# After Dinner Encounters



## cthuluftaghn (Jun 11, 2002)

In this thread, I will begin posting my journal for a very special series of mini-adventures.  

My eight year old son, Zachary, is just learning to play D&D, and he's catching on very quickly.  I've designed a special father-and-son campaign, just for the two of us.  It is my intention to play a single encounter with him before bedtime, several times each week.  

I'll keep this up as long as he's interested.  We may see him go up to level 20 and beyond in the months and years to come... or this might just fizzle out after a few episodes.  Let's just cross our fingers and see what happens!

So it begins....


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## cthuluftaghn (Jun 11, 2002)

*Session 0001*

Whitefire had lived his whole life inside the walls of the tiny monastery on the southern edge of the Lake of Steam, in the Border Kingdoms. He had just reached the autumn of his 125th year, and the dwarven monk had never seen the outside world, save a myriad of pictures in his learning books. He knew that the day must come for him to leave, but he wasn't ready. Not just yet....

"Wake up! You are ready," the voice in his head was saying (too loudly for this time of morning!). "Whitefire, it is time. Awaken!" Whitefire groaned and opened his eyes. He struggled to focus, and eventually he could discern the figure of his elder master, Tohna Qhan. Master had a stern look on his face, and he held Whitefire’s staff in his hands.

“The others have not yet wakened, Whitefire. Tradition holds that you must depart to meet the rising sun on the horizon. Swiftly now, take your possessions and go. There is nothing more for you to learn here. You cannot delay any longer, Whitefire. It is your time to face the world.”

This surely was not expected! Whitefire had planned on a leisurely breakfast, followed by a peaceful morning of reading and meditation. Travel wasn’t on his agenda. The look on Master’s face told the dwarf that he truly had out-stayed his welcome, however. He was out of excuses. It was time to go… but where?

“Waterdeep!” declared the monk as he gathered his few worldly possessions into a sack and headed towards the gate. “For years, I have read about the City of Splendors.... Now I will see it. Thank you Master, and good bye.”

“Remember what you have learned, young Whitefire. You will need your training and discipline to survive outside these walls. Return when you have discovered your destiny, and when you have wisdom to share with those who wish to learn from your example.” Master Tohna Qhan stood at the gate and watched as Whitefire marched down the path, and into the rising sun….

Whitefire walked for several hours along the southern shore of the Lake of Steam, gazing at everything he saw in wide-eyed wonder. How different the real world seemed from what he had imagined. It was so much… bigger! Master had told him that the journey to Waterdeep was many hundreds of miles. Having no concept of such vast distances, the dwarf wondered if he’d be able to make it by nightfall!

As the noonday sun reached its peak overhead, the rocky terrain forced Whitefire to make a turn towards the South, away from the lake. The water was barely out of site before the monk reached a narrow pass, and he stopped. A rocky ledge to the east stretched skyward and became a steep cliff, much too high for him to climb. To the west, a pile of loosely scattered boulders and rocks made travel in that direction impossible as well. His only option was to keep moving forward. Whitefire didn’t like that. He had been taught to always seek alternatives, as the most obvious path usually held hidden dangers.

Whitefire moved cautiously forward. There were a few scattered trees to his left, and a tiny pond bubbling with steam just beyond the largest tree. This place was uncomfortably hot and humid, and not a single living thing stirred. The monk’s senses went into high alert, and almost immediately he noticed that someone was watching him from atop the rocky ledge.

The figure was relatively short and stocky, much like Whitefire’s own build. However, unlike the fair-skinned shield dwarf, this creature’s skin was bright red and leathery in texture. In addition, Whitefire’s observer had hair that moved and crackled as if it were made of living flame! The inexperienced monk had never seen anything like this, and didn’t recall ever reading about such a creature. In a panic, he crouched into a defensive stance and drew a shuriken from his belt pouch.

In response to the dwarf's aggressive movement, the man-creature let out a furious cry and leaped down from his vantage point to charge at the surprised monk with a wide-tipped half spear. Frozen in fear, Whitefire cringed in agony as the blade slid between his chest and upper arm, putting a deep gash in both. Not only did the spear draw blood, it burned the flesh as well! Shocked into action, the monk let fly his shuriken directly into the face of his attacker.

The creature bellowed and staggered backwards for a moment, only to regain his balance once again. The tiny throwing star had stuck into its forehead. However, this thing’s skin was so thick and tough that the blade barely even drew blood! In a rage, the creature dropped his spear and swung his mighty fist into Whitefire’s face, connecting squarely with his jaw.

Whitefire’s head snapped to the side as the searing fist bruised and burned his chin all at the same time. Not knowing what else to do, the young monk pleaded with the thing, “Why are you attacking me like this!?” he asked in a helpless tone.

“Attacking you, you say?” the creature replied in a high pitched, gravelly voice. “Attack you, I did not. In my home you came, and drew the blade against me!” With that, the angry creature lunged once again at Whitefire. In his anger, however, the beast’s swing was off balance and he stumbled.

Instinctively, the monk brought his wrist down in a chopping motion in an attempt to shatter the shoulder blade of his opponent, who easily dodged the blow. As the thing reached down to pick up its spear, Whitefire attempted to kick it in the face. Again, it easily dodged aside and scrambled across the stony pass and into the steaming pool.

Weakened and afraid to approach this deadly creature, Whitefire drew another shuriken and lobbed it towards his foe. Unfortunately, a low-hanging branch snagged the projectile and dropped it harmlessly to the ground. With a growl, the fiery being hurled his spear back at Whitefire. The monk sidestepped the weapon and immediately tossed another throwing star, which plunked into the water several feet short of its target.

Unarmed after throwing his spear at the dwarf, the thick-skinned creature backed up further into the steaming pond, putting several feet of scalding water between himself and the intruder, Whitefire. Not wanting to get himself hurt any worse on his first day out in the world, the monk once again tried a more diplomatic approach to the situation. “I’ll leave if you stop attacking me,” he said plainly, trying to sound brave.

“Leave my home, you will. Come back you will not, or Dzee will finish taking the blood from you. Be gone now!”

Dejected, Whitefire made his way through the pass. As he came within a few feet of the pool, Dzee hissed at him and splashed some scalding water in his direction, just out of spite. Whitefire ignored him and moved quickly around the rocky outcropping and back out into the open. He winced in pain, and silently wished that he’d tried talking to this thing before drawing a weapon. The monk realized he had a lot to learn about the ways of the world! He quaffed his only healing potion and started moving once again towards the east, and the road that would lead him to Waterdeep.

**
The mini-adventure that I wrote for tonight's After Dinner Encounter can be found here.


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## Jodo Kast (Jun 11, 2002)

This is a neat idea ... looking forward to future installments!


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## cthuluftaghn (Jun 14, 2002)

*Session 0002*

Whitefire continued to walk along he lake, skirting the northern edge of a small clump of woods known as The Neth Stand.  He was discouraged by his earlier encounter with the strange fiery creature in the rocky pass.  He had been a student of the martial arts for over a century, and he had failed his first test against a real opponent.  The dwarf scowled... "Opponent?  For all I know, he could have been a friend to keep me company on my long journey.  I'll never make friends in this world if I put a shuriken in everyone's eye as soon as we meet!  I shall be nice to whomever I come across, from now on."

Whitefire traveled for the rest of the afternoon until the woods began to fade away behind him.  As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but dry dirt and rocks along the lakeshore as it stretched out far to the east.  "I'm hungry," the dwarf thought to himself, and he decided to make camp.  He found a nice smooth length of beach protected from the wind by two large boulders, and a couple of trees.  The monk made a small fire and wandered off a bit to catch a rabbit for dinner.  Before long, he was relaxing in his first home away from home, eating the first meal he had ever prepared for himself.  A sense of pride and adventure started to replace the misery he had felt all afternoon.

When he was done eating, Whitefire decided to wash off the dust and sweat of the day's travel by taking an evening dip in the lake.  He stood up and wiped the rabbit grease from his beard, and started to untie his belt.  At that moment, the peaceful night was shattered by a piercing, gargled scream.  With a tremendous spray of water, a man-sized creature came flying out of the lake to land with a splat just a few feet away from Whitefire's camp.  The monk watched stunned as the thing twitched a few times, and died.  He cautiously approached.  In the light of his fire, Whitefire could see that this was no ordinary man.  It had arms and legs, and obviously walked upright like a human... but this thing had scales and gills like a fish, and a large bulbous head like a frog!

Not quite sure what else to do, Whitefire was preparing to push the body back into the lake and return to his camp when there was another disturbance.  The water in the lake bubbled forth in a massive eruption of foam, slimy green flesh, and blood.  A lot of blood!  A massive, tentacled creature floated to the surface, it's body pierced with a dozen spears.  Sticky blood oozed from yet a dozen more wounds across its back.  The leg of another one of the man-fish creatures could be seen protruding from this monster's beak-like mouth.  As the dwarf watched in awe, more bodies started popping up to float near the beast.  Five... eight... ten... there must have been at least fifteen more of the man-fish creatures out there, and they all appeared to be dead!  Whitefire imagined that this monster must have attacked them, and they had died fighting it off!

Something about the imagined battle triggered a memory in Whitefire's mind.  "Kuo toa!" he announced triumphantly, to nobody in particular.  "These must be the water men that Master Qhan told me about.  Always at war with something... how sad that they all seem to die so violently."  As the dwarf stared out over the water, trying to remember more of his lessons, one of the bodies moved!  Off to his right, one of the kuo toa began to splash about in the water, trying to regain its balance.  "At last," thought Whitefire, "after such a tragedy, what a good chance to make a unique friend!"

The monk let the creature regain his feet, and he called out to it.  "Hello," he said.  "My name is Whitefire.  It seems you had quite a battle."

The kuo toa's head snapped around at the sound of Whitefire's voice.  The creature grabbed his spear and crouched into a defensive position, and it snarled in crude undercommon.  "Yooooou..... YOU brought the monssssster down on ussss.  It wassss yooooou...."

Surprised at the hostile response, Whitefire acted immediately and flung a shuriken at the kuo toa's head, attempting to subdue it.  Being unprepared for battle, however, his throw was far off target and it splashed harmlessly into the lake.  In response, the angry sea creature flung his spear with great force towards the dwarf.  Whitefire dodged to the side, and the spear wedged itself into a crack in the boulder at the back of the campsite.  Angered further by missing his target, the kuo toa leapt from the water to stand in front of Whitefire, snarling viciously and hurling accusations.... "Yooooou killed my peoplessss.  Yooou musssst die landwalker."

Whitefire came at the kuo toa with a series of low kicks and punches, but the creature was able to knock the blows aside.  More than once, the creature got a grip on the dwarf's arm and tried to bite into it.  However, the skilled monk was able to pull away with no harm done.  Growing frustrated at the fruitless melee, the kuo toa turned and dived back into the water.  Whitefire watched amazed as the thing swam around him with lightning speed and shot back up out of the water.  With a dive, a tumble and a flip, the creature was suddenly standing on the boulder behind him, his spear once again in his hands.

Whitefire pulled out his quarterstaff and swung it at the kuo toa, but it bounced harmlessly off the edge of the large rock.  The creature laughed... a hideous sound coming from the amphibious vocal chords... and lunged downwards with its spear.  The sharp point pierced Whitefire's side, and scraped against a rib as it tore through his flesh.  The dwarf staggered back, crying out in pain.  He swung weakly at his attacker, only to hit the rock once again.

Instead of finishing him off right away, the kuo toa jumped down from the rock and ran several feet away from the camp before turning back to face the wounded monk.  Seeing what appeared to be a chance to do some damage, Whitefire gritted his teeth and charged towards his enemy with his quarterstaff held high.  Just before he reached the kuo toa, the creature planted its spear into the sand with the point facing towards the charging dwarf.  Whitefire backpedaled and was able to sidestep the weapon, but the maneuver caused his own attack to swing wide and it only glanced off the creature's shoulder.

As the monk went barreling past, off balance, the skilled aquatic warrior brought the butt end of his spear up and cracked it across the back of Whitefire's head.  The monk felt the pain of the blow.  Then he tasted sand.  With a grim chuckle, he thought to himself, "So much for making friends...."  And then there was nothing....

To be continued....

**
The mini-adventure that I wrote for tonight's After Dinner Encounter can be found here.


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## TheOneTheTen (Jun 17, 2002)

Interesting idea.  Hope it keeps working out for you.


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## cthuluftaghn (Jun 18, 2002)

Thank you.  I'll try to get another one in within the next day or two.  It's been a birthday / Fathers' Day weekend, with a sick child besides.  I barely started writing the next encounter.


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## cthuluftaghn (Jun 18, 2002)

*Encounter 0003 has been written*

Hello,

I finished writing the encounter for session 0003, and you can view it here.  Now, I just need the boys to start feeling better so I can play through it with Zach.  We're all fighting off a nasty stomach crud 

This encounter is a little different.  It has been designed to role-play the skill points earned during level advancement between level 1 and level 2.  You can read more about this concept in my Daily Playing Tips column under Tip for Monday, June 17, 2002.


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## MavrickWeirdo (Jun 18, 2002)

I like the mini-encounters, but I have one reservation. You are listing the encounters as EL2. Which is meant to be an encounter for 4 level 2 players, not 1 level 1 character. The cards seem to be stacked against your son. I like the look of the third encounter very much.


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## cthuluftaghn (Jun 18, 2002)

Thanks for the kind words!

When I post these encounters on the web to share them, I write them up to be more useful to the average DM.  When I actually play the encounter with my son, there's quite a bit of dice fudging and simplifying that goes on.  I'm trying to teach him game mechanics, not kill him


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## WSmith (Jun 18, 2002)

This truley is a breath of fresh air. It almost reads like a young adult fantasy novel. Most of us jaded and cynical old koots would have tried to attack the Kuo-Toa on sight. The young mind decided to try to make a friend. THAT is truely something you see in fantasy and fairy tales of yore. Teaching kids this hobby is a great experience, as their imagination is unpolluted, caring not for things like why a 300' fall won't kill a 18th level fighter, unlike most of the "veterans" of the hobby. I would love to teach my 11 yo daughter if my wife didn't hate the game so darn much, but that is for a thread on to itself.


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## cthuluftaghn (Jun 20, 2002)

Marvelously kind words, WSmith.  Thank you.

Yes, the 20-30 minutes that these encounters take is a pretty special time.  It's just me and Zach, one set of dice, a little round coffee table, a broken chair and the corner of the bed.

Whatever he decides, goes.  I don't discourage him from his decisions just because they come from an 8 year old mind.  I just take what he says and put it into game terms.  If he wants to use a shuriken against a kuo toa, because that's what the cool guy on Dragon BallZ does... then I'll do my best to make it entertaining for him.  I'm looking forward to the next session.... hopefully tomorrow.


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## Jodo Kast (Jun 20, 2002)

Great stuff, cthuluftaghn.  Keep 'em coming.  Hope you guys and the kids are feeling better.


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## cthuluftaghn (Jun 20, 2002)

Thanks!  I think, thanks to hot tea, lots of Gatorade, and Lysol... we're about germ free.  Hopefully a new post tonight.


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## WSmith (Jun 20, 2002)

I will look forward to it. You got it right though. Let his mind go and just put it into game terms. Plus you are doing a great service to him by keeping a log of these. I wish I had a log of all my first adventures as a young one.  

My daughter likes the combo of LOTR, Harry Potter, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The would be an interesting combination.  

I was wondering where the shruken-throwing character concept idea came from. I never even thought about DBZ.


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## cthuluftaghn (Jun 21, 2002)

Argh!  Didn't get to play tonight.  Slight problem with not doing chores and not brushing teeth = early bed time.  We did sit down and level-up Whitefire, however.  He was very thrifty in his expenditure of skill points, to be sure.  When we finally sit down to go through this encounter, we'll see if his choices paid off.

On another note!!!!  I MUST show off my wife's handiwork.  I helped her a bit, getting her started with the coloring... but all the artwork and detail is hers.  I just think this is the coolest....


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## Jodo Kast (Jul 8, 2002)

BUMP


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## Zarthon (Jul 12, 2002)

Great stories cthuluftaghn 

Sort of reminds me of a cartoon I saw at www.3rdedition.org


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## Spider_Jerusalem (Jul 12, 2002)

Hey cthuluftaghn, are you doing any more of these, or has Zachary lost interest?

Great idea by the way (only just got round to reading this Story Hour today), it really puts us cynics to shame. Made me laugh out loud when Whitefire just hurled that shuriken at the Kuo-Toa... one moment he was "hello, be my friend" then whizz, snik. Chaotic Neutral wannabe! (I suppose thats what kids are anyway)


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## cthuluftaghn (Jul 13, 2002)

Hasn't really lost interest... just a "scheduling conflict".  I work a relatively late shift, so we don't have much of a chance to get together during the week.  Then, of course, on the weekends... he's either got friends sleeping over, or is at someone else's house.  Healthy, normal 8 year old (eek.... 9 in one more week!).  These will continue... eventually.


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