Category: Playing D&D

  • The Caravanserai – a 5th edition D&D Background

    The Caravanserai – a 5th edition D&D Background

    One gap in the official backgrounds is the trope of innkeeper. So many tales that inspired this game consist of an innkeeper (and we’re keeping that slightly different than barkeep) who exists as an NPC. A related topic, and one I wished to amplify is that version of an innkeeper who plies their trade at a frontier stop or waypoint on a much travelled road. The Caravanserai is meant to capture that individual, and the alternate the urban innkeeper.

    Caravanserai at Dogubayazit, Turkey
    Caravanserai at Dogubayazit, Turkey by Charlie Phillips (CC BY 2.0)

    Caravanserai

    Dyson Logos CC-BY

    Along dusty roads and alpine trails there are forts that operate as a rest stop, place to pickup supplies, maybe an opportunity to trade, and a safe enclosure from the dangers of people and nature. You grew up at one of these caravanserais, or moved there when young, learning the lingua franca and other tongues, picking up on the various cultures that came through the walls to spend a night or a week in your safety.

    When bandits attacked you helped to defend the fort, as did everyone within. Some may focus on those tales. Others would focus on the caravans traveling with spices and fabrics from lands that others only think of fanciful stories, but for you are the real origins of people you’ve met. You are worldly, without travelling the world until now. Gifted a family heirloom you are off on a journey away from safety, ready to explore spaces that are no longer fiction.

    Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Insight
    Tool Proficiencies: None
    Languages: Any two (Thieves Cant included) — as always, using cultures is better
    Equipment: Abacus, Baton (a club with finesse properties), Bell, Blanket (2), Guestbook, Candles (5), Map Case, Traveler’s Clothes, Ink Pen, Heirloom Spyglass, 5 gp

    Feature: Warm Welcome

    When you first meet new people they usually assume you are friendly. Your demeanor is such to put them at ease. Those being chased, followed, or otherwise harassed seek you for protection and comfort. For the most part, thinking peoples want to be on your good side because you are known to accept those in need, especially those who can pay.

    Characteristics: For now, use those from the Folk Hero or pick & choose your favorites. Whenever my background project sees full publication there will be unique characteristics for each of them and feats, because that’s what 2024’s version of the game will have.

    If you’d like the Caravanserai map, head on over to Dyson Logos for the full size image. I back Dyson Logos and you should too.

    Alternate: The Innkeeper

    You either worked at an inn owned by others, once owned your own small inn, or have left the inn owned by your family as you head out into the world of adventure. Whether you come from a small town or a metropolis, your experiences are generally urban. You know the temples, libraries, parks, and other civic buildings of the neighborhood as well as someone who works or lives there.

    People know your inn as a place for visitors and some locals. They know your for your ability to make friends, for your ready weapon to enforce the peace within your building, a willingness to clean up a mess, and that you always have the right key available.

    Changes from Caravanserai

    Replace the Animal Handling skill with Persuasion or Intimidation.

    Replace the equipment of the Caravanserai with the following.

    Equipment: Abacus, Any Simple or Martial Weapon, Bell, Blanket (2), Guestbook, Candles (5), Map Case, Traveler’s Clothes, Towel or Rag, a Key Ring, Ink Pen, 10 gp

    This map from Newbie DM inspired the release of these backgrounds. Every innkeeper should have an inn they left when they started out on their adventure. There are many reasons to leave that life, some by choice and others more sinister. When creating an innkeeper or caravanserai have a map of that location, and a story about why you left.

    Caravanserai Design Goals

    I’ll admit, leading with the Caravanserai is inspired by my studies (Near Eastern Cultures and Civilizations, Arabic), my gaming passion for al-Qadim, and my visits to Palestine, Israel, and Kuwait. Also, there are some unique spaces to fill. The heirloom spyglass is a fun trick of creation. Taking that away from the family adds story. Adding a weapon in which the character may not be proficient is a technique I’ll lean into a bit in the backgrounds project. Certain civilian (aka non-adventuring) roles in a society will have a weapon, but not necessarily be good at using it.

    Whether the Silk Road or ancient mountain pass, travel routes have always, in every culture and geography, needed the safe respite away from brigands, bandits, wild animals, and extreme weather. At this locales the caravanserai and/or innkeeper offers a warm smile, food & board, and information all for just a few coins.

    Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

  • Reblogging Alphastream — Assessing the D&D Creator Summit

    I’ve read two recaps of the Creator Summit. This one is from Alphastream and the other is from Daniel Kwan. Read both to learn as much as you can about the event earlier in the week.

    Hallway decorations at Wizards of the Coast On Monday April 3rd, 2023, about 30 community members visited the Wizards offices for a Creator Summit. Another 100 joined virtually. In many ways, it exceeded my expectations. In others, it fell short… while offering great promise. This is part one of a series, with an eye towards…

    Assessing the D&D Creator Summit — Alphastream
  • Best part of D&D Direct? The new player onboarding site

    Best part of D&D Direct? The new player onboarding site

    Earlier this week Dungeons & Dragons held a “direct.” These events are about announcing new product. It was a bit odd to see a D&D Direct already, since the full slate of hardback books for D&D is already known. So what did Wizards of the Coast show the fans?

    A lot, much of it not related to the game of D&D, but to the brand of D&D.

    But for me the winner was about the game — there’s a new onboarding site for players. This is obviously launching because the highly rated movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is out in theaters on March 31.

    • Dungeons & Dragons Comes to Minecraft – read more at Polygon and get new monsters on D&D Beyond.
    • Honor Among Thieves trailer and a Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair.
    • Hasbro March Monster Madness – new toys and stuffed animals with D&D themes are fine. I’ll probably get one or two (Kristin you didn’t read this)
    • New Life-Size D&D Figures from Wizkids – I’ll probably get one of these too.
    • R.A. Salvatore on Drizzt and a Neverwinter Module – The Neverwinter MMO is starting to feel like forever winter. The staying power of the game is impressive
    • D&D Virtual Tabletop – read more at EN World
    • Joe Manganiello’s 50th Anniversary D&D Documentary
    • A Look at Future D&D Sourcebooks and Adventures – there’s a lot to take in, from four more books coming out this year, plus hints at new books over the next two years. Many were thrilled to see Planescape’s coming art.
    • D&D Play Events at Local Game Stores – I like this because FLGS need more support than ever, but also because it helps new people discover the game.

    I love adding new people to D&D.

    It makes me feel good knowing that this once niche hobby where I was constantly mocked and derided is now popular.

    More important than me feeling good is that new players mean new stories.

    More players = more stories

    I can’t tell you all of my stories, let alone tell you everyone else’s story.

    The only route to more stories is more players. By finding new people the original, the mix and the remix at each table is amplified. Playing with the same people all the time is a great way to retell their stories. But the power of life, the power of roleplaying games is story — big, fat, emotionally loaded stories from all the varieties of people in the world.

    Story creep is always better than power creep.

    That’s why Tasha’s was good. That’s why Radiant Citadel is excellent.

    Learning D&D can be hard. There’s no hiding from that. Finding ways to teach new players, especially those not joining a current table is the hardest thing facing any RPG.

    The cover image of PlayDND.com. The words "Welcome to the world of Dungeons & Dragons" and "Begin your adventure" sit over a cavern with burning embers floating through it.

    PlayDnD.com

    This is a brilliant onboarding portal that addresses the most common question I get from the now-hundreds of people who have asked me about Dungeons & Dragons “Where do I start?”

    You start at PlayDnD.com. It starts with an intro video.

    The Starter Set of course!

    But maybe those five characters aren’t right for you. PlayDnD has 11 pregenerated characters. Clicking on those pulls up a fully filled out page on D&D Beyond with a video tour of the character page!

    There’s also three adventures, for free!

    • Lost Mines of Phandelver (which is about to have another sequel, this time in hardback, later this year). This is a mini-campaign
    • Frozen Sick is a first level adventure
    • Prisoner 13 is a multi-session adventure set in the prison Revel’s End. Revel’s End is part of the Honor Among Thieves, part of Rime of the Frostmaiden (and co-developed by John Francis Daley who co-wrote and co-directed Honor Among Thieves) and part of Keys from the Golden Vault

    The first two can be run by people only semi-familiar with D&D and other fantasy tropes. Prisoner 13 is better for a more familiar DM.

    Maybe you need help building a your own character? There’s guide to that.

    There’s the prequel to Dragons of Stormwreck Isle as a pick-your-path adventure with a d20 called Before the Storm. If there’s one negative it’s that Before the Storm is so far down the page.

    After that is a bundle to get the Dragons of Strormwreck Isle in both digital and physical at the same time.

    There’s a final carousel of clickthroughs that includes ads for D&D Beyond, the D&D Discord, and another item that makes me very happy — help finding your local gaming store.

    Play D&D and discover stories of heroism, of diversity, of found family. It just got a lot easier.

  • D&D just released a Starter Set prequel

    D&D just released a Starter Set prequel

    Before your first time player heads to Stormwreck Isle, have them play this pick-your-own path adventure on DnDBeyond.com.

    Similar to the classic books Choose Your Own Adventure, Before the Storm starts a single character on their path to becoming a hero. It uses two to three options at each path, connects those choices to how the game of Dungeons & Dragons runs, and then rolls a d20 to see if you succeed or not.

    There are five different characters, which seem to be the same options as the pre-generated characters for the current Starter Set – Dragons of Stormwreck Isle (at your local game store or DnD Beyond).

    Weaving a familiar and simple pick-your-path story with the D&D mechanics is an excellent introduction to what D&D is. People unfamiliar with role-playing games should catch on fairly quickly. The cycle of the D&D process is pretty simple.

    • Action is described
    • You make a choice
    • Does it succeed?
    • What happens next

    That fits a simple computer program easily.

    What makes role-playing with a real person so much more interesting is that the stopes for Choice and What Next aren’t confined to pre-programmed options. They’re up to the people at the table, together.

    What else makes D&D special is that, unlike Before the Storm, is that it captures that idea that a diverse group is vital to succeeding in life. Everyone has different strengths, different weaknesses. By working together your group is more than the sum of its parts.

    Before the Storm is strongly recommended for people who think – I want to play Dungeons & Dragons but don’t know how.

  • Using ‘third places’ to add cultural depth to your D&D campaign or character

    Using ‘third places’ to add cultural depth to your D&D campaign or character

    The trope that starts nearly every Dungeons & Dragons campaign is “So, you meet in a tavern.” Which is fitting. For most campaigns start with a diverse group of characters who don’t have strong connections throughout the group. They are a cross-cultural, cross-class, cross-Class, cross-everything group that wouldn’t meet at most places in the medieval-Renaissance-ish fantasy world that is D&D.

    But the tavern, via the trope, has become a third place. It’s not home (though it often becomes that). It’s not work (though it often becomes that). It’s the place between. And these places between are frequently where subcultures within a society connect.

    Various cultures have had different third places. For modern America it is now the coffeeshop and used to be bowling alleys. In the Ottoman Empire in the classical age had its cafes, where philosophy, music and political debate occurred.

    In New England during the American Revolution public houses were the gathering point, for many at that time the first place was a co-located home with work and the second were churches.

    The Greeks gathered on the steps of temples. Finns and Russians gather in bathhouses.

    Sporting venues have been third places, before they became economically stratified. Travelling carnivals and festivals can be a third place.

    No matter the type of third place, it tells you a bit about the culture.

    Using third places as a character backstory tool

    When creating a PC think about the place where you mingled with peoples unlike you. Where did your dwarf first meet an elf? Where did your farmer first meet a noble? Where did your follower of Lathander meet an unbeliever?

    This decision will help tell you about your own history.

    It will connect them to a place and associated behaviors that aren’t mechanics, but are fuel for the social pillar. Their own stories about a trip to watch a great debate between philosophers, a visit to the library, or the type of ale they enjoyed at the pub are stories that add more depth to the shared story that is D&D.

    Adventurers have the place where they sleep (a cave, a cove, an inn), the place where they work (dungeons), and the places where they spend time meeting strangers with odd quests. Once they start their adventure they have the third place that was cross-cultural communication when they were growing up and now the place between — and that’s up to the whole party of different peoples.

    Using third places as a world building tool

    Dungeon Masters generally are more active in creating the world. There are a few ways they can use third places in that world.

    • Collect each players’ third places in your notes. Give them the opportunity to revisit them in new lands.
    • Start the campaign at the typical third place for the origin culture of the campaign. “So, you meet on the steps of the temple.”
    • When the group comes to a new land and looks for their comfortable third place (the tavern) demonstrate how that locale is different from their expectation and what the unfamiliar culture would use as their non-stratified place that welcomes outsiders.
    • Use maps of abandoned third places to show how different the older ages were from the one in which you campaign.
    • Have an NPC name-drop their favorite third place. This can show how they are familiar to most of the group, or different. Each NPC can have their own place, they should!
    • Have two third places in the same town share similarities but still be unique beyond their name. Maybe the Rusty Clam is a working pub and the Silver Nail is for the merchant class — and yet the players are welcomed at both.

    These are flavor elements, but flavor is story in D&D. And story is what tables build together, usually because Dungeons and Dragons is now our third place.