IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE
STARRING
Justin Alexander . . . . The Dungeon Master
Seth Bacon . . . . Agnarr / Ranthir
David Blackmer . . . . Agnarr
Preethi Gupta . . . . Elestra
Andrew Holmberg . . . . Dominic
Sarah Holmberg . . . . Tithenmamiwen (Tee)
Sarah Martin . . . . Tor
Jacqueline Wegscheid . . . . Nasira
Sasha Myhrom . . . . Alysta (Elestra)
CAMPAIGN JOURNAL
PRELUDE: AGNARR AND TEE
Character Background: Agnarr
Character Background: Tee
Prelude 1A: The Lost Vaults
Prelude 1B: The Lost Vaults Continued
RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN
PRELUDE 1
Starting the Campaign
Designing Character Backgrounds
Inside the Campaign Journal
Purpose of the Preludes
PRELUDE 2: THE AWAKENING
Character Background: Dominic
Character Background: Elestra
Character Background: Ranthir
Prelude 2A – The Awakening: Ranthir
Prelude 2B – The Awakening: Dominic
Prelude 2C – The Awakening: Agnarr
Prelude 2D – The Awakening: Tee
PRELUDE 2
Non-Standard Groups
The Retcon
Low Level Specialists
Play By E-Mail
World-Building by Players
Graphical Resources
The Best Laid Plans
SESSION 1: INVESTIGATING THE PAST
Session 1A – Investigating the Past
Session 1B – Tee’s Homecoming
Session 1C – Meeting Elestra
Session 1D – The Common Room at Night
SESSION 2: WELCOME TO THE CITY
Session 2A – Around Town
Session 2B – A Woman Assaulted
SESSION 2
Between the Sessions
Foreshadowing Encounters
SESSION 3: ON THE MURDERER’S TRAIL
Session 3A – On the Murderer’s Trail
Session 3B – Questioning Cran
SESSION 3
Custom Game Structures
Deciphering Scripts
SESSION 4: RIOT IN OLDTOWN
Session 4A: Riot in Oldtown
Session 4B: Research and Developments
SESSION 5: THE TROUBLE WITH GOBLINS
Session 5: The Trouble With Goblins
SESSION 5
Guaranteeing Failure
SESSION 6: BLOOD IN THE DEPTHS
Session 6A: Blood in the Depths
Session 6B: Return to the Depths
SESSION 6
From Table to Page
Reinventing Zombies
SESSION 7: BLOOD IN THE WATER
Session 7A: The Aristocrat’s Table
Session 7B: Blood in the Water
INTERLUDE
Visions on the Edge of the Void
INTERLUDE
Flashback Visions
SESSION 8: WAKING IN CHAINS
Session 8A: Waking in Chains
Character Background: Tor
Session 8B: A New Companion
SESSION 9: GOLD AND JADE
Session 9A: Gold
Session 9B: In the House of Helmut
Session 9C: Jade
SESSION 10: THE LABYRINTHS OF GHUL
Session 10A: Labyrinths of Ghul
Session 10B: Retreat to the Surface
Session 10C: Back to the Labyrinths
Session 10D: Clan of the Torn Ear
SESSION 10
Exposition Dump Handouts
Emergent Character Traits
Treasure With Context
Prepping Situations is Cool
SESSION 11: GOBLIN CAVERNS OF THE OOZE LORD
Session 11A: Into the Caverns
Session 11B: Garden of the Sickstone
Session 11C: A Weary Twilight
SESSION 11
Symbiotic Tactics
Running Gags
Looting the Bestiaries
INTERLUDE: HARVESTTIME
Harvesttime 1: Tor at the Tourney Fields
Harvesttime 2: The Guidance of Vehthyl
Harvesttime 3: Greeting of Old Friends
INTERLUDE: HARVESTTIME
Bluebooking
An Interstice of Factions
Gray Spaces in World Design
SESSION 12: A PARTY AT CASTLE SHARD
Session 12A: Awkward Introductions
Session 12B: A Party at Castle Shard
Session 12C: To the Aid of Goblins
SESSION 13: END OF THE OOZE LORD
Session 13A: At the Sinkhole’s Edge
Session 13B: The Tragedy at the Door
Session 13C: The Tale of Itarek
Session 13D: A Time of Tragic Rest
SESSION 13
Simple Simulationist Tactics: Half Across the River
Dynamic Terrain
Behind the Tale of Itarek
Kill the Dog
SESSION 14: MANY UNHAPPY RETURNS
Session 14A: Many Unhappy Returns
Session 14B: Malkeen Dawning
Session 14C: The Temple of Ebony
Session 14D: In the Beast Pits
SESSION 14
Adventure from Gear Management
Antecedent Magic
Dungeon Sequencing
Whoops, Forgot the Wolf
SESSION 15: THE TAINT OF GHUL
Session 15A: The Labyrinth’s Machines
Session 15B: The Ghostly Minstrel Plays
Session 15C: The Taint of Ghul
SESSION 15
Unsolved Mysteries
Tavern Time
Developing Taint
SESSION 16: LABYRINTH’S END
Session 16A: To Labyrinth’s End
Session 16B: The Sanguineous Drinker
Session 16C: The Black Centurions
Session 16D: Zavere’s Need
SESSION 17: SHILUKAR’S LAIR
Session 17A: Shilukar’s Lair
Session 17B: The Coming of Shilukar
Session 17C: Shilukar’s New Friends
Session 17D: Shilukar’s Secrets
SESSION 17
Cross-Campaign Continuity
Externalizing Tactical Interest
Roleplaying Ability Damage
Commentary on the Info Dump
SESSION 18: KEY TO THE PAST
Session 18A: Key to the Past
Session 18B: Missed Opportunities
Session 18C: The Smoke of the Foundry
SESSION 18
Beginning Act II
Gather Information vs. Knowledge (local)
Simple Dramatist Tactics: Hear the Reinforcements
SESSION 19: THE END OF SHILUKAR
Session 19A: Routing the Shuul
Session 19B: Beneath the Foundry
Session 19C: Shilukar’s End
SESSION 20: PYTHONESS HOUSE
Session 20A: Funeral for a Python Viper
Session 20B: Tee and the Silver Fatar
Session 20C: Dominic and the Silver Fatar
Session 20D: The Talk of the Town
Session 20E: Into Pythoness House
Session 20F: The Ghost Appears
SESSION 20
Opportunistic Foreshadowing
Magic in the Set Dressing
The Unique Path of Actual Play
Not Available Right Now
Character Crucibles
Post-It Mapping
SESSION 21: THE SAINT’S SCHISM
Session 21: The Saint’s Schism
SESSION 21
Fictional Rituals
Fantasy Materials
SESSION 22: RETURN TO PYTHONESS HOUSE
Session 22A: Return to Pythoness House
Session 22B: Atop Pythoness House
Session 22C: Workings of the Chaos Cults
SESSION 23: COMING OF THE CULTS OF CHAOS
Session 23A: Let Slip the Dogs of Hell
Session 23B: Binding Foul and Fair
Session 23C: Beneath Pythoness House
Session 23D: The Chaos Cultists
Session 23E: With Nought But Their Lives
Session 23F: The Pale Tower
SESSION 23
Cliffhangers
Dungeon Clues
Dungeon Cycles
The Price of Magic
Diegetic Mechanics
Detritus of the Dungeon
SESSION 24: LET SLIP THE HOUNDS OF GHUL
Session 24A: The Squire of Dawn
Session 24B: The Meeting of All Things
Session 24C: The First Hound of Ghul
Session 24D: The Second Hound of Ghul
SESSION 24
Player-Facing Mechanics
Lore Book Meetings
Back, Back to the Dungeon
Magic Item Wish Lists
SESSION 25: SECOND END OF GHUL’S LABYRINTH
Session 25A: The Second End
Session 25B: Blood on the Orrery
SESSION 25
Re-Skinning
Player-Initiated Vectors
SESSION 26: THE RIDDLE OF ILTUMAR
Session 26A: Tor’s Training
Session 26B: A Disposition of Treasure
Session 26C: The Riddle of Iltumar
Session 26D: Elestra Digs Deep
SESSION 26
Urban Splits
Treasure Logistics
Background to Foreground to Background
Counterintelligence Vectors
SESSION 27: THE SAINT OF CHAOS
Session 27A: The Midnight Meeting
Session 27B: Sights of Venom
Session 27C: The Saint of Chaos
Session 27D: The Maw Opens
SESSION 28: INTO THE BANEWARRENS
Session 28A: The Maw Beckons
Session 28B: On the Eve of the Banewarrens
Session 28C: Into the Banewarrens
SESSION 29: INTRUDERS IN THE BANEWARRENS
Session 29A: Wraiths and Wards
Session 29B: A Knight in Mourning
Session 29C: Skirmish in the Cauldron
SESSION 29
Clever Combat
Abandoned Dungeons
Looting Consumables
SESSION 30: BREAKING OF THE DAWN
Session 30A: The Breaking of the Dawn
Session 30B: Golems & Ghouls
Session 30C: The Two Letters
Session 30D: A Plague of Wraiths
SESSION 31: KABEL IN HIDING
Session 31A: Kabel in Hiding
Session 31B: Vaults of Forgotten Evil
Session 31C: The Obstinate Prisoner
Session 31D: The Midnight Watch
Session 31E: Kabel’s Tale
SESSION 31
When Players Reincorporate
PC vs. PC Social Checks
Let It Ride Interrogation
Roleplaying NPC Scenes
Gore-Spattered Reactions
SESSION 32: ENTHRALLED IN OLDTOWN
Session 32A: Enthralled in Oldtown
Session 32B: Shaped by Venom
Session 32C: Enter Arveth
SESSION 33: MAGGOTS & RATSBANE
Session 33A: Down the Sewer Hole
Session 33B: The Interrogation of Arveth
Session 33C: Secret Doors & Sentries
Session 33D: The Hell Hound at the Door
Session 33E: Maggots & Ratsbane
SESSION 33
Fantasy Sewers
Bond. The Opposite of Bond.
Action Schticks
NPC Spellbooks
Battles at the Door
SESSION 34: DUST OF THE OLD CITY
Session 34A: In the Dust of the Old City
Session 34B: Webs of Ambush & Betrayal
Session 34C: Back in the Tower Again
Session 34D: The Battle Turns Again
SESSION 35: BLACK FEATHERS & RESTLESS KNIGHTS
Session 35A: Birds of a Black Feather
Session 35B: Letters of Mysterious Motive
Session 35C: Ambush in the Banewarrens
SESSION 35
Withdrawing in Victory
Weaving the Background
Ambushing Your Timelines
…