GM Notes for My First Adventure, The Gardens of Glass

#1

Hail and well met, everyone. So to preface this post, I’ve never properly GM’ed a TTRPG, but ICRPG lured me in with its brilliantly straightforward rules. Because I’ve never ran a game before, advice and critique is welcome here.

A while ago I made quest cards, little ideas for adventures. Here’s a link to that thread if anyone’s curious: Putting the index cards in Index Card RPG.

Before diving into the GM notes here are some notes about the fantasy setting I’m putting all this in.

  • Genre: Fantasy with modern-ish amenities similar to the setting of The Adventure Zone (a D&D podcast by the McElroy family), specifically their first campaign: Balance
  • Races: They’re mostly for role-play flavor rather than offering any mechanical bonuses, instead all players allocate 6 points to stats, 4 points to efforts, and 2 bonus points to either
  • Humans - Relatively short lived and organic
  • Elves - Immortal and gender neutral
  • Dwarves - Long lived and carved out of stone or sculpted from clay
  • Gorks - Goblins + Orcs, an alchemical experiment that grew out of control and now they have a society
  • The Questing Agency: A sort of fantasy odd-jobs craigslist type thing
  • Their HQ is sort of like Howl’s Moving Castle, the door dial especially, basically they have magic doors that can open up into almost any other door in the world which is how you travel to job sites, travel is typically one way, but there are magic keys that can open any door and lead back into the Questing Agency HQ

Ok now for the GM notes for The Gardens of Glass.

A group of Elves has been tending to their garden for centuries, but something is wrong. Gemma has contacted the Questing Agency because an inventive pest has taken hold of The Gardens of Glass. Your job is to exterminate the infestation of Glass Blower Spiders, which are currently melting down the stained glass flora of the gardens to weave webs of molten glass.

Side note: So because this is my first time, I looked at GM notes from Kane’s Kiln to use as a sort of template.

Scenes:

  • Garden Gates
  • Glass Labyrinth
  • Egg Sac Grove
  • The Web Tunnel
  • Aftermath

Garden Gates:

The PCs arrive at the entrance to the garden, Gemma’s assistant takes them to her office, on the way there she’s talking about the history of the gardens. The PCs also pass by a small gift shop, because why not? Once in Gemma’s office she explains the job details. She explains that the glass plants in the garden are razor sharp, and now they’re melting so they’re really hot. She grants the PCs protection from the hot blades of glass for 12 ROUNDS (world timer). And then she sends the PCs into the garden.

Glass Labyrinth:

  • TARGET = 10
  • INT / WIS challenge: get through the glassy hedge maze
  • TREAT: The warmer a path in the maze feels, the more likely it is to be correct
  • THREAT: The wrong path may contain a hatchling
  • Hatchling: :heart: , +2 All Rolls, Bite (Weapon Damage), Molten Web (All CLOSE roll CON or suffer WEAPON damage to themselves or their equipment)

Egg Sac Grove:

  • TARGET = 12
  • DEX challenge, don’t shatter the egg sacs, lest you alert their father
  • THREAT: Glass Blower Spider
  • Glass Blower Spider: :heart::heart: , +2 Stats, Climb (walks on any surface), Bash or Bite (both do WEAPON damage), Molten Web (All CLOSE roll CON or suffer WEAPON damage to themselves or their equipment)
  • TREAT: If the PCs pass through the grove w/o shattering an egg sac, they get a moment to heal up a bit

The Web Tunnel:

  • TARGET = 15
  • Combat challenge
  • The PCs make their way through a series of tunnels (if mapped out it resembles the shatter patterns of glass or a spider web) and enter a central chamber containing the Glass Blower Queen (THREAT)
  • Glass Blower Queen: :heart::heart::heart::heart: , +4 Stats, +2 Efforts, 2 Actions per TURN, Climb (walks on any surface), Bash (WEAPON), Molten Vine Whip (WEAPON with FAR range), Venom Spit (DEX save or MAGIC damage)
  • TREAT: PCs can lure the Queen into the tunnels, which can collapse, blocking her pursuit & dealing 5 HP of damage to her

Aftermath:
Once the Queen is defeated the PCs can make their way out of the garden where they’ll be greeted by Gemma. She sends in her gardeners to clean things up. The PCs are free to browse the wares of the gift shop. And then they can return to HQ

And that’s it! What do y’all think? Any suggestions or critique of my notes?

#2

This seems like a fun little adventure, and I’ll bet all your players had a good time. I hope you do include some faction interactions for tension in future modules - like there’s a compelling reason for the spiders to be in the garden, and they aren’t just pests, but creatures stuck in a difficult situation. Something like that combined with the time pressure I think would create a really interesting narrative environment, which would lead to dramatic choices for the players to make.

#3

Thanks! I’m glad you think that. :smile: Truth is, I have not ran it yet, as I don’t yet have a group of players (planning on getting some friends together on Discord in the future), I just wanted to plan out something I had an idea for so that when it came time to play, we’d have a few adventures to choose from (I’m working on this one and three others and I’ll let the PCs choose which one they want to take on).

Am I doing this right? When I see GM notes I get the impression that they were preparations for the adventure rather than a recounting of it, but now I’m unsure. I also of course worry about being a train conductor, railroading my hypothetical players down a set track.

That’s definitely something worth thinking about :thinking: Would give the spiders more depth for sure. Well, since it hasn’t been played yet, there’s still time to work that kind of thing into the module.

Perhaps the infestation originates within underground caverns, the spiders weave webs of glass by breaking down stone into sand and melting it to be used. Maybe the caverns they reside in are near, if not under, the Gardens of Glass. A few crawled to the surface and eventually found an easy supply of glass just sitting there.

When I initially wrote the elevator pitch for the adventure, it read: exterminate or relocate the infestation. Maybe I could work on making that angle viable, give the players the option to spare them while saving the gardens from being completely melted down.

Maybe the tunnel that they crawled to the surface from collapsed and they can’t get home if they wanted to, so maybe half a mile from the garden gates there’s a tunnel entrance blocked off by solid rock. But if that’s the case the spiders could break the boulders down into sand so that doesn’t work. Alternatively, maybe the spiders don’t want to go back, I mean there’s a garden made of glass just half a mile from here, why go home so soon?

Solution: The PCs pass a collapsed mine entrance on their way to the gardens, there are glass shards all around the boulders blocking entry into the mine.

I’ll have to rework the world timer a bit to make it so the PCs have a limited time to get to the Queen, but still have time to lure the spiders out of the garden if they choose to do that. I could make the world timer 20 rounds instead of 12.

Let me know what you think!

Thank you for responding to my post! :grinning:

#4

This is a great adventure idea, it sounds like a lot of fun!

Just a few thoughts on what has been written out thus far.

  • One shots can require a little directional help because of limited time. However, railroading is really not fun for anyone (simply having a story hour may be better for this). It is important for players to feel like their characters choices matter. My suggestion would be to simply lay out the problem and let the players come up with the solution (it will likely be something you will not anticipate). Don’t strictly adhere to your notes, let them only be a rough guideline for the sake of a good story. Also, be ok with the characters not achieving the goal…because that can be a great story too!

  • The sweet spot for room targets is 12/13. I would run the targets 12/13/14 between the rooms you had listed. 10 is a bit low in my opinion (EASY would be 7!) and 15 is getting to be kind of tough (HARD is 18!). Targets can always be adjusted on the fly, no need to stick to one that is not working, just add a story element for the reason it changes.

  • A world timer of 20 is likely too long. Every GM/group is different in their pacing but for a 2 1/2 - 3 hour session 12 rounds is about right for my group. 15 would be my max but even that is a little too long for me. You can always start higher and reduce the number but it would benefit from a story element attached to it. World timers can be tricky, I am not entirely convinced that I like using them personally.

I hope that is of some help!

#5

For my money, I was in a one-shot with 20 round world timer, and we got through it, but that was with just 2 players.

#6

It could be that the light through the glass plants frustrates and/or confuses the spiders. The PCs could encounter one blind spider who could potentially explain what’s going on, and night would normally resolve the problem, but maybe the gardeners recently enchanted the garden to make it always lit for some reason, or maybe the spiders are attracted by the glow of an item refracted through the glass that humanoids can’t see - and the search for this item could lead to deeper mysteries of the garden, maybe things some meant to leave unfound.

#7

Good point. I usually run with 3-4 players. How many encounters / monsters there are can also have an impact.

#8

This looks awesome! I love your breakdown of the bioforms, and the 6/4/2 stat spread is a really neat idea. I’ve been running formless bioforms for awhile now, and it’s cool but I think it’s a little too open-ended. I like the simplicity and flexibility of what you’ve got.

What strikes me about the adventure is that it seems like a fun whimsical story, with plenty of danger and action, but also a good grounding of wonder. Even from your bullet notes I can start to imagine the space, and how the Glass Gardens would look, adding the spider infestation on top of that is really cool.

I could see adding more options and complexity to the foes, but it’s good as is. I like how the threat builds in each room, while still being similar to the room before.

If I were gonna change things, I might give the Glass Blower Spider 1 new ability, and upgrade his Molten Web to hit all NEAR. Then maybe give the Queen an even tougher version. That’s easy to nerf back down in the game if it’s too tough.

You might find that you need more foes than just one, so maybe the egg sacs release 1d4 larvae that just have a Glassy Bite, they bite you with jaws that drop molten glass, dealing like, 2d4 damage? And they just have 1HP. Then the Queen might call Glass Blower Spiders or Hatchlings to her aid in the final battle.

My experience has been that ICRPG characters are tough and they deal a lot of damage. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Queen drops in 1 round if it’s just her vs 4 PCs. Especially if they win initiative. ICRPG characters are also fragile, they can drop easily and IF multiple characters drop they can get overwhelmed fast. So it’s tough to “balance” a combat. Don’t be surprised or beat yourself up about it if they kill your boss in 1 round, or if there’s a TPK. The difference between your players steamrolling your monsters and a TPK can just be a couple of die rolls.

As others have said, for 3-5 players a 12 round timer seems about right. Definitely remind them of the timer, and you might have to push them through the first couple of rooms. Usually (in my experience) players don’t care about a World Timer until they have 3 rounds or less left on it.

Also… I wouldn’t worry about railroading. If you’ve got new players, and you’re a new DM, clear goals and simple rooms are your friend. Most players (myself included) seem to prefer clarity over choice. The main thing you need to leave open is the choice of HOW they act. You set the space, show them the exit, describe the problem. Define the tracks. Then, let them go crazy with how they get from point A to point B. I guess to follow the metaphor, set the tracks, then let the players fly over them, tunnel under them, blow them up/build a new bridge, whatever.

Overall, I’m struck by the simplicity and elegance of what you have written here. It’s a great reminder that things don’t need to be crazy and complicated. A simple (but tough) problem in a novel environment sounds like a great night of gameplay. I’d honestly try running this exactly as you’ve written it. I also might steal it and run it for my regular group. If so I’ll have to beef it up because they are DEADLY. :laughing:

#9

Hello!

Thanks, man! Basically I used the default character creation rules of 6 points to stats & 4 points to efforts, and then I noticed that most bioforms get 2 points in either stats or efforts, some bioforms only get 1 point, but those usually have a special ability to go with it (Xill: +1 WIS & Innate Create Device).

Oh man! Thanks!! :grin:

I like that Molten Web upgrade, I’ll consider it for the Queen as well. Love the larvae idea. I like the idea of the Queen calling for help. Maybe if you make it through the Egg Sac Grove without shattering eggs open and / or sneaking by the Glass Blower Spider, the Queen will be joined by that spider because the PCs didn’t kill it earlier.

Thank you, that’s reassuring :slight_smile:

Aw shucks man :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Thank you for the high praise my dude! Feel free to steal it! Have fun!

#10

This has been my deepest struggle with ICRPG as a system! Thank you for articulating it so well.

#11

I made some items that you may find in the Garden’s Gift Shop! :grin:

Trinkets (item’s you’d find in a gift shop)

  • A bouquet of glass roses
  • A glass bonsai tree
  • A dyed t-shirt colored to look like stained glass
  • A personalized wine glass that you get to see them make for you
  • A personalized key chain, WIS roll to find one with your name on it (TARGET: 15)

Loot (items that adventurers would be interested in using)

  • 5x Prince Rupert’s Drop Grenades - WEAPON - Five glass droplets, each with a long tail, incredibly durable on the droplet end but the tail is extremely fragile. Break the tail and it will explode in 4 TURNS, inflicting 3d6 damage to all NEAR
  • Glass Clippers - TOOL / WEAPON - Hedge clippers made of a super strong glass, can cut through small plants, tree branches and lumber, glass objects, and even small rocks, if used on a living creature it deals WEAPON Damage +2
  • Lens Maker’s Glasses - Item - Glasses with rose tinted lenses, wearing them grants you a higher critical hit chance, when rolling a d20 an 18, 19, or 20 counts as a critical hit, doesn’t effect mastery (still requires a natural 20), doesn’t stack like in Risk of Rain or Risk of Rain 2 (video games)
#12

You should include a vase woven out of plants like a basket; I just like the juxtaposition of the plants as the container and the flowers as the glass.

#13

Risko of Rain 2 is a great game and should have more items ported to the table top :grin:

#14

Your comment put me in the mood to make more Risk of Rain 2 items for ICRPG. So that’s what I’m currently working on. Six common items, six uncommon items, six legendary items, two boss items, and lunar coins. I am currently doing this in a spreadsheet on my google drive. I’ll post it when I’m finished, but for now, here’s a sneak peak. :grin:

common%20items%20ror2%20icrpg
common items ror2 icrpg.png797x330 30.6 KB

Let me know what you think!

#15

This is pretty cool. So far its looking pretty fun! Cant wait to see the finished.