The Last RPG Jam 2020, Day 1

Work has begun.

One team member has stepped up to function as Lead Story Designer.  He has begun to sort through existing lore and non-player characters (NPCs) to determine what to keep and what to remove.  In part, some content that feels dated or out-of-touch with modern gamers will be unused.  What better way to eliminate unwanted lore in D&D than by having it eaten by dragons?

Another team member has begun monster design.  We previously discussed the problem of high-level spell casters using certain spells (such as Tiny Hut) to rest safely.  She described having success by hunting PCs with Helmed Horrors -- a constructed enemy that can be immune to the effects of three spells.  To suit our adventure, she has modified them to high-level "Improved" Helmed Horrors to challenge level-appropriate PCs.

Finally, I continued learning CC3+ and working specifically with Dungeon Designer 3 (DD3).  

I also began planning out some potential encounter groups.  I find D&D 5e's style of encounter in published adventures to be too plain.  Instead of "half-red-dragon veteran leading 21 kobolds and 7 lizardmen," I prefer assigning Monster Roles -- changing weapons, armor, or spells of an adversary to change how they fight.  Instead of "21 kobolds" they can be "kobolds: 7 with shortswords and slings attacking from range but drawing swords if needed, 4 with heavy armor and rapiers who fight close, 4 with whips who attack with reach, 4 with shortbows who only attack at range (or flee), and 2 sneaking about with poisoned daggers to finish off a heavily-wounded PC."  These monster roles were used in D&D 4e but removed for 5e.  They also appeared in the 3.5e book Dungeonscape, the monster designs of 13th Age, and have similarities to Animal Behaviors I've seen in Traveller (though I can't remember which edition or book, off hand).