The D&D Guild: Lost Mine of Phandelver

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Prologue: Character Creation

Lost Mine of Phandelver: Prologue

The sound of a door chime echoed as the door to the comic/hobby store opened and another customer stepped inside. It was a humble shop which boasted the things most kids and young adults who learned of gaming outside of a computer looked to for fun and amusement. One side of the room had a number of comics and hobby magazines displayed for anyone to peruse through. On the other side was the cashier counter, a glass one which had a number of limited edition or rare trading cards for sale. The back shelf was filled with packs of trading cards from a number of different games, all of them the most recent series.

The young man which stepped in seemed to be of the average sort. He was around six feet tall with slightly shaggy brown hair from lack of a haircut. He wore a simple dark red t-shirt and jeans with his hands in his pockets. He was hardly intimidating-looking, his height aside, and smiled to the man attending the counter with a have.

"Hey Bill. How's business?" the young man asked with a smile.

"Good enough. Although I think you want to make a contribution to that, eh Miles?" the man at the counter grinned back. He was an older man with his hair white and he wore glasses. An oddity of him was that one eye was glass, but that was only noticeable since that eye never moved. No one mentioned it out of politeness and everyone was at least acquainted with Bill anyway and never really wondered.

B&J's Books and Comics was the local hangout for the hobby gamers and trading card enthusiasts. For such a small-time store, Bill really managed to draw in the business. He held card tournaments every time a new expansion was announced or on Friday nights with themed tournaments every month. He offered space for Dungeons and Dragons games, although those were for special occasions or for those who wanted a game store atmosphere for their YouTube gaming channels.

Miles Jones was a long-time customer, having discovered the store when he was fifteen and had been a dedicated customer ever since. Now at nineteen and preparing for university, he was visiting the store more since his school was in another city altogether and he wouldn't be able to visit as much.

"Ah, you know me. I have to buy something every time I'm here," Miles grinned.

Miles was a dedicated hobby gamer, although he loved to play whenever he got the chance. He picked up the card games while he was in school and it evolved into the more advanced games like Dungeons and Dragons which he soon formed his own adventuring group with. He was constantly getting new adventures, option booklets, and other accessories from the store to make his adventures better.

Bill chuckled, "Well, you know where all the Dungeons and Dragons merchandise is. Or are you looking for something specific?"

Miles approached the counter while scratching his head, "Well, since me and the group will be splitting up for the school year in at the end of the summer, we all decided we'd try to pull out one mega adventure. Several adventures in a marathon. The only issue is that I'm one short since I let my cousins borrow it last time they were around. So I need an emergency replacement or else I'm sunk."

Bill nodded, leaning over the encounter, "Well, I probably have copies of the one you lent out, but I know it would be kind of foolish to just charge you for that. I do think I've got a few books packed away somewhere."

Bill gestured for Miles to wait before he turned and walked to a door behind the counter. Stepping inside, he walked to the stocked merchandise boxes he had. Being rather meticulous in his organization, Bill immediately knew where his merchandise was. Finding the boxes in question, he picked out the manifests list from each box, checking over what was inside. Thanks to Miles being such a frequent customer, including his tournament nights, Bill was aware of which adventures he played.

"Done it, done it, done it," Bill muttered before he came to the bottom of the list.

"Anthology? When did I order that? Ah well." Bill knew he had impulse buying of his own and if he saw something out of the norm for his customers, he'd try to sell it since he knew the gamers loved extra content.

Opening the box, Bill blinked when he saw the anthology item sitting on the top. It looked like a leather bound book, made to look like a wizard's spell book. On the front was the familiar D&D symbol with the & looking like a dragon spraying a blast of fire. It was buckled shut, likely made to look like the real thing. Bill smiled at the item, knowing it was just the type of thing that Miles would go for.

Checking the cost of the item and doing some math to set the price, Bill brought the book out to where Miles was waiting, looking over the single cards for sale. Bill approached the counter and set the book down, making Miles blink at the sight, "Wow. Where'd you find this?"

"The usual sources," Bill shrugged. "Anyway, it's an anthology of adventures. Take a look and tell me what you think."

Miles eagerly did so, undoing the clasps of the book before opening it. The pages were like parchment, enhancing the look of a spell book. Flipping over the first pages, there were ink and charcoal-looking sketches of humans, monsters and treasures. A few more pages, and a table of contents was found, the letters looking like flowing elaborate script.

"Lost Mine of Phandelver, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Rise of Tiamat, Princes of the Apocalypse…Yeah, these are all brand new to me," Miles grinned. "Oh this is going to rock!"

"Glad you like it," Bill nodded. "Ready for the price tag?"

"Lay it on me," Miles nodded, reaching for his wallet.

Bill recited the price he calculated and Miles winced, but he paid for it anyway. Once the transaction was complete, Miles was off like a shot. Managing an adventure took time to prepare and one of the first things to do was read the adventure you wanted the group to go on. He had a few hours before his friends would begin to arrive. That might be just long enough to get through two of the adventures and make note of the things he wished to change.

(D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D)

Miles arrived home in short order. He had a lot of reading and some note taking to do and he wanted to get it done as quickly as he could. Moving to his room, he set the anthology down on his desk along with the other documents and supplements which came with his D&D adventures. A lot of it was rules still in playtesting, themed attributed, homemade rules, and the like. Not paying attention, he moved to go to the bathroom and grab a snack before he settled in for some reading.

Left alone the book seemed quite innocent. For a few moments after Miles left the room, it remained that way. Then, the dragon on the cover seemed to shuffle, slither, and shake before the pages of the book began to glow. Around it, the papers, booklets, and other supplements to Dungeons and Dragons flashed gold before golden copies of every letter, title, and diagram were lifted off of the papers and pulled into the book. The process only took seconds before it finished, leaving the other documents untouched and the book as innocent as ever.

However, the forces behind the book were pleased that their future heroes had so many more options now.

(D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D)

"Alright guys, you all know the drill. Let's get down to some adventuring," Miles grinned as he led his friends down to the basement. There in the game room (not just for D&D, but the poker parties and other games his parents enjoyed) with a large table already set up with snacks at the sides. The leather-bound book was set behind a folding board which depicted several people fighting against a large red dragon.

Miles took a seat at his chair behind the Dungeon Master's screen where his notebook and writing utensils were set up and waiting for him.

Sitting on the right side of the table was a girl his age. She was a girl with short brown hair with a simple red shirt and a denim jacket with jeans of her own. She didn't try to stand out, only having an average figure and didn't wear an outfit to show off, but merely seem reasonably fashionable. Her name was Rachel Gray and the one who introduced Miles to D&D when they met at Bill's during a card tournament.

Across from Miles was the second boy of the group. He had short black hair and wore black jeans and a black shirt, sporting silver bracelets. He wasn't a goth, although to the people who didn't know the scene very well he sure seemed like one. He just liked the fashion and the colors. His name was Kyle Murphy.

The last girl of the group across from Rachel seemed to be the most fashion conscious, wearing more modern fashions of a white top with a denim jacket with shorts and even had painted toenails. Her blonde hair was long with red highlights and trailed down to her shoulders. Her name was Tonia Marsh. She was one of the girls who could get along with any clique in school and she fit right in with the group of adventurers, finding the games fun and exciting. She actually aspired to be a writer so D&D fit right into her normal hobbies.

"Oooh, new adventure?" Rachel grinned as she saw the book on the table.

"An anthology," Miles grinned as his friends took their seats. "We've got adventures for days here. Perfect for a marathon run."

"Sweet," Kyle whooped. "So are we waiting for Steve or what?"

"Nah. He called and said he'd be late," Miles shook his head. "So he said to create him a character and he'd have it meet up with us later."

"Then let's get started!" Tonia nodded, taking a character creation sheet. "So do we have a theme this time? I mean, usually when we marathon or have a holiday, we do some kind of theme."

"Like at Christmas and we all took those holiday-themed archetypes," Rachel snickered. "Or when Kyle here had our characters team up like power rangers. We were color-coded and hamming it up then."

"And kicking bad guy ass the whole way," Kyle defended.

"Kind of funny when the dragon laughed at us when we tried the roll call with it though," Miles snickered.

"Oh yeah," Rachel agreed. "Still, we could use a theme. I mean, this is our last marathon before we split up for school. Sure, we could go through cameras online but it won't be the same. So why don't we have a theme of originals? Just the stuff from the player's handbook. No additions, no supplements, just the core game."

"Cool. It's like revisiting when we all started playing in grade nine," Tonia nodded.

"Works for me," Kyle agreed.

"Okay. We are settled then," Miles nodded, taking a character creation sheet of his own. "So let's get down to business then. We've got adventurers to create."

Dungeons and Dragons was a story-driven game, which meant that characters had to have a fair amount of stats to reflect how they interacted with the world they would have their adventure in. So characters would have certain stats based off of their species as well as what kind of class they were and what kind of background they had. They could be Lawful Good nobility all the way down to the Chaotic Evil Criminals and it would reflect in their skills.

Each character had six statistics which created their baselines. Those stats were:

Strength, which measured physical power.

Dexterity, which measured agility

Constitution, which measured endurance

Intelligence, which measured reasoning and memory.

Wisdom, measuring perception and insight

Charisma, measuring force of personality.

From those six stats came a number of abilities which the characters could be proficient in. They couldn't master them all, like how no one in real life could master everything. It was a moderate list of abilities that all stemmed from the original six abilities. Strength governed athletics. Dexterity governed Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth. Constitution didn't govern any skills, but was rather a passive ability. Intelligence connected to the Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion skills. Wisdom led to Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, and Survival skills. Finally, Charisma was the ability connected to Deception, Intimidation, Performance, and Persuasion skills.

Another aspect which filled more of the roleplay than mechanics was the personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws of the characters. They were more for the current personality of the characters and made the game more fun. The personality traits were that characters quirks and daily habits. The ideal was what they truly believed in, something which shaped them. The bond was something which had a character connected to something, be it a goal or a connection to something or someone precious. The flaw was the tidbit which someone could exploit or a quirk which could bring the character to ruin if they didn't watch themselves.

Classes were more or less jobs the characters took, giving them a current skillset to work with when they were on their adventure. The classes were:

Barbarian: the free wanderers of the wilderness

Bard: the magical musicians and entertainers

Cleric: A servant of the gods

Druid: the worshipers of nature itself

Fighter: the martially-minded soldier

Monk: the enlightened martial artist

Paladin: the righteous warrior of good

Ranger: the hunters of beast and monster alike

Rogue: the stealthy scoundrels of civilization

Sorcerer: the wellspring of pure mana

Warlock: the servant of supernatural forces besides the gods

Wizard: the arcane scholars of magic

Before anyone could pick which class they were though, it all came down to which species they wanted to be. Since the group was going to be going by core rules without any of the added material, they only had seven to choose from.

Human: the standard being and most populous, but also the most varied.

Dwarf: the hardy and hairy minders of the mountains

Elves: the graceful and nigh-immortal nobles

Gnome: the tiny tinkers who love a good joke.

Halfling: the good-hearted and joyful farming folk.

Tiefling: unfortunate souls born from the union of a human and a fiend.

Dragonborn: dragon-like humanoids who hailed from another land.

The four players wrote in the blanks on their sheets, checking the player's manual as they did so. They rolled their dice to determine their stats and put in the numbers they got. After several moments, they managed to get their characters finished.

"Okay," Miles nodded, writing in the last bit of information. "So let's hear it people. Who do we have?"

"I'll go first," Tonia offered. "Her name's Medea Argos. She's a half-elf from a Noble background who is also a Wizard, or maybe you could call her a Witch?"

"Interesting idea. So what's her story?" asked Miles.

"Well, she's always fashionable and puts a lot of effort into looking her best. She's fiercely independent though, wanting to prove she's more than just her family name. She'll face any challenge to win her family's approval as a person, rather than just a political pawn. However, she does hide a truly shameful secret which could haunt her family for some time."

"Oh, a dirty secret," Rachel grinned. "Scandalous."

"Yes. You see, she got involved with a man who she thought she was in love with. Despite all of her schooling, she was rather naïve to the world. He convinced her to use her magic to help him in what she thought was harmless tasks. In truth though, they were crimes he used to help his own station or line his pockets. She would have eventually done worse, but she spotted him using the same loving words he spoke to her on another woman one day at a party neither knew the other was attending. Heartbroken and determined not to let it happen again, Medea took up adventuring so she could learn about the world and perhaps mend her own heart in the process."

"Only you could turn D&D into a romance," Kyle smirked, shaking his head.

"Hush you. Anyway, she has 8 Strength, 15 Dexterity, 18 Constitution, 19 Intelligence, 11 Wisdom, and 14 Charisma. She's proficient in Arcana, History, Investigation, Perception, Persuasion, and Religion." Tonia checked her papers, "So her modifiers are -1, +2, +4, +4, +0, and +2 in that order."

"Sounds okay for a Wizard," Miles nodded, making a note. "Okay, who's next?"

"I suppose I can go," Kyle nodded. "My guy's name is Rael Xiloscient. He's a Wood Elf Paladin who's got the Folk Hero background."

"How'd that happen?" asked Rachel.

"Simple. A band of Orcs ended up near the forest and weren't shy in starting to chop everything down and hunt any animal they could get their hands on. That included everyone and everything in the village nearby," Kyle explained. "Rael and some friends found them and decided to do something about it. They managed to drive the orcs out with Rael killing the leader and it changed his life. So rather than just react to enemies, Rael wanted to go out and deal with them, which led him to leaving and getting training as a paladin, some of the elite fighters in the world. Now he's on the forefront, exploring all the natural wonders of the world and fighting any evil threatening it."

"Cool," Miles nodded. "So what are his characteristics and stats?"

"Well, Rael is confident in his own skills and tries to pass that confidence to others," Kyle answered. "His strongest ideal is to respect everyone since they deserve it until they do something to earn scorn. As a paladin, his bond is to protect people who can't protect themselves. His major flaw is that he's still young in elf terms. He doesn't have his adult name yet, so he can be a bit impulsive still."

"Ah, aren't we all," Miles chuckled. "And his stats?"

"Strength is 16, Dexterity 15, Constitution 13, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 13, and Charisma 14," the elf player answered. "So that makes the modifiers, +3, +2, +1, +0, +1 and +2."

"Got it," Miles nodded. "Okay, Rachel?"

"May I introduce Kathra Fireforge," Rachel lifted her paper. "She's a Mountain Dwarf, or a Shield Dwarf as the locals of Faerun call them. She's a Clan Crafter and-!"

"Wait, that isn't in the player's handbook," Kyle spoke up.

"It's in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. It's the campaign setting, which counts as core content,"

Rachel smirked. "Anyway, she was trained as a blacksmith by her people, but she doesn't just want to learn everything her people know, but advance it by learning more. So she got into adventuring in order to see what other works of blacksmithing are out there in hopes of copying the techniques and bringing them back home."

"Well, it's a bit more altruistic than some adventurers," Miles nodded, making note of the story. "So what are her characteristics and stats?"

Rachel set her paper down as she replied, "Well, she's a total perfectionist at her work. Nothing but her best effort in anything. She aspires to be the best there is and one day return home to prove to her clan that she is the best. Her main flaw though is that she gets really jealous of people who made something better than her. She sees rivals everywhere."

"Like most ambitious dwarves then," Tonia teased, earning a raspberry from Rachel.

"Anyway, her stats are Strength 17, Dexterity 16, Constitution 16, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 14, and Charisma 10. So that makes her modifiers are +3, +3, +3, +2, +2, and +0."

"Looks like the Fighter's lucked out," Miles grinned, taking the notes for Rachel's character. "Okay, and Steve's character here will join you guys later. His name is Dorn Evenwood, a human Ranger."

"Woo, he's going to stand out like a sore thumb in this group," Tonia grimaced.

"Meh, if he cared about things like that he wouldn't be a ranger," Miles shrugged. "Anyway, he's an outlander, meaning he was raised by a clan in the wilderness. He's explored every inch of it and now wants to explore the world now that he's got the supplies and cash to do it. His ideal is the changing world and being able to change with it, although he holds his clan as the most important thing. His flaw though is that he tends to throw caution to the wind in his desire to live life to the fullest."

"He'll get along with Rael in that case," Kyle grinned. "So what skills does he have to help us?"

"15 Strength, 17 Dexterity, 16 Constitution, 14 Intelligence, 17 Wisdom, and 13 Charisma," Miles answered, "So, +2, +3, +3, +2, +3, +1"

"Damn you and your good rolls," Rachel shook her head.

"Oh like you were any worse," Tonia pouted. "I'm the one who got a -1 for a Strength Modifier."

"Not like you'll use it since you're a wizard," Rachel retorted.

Miles clapped his hands, ending the small spat, "Okay, our characters are ready to roll. Now, we just need the stage. All of you buckle in and get ready as we follow the trail of riches once thought lost and intrigue and backstabbing all around the corner. We're about to set out on a quest for the Lost Mine of Phandelver."

As the words left Miles' mouth, the book in the middle of the table suddenly jerked with a loud thud. All eyes turned to it. At first, they all thought they were just hearing things or someone had been above them. The book then opened itself the pages blank but almost glowing. Around it, the sheets the players used to create their characters were drawn to the book before vanishing into it. With them, the sets of polyhedral dice set in front of each player were drawn into the pages.

On the pages themselves, sketches began to make themselves, depicting four fantasy genre characters. A dwarf, an elf, a half-elf, and a human. The four players could only blink, but that was all they could do before their own bodies became covered in a golden aura. Tonia let out a mute shriek while Kyle attempted to run before all four of them vanished and the aura was drawn into the book, filling the sketches with color. Once the sketches were colored, the book flipped over to near the beginning where an image of a dragon fighting a group of adventurers underground was seen with a title over it.

Lost Mine of Phandelver

(D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D)

"AHHHHHHH!"

The world spun for the four players before they collapsed. Groans echoed from the pile as they felt their senses come back. Getting up and pulling away, they all took in their surroundings finding themselves in a cozy tavern-like atmosphere. Hunting trophies line the walls and there were even tapestries from the railing above. A warm fire crackled from a nearby hearth, but the four players were anything but calm.

"Guys, what-?" one of the men asked before he turned to see his friends. He stopped and gaped, "What the hell?!"

The group began looking at each other and began making the same exclamations as none of them appeared now as they did outside of the book.

The first of the two females was a beautiful woman, obviously someone who looked like a princess. She sported a blue and gold corset on top of a black blouse with a blue shawl over her shoulders and a long dark blue skirt. She had shoulder length blue hair with a braid tied near her temple. Her eyes were lilac and she was pretty with pale skin, but she also had rather pointed ears, marking a non-human ancestry. Around her neck hung a crystal which glowed slightly with purple light, although no one was in the state of mind to notice it.

The first of the males was an almost fairy-like man with a lithe build but donned in green chainmail with green armor over his arms and legs, marked with crawling ivy decoration. Two swords were on either hip and his skin was almost like copper with black hair tied in a simple ponytail. His ears were his most noticeable trait, the tips extending several inches. Even with his panicked look, his supernatural looks still made him seem graceful.

The second female was a short and stout woman at only four feet and four inches. She had vibrant red hair which was tied in red braids that draped down her front and freckles which splashed across her nose. Her earthen brown eyes were wide with panic. She was wearing leather armor over simple clothing made for travel and seemed armed to the teeth with two shortswords and two handaxes at her side while a longbow and quiver was strapped to a quiver on her back, along with her backpack.

The last male of the group was the only normal one of them all. He wore leather armor like the others, but it seemed to be more weathered, like it had been out in the open longer than the others. Around his neck was a necklace which seemed to be made of bear claws and his features were undeniably human with tangled brown hair and slight stubble on his face. Like the others, he was armed with weapons, two shortswords of his own and a longbow over his shoulder.

"Who are you?!" the four shouted at each other at once.

"Ah, don't you lot recognize your own teammates?"

The four stopped and turned to where they heard the Scottish-like voice. There past a pillar was a tavern counter with large barrels tapped behind it. There polishing a tankard was a dwarf. Not someone in the statue, but an actual dwarf of mythological persuasion. He was burly and stout, much like the redhead of the group. He also sported thick brown hair which was long and it made it difficult to know where his hair ended and his beard began, looking much like the typical dwarf.

The dwarf smiled and hopped off a stool behind the counter before walking out to the group, "Well, it's been a while since another group of adventurers passed through. Welcome to the The Crimson Dragon, the gathering point of adventurers all over Toril and beyond!"

The male elf blinked and spoke for the rest, "What?"

The dwarf just chuckled, "Ah, you're all new then. Well, come on over and pull up some chairs and I'll help you all out."

The adventurers looked to each other, all of them confused, but they didn't have much of an option. They got to their feet and followed the dwarf to a table near the fire. The dwarf shouted to another portion of the room and a human woman stepped out from behind a door and was quick to begin filling five tankards with drink. The homey woman smiled as she set the tankards with the group.

"Well then, I'll explain," the dwarf began. "How about sharing some names?"

"Medea Argos," spoke the half-elf

"Dorn Evenwood," answered the human.

"Kathra Fireforge," the female dwarf replied.

"Rael Xiloscient," the elf supplied.

The four made their answers, but then blinked and tried to answer again. Every time they tried to say the names they knew they were born with, all that came out were the names which they knew were not theirs. The dwarf leading the discussion just snickered before clapping his hands to get their attention.

"Alright, so, did any of you begin a game of Dungeons & Dragons with a leatherbound book?"

"How did you know that?" asked Dorn.

"Well, those books are tomes which connect our world with yours," the dwarf replied. "They appear only to adventurers who have the potential to become great. You lot managed to make some waves in your adventures, possibly becoming as strong as anyone can get?"

"Um…you mean Level 20?" asked Medea, confused.

"We've gone past that," Dorn scratched his head. "Using those Epic Character homebrew rules…"

"Well, no wonder you were all chosen!" the dwarf laughed. "You all were picked to reach a new level of adventuring. Beyond just pen and paper and little figures, you all were pulled to Faeurn in order to experience the real thing! The Dungeon Master must truly believe you can be great if he picked all four of you."

Kathra frowned, "Wait, so we were pulled into Faerun? We've become our characters? We're living the game now?"

"What is the game to you, is reality to us," the dwarf explained. "But that is the gist of the situation."

"Seriously?" Rael gaped. "So, we're stuck here now?"

"Oh not in the least," the dwarf waved off the panic. "Once you pass your first adventure, you can leave the book."

"That's it?" Kathra frowned. "Okay, so let's go out and kick some ass and we can go home."

"Ah, things are not going to be so easy," the dwarf warned his fellow stout folk. "If I'm right, you all still have your dice on you? The ones which are made into all of the strange shapes?"

The group was confused, but they all began checking their pockets. After some moments of digging, they each retrieved a full set of polyhedral dice. Rael's were yellow, Medea's were purple, Dorn's were green, and Kathra's were blue. They were all surprised that they had them, but the dwarf barkeep nodded in satisfaction.

"Ah, there we go. Those dice are going to be needed for every encounter," the dwarf explained. "Now, I know you outworld types don't know how to use a sword or ride a horse. That's part of why you were transformed into the characters you built. However, these dice will help you with your skills and your battles."

"How do they do that?" asked Medea.

"I'll show you," the dwarf smiled. He made a gesture with his hand before a circle of light appeared nearby and a wooden dummy appeared standing on a mount. "Why don't one of you take up in front of it and draw your weapons?"

The four looked to each other before Kartha took the lead and stepped in front of the dummy and drew her shortswords.

"Alright, now the Dungeon Master has given you all special magic which lets you use the dice to help your actions. When you're about to fight a monster and you need to use the dice, try to roll it and the initiative will be cast. It will help you make the fight more understandable and fit a pattern you can follow."

"Right," Kathra frowned and walked to the table and retrieved her dice. Picking out the d20 she tossed it to the ground and rolled to the dummy's feet. As the die was rolling, there was a flash of red from the dummy before a red d20 rolled to Kathra's feet. Her die rolled a 14, but the dummy's was a 20. Once both dice finished rolling, and showed their numbers, they vanished.

"Oooh, too bad. The dummy gets to move first," the dwarf shook his head.

"Your dice rolls still screw you at the funniest times," Rael laughed.

"Shut up!" Kathra hissed.

The dummy shuddered and seemed to glide across the floor before getting into range of 5 feet from the dwarf.

"Now, you know how fighting happens in your dice game? Armor Class and all that?" asked the dwarf.

"Yeah, we all know that," Dorn nodded.

"Good. Now, when you intend to attack in any way, you can toss your d20 to try and make your attack. Provided it's your turn of course," the dwarf explained. "Now, the dummy gets to attack first since it had the higher initiative."

The dummy's d20 flew again and landed on a 19. With the roll, the number suddenly changed, adding 2 to the roll, turning 21.

"Hey wait-?!" Kathra proclaimed before the dummy swung and sunk a wood arm into her side, making her grunt and stumble. "Ow!"

"Yup. It rolled higher than your Armor Class," the barkeep nodded. "If I recall right, Kathra's AC is 14, Rael's is 16, Medea's is 12, and Dorn's is 14."

"How do you know that?" asked Dorn with a raised eyebrow.

The barkeep chuckled, "It's my business to make sure all adventurers who pass through my tavern to be ready for the wide world out there. Now Kathra, let's see you make your counterattack."

"My pleasure," Kathra grunted. Lifting her swords again, she prepared to strike. As she moved to attack, her pocket glowed blue before her d20 flew out of its own accord. It tumbled across the floor before landing on a one. It turned black and vanished. At the same time, Kathra tripped and stumbled past the dummy. "H-Hey!"

"And that would be the penalty of rolling a 1," the barkeep chuckled.

Kathra growled and got up as the dummy turned around. The red d20 of the dummy rolled again, landing on a 6. The dummy swung and Kathra suddenly felt her body move almost on automatic as she lifted her swords and crossed them, letting the dummy's arm crash against the metal harmlessly.

"There we go," Medea nodded. "Good job Kathra!"

"Yeah, yeah," Kathra huffed. "My turn!" She rolled her die again, this time landing on a 20. As she reared her sword back for a strike, the d20 flashed brightly before from that light shot out a glowing d6. The dice landed on a 2 which became a 4 before her modifier made it a 7. The dice flashed and Kathra swung her sword and again, she felt her body react almost on automatic as the sword slashed across the dummy's wooden torso, breaking the wood deeply.

"Ah, there you go! Critical hit!" the barkeep cheered. "7 damage to the dummy! Best of all, since you've got two light weapons, you can have a bonus action of a second attack!"

"My pleasure!" Kathra grinned, moving to strike with her second sword. Her die rolled again, this time on an eleven. The die flashed and launched only one d6, landing on a 6. The number remained unchanged as Kathra swing again with her second sword, this time smashing through the dummy and letting the pieces collapse to the ground. "Ah, that felt good!"

"Way to teach that wood a lesson!" Rael whistled. Before her, the dummy flashed blue before it shattered into motes of light.

Kathra huffed and moved back to the table where the barkeep passed her a tankard and she drank deeply from it. Slamming it down, she looked to her fellow dwarf, "Alright then. So when we want to fight, but none of us know how, we can use the dice to do it for us."

"That's right," the barkeep nodded. "Also, you know about Skill Checks and all that, right?"

"Duh," Dorn snorted. "So following this then, casting magic and doing skill checks all require us to roll some dice first and our results determines how well we do?"

"Yup!" the barkeep nodded. "The Dungeon Master, the one who created this little enterprise, made it so that your skills with the dice and the game can be applied to the world here to help you survive and even thrive."

"How generous of him," Kathra huffed, taking another good swig of their drinks. "Man this is good. So, if we got dragged into here to go on an adventure, how do we go on it?"

"Ah, now we get to the fun part!" the barkeep laughed. "The question is, what adventure did you lot pick?"

"Uh…Dorn?" Rael looked to their Ranger ally.

"Um…," Dorn wracked his brain for a moment. In all the panic and adrenaline rush of what was happening to them, the name of the adventure he had chosen had slipped his mind.

"Try an Intelligence Check," the Barkeep suggested. "Just roll the die and declare what check you want to make. If it applies, it will work."

"Right, right," Dorn plucked up his green d20 and rolled it across the table, "Intelligence Check." The die stopped on a 13 before shifting up to a 15 and vanished in a flash of green. Dorn suddenly perked up, "Oh, I remember now. It was Lost Mine of Phandelver."

"You don't say!" the Barkeep gasped. "Well, I never thought that place would be found again!"

"You know about it?" asked Rael. "Then could you give us a clue as to what we're getting into?"

The Barkeep shook his head, "Sorry laddie, but would a Dungeon Master in your game bring you any information other than what your characters would already discover or know?"

"No," Medea groaned. She then perked up, "Wait, Dorn, you read the adventure, right? Can you tell us anything?"

"Sure, I-!" Dorn began, but then stopped himself. He narrowed his eyes and scratched his head, "Um...wait, I knew it. I swear I did…"

"Again, if there's no way your character would know about it, then you can't say or act on it," the Barkeep shook his head. "Still, if you were going to run the game on your side, you were likely going to have some kind of adventure hook to get the players involved, right?"

Dorn nodded, "Yeah, I did. All four of us are the grandchildren or children of an adventuring group that Gundren Rockseeker ran with in his wilder days. He's collected us together and hired us to a wagon of supplies to Phandalin from Neverwinter. He's promising us ten gold pieces each when we deliver the supplies to a place called Barthen's Provisions."

"And there's your start," the Barkeep smiled. "Well, better drink up and get going. Gundren Rockseeker must have found something big if he's bringing so many provisions."

"Well, it's not like we've got a choice," Kathra huffed before she gulped down what was left of her drink. "Let's go!"

The group did just that and they walked to the front of the tavern before stepping out. As they did so, their minds were suddenly, although gently, filled with a meeting that they knew they never had. They recalled sitting in another tavern where a dwarf with black hair was looking around suspiciously while a human with gray hair and a rather noble stature was next to him. Immediately, they knew the pair to be Gundren Rockseeker and Sildar Hallwinter. The dwarf was acting skittish, explaining that he had found 'something big' and he needed their help to move some mining supplies. He and Sildar were going were riding ahead to 'take care of business.'

The group rubbed their heads, looking to each other in confusion before they took notice of the world around them. Streets were lined with medieval-style buildings, some seemed to be inns and other taverns while others just seemed to be shops. People milled about, and not all of them were human. Other dwarves, tiny people which looked like halflings and gnomes, a gray skinned half-orc, and what looked like even a dragonborn were milling about and minding their own business.

"O…kay," Rael blinked. "I believe it now. We are not in Kansas anymore."

"No shit," Kathra agreed.

"So…where are the supplies we're supposed to guard?" asked Medea.

"Probably at the supply store that Gundren told us about," Dorn shook his head, feeling the false memory came to him. Gundren told them about a supply store he was using that he trusted with the large order of supplies. The supplies were moved to an equipage business and were waiting for the party to arrive and claim them. Dorn even had the scroll needed to claim the wagon, oxen and all.

"So let's go then," Rael nodded.

"No, wait, we should first check our own supplies and see if we have anything that we still need to buy," Kathra shook her head. "Let's make sure we know we're equipped before we handle anything else."

"Right, okay," Rael nodded. As an experienced D&D player, he knew the importance of being properly equipped.

Moving down the street, the group found at least an open portion of the street which allowed them to look through their belongings. Rael was quick to discover that, despite having claimed a longbow for himself, he did not have a quiver or arrows to go with it. He also found his holy symbol was an oak leaf, representing the elven god of nature, Rillifane Rallathil.

Kathra found that she did have the arrows needed for her own bow, but she did not have the quiver for them. The arrows were just bundled together with some loose twine for easy transportation. It made Kathra theorize that if the books didn't say they would have the equipment, then they wouldn't have them when they began as their new characters.

Finally, Medea had the equipment she needed, but she had absolutely no supplies for adventuring. No torches, no rations, no bedrolls, or even the usual supplies adventurers needed to survive in the wild. The pretty half-elf blushed in embarrassment over the blunder. She quickly defended herself, saying that she would buy supplies once they got to the first source of civilization like in other games.

Finding the merchant district wasn't hard since it was near the usual inns and similar establishments. It was called the Merchant Quarter for a reason after all, even if others called it Protector's Enclave.

Moving through the streets wasn't difficult, but the party moved slowly since they were rather in awe over how one of the cities they so often played in was real and right in front of their eyes. Still, they managed to rubberneck their way through the streets and to one of the many stories selling the weapons and supplies they would need.

"Rosethorn Supplies," Kathra read the sign over the store, emblazoned with a rose. "Well, seems pleasant enough."

"Neverwinter is a pretty law-abiding place," Dorn nodded. "Usually. We're less likely to get swindled in the official merchant areas than in a place like Waterdeep with all of the politics and hidden rogues."

"Then we can go in," Medea shrugged. "Besides, no one's going to be stupid enough to swindle me. I'm one of the nobility, remember?"

"Works for me," Kathra smiled as the two women entered the store. The two men shrugged to each other and followed them inside.

Inside of the store was just what the group had been expecting from their number of hours playing the classic tabletop game. Tables filled with larger pieces while shelves lined the walls with all sorts of supplies and equipment on them.

"Wow," Dorn admired. "It's just like the game."

"I know," Kathra smiled dazedly.

"It's awesome," Medea nodded. Stepping forward, she looked around for someone who ran the store, "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Just a moment! I'm in the back!" a woman's voice called from beyond the desk. The sounds of feet pattering on the floor came before a small person, a Halfling, hopped into a stool which let her reach the counter. She wore nice clothing and had bushy brown hair and a natural smile on her face. She took in her customers before gasping at the sight of Medea. "Oh! Young Lady Argos! Whatever are you doing in my store?"

"What else? Shopping," Medea smiled kindly. "My friends and are I beginning our new adventuring career and we're…a little short on supplies for the job we took."

"Ah yes. It happens with all of the new groups," the Halfling nodded. "Well, don't be shy. Just say what you need and Tyna Rosethorn can get it for you!"

Rael quickly got the quiver he needed and stocked up on arrows. The Halfling couldn't help but tease him a little, "Oh I've seen so many Paladins get so sharp about their steel, but when it comes to the little things, it just seems to slip their minds. It doesn't matter which race or religion, that's one thing they seem to have in common."

"Eh he heh," Rael blushed slightly, although he tried not to look it. He happily payed the two gold for the supplies.

Kathra got her quiver, getting her own round of good-natured teasing, "I swear, if it doesn't involve metal or stone, most Dwarves wouldn't notice it either."

"Yeah, we can be metalheads," Kathra laughed heartily. "I guess it's why we hang out with other people. We get reminded of little things like that until we finally remember it ourselves."

"Ahahah! Too true," the Halfling laughed as Kathra passed the gold she owed for the item.

Finally, Medea brought her basic supplies to the counter. Tyna gave a kind smile to Medea, "Well, it's good to see a young lady standing up and trying to make something of herself. Far too many people who are born into luxury simply like to rest on their laurels. Although most of them forget something important and play it off like they don't need them."

Medea blushed slightly, "W-Well, one gets so excited they forget the little things."

"That we do," Tyna smiled, accepting payment for the goods. The bedroll and rations cost her 6 gold. The weight of the items were quite noticeable for her as opposed to her friends. With only a Strength score of 8, she certainly wasn't the brawniest member of the group.

One thing everyone did was buy a new waterskin with themselves, although Medea bought two of them. They all knew from longer games that they had to drink a pint of water a day and eat a serving of rations or else they'd suffer a level of exhaustion which would impede their abilities. Too many levels of exhaustion, and they'd end up dead.

A possibility none of the group wished to entertain.

With a happy goodbye from the shop owner, the group set back out from the shop. New supplies in hand, the party took Dorn's lead as they headed to the equipage business which had the supplies.

Again, thanks to the false memories of their characters, the group found the equipage business at the edge of the city. The desk attendant was a surly human who was annoyed it took them so long to get there, but he was happy to get the wagon off his hands so he could finally get paid for holding it. Fortunately, the pay was handled beforehand by the one entrusted with the wagon until the party could reach it, so all the group had to do was show their scroll.

Once the paperwork was out of the way, the group settled onto the wagon. Rael and Medea took seats at the front where they would drive the oxen. Dorn and Kathra sat in the cargo area for vantage points and keeping an eye on their flank.

"Well, we're off on an adventure," Dorn smiled as Rael flicked the reins, setting the oxen on their course. "Come on. We should be more excited than this!"

Kathra rolled her eyes, "Let's save that for when things pick up. Then I'll say I'm excited."

"Same," Rael agreed.

"If we had an adventuring soundtrack, then I'd feel it more," Medea added.

Dorn rolled his eyes but chuckled all the same.

(D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D)

"So…bored…" Rael muttered.

It had been two and a half days since the group had set out. The travel portion hadn't nearly been as exciting or filled with encounters as some of their games had been. The scenery was pleasant enough, and the air smelled clean and fresh, but there was absolutely nothing to do aside from keeping an eye out for threats and converse.

The first day travelling south on the High Road from Neverwinter had them talking about why none of them were more frightened by what was happening to them all. Dorn had suggested that since they were all fantasy enthusiasts, they were all able to suspend their disbelief better than most folks which kept them from freaking out too badly when they were dropped into their current situation.

Medea offered the opinion that since nothing bad happened to them, and they were able to get situated in a calm environment like The Red Dragon and Neverwinter, they were able to accept their surroundings much easier. If they ended up in a battle like some stories of people from Earth ending up in a fantasy world, they wouldn't have been nearly as accepting of their situation.

Kathra just threw in the theory that something about the magic that brought them to The Forgotten Realms kept them from freaking out too much until they were ready to deal with it. It as the most paranoid of the answers, so the group didn't spend too much time dissecting it.

Rael just gave the simplest opinion: that they were all fans of Dungeons & Dragons and the chance to live the adventures instead of just playing them had them all giddy like little kids going to Disneyland. That got chuckles from everyone as they couldn't really deny it, risks of an adventure aside.

The second day they wondered how everyone back home was reacting to their disappearance. Two days gone without a word was going to have their families worried about them to say the least. None of them liked that idea, fearing that it might whip the neighborhood into a frenzy. Kathra just hoped that some flake with an agenda didn't blame the game for their disappearance like so many people in the sixties blamed it for their druggie kids going off the wall.

They reached their third day and made the big move of turning to their left at a crossroads and onto the Triboar Trail, which would take them closer to Phandalin, the destination of the supplies they had been tasked to protect and deliver.

"So, how much farther to Phandalin?" asked Medea, sitting at the front of the wagon next to Kathra. She was bored and a little tired.

"According to the directions, we'll be on the right path when we turn right on the next path," Rael answered, perched in the wagon with Dorn.

As the party moved closer to the woods, Dorn was finding that his eyesight was taking more notice of his surroundings. His Favored Terrain was the forest, so he had some advantages when he was in the forest. Also, he had the highest Passive Perception among the party. That allowed him a little bit more awareness than the others, which likely would come in handy later.

The trail was becoming wilder with the trees coming closer to the trail. Dorn kept his eyes sharp, knowing it was becoming a good spot to make a trap for unsuspecting travelers. It was a notion he passed to his friends, who immediately began looking for possible threats and attackers.

No attacks came, and the party continued, turning around a bend before Kathra brought the wagon to a stop as all of the members saw larger forms laying in the middle of the road between two deep thickets. It didn't take a genius to guess what the forms were or what had happened to them, since there were black-feathered arrows sticking out of them.

"Are those horses?" asked Kathra, seeing the dead animals.

"Looks like it," Rael frowned at the sight. "And in the middle of the road? I smell a trap."

"Ditto," Medea frowned. "So what do we do?"

"Well, we can't just sit here. We have to move the horses," Kathra frowned. She had a soft spot for horses, like many girls did at one point or another, so she was distressed about the death of the horses. "Rael and I can check out the horses and try to move them. Dorn, you and Medea stay here and be our eyes."

"Right," Dorn nodded, taking his bow from his shoulder.

The Elf Paladin and Dwarf Fighter stepped off the wagon before they approached the two dead horses. Both kept their eyes on their surroundings as they reached the horses. Kathra frowned sadly and kneeled down, petting one dead horse's mane.

"Poor thing," Kathra murmured sadly.

"Yeah," Rael nodded. "Still, do these horses look familiar to you? Like, in the memories of our characters?"

Kathra nodded, her face like stone, "Yeah. These horses were the ones Gundren and Sildar were riding when they left Neverwinter." Both of them recognized the horses not only from the coloring, but also because of the saddles. Sildar's was ornate, a man of position while Gundren's was functional even if it still had the marks of dwarven make. It was a unique set of saddles which made them easy to identify.

"Bodies don't seem that old. Maybe a day or so," Rael nodded, looking to the horses. They were cold, but there was no sign of decomposition. The kills were still fresh, or so he assumed. He was no expert, but he knew enough to tell a fresh body from an old one.

Kathra looked to the saddle bags and opened them, finding nothing except for an empty scroll case, "Looted. Looks like they were robbed of everything they had."

"Great," Rael frowned. "Okay, let's move them and-!" He was cut off when a red d20 die rolled between himself and Kathra. Both blinked, their eyes drawn to it despite themselves. The die came to a stop on a 5 before the number glowed and turned to an 11. The dice then darkened and vanished, leaving the pair confused.

"Why did…?" Kathra frowned, wondering why a d20 would just appear like that. The only ones who rolled the dice besides the players was the DM when he rolled for attacks, encounters, or monster abilities. As she was thinking of it, she suddenly gasped and looked to where Dorn and Medea were. They were still at the wagon, looking at the ground where a similar dice had landed.

"COMPANY!" she shouted loudly, alerting her friends.

"GREEEEEE!"

Kathra's call was followed by loud screeches of creatures who burst from the trees. They were short humanoids with yellow skin with long ears, long noses, and greasy hairs. They wore bits of leather and metal armor although it seemed they collected it piece by piece rather than a whole. Of course, all of them were armed with either scimitars or bows, making it very obvious that they were there to cause harm. Two of the creatures swarmed out of the forest and down the hillside, blades raised for the Paladin and Fighter. Another two rose from the trees near the wagon with bows at the ready, aimed at the Wizard and Ranger.

"Goblins!" Dorn shouted, easily recognizing the creatures from the Monster Manual. "Everyone, roll initiative!"

The group tried to reach for where their dice were in their pockets, but they needn't have bothered. The dice reacted on their own, flashing their respective colors before their d20's fired out, landing on the ground in front of their respective party members. A red die also came from the goblins and rolled up their numbers. Once the dice were rolled, they flashed and vanished. The order was soon set, starting with Dorn.

The Ranger of the party felt a surge of adrenaline as his turn was made first. Swiftly drawing an arrow, he notched it back. Taking aim at the goblin to his left, he held his breath in a heartbeat to hold still, an instinct rather than an action. As he did, his dice appeared again, rolling for the attack.

The dice rolled, coming to a stop on a 19 which became 24, thanks to his Proficiency (+2) and his Dexterity (+3). The dice flashed green as he released the arrow, letting it fly towards the goblin. The arrow struck true, sinking into the goblin's chest. As the arrow struck, a d8 dice appeared, rolling to a 7. His damage modifier, which was his Dexterity score since he was using a ranged weapon, turning it to a 10.

As the arrow struck the goblin in the chest, making it squawk as it fell back, sinking into its body. The goblin fell back before its body flashed green and exploded into green motes of light. Dorn blinked at the sight, surprised that it had been so easy. Granted, goblins weren't the hardest enemy to fight, especially when there was a good roll…

"My turn!" Medea stood up from her seat and raised her hand at the other goblin aiming a bow at her. The crystal around her neck began to shine before she spoke out, "Ray of Frost!"

Her dice appeared, a purple set, which rolled as she spoke the words. The dice rolled and came up as a 13. Her Spell Attack Modifier, which was her Intelligence (+4) plus her Proficiency (+2), making it a 19. As Medea spoke the words, a sphere of cold blue energy appeared before it shot in a beam at the goblin aiming its bow at her.

The beam of energy flew through the air and crashed into the goblin, making it screech in pain. A purple d8 rolled as the attack struck, landing on a 6. The goblins tumbled, covered in a coating of frost as it stumbled and tried to keep standing.

Kathra's turn came next as she drew her shortswords as she faced off against the goblin that had attempted to jump her. Swords ready, she lunged at the goblin. She swung once, her dice flying from the attack. The first rolled a 2 which turned to a 7 thanks to her attack bonus. She swung, but the goblin ducked under the attack, grinning as it prepared to fight back.

However, Kathra was wielding her two swords. They both had the light property, which let her dual wield them. So with the second weapon, she lunged to stab at the goblin. Again, her blue d20 die rolled to show a 12 which became a 17. This time the blade sunk into the goblin's chest. Unlike Dorn, whose opponent died quickly and Medea's who was covered in frost, Kathra saw the blade sink into the goblin's flesh. It did not leave any blood or wounds, merely a glowing red slash mark as the blade sunk in.

As the blade cut flesh, a d6 rolled to come up as a 4 which then turned to a 7. Normally a second attack wouldn't have the bonus attached. However, Kathra had chosen a Two-Weapon Fighting, fighting style which allowed her to add the bonus even with her second hand. As the blade sunk in, the goblin gave off a gurgle before exploding into blue motes of light.

Rael surged as he felt his turn come over him, lifting his longsword. Gripping it in both hands, the Wood Elf Paladin swung his weapon down hard at the goblin. His yellow dice rolled as he made his attack, landing on a 19 turned 24, letting the blade catch the goblin across the chest.

Normally, the damage dice would have been a d8, but a longsword had the versatile trait, which meant that when wielded with two hands, the damage dice was increased. In this case, the d8 was replaced with a d10, which rolled as the blade hit. The dice landed on a 3, which turned to a 6, leaving a red glowing gash across the goblin's chest.

"Gragh!" the goblin grunted, but snarled and rallied back, lifting its scimitar before lunged at Rael in turn. A red d20 rolled for the attack, coming to an 8 turned 12. It wasn't enough though as the die darkened and the goblin's blade smashed harmlessly against the Paladin's armor.

"Nice try!" Rael frowned, unimpressed.

Nearby, the partially frozen goblin managed to recover himself enough to notch an arrow and fire at Medea. Again, a d20 rolled for the attack, coming up as 6 turned 10. Medea gave off a yelp as she ducked, letting the arrow fly overhead and stick into one of the crates of supplies.

"Woah," Medea trembled, glancing back to see the black feather arrow sticking from the crate.

"Need some help?" asked Dorn, grabbing another arrow.

Perhaps it was feminine pride, noble pride, or simply a gamer's pride, but Medea was quick to get up and shake her head, "No, no! I'm fine!"

"Okay," Dorn nodded, turning to aim at the shivering goblin, "Then I'll just Hold until you land a hit."

To Hold an action was to prepare an action until something happened. Sometimes it was when someone took a hit, or some other event happened. In this case, Dorn would attack the goblin after Medea attacked it, unless the goblin died first.

"Got it," Medea nodded. Flexing her wrist, she pointed up at the goblin and invoked another spell, "Ray of Frost!" Her dice rolled again as her spell fired at the goblin once again. Her dice rolled, landing on an 11 turned 17, letting the spell strike the goblin. The goblin gave a short shriek before freezing solid and shattering into a cloud of purple.

Grinning, Medea looked to Dorn. "See? I've got it."

"Heh," Dorn snickered.

"I got this one!" Kathra turned to see the last goblin as she ran around her Paladin friend. Swords in hand, she prepared to strike the goblin down.

"No, wait! We need him for information!" Rael stopped her with a shout.

"Fine!" Kathra huffed. "You want him?"

"I've got the weapon for it," Rael nodded as he stared down the now worried goblin.

"Fine. I Hold until it hits you," Kathra sighed.

"Thanks," Rale nodded before he lifted his blade, but had turned it so the flat side of the blade would strike instead. Gripping the weapon, he swung hard down at the goblin's head. His roll was a 16 turned 21, which had the flat side of the blade crash into the goblin's head. His d10 rolled, coming up 5 turned 18. A crack sound echoed through the air as the goblin fell to the ground in a heap with a glowing spot on its head, yellow lights rising from the goblin's body.

"Whew," Rael sighed, lowing his blade. "Okay, let's get some rope."

The party relaxed slightly, but they stopped when the motes of light which came from the beat goblins drifted through the air before flowing towards the four party members. Dorn looked at himself as he watched the lights enter his body, making a faint glow which quickly dimmed.

"What was that?" asked Medea, looking at the last of the purple motes entered her.

"Must be the XP from the encounter," Dorn shrugged. He then looked over to where Rael and Kathra were with a downed goblin. "Rael, Kathra, you two okay?"

"We're fine," Rael nodded as Kathra had pulled out her rope and began tying the goblin's arms and legs. As she made the clumsy-looking attempt, her d20 rolled, coming up to an 8 turned 10. It was a Sleight of Hand check with her Intelligence, a rule offered in the source material Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Not that Kathra noticed when she made the sloppy-looking knots to keep the goblin secured.

Dorn and Medea got off the wagon and approached their friends with the unconscious goblin. Medea grimaced at the sight of the creature, "Uglier in real life than in the books."

"Yeah," Kathra nodded, standing up and wiping her nose. "Smells pretty bad too."

"We did pretty well for the first battle though," Rael admitted. "We didn't even get hit."

"We got lucky," Dorn reminded him. "Good dice rolls got us through this. The next fight could end up having us getting our butts kicked."

"Cheery," Medea deadpanned. "Okay, let's wake this rube up and see what he knows about all this." She kneeled down in front of the goblin before she smacked his face a few times, "Hey, wake up! We've got questions for you!"

The goblin gave a groan before he seemed to get his senses back. He was also quick to realize he was tied up and facing down four adventurers who had taken down all of his fellow bandits. The goblin let off a yelp and began babbling in a language the group only assumed was goblin.

"In Common, you twit," Kathra barked. She could understand goblin just fine, but she knew her friends didn't. Not that the goblin had said much, just panicked jabbering of how he gave up and would tell them anything if they let him live.

"Yes!" the goblin nodded, his ears flopping.

"Good boy," Medea smirked. "Now, we have some questions to ask. You answer truthfully, we let you go. You lie, you die, got it?"

Unseen by Medea, her dice reacted and her d20 rolled to the ground. Coming to a stop, it revealed a 16 which shifted up to an 18. The dice then flashed the familiar purple before disappearing. In response, the goblin's eyes widened as it paled considerably.

"Yes! Yes!" the goblin nodded frantically.

"Good," Medea continued to grin maliciously. "Now, those horses. Were they ridden by a man and a dwarf?"

"Yes!" the goblin nodded. "Take back to lair! Human in eating cave but we give dwarf to King Grol!"

Dorn frowned, "So you separated them? Why?"

"King Grol say so! Black Spider want dwarf and dwarf's stuff!" the goblin retorted.

Rael frowned, tapping his chin, "So you have two bases. Where are they?"

The goblin shuffled, but seeing Kathra frown and Medea's gem focus begin to glow made his tongue loosen again, "Cave is northwest from here. Follow trail. Can't miss it. Cragmaw Castle is twenty miles northwest from hideout!"

Dorn retrieved his dice and whispered a faint 'Insight Check' before dropping the dice to the ground. The green d20 rolled, coming up to a total of 17. The dice then flashed green and a feeling of confirmation came over him. The goblin was telling the truth as far as he could tell.

"Ah, good boy then," Medea grinned, patting the goblin's cheek. "Now sit tight. We'll talk about what we'll do with you."

"But I tell the truth!" the goblin cried.

"And you did. Don't worry. We won't kill you," Medea replied as she stood up. The party got her unspoken message and they moved away from the goblin to discuss what they were going to do. Medea sighed and looked to her friends, "Okay, so now what?"

"Simple. We save Sildar!" Kathra insisted.

"No duh," Medea retorted. "I mean how do we do this? Should we go to Phandalin first? Maybe try and get more information and supplies?"

Rael shook his head, "This may be time sensitive. Remember, this isn't dice, paper, and pencil anymore. This is the real thing. Who knows what might be happening to Sildar by this point? We need to get him out of there immediately before the goblins just end up killing him."

"If they didn't already," Kathra frowned, her arms crossed.

Medea deadpanned at her dwarf friend, "Nice optimism there."

Kathra huffed, a little put out by the deadpan and sarcastic look on Medea's face, "It's happened before!"

"Then we go straight to their hideout," Rael interrupted. "We can try to make sure Sildar stays alive and we can get some more clues about what's going on."

"Sounds good to me," Dorn nodded. He then gestured to the bound goblin, "What about that guy?"

The four looked back to the goblin who paled when they all focused their gaze on him. They then turned back to their conference and Dorn sighed, "Well, we can't kill him. In a fight is one thing but…this would just leave a bad taste in my mouth."

"Ditto," Rael nodded. "But if we let him go, he might end up warning his friends. If not for his hideout, then the castle he mentioned."

Kathra gnawed on her lip, "Well…depending how it goes, it can't be going on for long. A few hours I mean. We just keep him tied up and when we save Sildar, we come back and drop this punk off with authorities? I mean, that way we don't kill him."

Medea hummed, "Well, I can agree with that. Even if they end up executing him or something, that's how the law goes I guess."

"Aren't you supposed to be the noble and cheery one?" asked Rael.

"I was until I got burned by a lothario and saw how the real world works," Medea retorted.

"Come on you two. You can kiss up later. Now we've got a job to do," Dorn rolled his eyes before adjusting his pack. "Let's secure the oxen and our prisoner and we can go save Sildar and get a move on this adventure."

The group broke and began leading the oxen to the grassy hillside where they contentedly munched on grass while Rael tied their reigns to the tree. Medea told the goblin what they decided to do with him and he seemed to take it calmly, perhaps if only to keep from getting blasted by Medea's magic.

Once their prisoner and cargo was set, the adventurers checked which direction the goblin's hideout was before they set off in that direction. Dorn was quick to spot the trail, seeing the flattened grass almost like a road sign. With that pointing the way, they headed in what they hoped would be the path to saving one of their patrons.

Now their adventure had truly begun.

To Be Continued...

A/N: This began as a bit of fun for me when I began getting into Dungeons & Dragons. I didn't have a group at the time and I decided to write up some characters and write a novelization of the introductory adventure. This is actually the first rewrite since I finished the first draft and realized I messed up the rules. I considered making it a real story with players narrating in scene breaks, or an isekai like this. If I get enough love for this, I'll set up a poll, and continue with the adventure.