest alerts. “Finding information about the LA fires isn’t the hard part, but parsing what’s real and what’s not can be far more difficult. As a team of experienced journalists with experience covering large-scale disasters, we know which sources to trust and our members know they can trust our updates.”
I love what I do, because we are that wonderful intersection of ethical company that does lifesaving journalism. I complete year four there in just over a month.
Finally, I repeat my annual call to get rid of linktree or any of its competitors. Your link in bio should be to a place you own and control.
TO: Flasfur Wreltor with Blackbirds and the gobkons Chofs Chupmolea badged al-Chems and Bolnis Abica nox Qawaha via Artok at the Keep
Aboard the ship you’ll find a vial of the corruption I discovered. Additionally this letter’s addendum includes a report of testing as well as a sketch-print of a mechanical hand discovered on this long journey. When I return is unknown. This journey shall be long and ideally fruitful. It is also violent and absurd. Tsavancoast is a land of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, with many artificers, tinkers and crafters mostly gobkon with a few goliaths, plus you wouldn’t believe if but I think there’s a human using cattle to turn wheels like we might a mill. I saw a monkey pushing bellows.
It’s a large city. Where Sheljar is one with the land and full of righteousness Tsavancoast is bright even at night, garish. There’s gambling where we stay. I win regularly.
Sorry. Too long. I get distracted.
You are probably wondering what’s happened with the corruption. It’s a much bigger problem than we or Le Remoden Eisha or the Dragon Council thought. There’s also a local leader in Tsavancoast who is working to spread the corruption while supposedly being in Le Remoden Eisha.
I found that out after repelling an army of walking trees and this weird elf-insect hybrid creatures. Yes, others helped, including some great dwarven sappers who brought down a bridge, scouts that helped save outlying communities, a lot of wizards. It was a staged battle. Midqh helped quite a bit. I learned how to make even bigger fire and booms through its apparatuses.
Anyway, after that massive series of battles — yes, we won, that’s how you’re getting this letter — we chatted with the leaders of the wizard and dragon groups, plus a gent named Ryghast. Don’t ask me the order of who talked to who and when it happened. We were in a casino! I won a few games, many games.
Eventually we chatted. But chatting with Ryghast was difficult. He took me into a magical silence to spill secrets. I tried and tried and tried to break his spells with my own systems. A wizard of his power is well beyond my teknical abilities.
BUT, in his confidence he told me of his double-crossing ways. I immediately told Amos, Rolf, Crag and Nandi, who passed the information around.
Probably created a big enemy. Hopefully he didn’t follow the Sadijh back to the keep. If he did please flee. Artok cannot defend you on his own.
Anyhow, we’re back off to the wilds. The source of the corruption that created that army of trees is our goal. I don’t know when I’ll see you again. I have ideas about what we can do with this hand and I’ve started to work on armored carts with Rolf. There’s also a clockwork amulet that can give one a second chance. My latest invention is to burn a bit of corruption to power our items.
See you again under the Dragon Moon.
Xabal Gaitee Quarter-Flagged Optigraph Balaneer nox Free Tink and non-Commissioned Officer of the Sadijh (on leave in absence)
This recap of the Defense of Tsavancoast is written in first person by Xabal, a gnome artificer, to their hirelings at Xabal’s Workshop set in the Age of Myths campaign.
The irregular column where I share links to the things that inspire me is back!
Today, I’m writing while a third atmospheric river in a week passes over my home state. It offered a new twist, a levee break near where I go shopping and attend Sounders practices. The repair seems to be going well and the flooding there is only bad enough to wet parking lots. Up in the North Sound things are not simple, nor easy. Their recovery is going to take a long time. The communities up there will learn on each other and those of us that can help, because it’s bad.
Working in a field adjacent to disaster prep I’ve given some talks about how RPGs can help people learn what to do in crisis through short games that are D&D adjacent (ability+skill/class, d20). Next month I’m giving a different but similar talk at OrcaCon in SeaTac.
Attendees can find it in their schedule as: Special Event: RPGs as Natural Disaster Prep Tools.
Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Volcanoes! Learn how to prepare using TTRPGs. Themed around community, and helpful for memory retention, these small, educational TTRPG games can help a community prepare for the natural hazards that are impacting them more than ever.
There’s obviously going to be an example about floods, bomb cyclones and atmospheric rivers too. If you are in the South Sound come to OrcaCon. I’d love to meet you.
Much of it runs counter to my previously cited works about the amount of leisure time available that should inspire characters to have hobbies.
There is almost no dedicated leisure time during the day. There is a regularity to the cycle, a monotony – each day more or less like the one before it and the one after – one imagines it was comforting to some peasants and deeply constricting to others, shaped by the continuing demands of peasant labor (itself structured by the heavy extraction regime they operate under, which consumes the leisure time they might otherwise have).
But your characters should still have hobbies — even if they are peasants.
Modern D&D is mostly in a near industrial format that allows for specialization.
Wide magic definitely enables specialization and light.
It’s more fun to have.
ACOUP also points out that days may not have breaks, but weeks likely do and there are fest periods annually.
In any case, for those long days in the fields or the long hours of spinning thread while keeping one eye on the large pot and the other on the tiny tot, our peasants would be looking forward to the next festival, the next feast day, the next major event…
This board is different than previous finds in that it was built in to the floor in a mosaic rather than on benches or tables. It was large and meant to be permanent.
People like to play games.
Sometimes people play games to avoid thinking about the Apocolypse.
A tube amp wireless router? A binary code typewriter with only a zero and one? A record player that can play 4 records – vocals, guitar, base and drum – at the same time? These are all gadgets that almost seem like they could exist, but of course they don’t.
The binary typewriter is going into my world right now.
Traveling the harsh lands of the Ferments? Find everything you need at WEST THUNDERMOON TRADING POST!!! Settled in the foothills of the Thundermoon Mountains a half a day’s ride west of Ourten, WEST THUNDERMOON TRADING POST is the go to location to find all of your hunting and travelling needs.
Run by the Maltunyn family for generations, they’re knowledge of the local terrain, as well as their selection of only the finest gear will ensure your travels will be safe and comfortable. Or you could pick up some of the finest furs and rations provided by master hunter Velthuria Maltunyn, and her daughter Keesrah. If you need a quick repair, or even an herbal remedy or two, Cay Maltunyn has you covered.
With the experience of generations, and a deep love of the land and air, the WEST THUNDERMOON TRADING POST is a must for any serious travelers of the Thundermoon Mountains. Visit the WEST THUNDERMOON TRADING POST today!!!
You can find that brochure throughout the villages and homesteads of the Thundermoon Mountains in The Ferments.
Keesrah Maltunyn, a human guide and drakewarden ranger with a raven named Crow, is the player character who calls the trading post home.
The West Thundermoon Trading Post is about two days south by southeast from Orten. The post is on the southerly road towards a desert region. That road runs roughly parallel to the Thundermoon River. In the hills and mountains are a few fishing and hunting families.
Ensuring environmental oddities of The Ferments are included.
Zonal word map of the Trading Post
Guarded entry
A wooden wall surrounds the Trading Post. The entry is where all merchants and visitors arrive. There are two large doors, which are barred at night. A guard stand rises to the left of the doors, as one exits. It can hold one medium creature and grants them half cover. A ladder provides access.
Elemental affinity: None.
Hazards: Breaking down the closed door requires a DC: 15 Strength check.
The guarded entry connects to the lava forge, the merchant stalls and the loafing sheds.
Lava Forge
A small semi-open air forge where Cay works as a sometime smith. The heat and bellows are from an active fissure where magma surges underneath the trading post. Malk, the goblin captain, now helps out. Malk and Borkin also store their own clutter there, including the smog-buggy.
Elemental affinity: Earth, fire, lava
Hazards: Those knocked prone who fail their DC by five or more take 1d8 fire damage from the forge. Forced movement can result in the tools of the trade being knocked all over, turning the Lava Forge into difficult terrain. Oh, and beware of a lava flare — who knows when that will happen.
Allies: Cay, Malk and Borkin may be present
Occupancy: Four medium creatures.
The lava forge connects to the guarded entry, to the trading stalls and the hunting gate.
Trading stalls
One large and two smaller open stalls sit in the large enclosed central space of the post. Various homesteads and outsiders come through with their wares on a seasonal basis. There’s a central fire pit with some large stones and simple benches frequently with a stew pot and hot beverages available.
Elemental affinity: Fire, air
Hazards: The cook pit can become a fire hazard, doing 1d8 damage to those who fall into it and setting their flammable gear on fire. It provides 10′ of bright light and 10′ of dim light at night.
Allies: Neighbors may be present depending on the season. They will almost always limit their help to rallying the Maltunyns.
Occupancy: 3 in the large stall, 2 in each small stall and room for 12 more medium creatures.
The trading stalls connect to every other zone except the hunting gate.
Loafing sheds
Like everyone in the Six Kingdoms the Maltunyns have space for beloved animals. These sheds are designed for equines, canines as well as the rare bovine or more exotic companions. There are small cabinets for feed and tack.
Elemental affinity: Cold, air
Hazards: When occupied the animals could be feisty.
Allies: None typically
Occupancy: 7 medium creatures.
The loafing shed connects to the guarded entry, the trading stalls and the Maltunyn home.
Hunting gate
Known for the gate that Caile leaves open it’s actually the place where Cay raises herbs. There’s also the gate to the hills where Keesrah and Velthuria hunt. It’s also a lower land, near the river.
Elemental affinity: Water, plants
Hazards: During heavy rains the mud creates difficult terrain. A rapid freeze after rains can lead to icy conditions.
Allies:
Occupancy:
Thundermoon River bridge
A few weeks ago there was a small wooden bridge over the river. Then the mephit mudslide took it out. Now a ford those that cross must be wary of mud mephits who settled in the area after the slide. Heavy rains may bring them back and upriver there is a threat that the open lava could change the river’s path.
Elemental affinity: Mud, water, maybe lava
Hazards: During floods the ford is impassable terrain without aids — ropes, other people or animal companions. Mud mephits may strike at random, the little chaos beasties they are.
Allies: One of the Maltunyn animal companions are frequently in the area.
Occupancy: This is a large space without a limit as it connects to the hills and mountains.
Thundermoon River bridge connects to the hunting gate.
Maltunyn home
A two-story wooden building, the ground floor of the home is mostly accessible to the general public. The main room is a mix of general store with goods on consignment, smithed tools, dried or smoked meats and a few tables with chairs for visitors. This room can be entered from either the hunting gate through a small side door or the main entry connecting to the trading stalls. An outer stair to the second floor reaches the roof of the loafing sheds and a narrow platform along the wall running to the guard stand. There’s a small open kitchen/stove with a root cellar stretching under the homestead wall near the river.
The second floor is two bedrooms and a small aviary.
Elemental affinity: Smoke
Hazards: Bar fights are rare, mostly because Cay is a smith and Velthuria is a scout.
Allies: If the trading post has visitors one of the family or goblins is always present.
Velthuria is Keesrah’s mother. A human scout with a small dog, she is the primary hunter and runs the operations such as rentals of the three stalls for merchants.
Cay is Keesrah’s father. A human smith with a miniature pony, he uses a magma powered forge, Cay can craft anything with metals. He also grows herbs.
Caile is Keesrah’s brother, a human with a small dog. Smitten with one of the Drudzhar Caile sometimes wanders off on his own. Ally, but adversary sometimes.
Malk is a goblin captain and was saved in session one. A colonialist they are searching for resources for the Queen. They may become an adversary.
Borkin is a goblin cart driver. They are less colonial and more willing to help the Maltunyns, especially in defense and general labor. Malk is still their boss.
Henkel family
River fishers in the ponds and streams of the low Thundermoons the Henkel family are halflings with river dogs. They are indebted to Keesrah after she rescued Taier one of their younger teens.
Adversaries
Clan Drudzhar
A group of goliaths who live higher in the Thundermoon Mountains. Clan Drudzhar and the Maltunyn’s have been arguing, and sometimes openly fighting, over hunting territory in the mountains for years. One of their children is in love with Caile.
Their home is high in the scrub mountains and was recently near the mud mephit floods. They and the Maltunyns use different styles of traps and will frequently destroy each other’s snares. Birds of prey are their most common companions.
Elements of mud and lava
Mud mephits, magmin and lava elementals roam the Thundermoons. These adversaries are manifestations of The Ferments, a land that refuses to be tamed.
Children of Chorl
Punch chickens raided a market stall, but quick action by Keesrah and her acquaintance Ellis ended the theft and the punch chickens. The two later learned that the Children of Chorl raided Ourten too. These human-animal hybrids seem to be hiding in the hills or plateau near Pirna Farms, now Ellis Mill.
Kon colonialists
While saving the lives of Malk and Borkin pushed off the investigation by the Queen’s goblins into how the resources of The Ferments could replace the tar trees of their homeland. That colonial raid and investigation may expand.
Downtime and Quests
Keesrah is researching how to create Serpent Scale Mail armor. She’s learned that the elemental drakes do not leave behind enough resources. The dragonkin raiding Spinebloom Farms do.
Previously some work was done to reinforce the guarded entry which connects to the road Outsiders arrive along.
Maybe you know some people like me — nerds, happily embracing their hobbies that were once considered abnormal but are now mainstream enough they sell out arenas.
Most who read this blog are here for the dungeons and the dragons. Communal storytelling with dice and friends is what unites us. You probably already have the core elements of the games you love, but your family still wants to get you things over the holidays that stretch from late November to early January. Pass them this guide.
Almost all links are direct to the supplier or to Bookshop.org. When you can, shop locally and/or directly.
Our hobbies and communities grow with support.
For the experienced roleplaying game fanatic
First off, expand their Appendix N. The Tolkien-esque stories that founded fantasy RPGs are well known. There’s so much more available now.
Expand their 5e games outside of Wizards of the Coast. Your RPG nerd friends already buy themselves the official D&D products they want. But you can help them incorporate wider tales.
Labyrinth Worldbook from Kobold Press as part of Tales of the Valiant a 5e system.
Game Master’s Guide from Kobold Press is one of the best collections of advice and subsystems (so I’ve heard). I don’t have either of these yet.
Making Enemies from Keith Amman is his latest guide to better monsters for fantasy games. As usual Keith focuses on expanding stat blocks into tactics, but in Making Enemies he gets into how to build those stat blocks for several systems.
Try other games! Talk to your friend and see what they already have or where their interests lie. There are a lot of other popular RPGs out right now. While Daggerheart and Draw Steel are supported by some of my mutuals on Mastodon. The one that intrigues me the most is the forthcoming Plotweaver system. It is the engine behind the Cosmere RPG and supports political stories beyond what D&D does.
Twilight:2000‘s update is a fun read of the classic post-nuclear exchange apocalypse game that helped me consider the Army. Song of the River Prince is a more cozy fantasy. With light mechanics and tales quite different from the high fantasy of D&D.
You can always get your geek new dice (Artisan Dice are my dream) or support a mapmaker (Deven Rue or Dyson Logos are two I enjoy) in their name. Or order a custom map. Someday the World of the Everflow, Telse and The Ferments will get custom maps. My favorite dice box maker is Elderwood Academy. A gift card to Hero Forge works too.
There are other options, but those are some of my favorites.
For the newbie
While the Tales of the Valiant Starter Set is below $15, get it. Or, stick to the WotC products because your nibblings or friends’ kids don’t want the off brand stuff. I grew up with the Odyssey video game system and Gobots. I get it — sometimes finances mean support how you can.
But when the price isn’t significantly different get;
Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club if they are into Stranger things.
The battle boards from Beedle & Grim’s look great for a not-quite newbie or someone who consistently plays the same class. I’m currently running an Artificer, and Rogues are my second most played class.
And for those who want to be a newbie DM, Return to the Lazy Dungeon Master is the best collection of simple advice to focus on the players, their characters and empowering their story options.
My preferred geeky coffee is Found Familiar. My current favorite is Fae Magic. My preferred geeky tea is Friday Afternoon Tea. It helps that they’re local-ish too. A friend recently tried Many Worlds Tavern. I’m looking forward to a flavor report.
Beer people should head to The Brewmaster’s Taproom. My go to wine shop is All Things Wine and when in Walla Walla I support Tempus (we’re in the club), Sleight of Hand (also in SoDo), Balboa and Echolands. If you ever tour the dub-dub send me a message. It’s a fun town for those that love flavor experiences.
For finer liquors I enjoyed a taste of The Dalmore recently and would love more. It was a rare scotch that my non-peaty-preferring wife would enjoy with its softer, luxurious mouth feel.
Straightaway cocktails are the best packaged cocktails for people who want smaller servings on hand.
For soccer fans in the Puget Sound
If your soccer friend doesn’t read Sounder at Heart they must. It’s another place I write. There’s a special on annual support right now at 20% off.
Reign tickets are cheaper than Sounders tickets and you’ll be supporting the best women in the world. For the Sounders fans that don’t have tickets get the two-pack. Avoid getting Men’s World Cup tickets at the current pricing unless your budget is quite a bit bigger than mine.
Not from the local area? 1996 Designs makes excellent large brick people of your favorite American soccer teams.
For being prepared without being a Prepper
Working around emergency and crisis managers is reminding me of a few ways to be prepared.
Have a plan when the emergency happens. Know your neighbors and the organizations that will help when disasters happen, because they will happen. A communications system that involves receiving alerts from multiple sources is vital — that should include a radio, as well as your local alerts system and free services on social media. Have backup power, even light solar for portable devices is helpful. You need at least three days of food and water, but if your budget of money and space allows a week or two that’s better.
I also keep an Amazon list for my family that lives well away. People can also decide to support the website.
None of the above products or services pay me except Sounder at Heart, the website I founded and ran from 2008 to 2019 and rejoined in 2022, Factal (and those linked resources are free to the general public) and the two supplements mentioned in line paid me a one-time commission.
In session three the focus was on Keesrah. A duet session handled on Discord due to let turnout, session three was a fine example of the intent behind The Ferments campaign — always find a way to play D&D.
Session four was held at Logan Brewing in Burien, as is typical. Keesrah and Guarese attended.
What did the other characters do? We’ll use downtime to talk about the use of their homesteads as bastions, Xanathar’s downtime actions and/or improving their defenses for Militia Actions. And, due to player feedback we’re including traps in Militia Actions to embrace the case where a homestead may be solo or light on membership.
Keesrah heads into the scrub mountains for food to celebrate the visit of the liquor-creating family of halflings from downway. Her mom is on the trip.
During this trip in horrific weather a mudslide forces a change in path, and eventually she is attacked by mud mephits. It’s a fierce encounter on the edge of failure. But together the two managed to hold off the mephits.
Later in the trip home they notice a fox, Rennard. Using spellcraft, Keesrah learns that fox is the companion to Taier Henkel. Tier is missing, and presumed dead.
Keesrah and her mother, Velthuria, need to cross the mudflow to return home. Using some craft, luck and Crow the Raven the two managed to safely cross the mud mephit slide. Keesrah is punched by a mud mephit swimming through the flow.
After the flow and storm subsides Keesrah and Caile (the brother) head into the hills to talk to the Henkels and then the Drudzhars. One of these conversations goes much better than the other.
As a sign of fellowship, and because of Caile, Taier’s memorial is to be held at the Trading Post — there’s also easy access to the liquors from the visiting family.
The celebration goes well, except for the fight between Caile and Keesrah.
Learned clues
Keesrah Maltunyn learned that the Henkel halflings get along with Clan Drudzhar.
Caile is friendly with both the Henkel halflings and Drudzhar.
Taier Henkel washed away in the mephit mudslide.
Keesrah rescued Taier’s fox Rennard.
Taier’s body was encased in mud by chwingas claiming he gave them a piece of his soul.
Chwingas released Taier when Guarase Spinebloom said he’d find them another bit of soul — maybe his.
Ken raiders with an ambush drake made their presence known. One donated its soul.
Guarase earned a Charm of Heroism granted by the semi–domesticated fey chwinga that now live in the Spinebloom’s rice marsh.
Session four
This was the first session featuring the Spinebloom homestead. It is a series of mostly underground dome structures in a desert environment. Many Spineblooms have some druidic magic and they use this and their traditional growing methods to have the least influence on the environment as possible.
The same river that goes past the Maltunyn’s flows to the Spineblooms. Since The Ferments are infested with extreme elemental influences the desert and scrub mountains are close than is practical in a typical world.
Keesrah and Caile travel along that river to try to find Taier’s remains. That journey includes meeting Guarase who helps them search. There is a mud casing hidden in the rice marsh the Spineblooms farm.
Unfortunately there are also chwingas, little elemental sprites whose morality is not the same as humanity. These chwingas rescued Taier, but kept him cased as a way to protect him during the mephit mudslide.
In order to get Taier free the chwingas demand another soul. Somewhat confused, Guarase agrees. Then the goliath figures out that they mean his soul.
During this exchange the non-chwingas notice two advancing elves and an ambush drake. Keesrah sends Caile and Taier home.
Guarase and Keesrah fend off the elves, while the drake and those elves destroy a third of the rice marsh including many chwingas. When one of the elves is dropped unconscious in the marsh a chwinga captures its soul.
The elves also damage a Spinebloom home.
Keesrah and Guarase learn of more threats to The Ferments, more friends that could be made and the challenges to come in a land that threatens their livelihood.
The second session of The Ferments campaign, an East March style took place again at West Thundermoon Trading Post.
Again, the session started with rolling on the random encounter chart. Only one of the encounters happened, as there was a lot of great roleplay between the characters.
That encounter was with “Chickens with arms and fists” also referred to as “punch chickens.” These larger-than-a-turkey chickens have humanoid arms coming out of their wing joints and are semi intelligent.
Session two started with a brief recap of the last session and a reminder of the nature of the East March campaign — problems come to you.
Then Keesrah spoke to her brother, Caile, about the situation with the open door up to the game trails. That conversation leads to the discovery that the brother is dating one of the goliaths in the rival clan up in the hills. Keesrah leans on the young love bird to keep the doors and gates closed as the brother mocks Keesrah for the fight with the fire snakes.
Ellis, a guest (another PC) enters the compound seeking materials for their homestead. He’s taken over an abandoned plateau homestead nearby. Those religious zealots left the region nearly 30 years ago during the time of the born generation. With decades of wear on the home, mill and other equipment Ellis will have to work hard to reopen the spring-fed mill and granary.
Needing smithed goods, Ellis chats with Keesrah’s father, Cay, and the goblin Malk. During those conversations Keesarh and Ellis learn that Malk is not merely a refugee, but has strong goals to learn how to take the magma and steam power from The Ferments to the Queen.
This learning is specifically called out in the quick recap as a note for all players. As was the brother's love interest.
One piece of advice I try to follow is to remind players of the clues their characters learn. Our memories of a game are more fallible than our characters' memories of their lives.
Learned clues
Malk (goblin leader) is a taker. They want to take whatever they can from The Ferments that helps the Queen.
Keesrah’s brother has a lover up with the Goliath Clan Drudzhar.
Ellis homestead was previously abandoned by religious zealots during the Born Generation when magic returned.
Someone is creating animal hybrids.
Those first three clues are from the conversations between the characters and the named NPCs.
The fourth clue was an interjection because I could tell the table needed some action, plus there were two random encounters rolled and we hadn’t gotten to either.
Using the open door to the game trail from session one, and the obvious wealth of the trading post as inspiration the punch chickens were the easier of the two random rolls to integrate.
Punch chickens
Three punch chickens are discovered by Ellis’ lynx, Lenny. The lynx flushes them out of one of the merchant booths. Those armed chickens are carrying some goods away, sprinting towards the open door.
What are punch chickens?
Statistically they are axe beaks (Black Flag page 371) that punch rather than poke. Their special ability of Evasion turns out to be too significant for 2.5 combatants.
Deadly encounter
This is a deadly encounter with two characters and one combatant animal companion. The action economy combined with consistent dodging means both characters are dropped unconscious. The final roll comes down to Ellis’ lynx versus a wounded punch chicken. The lynx lands the fatal blow.
Keesrah did bar the door preventing a simple escape, so even if they had completely failed there was a narrative success available via the peasants and non-heroic NPCs.
Keesrah’s mother, Velthuria, helps the group heal.
During the recovery the group used some social checks to learn that the punch chickens likely originate from a group that myths call the Children of Chorl (an evil transmuter who tried to create various hybrid creatures).
Full Moon Storytelling 
