#logan bonner

Tomorrow, April 27, Designer Logan Bonner will be on Know Direction discussing the design behind Ultimate Intrigue! Be sure to tune in on their twitch stream starting at 5:30 Pacific: https://www.twitch.tv/knowdirection

Our D&D gaming group is currently playing through HS1: The Slaying Stone by Logan Bonner. This module is a new DM's wet dream as it has a ton of plot hook and plot variation suggestions as well as a wonderfully non-railroaded story line. When I first read through The Slaying Stone, the author's suggestions immediately started the creative juices flowing for plot and sub-plot as well as twists and turns that I could throw at the group as they investigate Gorizbaad. The possibilities seemed endless. I settled on the old trope of brother against brother. I planted the seed when Speelock revealed that she thought the Rat Man might know where the ninth stone was hidden. When the PC's finally reached the Shrine of Sehanine encounter, they discoverd a dishelveled looking Kiris Hoyt performing a ritual on himself. An Arcana check later they learned it was a purification ritual designed to remove a curse. He reluctantly spun a tale of deceit and treachery where his brother, Alkirk, had become bewitched by a powerful sorceress who was using the Kiris fortune to fund expeditions to gather powerful magical items for herself. When Hoyt had tried to drive a wedge into that relationship, she had cursed him. He'd ended up here alone since the city was overrun. The story apparently struck a sympathetic chord with the PC's because even when the Goblins attacked and Hoyt transformed into a ravening Half Rat/Half Man thing that pummeled anything near him, they still revived him after the fight. It will be interesting to see where this story will go and what the PC's will do. The adventure wouldn't be nearly so immersive if not for the DM friendly way Mr. Bonner wrote this module. You, sir, are my hero!