Category: Playing D&D

  • How to give your Beasts and Monstrosities reasonable speeds

    How to give your Beasts and Monstrosities reasonable speeds

    You might be able to outrun a Tyrannosaurus Rex, if you’re a peak athlete. Keep note of that. You almost certainly can outmaneuver them. Those are the key takeaways that Wired wants you to have after reading “How to Outrun a Dinosaur.“

    There’s a lot more depth in there for a game designer, homebrewer, or storyteller.

    Three years ago the biologist Myriam Hirt, who studies animal movement at the German Centre for Biodiversity Research, asked a seemingly simple question: Why is it that the biggest, most powerful animals—the whales, elephants, and rhinoceroses—are not the fastest, while the smallest—the mice, minnows, and millipedes—are some of the slowest? Is the implication that there is an optimum size for speed?

    The answer, Hirt found, is yes. If you were designing an animal for speed, that animal should weigh approximately 200 pounds. A bit heavier for a swimmer, and a bit lighter for a flyer.

    Wired, How to Outrun a Dinosaur.

    The T Rex has a speed of 50 in Dungeons & Dragons. That’s too fast for the mass of meat with jaws of death. Smaller dinos and lizards should probably have higher speeds. The Ripper Lizard is getting an update as this story is getting written.

    The speed of 50 might make sense if the primary time in D&D that speed is used is to determine distance running. But it is not. Speed most frequently comes up in combats in six-second chunks of time. Beasts and Monstrosities with high speeds should be the ones that accelerate and burst forward — cheetahs, lions, and Deltadromeus. Even the velociraptor should be average-to-athletic human sprint speed-ish.

    That also brings up a key point. A D&D character is supposed to represent, in general, above average athletes. There’s no direct tie-in between Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution and speed. Most races get a 30, some get a 25, rare ones get 35, and even rarer are the few that fly or swim.

    There are three things we should do with the knowledge from that Wired article;

    • Centerline most speeds to better represent reality in non-magical creatures.
    • Add line in the description that addresses distance traveled by unencumbered and encumbered beasts of burden.
    • Create a quick and easy way to avoid getting run down by a dinosaur.

    That last bullet doesn’t take a lot of work. When in a chase scene use opposed Dexterity checks (Acrobatics or Athletics or Sports could apply) when the chaser is within Reach of the chasee. A success would permit an attack/shove/grapple, if the action economy makes sense. If not, let the chasee take half their movement as a reaction as long as they are able to, and do, significantly change direction.

    Any creature that has magical influence on their speed can operate as normal.

  • Excellent online tool for NPC portraits and traits

    Excellent online tool for NPC portraits and traits

    As a big advocate for NPCs built for social and exploration encounters, finding a tool that creates those randomly, with art, is wonderful.

    Christian Oesch’s DM Heroes page throws together a handful of racial/lineage options with descriptions that are not centered on combat. Additionally there are suggestions on how to connect them to each other.

    Veklani Skandalor

    Female Dwarf Cobbler – If it doesn’t kill you…

    Veklani’s suggested traits are;

    Features

    70 years old (young adult)
    4′2″ (128cm)
    Normal voice
    Speaks about themself in 3rd person.

    Traits

    Never changes their facial expression.
    Hates the government.
    Is happy because of a recent dream.

    Story

    Asks the party to help their become a cult leader.
    Wants to kill Erag Ambershard

    Other

    Prays to Dugmaren Brightmantle, god of discovery (CG)

    If you don’t have time to custom craft a handful of minor NPCs just in case, this tool does wonders. It also can be a handy tool to get quick art for your PC, though you’ll need to spend time tuning the various sliders and such. Reroll, Hero Forge and others might be better for that.

    Here’s Thoumas built with ReRoll.

    You can read about the Swarmkeeper of Terriers here.

    Quick art for your characters, whether player or DM controlled, helps with immersion and inspiration. Find those tools that help you and your group enjoy the game most.

    And if you have the funds for custom art, do that! Custom art is wonderful too.

  • Check out Ginny Di’s video about etiquette in online RPGs

    Check out Ginny Di’s video about etiquette in online RPGs

    After many, many months of the covid-19 pandemic more people are playing D&D than ever. Much of this is online. Long-time players and D&D rookies both are discovering the challenges of gaming via video.

    Ginny Di put together a strong 12-minute video that hits on the common challenges and solutions that come up at virtual tables. Even if your virtual table play is going well this is a good reminder. If you haven’t played virtually before the package is an excellent starting point.

    When I watched this it reminded me of one my habits as Awf — I can dominate the channel rather than share the spot light. When I play as Thoumas, the group interplay is different. We split the party frequently, something that is harder to handle on a VTT, in my experience. Coordination requires a bit more care.

    Her best piece of advice, at least for my groups (hi guys), is to use the text chat for out-of-character stuff. That clears space for the DM to manage the game. My second favorite is to schedule a little bit of the time pre & post game to communicate about non-gaming things. Be friendly and social with each other, because being social during the pandemic is hard enough.

  • Arise & Descend: Finally a Long Rest

    Arise & Descend: Finally a Long Rest

    Awf Hornjaw et Loragwyn and the Brigade (formerly Droop’s Brigade) may have reached the end of Lost Mines of Phandelver. Or not. It’s hard to know. Everyone’s favorite axe-wizard and friends may have killed their final enemy, and they may even have rescued a Rockseeker brother.

    After putting session recaps on pause for a while, I’m returning to recapping our near-weekly campaign that started with D&D’s Starter Set and is likely to continue in Avernus. Recaps will only be written after Long Rests.

    There may be spoilers. Don’t read on if you don’t want them.

    Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Pexels.com

    Pages: 1 2

  • Taien Sahul – the ripper lizard

    Taien Sahul – the ripper lizard

    Out in the lands of Mehmd mammals and avians are rare. Many of the ecological and domestic niches are instead filled by lizards, amphibians and dinosaur-like creatures. The Taien Sahul are small saurs based on the Velociraptor by Sam Stockdale at ENWorld.

    In Mehmd they tend to roam the wilderness, though certain tribes of Unkempt in the South and the Isles use them as companions. When free they roam in packs of 9 or so (3d6). Their Pounce needs quite a distance in order to be used, but when the commit they tend to rush prey quickly. Taien Sahul can survive in deserts, having advantage on CON checks to deal with dehydration.

    Photo by Innermost Limits on Pexels.com

    Taien Sahul – the ripper lizard
    Small beast, unaligned

    Armor Class 13 (natural)
    Hit Points 3 (1d6)
    Speed 45 ft., climb 10 ft.

    STR 7 (–2)
    DEX 15 (+2)
    CON 10 (+0)
    INT 3 (–4)
    WIS 14 (+2)
    CHA 7 (–2)

    Skills Perception +4, Stealth +4
    Senses passive Perception 14
    Languages —
    Challenge: ½ CR 50 xp

    Keen Sight: The raptor has advantage on sight-based Perception (WIS) checks.
    Pounce: If the raptor moves at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hits with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 10 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If a target is prone, the raptor can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.
    Pack Tactics: The raptor has advantage on an attack roll against a target if at least one of the raptor’s allies is within 5 feet of the target and isn’t incapacitated.

    ACTIONS
    Multiattack: The raptor makes two melee attacks, usually using both claws unless they’ve pounced.
    Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4+2 piercing damage.
    Claws: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4+2 slashing damage.

  • Inspiration Is Everywhere: Trees

    Inspiration Is Everywhere: Trees

    There’s a doc open on my computer almost every day. I’m crafting an original D&D adventure for a charity game come spring time. For that adventure I’m researching various tree-monsters. These are common in the fiction which is inspired by and that inspired Dungeons & Dragons. There’s Treants/Ents from Lord of the Rings and the Flying Forest and Sentient Trees of The Magicians.

    Within the game there are Awakened Shrubs and Awakened Trees in the Basic Rules. Kobold Press introduces us to a Dragonleaf Tree, in Tome of Beasts for 5e.

    But trees can help us with more than just monsters. They can inspire creative decisions. Look at this stand across the river.

    There’s some scarring from disease, or something, several dozen feet up. Take a closer look at that.

    Put your “not in the real world” hat on. What if that scaring was from a massive beast? What if the Giant Elk of this realm were so huge that their antlers (looking it up, yes elk have antlers) rubbed off that bark that’s a full 30 feet or so above the river.

    What happens when a herd of them walk the river during logging season with their massive legs crushing through or between the barges? Or are these Elk the friends of your woodland dwelling elves, gnomes, goblins, or other races? Are they ridden like elephants?

    The answers are up to you.

    Trees are also our mighty connection to history.

    Tolkien recognized that. The age of trees is why the Ents knew so much and also why they’d become peaceful and rooted. When you see so much life pass before you are the little lives so precious?

    In the World of the Everflow, the Dragonleaf Trees are ancient, from the era before legends, when Dragons and the other Ken were part of the world of Kin. But they are also dying. A breed that is honored while also being forgotten. They do not seed. They do not spread. There are only twenty or so of these ancient trees left, with almost all of them in the Tree District of Qin.

    When a tree is a millennia old what does that signal in your world? Are they like the trees of Solace in Krynn, with homes and workplaces scattered within the branches? Or is it a single tree from the time before time the sits alone in a desert, with roots that stretch hundreds of feet down and branches in the sky that reach to the clouds, a trade post surrounding this tree so big that it creates its own climate?

    Every journey you take. Every book you read. Every show or movie you watch. Every song you here. Every social media post you scan.

    They’re all inspiration for your world, your character, your dreams. Share them with your table.

  • Latest Unearthed Arcana further uncouples race from mechanics

    Latest Unearthed Arcana further uncouples race from mechanics

    When a new Unearthed Arcana drops much of the focus is on the mechanics. They are mechanical tests after all. In some cases the development team removes story mentions to not taint the survey results. This UA drop is focused on playing as Undead or Fey. The purpose is to test Dhampir (emergent vampires, kinda), Hexblood (emergent hags, kinda), Reborn (those that hover between living and dead, mostly).

    Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

    The mechanics are intriguing. The Dhampir has a bite attack that uses Constitution for its damage stat, which makes sense. The Hexblood has a superior version of Message and Arcane Eye combo. Reborn are sleepless, with a kind of elvish trance available.

    More important than the new racial options and mechanics is the sidebar titled Design Note: Changes to Racial Traits. Thanks to Justice Arman for calling this out on Twitter and forcing me to look deeper into the change.

    Let’s take it piece by piece.

    The first paragraph further emphasizes the small changes in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. It’s a solid reminder of the product and the small steps already taken.

    In 2020, the book Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduced the option to customize several of your character’s racial traits, specifically the Ability Score Increase trait, the Language trait, and traits that give skill, armor, weapon, or tool proficiencies.

    From UNEARTHED ARCANA 2021: Gothic Lineages

    Paragraph two is a reminder that the work is not done. Forward all D&D books are removing those elements from races that are purely cultural, as well as the Ability Score increase. This will obviously, and *necessarily*, impact the current races (a change that will be simpler via DnDBeyond and other digital systems than those with physical books. There will still be physical and magical differences for the characters with certain races.

    Following in that book’s footsteps, the race options in this article and in future D&D books lack the Ability Score Increase trait, the Language trait, the Alignment trait, and any other trait that is purely cultural. Racial traits henceforth reflect only the physical or magical realities of being a player character who’s a member of a particular lineage. Such traits include things like darkvision, a breath weapon (as in the dragonborn), or innate magical ability (as in the forest gnome). Such traits don’t include cultural characteristics, like language or training with a weapon or a tool, and the traits also don’t include an alignment suggestion, since alignment is a choice for each individual, not a characteristic shared by a lineage.

    The final paragraph is a strong reminder that a character is not the normal part of any culture, species, lineage, or race. The player-character occupies a unique space within a D&D world. They are heroes or anti-heroes, not paragons of a racial group.

    Finally, going forward, the term “race” in D&D refers only to the suite of game features used by player
    characters. Said features don’t have any bearing on monsters and NPCs who are members of the same species or lineage, since monsters and NPCs in D&D don’t rely on race or class to function. Moreover, DMs are empowered to customize the features of the creatures in their game as they wish.

    The multi-year critique directed at D&D in regards to its history and legacy of racism and racial-tinged rules is having an impact — a slow one. This are necessary changes. Some of them are small. Some of them are big.

    To borrow from Jemma Simmons, Agents of SHIELD, “The steps you take don’t need to be big. They just need to take you in the right direction.”

    These are steps in the right direction. This is progress. The path forward is exciting.

  • Tips about naming your characters

    Tips about naming your characters

    Naming characters can be hard. For a DM coming up with names at the spur of the moment can lead to a stoppage in play as their mind struggles to find something appropriate for the NPC that was supposed to be a background character, but your players have thrust that individual into a major role.

    For most players, naming a character is a rare event. It is usually the first or last thing that they do. Then, it’s over until the next campaign starts. Still, you want to get the proper name for your character, because you will carry it with you for a long time*.

    *strong exceptions for rogues, criminals, urchins, and the like.

    As someone who both creates way too many PCs, and once named a formerly non-notable NPC “Anderson” after the car dealer across the street from the restaurant hosting our session I’ve developed a few tricks to naming characters.

    Easy Button

    Those of you using DnDBeyond.com probably already know this, but the Fantasy Name Generator has well over 100 different naming categories. Click the category and it will spit out ten names. Simple is as simple does. Sometimes you’ll hit those buttons a dozen times to get the one you like.

    Xanathar’s Guide to Everything

    All the way back in November of 2017 Wizards of the Coast released Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. The book is most well known for being the first official significant expansion of character classes in 5th edition. Those people into optimization ranted against the inclusion of almost 20 pages of names.

    Frankly, it was a poor critique.

    There are so many more people picking up the game every day, every month, every year. They don’t have the knowledge base that stretches back editions. They may not want unofficial sources for fantasy names.

    Xanathar’s includes official lists of fantasy names as well as dozens of real cultures that are often captured within your gaming table. This section is one of the forgotten joys of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. Cracking the book open to those sections should help inspire your next character’s name.

    Use Athletes for Inspiration

    After working in sports for nearly 15 years, there should be little surprise that they become part of my gaming paradigm. There’s a reason that Sports as a Tool exists in my worlds.

    Sports, particularly Olympic sports and soccer/football, are an excellent way to discover wonderful inspiration for names. Just look at the recent MLS SuperDraft.

    Mitch Guitar was drafted. Who doesn’t want to make a Bard called Mith Lyre now?

    Sondre Norheim was drafted. Could that be your next dwarf named after a powerful elven king? Yes.

    Real people and cultures can inspire your name. Honor those peoples through the name of your character.

    To discover new names head to a reference website covering a sport with international play. Click on a league outside of the mainstream, click a team at random, and combine a two-four players’ names. Drop a couple letters, or add a few. Research those players because their lives can help inspire you the same way that reading Tolkien can inspire you.

    Sports Reference, Soccerway, and Transfermarkt are my favorite places to do this.

    As a DM, I try to have a small selection of NPCs already made up ahead of a session. These index card sized characters are there because my players will always surprise me. Most of their names have come from various athletes around the world. Some will be consistent within a certain set of cultures, while others recognize that the fantasy worlds in which we play are generally as interconnected as the modern world in which we live.

    Your naming conventions should embrace the fact that the peoples travel extensively.

    How do you name your characters?

  • So, you got into ShantyTok, now what

    So, you got into ShantyTok, now what

    Nearly everyone on the internet has heard The Wellerman a dozen times, with different variations popping up every day. Maybe you’ve even experimented with other sea shanties, because frankly when you are stuck at home the unity of the working-class’s songs helps you feel like you are part of something greater than yourself.

    That’s a large part of the reason that ShantyTok exploded off of Tik Tok to take over all social media. Now, it’s even inspired people to start talking about the best film about the Age of Sail — Master & Commander.

    Frankly, you need to add shanties to your D&D game too. There lots of ways to do this, from just a single character to an entire campaign. Do it. Have fun. Embrace the zeitgeist, and make your gaming community a group of unified purpose — surviving a sea and sometimes even a captain that hates you.

    Every Class Can Be A Pirate/Privateer/Sailor

    First and foremost, realize that any and every class can be a sailor of sorts. The obvious way is through the use of the Sailor/Pirate/Privateer Background. You already know this. You also know about the Swashbuckler, because you are a wise soul.

    But there is more than that. Every single Bard in the core D&D game can fill a role on a pirate ship, so can every Rogue. Most Clerics make sense, etcetera, etc. Be creative in the roles and purpose on a ship. Your concept belongs there, even a fully armored Paladin, with those drawbacks, belongs aboard a galleon in the Age of Sail.

    Just a quick glance at Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything shows some great concepts for your shanty-singing adventurer;

    • Artificer: Artillerist – Who needs gunpowder when you have magic cannons?
    • Cleric: Order Domain – Someone has to keep the law of the ship and boost the crew.
    • Druid: Circle of Stars – The blessings of the sky are vital during a trip across thousands of miles of ocean.
    • Rogue: Phantom – The latter Pirates of the Caribbean movies lean into tales where dead men talk.
    • Warlock: The Fathomless – duh

    Making the sea even a small element of a campaign gives space for your shanty-singing glory.

    Seas of Voldari

    What if every character was part of the story of the sea? That’s what Tribality’s Seas of Voldari explores. Their words describe the setting and ruleset well.

    The Seas of Vodari campaign setting was created to support seafaring adventures that focus on the crew of a ship hunting sea monsters, exploring mysterious uncharted islands, visiting bustling port cities, following maps to find buried treasure, and battling cutthroat pirates. The setting is also well suited to running campaigns in its large port cities, with swashbuckling heroes getting mixed up with fierce rivals, notorious crime syndicates, feuding nobles, and scheming politicians.

    From the sales page for Seas of Voldari

    The added classes, races, and backgrounds make life at sea the key element of most adventures. Add them to your existing campaign and your players have more options to enjoy their sugar & rum & tea.

    Be Creative: Add Shanties As A Landlubber

    While The Wellerman is all about the Age of Sail, shanties were not confined to life at sea. There are shanties about building railroads, working mines, and every other activity that requires a group to work in unison in miserable conditions — the marching and running songs of soldiers are related to shanties.

    Hi ho, hi ho
    It’s off to work we go

    Yes, your dwarves should sing shanties. Your drudge cutting down trees for the lumberyard should sing shanties. Your Bard at the bar should sing shanties, and so should your Battle Master.

    All times of needed unity are appropriate for the musical style.

    Other Inspirations

    Step away from The Wellerman. Listen to The Longest Johns or one of the many playlists built to feature shanties.

    This can add more ideas during campaign prep or character building.

    Watch Black Sails. It’s Hulu, Starz, and Prime (season 1) for no additional charge. The season one trailer opens you to the TV prequel for Treasure Island, but it’s season 4 that gets my blood pumping.

    There’s also the now-classic cartoon Pirates of Dark Water, which is especially handy if you want a Seas of Voldari campaign. It’s hard to track it down, but if you can find it the mix of piracy and fantasy is perfect for a Dungeons & Dragons.

    The films, books, comics, and such inspired by life at sea is numerous. Your approaches to integrating that into your campaign should be as big as the ocean.

    For forty days or even more,
    the line went slack then tight once more,
    All boats were lost, there were only four
    and still that whale did go.

    The quest of the Wellerman is the quest of Ahab, and a familiar quest for any adventurer, because it’s never done, merely paused for a bit of song and rum.

  • Prekx, Gujri, and Shrubbrs – the best fencers this side of Flowing Lake

    Prekx, Gujri, and Shrubbrs – the best fencers this side of Flowing Lake

    Prekx was happy to get hired for this job. Anytime he could get further from the village with all their suspicious eyes was good. Many still thought of him as a goblin, and not just a fence maker. Even now, with his reputation after building Gujri, the steel goat, to find the gaps and holes faster than real goats and at no loss of meat there were those who thought about the attack from his former tribe. Prekx didn’t even know his tribe. He’s just known the land around Flowing Lake.

    Growing up under the care of the mage Alizon, he learned what magic could do and that if you know the proper gestures, and words, and components you can just do things. Not normal things – big, impressive things. That’s how he learned the spells that helped him make up for his weak size — Mold Earth and Mage Hand.

    Magic helped him overcome size and strength. It introduced him to carpentry and the fine works of woodcarving. It helped him build Shrubbrs – that tiny cluster of branches and roots and thorns with a heart of fire-stone. Magic is where he turned, because that’s where he had his friend.

    Gujri would find the hole in the fence. Then Prekx and Shrubbrs would join the steel goat there to clear some land around it, make it easy for the human to repair. Instead of standing in brambles they would have space.

    Then it was off to towards the river. Someone needed a string-metal fence. Normals couldn’t make that. It’s a little invention that he came up with using his artifice. Lighter, and stronger, the string-metal fences were become popular. They will hold out the vermin, hopefully. There’s a flock of cockatrice and a cluster of giant spiders that are an issue lately.

    Maybe he can fence those towards each other? It would be easier than a herd of sheep being petrified or chicken coop covered in webs.

    “Gujri! Get over here,” Prekx shouts.

    The only answer is the crank of rusted metal. That’s another problem altogether.

    Photo by Artur Roman on Pexels.com

    Fence Making is Magic – an Artificer build

    The concept for this character started in a simple place. I was working on horse fencing, which is hard, physical drudgery. The thought sprung into my head ‘how would a D&D hero do this?’

    That starts with Mold Earth and Mage Hand. Between those most of the digging and walking over back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth, sorry distracted by all that walking, just makes things easier. I looked into a sorcerer for that, but unfortunately it didn’t quite represent what I wanted.

    From there, taking the Feat: Magic Initiate became obvious. In order to be an expert carpenter (the closest tool to a fence maker in the game) meant one of three choices. Artificer felt better than Rogue and Bard. The reason for that is that the handy assistance from the built companions just made too much sense.

    Shrubbrs and Girji would be invaluable aids in maintaining and building a fence. Not only that, but a worker on the edge of a civilized area could use the extra defensive help from a steel goat.

    Throw in a cool photo of Goblin Gulch, and now, a character is born.

    Goblin Gulch by Nick Wietzel

    There will probably be a deeper dive into Goblin Gulch later, but in Prekx’s case he left the Gulch when young.

    Prekx Booyahg Booyahg Booyahg of the Gulch is a goblin artificer, steel defender.

    He’s Flowing Lake’s (an idea I came up with during the recent flooding) best fence maker. That background was based on the Folk Hero, with minor tweaks.

    For the flaws I leaned into the goblin tribe he left, saying that the ruler there wants Prekx dead. Also, he learned to hate bullying from his youth as a goblin. He learned to love magic from his latter youth as a student with Alizon.

    His sincerity he picked up because he’s damn good at his job and he’s a goblin. He will never hide either of those things.

    Finally, he’s confident in his abilities and do what he can to instill confidence in others. But at times he will misuse long words because his education started late.