Converting "The Delian Tomb" to Foundry VTT

- 9 minutes read - 1791 words

Objectives

The idea is to convert this adventure into a reusable one-shot adventure in Foundry VTT.

Along the way we will be:

  • Generating art for theatre of the mind scenes.
  • Creating battle maps.
  • Assembling NPC and creature sheets.
  • Setting up our journal to support us during the adventure.
  • Setting up Foundry to take some of the load off our shoulders.
  • Setting up various features to help players (especially new players).

Getting started

First thing to do is read through enough of the module to establish the main themes and figure out how much we can deal with in the next session. Given this is a one-shot adventure we expect to cover the whole thing in one session of 2-4 hours (depending on player experience and how focussed they remain), so I read the entire module.

The module is broken into four main parts and these can be further broken into individual ‘scenes’ or encounters.

  1. The Green Dragon Inn
    Where we meet:
    1. Tom Dimple the serving boy
    2. Lars Olson the village blacksmith whose daughter has been abducted
  2. Goblin Tracks
    1. The Smithy
    2. The Boar Wood
  3. Out of the Wood
    1. Goblin Patrol
  4. The Delian Tomb
    1. Entrance
    2. Offering Room
    3. Pressure Plate Trap
    4. Hall of the Oathkeeper
    5. Tomb of the Delian Order

Players are gonna try stuff

Players will hopefully try things we will not anticipate but there are a few things we can be prepared for.

The Green Dragon

Players will interact with NPCs. The module prepares two, Tom and Lars. The module only gives first names but I’ve added last names in case players ask. Similarly I will prep some random NPCs to be sitting in the inn in case players try to interact with them.

Neither Tom, Lars, of any other patron of the inn need to be especially detailed but having some ideas noted down just in case will relieve some pressure. (As I expect to play this adventure several times I’ll note after each session any surprises from players).

I will play this scene as theatre of the mind because I don’t expect any combat. If players decide to brawl I’ll play it by ear.

The Smithy

This is entirely driven by interacting with Lars. The objective is to get the party tracking the goblin kidnappers through Boar Wood. If they get distracted nudge them back on course by having Lars beg for help and remind them of the bounty on goblin ears.

Between the Green Dragon and the Smithy players may be tempted to try investigating the village. To discourage this make sure the narration covers the trip between the two locations quickly. If the players still insist then make the investigation boring. All the shops, such as they are, are closed (it is dusk) and most people are either home of at the inn.

Again, this will be theatre of the mind.

The Boar Wood

No NPCs here but the idea is for this scene to teach players that the world is dangerous even when they are resting. We get them to make camp (the wood is too large and difficult to cross in one days travel). In camp they should keep watch. The module makes an encounter with a wild boar a random encounter, I will likely make it a certainty, building suspense with ‘you see shapes moving in the dark’ and so on. When it is all revealed to be nothing more than a nosy boar it should be a relief to the party.

If they try to kill the boar then let them. This will need a stat block preparing for the boar.

Again, this will be theatre of the mind.

Goblin Patrol

This is the first opportunity for the party to make tactical decisions that have consequences. Do they sneak around the patrol or take them on. If they sneak around them then they will eventually become reinforcements later in the Offering Room. It they attack then the goblins may escape and raise the alarm putting the Entrance guards and the goblins in the Offering Room on alert.

Goblins are not sophisticated fighters and will, as soon as the opportunity arises, run back to raise the alarm with the Entrance guards and those in the Offering Room.

If the alarm IS raised the goblins will immediately arm the Pressure Plate Trap and players will have no chance to see this happen (see below).

Because there is the opening possibility of combat I’ll prepare a battle map for this encounter. Actually this will be a part of the overall battle map.

Entrance

Continuing on from the previous encounter, if the patrol has not been alerted the party my be able to surprise the Entrance guards, otherwise the party meet opposition and the goblins in the Offering Room are alerted.

The party may try to negotiate if they get close enough without alarming the guards. It may be possible to convince the guards to quit without a fight but they fear their Bugbear master and will require considerable convincing.

Offering Room

Continuing on from the previous encounter, if the party have managed to get past the Entrance guards without alerting the goblins in the Offering Room then no doubt we are in for a fairly extended fight. The goblins in this room are highly unlikely to give in without a fight as their leader in only a few feet away. IF the Goblin Patrol and Entrance guards were passed they will join the mêlée after a turn.

I will change the details of this encounter to provide a clue about the Pressure Plate Trap. On entering the Offering Room roll passive perception, any character passing this check sees one of the goblins pull down a lever (this is arming the trap which they leave unarmed so they can move back and forth freely).

Once the party are free from the struggle they may investigate and notice the lever. It will be down and apparently loose (moves up and down with no resistance). The trap can only be disarmed as described in the module. As the trap is disarmed the lever will spring up. If pulled down now it will offer resistance and the trap will be rearmed.

Assuming the players look around they will see the inscription (I will prepare an image for this) “I swear to fight chaos in all its forms, to uphold order, by honour of my word”. Give a little emphasis to that last phrase as a clue to finding the solution to the riddle in the Hall of the Oathkeeper.

Pressure Plate Trap

This plays out as described in the module. Players may try to cross or jam the trap. Let them try (it’s not that tough to disarm, but hey they’re gonna try stuff).

The players may accidentally rearm the trap with the lever in the Hall of the Oathkeeper 😈.

Hall of the Oathkeeper

This is essentially the Boss Level with the Bugbear. Negotiation is not possible, well successful negotiation is not possible. These creatures are both relatively intelligent and determined fanatics.

Assuming the party dispatch the Bugbear (and the goblin shaman) the party should free the girl, Bess Olson. If they look around, in addition to the details in the module they also see a lever like the one in the Offering Room, it also sets the Pressure Plate Trap.

I don’t like the description of gold being scattered in the ’nest’ of blankets. They can be found in a leather purse on the Bugbear (this makes more sense to me, the ‘scattered’ placing suggests that the Bugbear does no value gold and that begs the question why does it have any then?).

Tomb of the Delian Order

If players find this room they are likely to need to fight the skeletons. There is one skeleton per sarcophagus so if players are cautious they should not pose too much of a problem.

Players may attempt to turn undead, in this situation only the currently animated skeletons will be effected.

VTT Additions

What can the VTT add?

Most obviously is bringing the players and GM together. For basic audio and video communication I am avoiding any complexity in using the Foundry AV system at the moment. It seems common to use either Discord or Zoom. My experience with Discord for video conferencing has been varied, sometimes fine, other times irritatingly unstable. Zoom has, for me, been rock solid. The downside is that for the long sessions required for RPGs we need a subscription for Zoom. Also, most RPG players have Discord installed while some will have to add Zoom.

We could go audio only, but I like the feedback of players expressions. If going audio only I will use Discord, if the party prefer audio and video I will provide Zoom.

As far as the Foundry table top itself we have a lot to cover.

First, any scene I designate Theatre of the Mind I want a suitable graphic to sit on screen to give players context. This is less important for this one-shot as players are unlikely to return to locations, but in even short campaigns it will be nice to provide visual indicators for locations that are played Theatre of the Mind.

For many locations an overhead map (often called a battle map during combat) provides context and players will move tokens around. The meat of this adventure takes place around the Tomb of Delius and this will provide the main overhead map.

To create atmosphere I will use soundscapes on both Theatre of the Mind and overhead map scenes. Foundry has powerful audio tools to produce atmosphere on maps tailored to each character’s token position.

The main overhead map for this one-shot is on multiple levels. Fortunately Foundry has add-on modules that support complex multilevel maps which allow different characters to see different parts of the map according to their position.

Foundry also has a lot of modules supporting combat. Modules to help players and modules to help the GM. Apart from smoothing out play there are also modules to provide enhanced visuals (like cool spell animations and lighting effects). Foundry also takes care of only showing characters parts of the map they can actually see, so players can move tokens around and investigate without the need for the GM to micro-manage describing every detail.

For the GM Foundry (with apporpriate add-ons) provides extensive adventure management tools. These tools really become powerful for campaign management, tracking in-world events over many sessions that enable real colour to be added without too much GM overload.

There is simply too much to cover in one article. We now have a very high level view of what we want to achieve. In subsequent articles we will detail the actual build step-by-step.