Spoiler Alert! Don’t read this report if you haven’t played The Goblin Grail Gang!

Session: The Goblin Grail Gang (9/29/18)

A note from the D&D Dad: I’d normally create two separate articles for this adventure session, but this one-shot by M.T. Black is special. Not only is it a great introduction to new players (I had one at this session), but the entire adventure takes place on ONE sheet of paper! So I’m simply combining my Adventure Report with my Review.

For this one-shot, we gathered multiple misfits from the world of Eberron, who then stepped into the world of the Forgotten Realms:

• Veldakore, a Vedalkan Ranger (Mitch)
• The Metal Knight, a Warforged Fighter (Drew)
• Turtle, a Shifter Wizard (first-time player Keegan)

These three heroes venture into the Driftwood Tavern in Neverwinter, where the enchantress Griswelda Grimcroft quickly finds them and commissions them to find the “Grail Goblet of Ghastliness.” (I changed the name of the magical goblet, which was the much-less tongue-tripping “Essentia Reliquary”.)

And so The Goblin Grail Gang mini-adventure was off and running! Griswelda hooked up the party by zapping the party to the entrance of the cave for the goblin gang that stole her goblet (she can’t go in herself because of the magic of the goblet, which the goblins have turned against her).

The party was composed of a 13-year-old and two 10-year-olds, so they did a much shorter version of an already-short one-shot. They charged right in, fought the goblin guards, took some damage, and walked right into the darkmantles hanging down from the ceiling. They passed by the talking bear (I skipped this part) and the constrictor snakes (skipped!) just so I could show our new player how to do a skill check with the locked door.

Our Warforged fighter kicked in the door, and then battle with the boss was on! The female goblin boss and her pet ape put up a good fight, but the flame bolts of the Wizard were too much (and also set the ruined furniture in the room on fire). The party grabbed some loot, then rushed past sleeping goblins next door, and found the Goblet near the end of the underground river right before it exited the caverns.

When the fighter tried to destroy the whispering Goblet, his longsword bounced off, and everyone heard a strange snapping sound in the air. A moment later, Griswelda appeared, thanked the party for both breaking the spell keeping her away and for finding the Goblet. She disappeared with the Goblet, leaving the party in the lurch and vowing to never trust an enchanter again.

And just for kicks, here are the adventurers:

A couple final notes:

• I printed the “players map” for this adventure and covered up everything on it but the entrance, using stickie notes. As the players approached a new area, they could pull off just one stickie note. They enjoyed having the map right there (instead of on a dry-erase board like I usually do). It was a successful experiment.
• The adventure itself was well-done, as usual from M.T. Black, and I was very impressed that it all fit on one page. With new and young players, short adventures are great, and this one worked great for a two-hour session (creating the characters took the kids longer than the actual game!).
• I would’ve liked more puzzles in this one, and the kids kind of got tired of the battles. Also, as the picture above attests, it was getting late after a busy Saturday, so everyone was pretty worn out.
• The price was RIGHT for this one-page one-shot, and I would’ve gladly paid a buck or two for it.

I’d love to see more one-page dungeons like this one, and I also enjoy the 5-page dungeons as well. Hope you give this one a try, and if you do, happy gaming!

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