Tournament Under the Grey Banner – Index
A work-in-progress adventure book for use in D&D 5th Edition by Troy McConnell.
Preparations for the Grand Tournament are well underway, drawing all manner of merchants, fighters, tourists, and many others to the town of Greybanner. Its streets bustle with building energy. One trader has hired a small band of fledgling adventurers to escort him to the town and protect the goods he carries. It is a simple task that puts gold in their pockets and brings them to a town full of opportunities. But an encounter en route to Greybanner is the spark that ignites a new adventure for the group. It will take them to many new places in Greybanner’s vicinity as they reveal the secrets of a mystery that stirs within the Arena.
As an ongoing project alongside our other encounters and map accompaniments, I have been putting together a completely original adventure book: ‘Tournament Under the Grey Banner‘. The adventure is designed to be a perfect standalone story or introduction to a grander campaign. It features a long list of characters and locations for the party to interact with during their time in Greybanner, as well as a full roster, calendar, and mechanical breakdown of the Arena and Grand Tournament. Meanwhile, a core story helps propel the characters through their adventures and galvanize them as an adventuring party. And, of course, gives them some shiny loot to walk away with.
This page acts as an index of the completed, published sections. It will be updated with each new article as they come, for the sake of easier navigation.
Please note: this adventure is a WORK IN PROGRESS.
‘Tournament Under the Grey Banner’ is a continuous project and not a complete adventure. As such, the story and details of the adventure are developing as it’s created. This means that certain elements may be changed as it progresses and may conflict with previous sections. The final release of the adventure book will rectify these discrepancies, as well as add additional content and details that are not in these articles.
Chapter 1: Greybanner
Greybanner rests on the edge of the Bramblejade forest and near the Titan’s Spine mountains. It is an isolated town with a storied history, home to a variety of residents for characters to meet and interesting locations for them to find and explore. There is history for them to learn, buildings and businesses to visit, and even lists of random encounters to face in the surrounding wilderness. All of these places and people can be used on their own but also set the stage for the adventure to come.
Chapter 2: The Greybanner Arena
The time has come for the Greybanner Arena’s Grand Tournament and Silversteel Challenge! The Arena and its activities come with detailed mechanics for entrants, opponents, spectators, bets, and even advertising, allowing adventurers to pad their pockets in a number of different ways. It even has a Tournament calendar, making it easier for everyone to plan ahead. The Tournament itself includes 35 fighters, 2 returning Champions, and 3 fellow parties for the characters to meet, all with their own stories, personalities, and abilities. The Arena even has multiple possible formations, as well as a list of delightfully dangerous traps. Fighters never know what to expect when they step through the Arena’s gates.
Chapter 3: Introduction and Into the Bramblejade
The story begins with a group of assembled adventurers taking a simple escort job to the town of Greybanner. But a chance encounter and a fallen Champion pulls them into a frantic quest through the Bramblejade forest and to the Verdantguard tower. There are encounters to face, lumberers to save, and long-hidden secrets of the tower for them to uncover. Is it just a quick trip into the woods or the start of something much larger?
Chapter 4: In Walls That Talk
Having braved the Bramblejade and its Verdantguard Tower, the party is faced with a number of paths that they might follow. One such possibility is the storied MacHale Estate. The abandoned house is the center of much of Greybanner’s history, pointed to by cryptic notes in Verdantguard, and the subject of several groups all looking to profit from the location. It is said to be haunted by ghosts and shades, but surely they are nothing that a band of adventurers cannot handle?
Chapter 5: Fireblood and Silver (WIP)
The Titan's Spine mountains tower to Greybanner's east, and within them is the long abandoned home of the Reavers. These tunnels, filled with memories of the war that Greybanner has forgotten, may still hold tools that can aid the party in their adventure. But they are not as empty as the people of the town believe. They have become the territory of the Reavers' old allies, a den of kobolds who seek to expand and who are not fond of anyone that might impose upon their tunnels.
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Troy McConnell
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