Jambo's GM Journal

Game Session Prep, D&D, Daggerheart and other TTRPGs

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  • Session 4: The Hand-Off

    A week late with this write-up (life gets busy!), but here’s the recap of our fourth Tales of the Valiant session. This one was packed: treacherous hills, goblin grudges, a botched ransom exchange, and the arrival of a brand-new ally.

    Stirges in the Hills

    Climbing the wet, slippery hills toward the ransom site, the party detoured into a cave that reeked of old blood. Stirges swarmed them immediately. After cutting the creatures down, the group found signs that something larger had been feeding here. In the muck lay a broken elvish sword and a handful of ancient elvish coins — another little breadcrumb in the Margreve’s tangled history.

    Goblins and Grudges

    The next day, travel grew harsher. A messy leap across a ravine nearly ended in disaster, and then came another goblin skirmish. This fight carried weight: Nettle took “eight fingers for eight fingers” from a goblin who wore a grisly necklace of digits. The goblin croaked out that Aunty Arshala wanted the Piney Bluebell of Duskvale dead — another step in untangling the hag’s schemes.

    The Giants’ Stones

    At last, the party reached the Giants’ Stones, where the ransom exchange was to take place. Korra, a Silent Caste jailer, appeared with the captive Dunstane. In a twist, she asked to leave her clan and join the party instead. The group was just processing this when horns blared and Silent Caste dwarves surged into battle.

    The fight was brutal. Noroud and Melian were both hammered down hard, but with Korra fighting at their side, the Bell Ringers pulled through. One dwarf was taken alive — their next lead into the dark politics of the Silent Caste.

    Session Reflections

    This was a rough, bruising session — lots of blood, grit, and tension. But the standout for me was Korra’s defection. I enjoy making the game feel character-driven, and it’s fun to throw in NPCs who complicate the party’s choices. Do they trust her? What does she want? How far does her loyalty go?

    The goblin thread with Auntie Arshala also continues to tie neatly back to earlier hints, and I love how this storyline is unfurling across sessions.

    What’s Next?

    Tomorrow night I’m shifting gears and running Session 0 of a Daggerheart Witherwild campaign — my first time taking Daggerheart into longer-form play after the one-shots. I’m really excited to explore the Hope/Fear mechanic across multiple sessions and see how the collaborative worldbuilding lands at the table.

    And if that wasn’t enough, by the end of October I’ll also be a player again in a 5e-adjacent game. Busy, busy — but in the best way possible.

  • Session 3: Dreams, Schemes and Goblins

    Back to my Tales of the Valiant campaign!

    We were one player short this week — but that’s why I deliberately built a slightly larger pool of players for Tales of the Valiant. It keeps the game moving even when someone can’t make it. And this session really delivered, with dream visions, shady dealings, wilderness struggles, and a griffin rescue that had the table cheering.

    Visions of the Margreve

    Before reaching Southark, Purr the Tabaxi Warlock was visited in his dreams. A shadowy vision of Neko and the Shadow Cats called to him, urging him to seek out the Heart of the Margreve and drink its wild magic. Purr shared this with the group — an ominous start to the journey ahead. This was lots of fun, creepy music up loud. I turned to focus on the player. I’ve been waiting to get started on the Warlocks journey.

    Trouble at the Gates

    When the party arrived at Southark, they found a long queue to get inside. Things turned chaotic when a wagon burst open, releasing a swarm of giant wasps. The group leapt into action, dispatching the creatures quickly. Investigating the wagon, they found two dead kobolds, clear signs of smuggling, and traces of poison. It seemed trouble was following them already.

    Exploring Southark
    • The party spent time exploring the town, scattering across different districts:
    • Noround put coin behind the bar for the Hearthguard at The Horse’s Head and visited the Ironhand Smithy.
    • Purr stopped at Penrene’s Antiquities and splashed out on an expensive bottle of whiskey.
    • Pidi shopped the markets.
    • Melian and Brooke wandered, listening for rumours in the taverns and streets.
    • They regrouped at the Temple of Yarilla, where the priest greeted them as Yarilla’s champions — the Bell Ringers. Word of their deeds had clearly spread.
    • This was all good role play – nice to have a bit of a break and develop the characters, and everyone got their own moment.
    A Knight’s Request

    The group then met Sir Barack, who explained that his nephew, Dunstane, had been captured by the Silent Caste — a dwarven faction in the Black Mountains. A ransom had been set, and Sir Barack wanted the party to deliver a chest of gems to the Giant Stones, make the exchange, and bring Dunstane home safely. For their service, he offered 100gp each, half paid upfront.

    The party accepted, but before leaving Southark they were approached by Oro, a kobold fixer who suggested he could help them traffic any elvish artefacts they might stumble across. He told them to find him at the Broken Nose. Intrigue piled on intrigue.

    Into the Margreve

    The next morning, the group set off into the Margreve Forest, with Melian leading the way. The wilderness proved immediately treacherous:

    They battled the currents of a fast-flowing river.

    They lost their bearings under the oppressive trees.

    They fought a pack of worgs, a brutal skirmish where our druid shone. At just level 3, he used Wild Shape to transform into a hippogriff, dive into the river to save the floundering Purr, and later turn the tide of battle against the beasts. Absolutely epic — Tales of the Valiant’s wild shape options are gold.

    Goblins and a Griffin

    Deeper in the forest, the group stumbled upon a goblin camp. Purr, disguised as a goblin, tried to talk his way in — only to realise he didn’t actually speak Goblin. The ruse collapsed, and things got tense.

    The goblins had captured a griffin cub, tormenting it with prods and jabs before planning to cook it. This was the moment of the night: Melian the Ranger, enraged by the cruelty, used her Dryad-gifted Tree Step. In a flash she boomfed into the camp, seized the cub, and boomfed out again before the goblins could react. The table exploded with cheers.

    For my ranger player — who has been begging for a pet since Session 0 — this was the perfect payoff. The griffin is still a cub and can’t be a full companion yet, but the bond is there, and everyone felt it.

    A fight broke out. The goblins were cut down, though one fled into the forest. The party kept another alive just long enough to extract some vital information:

    • The goblins were searching for a weapon.
    • They served the hag Auntie Arshala.
    • Their mission was to kill “the Piney bitch that double-crossed her.”

    This revelation tied neatly back to the hand-drawn map the party had found in the previous session, connecting the dots between scattered clues and making the Margreve’s web of dangers feel even more alive.

    Session Reflections

    This was one of those sessions where the system and the story really clicked. Tales of the Valiant gave us some incredible moments: a druid hippogriff swoop rescue, a ranger’s blink-and-you-miss-it griffin snatch, and the thrill of seeing player choices loop back into the larger narrative.

    The Margreve continues to prove itself as a great setting — wild, dark, and unpredictable, with the forest itself as much a character as any NPC. And now, with whispers of Auntie Arshala and her vendetta, the Bell Ringers’ journey into the deep woods has only just begun.

    For those familiar with Sly Flourish – I use his 10 secrets and clues format to help me prep and really pleased that I got 8 of my 10 pieces of information across to the party. Looking forward to the next session!

  • Daggerheart Review: A Fun and Cinematic RPG Experience

    Last night I ran my very first session of Daggerheart, and wow! I’ll be honest, I was extra nervous. New game system, new players, and to make it more stressful, two of my original sign-ups dropped out on the day. That left us with three strangers from the internet, gathered to dive into a strange new world together.

    And you know what? It was totally awesome.

    What I Loved

    • Ability and Spell Cards
      These were a game-changer for first-time players. Because they had their options right in front of them, they didn’t need to flip through rules or constantly ask what they could do. It gave them a sense of ownership straight away — like, “these are my tools, this is who my character is.” The tactile element also helped — physically handing them their cards made the game feel more immediate and real. Within the first 15 minutes, they were leaning into their abilities, playing off each other, and experimenting without hesitation. It created a really strong first impression of Daggerheart’s design — approachable, intuitive, and cinematic.
    • Hope and Fear
      This mechanic was a blast to use. One of my players was snooping around looking for illicit substances and rolled a success with Fear. That meant, yes, he found them — but he also felt the tap of a guard on his shoulder. When he tried to talk his way out, he rolled well again but still more Fear, so I made him mark a Stress as he stammered through his excuses. The table loved it — success with consequences, perfectly in the spirit of the system.
    • Death Moves
      These created some of the most epic, heroic moments of the night. In the final battle, the tower was collapsing around the party as they fought the demon-archmage and his construct. The construct’s death explosion took two characters down, leaving them with the choice:
      • Remain unconscious and but be out of it and see what happened
      • Accept death, but make a last stand and take a final actio
      • Test the fates, roll the duality dice and pray that the hope die rolls higher than the fear die.
    • After a bit of above the table discussion and clarity that dead is dead…Both chose to roll, and the table held its breath. One player succeeded and staggered back into the fight. The other scored a critical success — back on their feet at full HP with all stress cleared, ready to fight on. It was cinematic, tense, and completely heroic.
    • Narrative Ownership
      I loved how the game kept passing the narrative back to the players. Small narrative touches added up to big, shared moments, and the table bought into it completely. Just little things where I encouraged them to narrate what they found in the tower, who did they know the in tent camp. It added to the story telling.

    What I Struggled With

    • Countdowns
      I’ll admit I found the countdown mechanic tricky in practice. I don’t think I ran them exactly as written, but the players didn’t notice and it didn’t slow things down. Something I’ll refine next time.

    Session Snapshot

    📖 Adventure: Into the Witherwild (Burn After Running RPG)
    🎲 Players: 3
    ⏳ Format: One-shot
    🏰 Theme: One tower, one escape, one McGuffin

    • Crossed a dangerous river, fought a mutant bear, and even tamed some mutant wasps.
    • Talked their way into the catacombs — while discreetly acquiring some illicit materials.
    • Crept through the catacombs and slums, evading undead in the dark.
    • Climbed the tower and confronted the Archmage, who transformed into a demon with his construct “Henry” and two loyal acolytes.
    • Survived a brutal fight where two nearly died before finally slaying the demon and construct, then fled with the Eye.

    Final Thoughts

    This was a really enjoyable session, and Daggerheart absolutely delivered. It’s rules-light, story-forward, and the mechanics pushed us into memorable, cinematic moments without getting in the way. I’d love to run it again — not just as a one-shot, but as a longer campaign where the Hope and Fear mechanics could really shine across multiple sessions. 2 of the players also mentioned that they’d be up for campaign should I choose to run one – so I’ll take that as win for the system and a win for me!

    Next week, it’s back to Tales of the Valiant (session 3 of my Old Margreve Campaign), but Daggerheart has definitely earned a return slot on my GMing table. I’ve also still got Draw Steel and Shadowdark queued up on my one-shot list.

    Have you played Daggerheart – what did you think?
    What systems other than D&D have you tried?
    Any suggestions for more to put on my one-shot list?

    Comment below and let me know!

  • Excited to Play Daggerheart: A New GM’s Journey

    Tomorrow night I’m running my very first game of Daggerheart. I’ve played a couple of sessions before, but this will be my first time as the GM — and it’s also my players’ first time with the system. We’ll all be learning together, which feels like a fun way to dive in.

    To keep things simple, I’m using the pre-generated characters from the official Daggerheart site. That way we can maximise playing time. I’ve got tokens, printed sheets, and the Core Set with its beautiful cards and artwork — so everything is set up to look great and run smoothly.

    I was originally going to run Sablewood Messenger, but then I stumbled across a blog post on Burn After Running RPG with a scenario called Into the Witherwild. It looked like exactly the kind of one-shot my group would enjoy — more action, a bit more danger, and plenty of space to test out the system. So that’s what we’re playing.

    Burn After Running RPG

    Daggerheart : Into The Witherwild

    What I’m Excited About

    • Rules-light, story-first: I love that the mechanics support the fiction instead of slowing it down.
    • Hope and Fear: The dice system adds tension and flavour to every roll. I can’t wait to lean into narrating those outcomes.
    • Something new: I play a lot of D&D, so I’m excited to try something different with fresh mechanics.
    Who doesn’t want to be a Ribbet

    What I’m Nervous About

    • Quiet players: I don’t know this group well, and I’m not sure how quickly they’ll click with Daggerheart’s collaborative style. I’m starting with the connection questions, hoping that sparks some fun ideas without anyone needing a heavy backstory.
    • No initiative order: Without strict turn-taking, I’ll need to make sure the spotlight keeps moving. My plan is to prompt people when needed and spread the focus around.
    • Rules pauses: The usual caveat when trying something new! I’m letting the group know upfront: if we don’t know a rule, we’ll make a call, keep the story moving, and look it up later.

    Final Thoughts

    I think embracing the Daggerheart philosophy — story first, mechanics second — will be key. The Hope and Fear tokens are going right in the middle of the table, and I’ll try to weave in little details from each player to make the adventure feel unique.

    If you’ve run Daggerheart before, I’d love to hear your tips in the comments — especially about handling spotlight without initiative.

    Next Post: I’ll write up how the one-shot went

  • Session Recap: Tales of the Valiant in the Margreve (Sessions 0–2)

    We’ve reached the end of Session 2 in our Tales of the Valiant campaign, and the Old Margreve is already proving itself to be as dangerous as it is mysterious. I’ve lifted and shifted the Margreve from its original Midgard setting into my own homebrew world — the forest’s folklore and dangers remain, but the wider world, factions, and history are all my own.

    An Talamh – my homebrew world

    While I’ve followed the published Hollow Man and Wrath of the Bramble King adventures fairly faithfully, I’ve also been threading in my own plots:

    • A Goblin faction, secretly working for a Hag who seeks ancient artefacts to destroy a Piney village that broke a promise to her.
    • The Weft of Shadows, reimagined as a demigod‑like cult leader with a growing, fanatical following.
    • A band of slaver dwarfs holed up in the Black Mountains.
    • And, in Session 2, the party found a goblin‑scrawled map of the region — they’ve no idea yet how it fits in, but it will.

    I’m also slowly tying the campaign’s events into the players’ backstories, so the forest’s secrets will feel personal when they finally come to light.

    The Party

    • Noroud — an old skool Human Fighter
    • Purr — Tabaxi Warlock (we’ve homebrewed Tabaxi into Tales of the Valiant)
    • Melian — Dryad Ranger
    • Brooke — Wolfkin Druid
    • Nettle — Piney Bard
    • Pidi — Syderean Paladin

    During session 0 we were looking for a common reason for the party to come together. Purr our Warlock had quite a developed backstory so we’ve jumped on that, Purr has hired the gang to complete some tasks for the Zobeck City Council to seal a trade deal with his empire in far off lands. (The player with my support has created an entire asian themed Cat island, which I’ll explore another day) So brought together by Purr’s promise of coin and adventure — and each with private reasons for heading into the Old Margreve — the group began their journey in the village of Levoca.

    Session 0 — Arrival in Levoca

    • The village had been plagued by animal attacks, the latest involving a maddened bull and the death of Olay Yurt.
    • Karla, priestess of Yarilla, told the party about the incident.
    • Noroud spoke to Olay’s son, Drash; Brooke used Speak with Animals to learn the bull had been driven to rage by a strange, haunting song.
    • The group met Whiskey and Tappers, Erina (hedgehog folk) who trap and gather herbs. Whiskey mentioned finding a dead goblin in the forest.
    • That evening, wolves attacked the village. Melian, Noroud, and Brooke held the melee line while Purr and Nettle cast from range. Four wolves fell, two fled.
    • Purr negotiated better lodging than the barn — Whiskey offered them a place to stay.

    We played a short scene, and fitted in combat encounter as well as building out the characters, discussing back stories and going through some lines and veils. It was a really good session and we’d pre planned to meet up one week later to build some momentum. For the combat here I went Theatre of the Mind something that never really worked when I was playing online but there were no issues here. Big win for me and something to think about.

    Session 1 — The Singing Tree

    • The night’s rest was interrupted when Brooke spotted a Hollow Man carrying a villager’s head, accompanied by a scarecrow. Fire magic destroyed both.
    • Melian recalled Hollow Men serve more powerful forest entities.
    • At a town meeting, the party convinced villagers to lock away their scarecrows. Purr and Pidi staged a divine “sign” from Yarilla (this 100% is coming back to haunt them!) — flickering lights and the tolling bell — to seal the deal.
    • Whiskey led them to where he’d found the dead goblin, but the body was gone, swallowed by the forest. He revealed his own village had been destroyed the same way.
    • Tracking the Hollow Man’s trail, the party fought four Giant Weasels before finding a sinister tree crowned with a goblin’s head.
    • The tree demanded their heads for its collection and summoned four Giant Snakes.
    • The party discovered the tree resisted normal weapons but burned under magical fire. Brooke was knocked out but healed by Nettle; Pidi duelled a snake; Noroud hacked at what he could reach.
    • With resources low, Brooke’s final burst of flame felled the tree. Its remains turned pale, a weeping face in the trunk.
    • Loot was recovered, and back in Levoca the bull was calm again.
    • The group set out for Camberdale to collect herbs which were needed to heal a young girl who had been hurt by bees, prior to the party resolving the Singing Tree.
    • Milestone: Party reached Level 2.

    A really fun session, we had all 6 players and combat didn’t drag. We kept things moving, spent a little too much time looking for a monster stat block for a familiar change shape ability – but we’ll sort that going forwards. For the combats I used a mixture of gridded whiteboard supplied by the venue, and the pièce de résistance, the venue has a TV screen embedded in the table, and it comes with some cool pre loaded animated maps as well as other stuff that I can add. So we used this for the final fight with the Singing Tree.

    Session 2 — The Bramble King

    • Camberdale was sealed by thorny vines, its villagers trapped. Bramble Badgers patrolled the area.
    • Nettle learned from one badger that the Bramble King had lost his crown and suspected the villagers.
    • Brought before the Bramble King, they learned one of his creations, Spike, had been killed in an old tower.
    • En route, an elvish figure named Daeserana appeared, warning that the Weft of Shadows was behind the theft and plotting to create a shadow dimension. She needed a clipping of the crown but, as a Fey, could not take it herself.
    • At the tower, Noroud was cut by a halberd‑wielding statue (and claimed the weapon). Pidi spotted a great tree guarding a crown — which proved to be a fake.
    • Further exploration led to battles with Shadows, a Grey Ooze, a Child of the Briar, and Steam Mephits.
    • A shadow escaped with a shadow‑version of the crown. Melian’s trap caught two Briar Children off‑guard, and Purr’s Bane spell proved deadly.
    • The real crown was recovered and returned to the Bramble King; Daeserana received her clipping. The villagers were freed, and the herbs secured.
    • Among the loot: a goblin‑scrawled map of the area — its meaning still unknown to the party.
    • Back in Levoca, two summons awaited: High Priestess Wintersella of Yarilla, or Sir Barack of Brunstane. The party chose Sir Barack.
    • Milestone: Party reached Level 3.

    This adventure came with a map of the ruins which I made in Inkarnate and then loaded to the TV screen, this was a really fun way to explore the ruins and have some cool combat encounters using the fog of war. We were missing our Druid for this session but I just faded them out and they’ll be back for session 3.

    Inkarnate Map made by me for Wrath of the Bramble King.
    A map scrawled by Goblin hands!

    Reflections as GM

    Two sessions in, Tales of the Valiant is working for me. It’s so close to D&D 5e that it’s familiar enough for my players to dive in, but with Luck Points, Doom Points, and the Margreve as a setting it feels fresh and new to me. The published adventures have given me a strong starting spine, but the homebrew factions, hidden agendas, and player‑tied hooks are what will make this campaign feel unique!

    What’s Next

    Next time, the party will meet Sir Barack and see where his summons leads — to the Black Hills probably. It’s time for a homebrewed adventure

    I’ll be back with:

    • More session recaps as the story unfolds.
    • Session prep notes for other GMs.
    • My thoughts on Daggerheart, which I’m running as a one‑shot this Friday.

    Subscribe to get new posts straight to your inbox — and tell me:

    • How do you run your Session 0s?
    • Is anyone else playing Tales of the Valiant?
    • Have you made the jump from online to in‑person? How did it change your table?

  • From Screen to Table: My First Steps into Running In-Person Games

    For the last four years, my GM screen has been a couple of monitors. My dice have clattered in virtual tabletops – I’ve tried Roll 20, Above VTT, Shard VTT, Foundry and I messed about a bit with Fantasy Grounds. But earlier this summer, for the first time since I started running games, I heard the real sound of dice hitting a table. I saw players lean in over a battle map and I felt the energy of a room full of people sharing a story together.

    And honestly? It’s been both super exciting and extremely terrifying!

    Why I made the Switch

    Like a lot of people, my tabletop RPG journey began in lockdown. My kids and wife had nowhere to run, so I made them play D&D with me, I’d never played before. The closest I’d come was playing the shit out of Baldurs Gate 1 and Baldurs Gate 2. The wife and kids weren’t massive fans although we did finish Dragon of Icespire Peak but with the world opening up again – they made it clear that this was my hobby, not theirs! So, I looked online, and I realised that the easiest way to play D&D was to run it. How difficult could it be? I jumped down the rabbit hole big time. Patreon subscriptions, online toolsets, Kickstarters – you name it, I’ve done it! Over the last few years I’ve run loads of D&D both 2014 and 2024 and a little bit of Pathfinder 2e – all online. But something was missing for me…So when a gaming venue opened up near me, I decided to take the plunge (it took 12 months!) But I’m there now.

    This year I’m running a Tales of the Valiant campaign in person and learning loads on the journey.

    Tales of the Valiant

    When I decided to go in‑person, I also wanted to go a little more analogue. Nothing against D&D Beyond — I own the Legendary Bundle and it’s been a fantastic tool — but I wanted this campaign to feel different. I wanted the weight of real books in my hands, the rustle of character sheets at the table, and the click clacking of dice at the table.

    So I chose Tales of the Valiant (by Kobold Press). On the surface, it’s very familiar to anyone who’s played D&D — the same heroic fantasy — but with some clever tweaks, it’s based on the 2014 edition. The two “house rules” that grabbed me immediately were Luck Points and Doom Points. They at least reward the players for those misses and the Doom Points give me as a GM, a few extra levers to pull when the combat needs a twist or a crank! I was heavily influenced by reading Sly Flourishes comments on both features.

    I also picked up the Old Margreve book (well why not?!) who doesn’t want a setting with folklore and mystery. The Margreve Forest isn’t just a backdrop — it’s alive, it’s ancient, and unpredictable. It remembers trespasses. It rewards respect. It’s the kind of place where every step into the undergrowth could bring you face to face with a friend, a foe, or something far stranger.

    That’s the tone I pitched to my players: familiar enough to feel comfortable, but with enough new edges to keep everyone curious. A world where the rules are just a little different, and the forest is always listening. I’ve stolen bits and pieces of the Margreve and chucked into my own homebrew world – An Talamh (the land in gaelic). I quite enjoy making maps in Inkarnate, and couldn’t resist a world map for this game

    The artwork in all 3 books that I own – really spoke to me. I found the style a little more to my taste than the 2024 stuff from WoTC.

    Two Sessions In – Finding Our Rythm

    We’re now two full sessions into Tales of the Valiant, and so far it’s going really well. I’ve got a table of six players, but we’ve agreed we’ll run as long as at least three can make it. That flexibility, plus the size of the group, means we’re far more likely to keep a regular schedule. We’ve levelled up twice – having complete Hollow Man and Wrath of the Bramble King from the Old Margreve book, and when the party comes back together with their level 3 characters, I’m going with a bit of a homebrew advanture.

    We’ve settled on meeting fortnightly for 3–4 hours, which feels right — enough time to sink our teeth into the story without burning out. If someone can’t make it, I simply “fade them out” for that session. It’s like a film or TV show: their character is still in the world, just not in the current scene or camera shot. No awkward retcons, no forcing attendance — just keeping the story moving.

    What’s Next?

    Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing:

    • Session recaps — the big moments, the twists, and the consequences.
    • Session prep notes — how I get ready, what tools I use, and what I’ve learned.
    • System thoughts — starting with Daggerheart, which I’m running as a one‑shot this Friday night.

    If you’re curious about how these games run in the wild — or you just enjoy a peek behind the GM screen — stick around.

    Subscribe to get new posts straight to your inbox, and join me as I explore the shift from online to in‑person play.

    And I’d love to hear from you:

    • What games are you running right now?
    • Is anyone else playing Tales of the Valiant — how are you finding it?
    • Have you made the jump from online to in‑person? How did it go for you?

    Drop your thoughts in the comments — let’s swap stories.