Assessing the colossal scene

I have led my group into the first part of my Daggerheart, Colossus of the Drylands campaign. Defeating the first colossus marks the first point where I can talk freely about my campaign ideas and how they played out without spoiling anything for my friends. I will cover the actual fight in a different post to avoid writing unending walls of text, but here's how the first two sessions went. Hopefully you can find some inspiration from this.

Session Zero

A few words on the session zero. The group has been together for a few years now; some of the participants have known each other for over 20 years; therefore, our session zero might differ from other groups. For example, there's no need to go over sensitive topics; they would have come up by now. I had already talked vaguely to the group about the general settings. Most of the players had a general idea, or at least an image, of what character they would like to create. After presenting the campaign frame, I provided an overview of the Daggerheart ruleset, fully knowing we will have to review them as we play.

The character creation process went smoothly. I told my friends it would be laughable if they took the same power twice when they only have a handful each. Sometimes, a DM has to hammer some messages. 😆 Kudos to one of the players for proactively asking the others to answer the suggested connection questions from his class sheet. With a group of four players, everyone answered one question from each other player; it fit so nicely. These questions are interesting in creating some background. I'm still unsure how or if I should use this information.

The group is formed by a diverse cast of characters: a Simian (anthropomorphic monkey) Ranger Beastbound who sees himself as a wandering guide, a Galapa (anthropomorphic turtle) Seraph Divine Wielder with an urge to protect others, a Firebolg (bovine-like humanoid) Wizard of Knowledge acting more like a classic cleric, and one closer to classic fantasy, an Elven Brave Archer Warrior.

Scene One

The campaign started straight into the action. I built up a combat encounter with a diverse cast of enemies, trying to cover all the major rules. After a few words of introduction, I put the players directly into a small mine, used to explore the underground, hoping to find a new vein of essentia crystal. A handful of miners have been caught up behind a blocked tunnel; however, monsters have blocked the rescue attempts. There was not even an exploration component to the scene, just a few giant animals with a pale appearance, either with small pieces of crystals coming out of their bodies or the color similar to the crystals.

This combat scene went on longer than I anticipated. Hopefully, this is only a matter of everyone learning the rules, myself included. Some action might not have been as cinematic as Daggerheart aims for, but it has always been a weakness for our group. The players alternated taking turns; no one tried to steal the spotlight or make multiple times. That's what we want to see. The encounter wasn't particularly challenging, and the players prevailed. At level one, combat can feel like the two sides are slapping themselves with wet noodles; there were not many 2-hp hits. When this happens, the advantage is on the player's side, as they have more resources like armor to mitigate damage, and, generally speaking, rolling 2d12 should result in a higher average than the single d20 the monsters use.

On my side, to be honest, I ran out of ideas on how to spend fear and explain a few mishaps. I was overflowing with Fear points! It felt like 75% of the rolls were with Fear. 😆 I ended the encounter at max capacity! Maybe I need to learn to be more aggressive. I also totally forgot about having a player mark a stress as a GM move. I probably also need to lean more heavily on the players to explain how the scene changes when they miss, for example. Here's the approach I tried:

• Player succeeds with Hope: give them the opportunity to add to the spotlight.
• Player succeeds with Fear: Introduce a consequence to the success by using a soft move and not putting the spotlight on an enemy.
• Player fails with Hope: Spotlight an enemy by using a minor ability.
• Player fails with Fear: Go all in with the strongest ability of an enemy or even multiple enemies.

I'll see how it will go from there; this will probably slowly adjust over time to what feels good to the group.

The players didn't suffer any major injuries, and the miners were finally rescued when the cleric cleared the last rubble with a giant spike of ice. This wasn't covered by the rules, but I thought it was spectacular and flashy, and I allowed it. Another highlight of the combat was the Seraph realizing that at the lowly cost of marking one stress, throwing his axe at the head of multiple enemies can be really fun and powerful.

Scene Two

The rescue was followed by a short social encounter in the mining camp. The foreman thanked the players and rewarded them with a handful of random consumables. It was an opportunity for the players to learn more about the nearby town of Wyllen Gulch and about the recent events, but they didn't ask related questions. They are, however, already speculating about what happened, how these monsters could be related to the essentia crystals, and what it could mean. GM rubs hands with satisfaction.

I also used this setting to introduce the rules about resting. It felt like a good opportunity to talk about what it means and how they can recover between encounters.

Scene Three

The players finally made their way to Wyllen Gulch. It was an opportunity for me to showcase some background elements about the region. Some elements were probably too subtle for the players, but it is also the result of my friends not being exactly good at distinguishing the important information from fluff I insert into the world. They are totally the type to miss side quests because there are no bright neon signs over the heads of quest givers. 🤣 It happened again, with what was supposed to be the hook quest for the second Colossus. Oops!

The mayor was met; he shared what info he had, and hopefully players understood he has limited power in town. It was also the first opportunity to scout the first Colossus. Even though we talked regularly about a Monster Hunter or Shadow of the Colossus theme, it wasn't until I mentioned the Colossus is 90 feet tall and 60 feet wide that the players realized it wasn't a simple giant. They spent much time in town and in the field, studying the Colossus, trying to find an approach or weak point.

I didn't read the full intro provided in the book about this campaign frame. I preferred to use a prophet in Wyllen Gulch to convey the information. It had the downside of some players not believing him since, obviously, all prophets are mad and delirious. 🤷

The cleric wanted to be sure the big crevice left in the middle of the town by the recent earthquakes wouldn't collapse over old mining tunnels and be an even greater threat to the safety of the residents. He didn't get much from the mayor; bureaucracy reacts slowly, and it hasn't had the opportunity to secure the hole yet. He tried to get additional information about the tunnels from the mining company, but they were not cooperative. The session stopped there, and I tasked the players with building up a plan to attack the colossus for the following session. Spoiler: On the rare occasion they have a plan, they rarely stick to it. 😆

Keep an eye on the blog for the next part, where I cover the first colossus fight and provide early feedback.