Matthew and Nathaniel have been experiencing D&D in some form for the past several years, but they didn't really get into it big-time until May of 2017. That's when we started our first Shattered Realm campaign, "The Lay of the Lost Horn", which was a brief prelude to a much longer narrative, "The Lay of the Emerald Tablet". (Side note: All Shattered Realm campaigns are titled "The Lay of the [Adjective or Participle] [Noun].) That sprawling, year-long storyline reached its culmination over the weekend when the heroes at last succeeded in assembling the six pieces of a cosmic MacGuffin known as the Emerald Tablet. As it turned out, the legends were true -- the tablet had the power to rewrite reality itself. Although warned by the gods and wise NPCs that the tablet was dangerous, the heroes nonetheless used the tablet to start creating magic items for themselves.
It wasn't long, however, before they learned that the Emerald Tablet was more a curse than a blessing. To their horror, the heroes found that the tablet cannot create without destroying. In a cruel, zero-sum fashion, the tablet exacts an ironic price for whatever it creates. Realization came only when the companions decided to conjure magic weapons and armor that they had earlier planned to purchase from their friend and ally, a dwarf smith named Byrnie. When they used to tablet to create those items, however, Byrnie's eyes disintegrated in her head, rendering her unable to create any magic items ever again. No magical healing known to mortals could restore her sight.
Matthew, in particular, was deeply affected by this turn of events. He and Nathaniel both scrambled to find some way of undoing what they had done, but their prayers elicited a stern response from the gods: You made the mess -- you clean it up! The next phase of the campaign, then, will be driven entirely by the heroes. Drawing from their past experiences with NPCs and storylines from this world, they will need to find someone or something that can help them restore Byrnie's eyes.
I dare say this is a game experience they will never forget!
It wasn't long, however, before they learned that the Emerald Tablet was more a curse than a blessing. To their horror, the heroes found that the tablet cannot create without destroying. In a cruel, zero-sum fashion, the tablet exacts an ironic price for whatever it creates. Realization came only when the companions decided to conjure magic weapons and armor that they had earlier planned to purchase from their friend and ally, a dwarf smith named Byrnie. When they used to tablet to create those items, however, Byrnie's eyes disintegrated in her head, rendering her unable to create any magic items ever again. No magical healing known to mortals could restore her sight.
Matthew, in particular, was deeply affected by this turn of events. He and Nathaniel both scrambled to find some way of undoing what they had done, but their prayers elicited a stern response from the gods: You made the mess -- you clean it up! The next phase of the campaign, then, will be driven entirely by the heroes. Drawing from their past experiences with NPCs and storylines from this world, they will need to find someone or something that can help them restore Byrnie's eyes.
I dare say this is a game experience they will never forget!
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