Category: Playing D&D

  • How Christmas can inspire your next Artificer

    How Christmas can inspire your next Artificer

    First appearing to the mass market fanbase within 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons in Eberron: Rising from the Last War and now in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the Artificer is a kind of techno-wizard. For someone without previous connections to Eberron, the setting that exploded on the scene in 3rd edition, the Artificer confused me.

    The fiction upon which it is based seemingly is all self-referring, or modern fantastical. There’s a subclass that essentially reads as if it is Iron Man ported back into D&D for example. Whereas most D&D classes stretch into the myths and legends that predate the game itself, the Artificer does not seem to have that convention.

    Oddly enough, it was a Christmas movie that reminded me of Artificers within our lore. There are magical techno-wizards within holiday tales. From Christmas elves of tradition, to the inventors of Jingle Jangle, you can find your inspiration for your next Artificer.

    These creators take the mundane and imbue it with magic. They create automatons, magically tinker, infuse items, and all the other things you expect from the description of an Artificer.

    Masters of invention, artificers use ingenuity and magic to unlock extraordinary capabilities in objects. They see magic as a complex system waiting to be decoded and then harnessed in their spells and inventions. You can find everything you need to play one of these inventors in the next few sections.

    Artificers use a variety of tools to channel their arcane power. To cast a spell, an artificer might use alchemist’s supplies to create a potent elixir, calligrapher’s supplies to inscribe a sigil of power, or tinker’s tools to craft a temporary charm. The magic of artificers is tied to their tools and their talents, and few other characters can produce the right tool for a job as well as an artificer.

    From DnDBeyond.

    Opening up a vision of an Artificer to include these amazing gift-gives also helps change how you approach D&D. A character of kindness and generosity, or that thieving Gustafson, expands the stories you can tell. When you visit the village you can brighten the spirits of the community via your infusions and spells.

    Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

    It may be a Hallmark/Lifetime/FreeForm/UPTv cliche, but there is magic in the holiday season. Incorporating the magic of elves, toys, inventors, Santa, and others into your D&D characters and stories means adding more joy to a game that so often centers violence.

    Generosity and joy exist in D&D (even in Barovia). Your Artificer has the power to amplify those feelings (while also being an effective combatant, but there are many places that talk about optimizing in those ways). There are 1,000 times a thousand stories available at any table and any session. Adding a little Christmas to your Artificer is a way to discover more of them.

    Be Jeronicus, Jessica, Journey, or even Gustafson. Be Alabaster Snowball, Bushy Evergreen, Pepper Minstix, Shinny Upatree, Sugarplum Mary, or Wunorse Openslae. Roll dice and tell stories about the power of Artifice.

  • Changes coming to 5e backgrounds further reduce story

    Changes coming to 5e backgrounds further reduce story

    Overshadowed in the product reveals and release schedule, which has now be reduced to “coming soon,” was an immense amount of new art for the 2024 version of 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. Every class will have full page art.

    Every subclass with have art. Every background will have art. If a picture says a thousand words, then there will be more story revealed in the upcoming Player’s Handbook (at one point coming in late May next year) than ever before. This, and the increased font size, and the increased number of subclasses, and the additional spells and more feats, is why it will be the biggest PHB ever.

    The amount of art is amazing. Look at this potential spread for Backgrounds (it should be noted that nothing shared at PAX U is considered final).

    That’s quite evocative.

    It’s the details where I get sad. 5e has transitioned away from having racial/species modifiers to attributes. From Tasha’s forward the encouraged option was to have these as floating selections that power players to create a wider variety of story.

    Two alt-5e variants have followed suit. Tales of the Valiant from Kobold Press no longer has stat increases. They just grant more points for point buy or larger numbers for the standard array. Level Up and Advanced 5e from EN Publishing has a +1 from Backgrounds and a floating +1.

    It seems, based on the image shared by Jeremy Crawford during the PAX U panel that Wizards of the Coast will be backing away from floating bonuses and instead assigning all bonuses to backgrounds. Since 2024 5e D&D is also removing Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws from backgrounds we are losing another way to tell story via one of 5th editions best additions to the game.

    In 2024 backgrounds will have ability score improvements (ASI) and a lower-powered feat, two potent mechanical advantages at lower levels. In D&D both of these will be heavily tied towards combat mechanics. It is less likely that stories of the Acolyte who became a Fighter are seen at tables because why would you want to damage your ability of a Fighter to do fighter-y things?

    And this continues. The Soldier will have a Feat that makes sense for a soldier, as well as ASIs related to soldiering. This makes sense for specific stories, but only narrow tropey ones.

    Since Wizards is removing personality and background features (five items very tied to social and exploration pillars) the game will be even heavier into combat — by rule.

    There’s still time to fix this. Reduce the ASIs associated with Backgrounds to maybe a +1, recognizing that every background is tied to some sort of stat. Then have the other two +1s float where the player wants them. That way story-driven players and those seeking maximization will both be able to find angles for their tales.

    Additionally, if the TIBF were too much, narrow these options. Use keywords rather than sentences. Have a bold, brash soldier. Maybe the aristocrat is well-kempt and haughty. Still empower DMs and the rest of the table to reward social roleplay by granting Inspiration.

    Every single step of 5th edition’s living development has expanded story.

    Wizards of the Coast should not step back from the expansion of story in the 2024 evolution of the game (floating ASIs in Tasha’s, species with less racism, not tying species/backgrounds to specific classes, new subclasses that capture the zeitgeist and more). Instead they should find ways to continue to expand the tales we tell via this game of dice and friends. Releasing most of the ASIs associated with Backgrounds is a way to do that. As is returning some of the traits and flaws that define our characters both in play and mechanically.

  • Throwing Stars and the Pentiad — two sports on the Fields of Elysia

    Throwing Stars and the Pentiad — two sports on the Fields of Elysia

    As part of the Worlds to-go! The Elysians Kickstarter I pitched PJ the idea of adding sports inspired by this magical world that is a conjunction of city-states, godly wilderness and island-hopping villagers. The microsetting we’re going for has some ancient Greek and Roman inspiration, flexing into similar tropes taken by the Percy Jackson series, a dash of Narnia without the chivalry and because I’m me dashes of magic in all things.

    We’ve released a sample of the sports rules over on Drivethru RPG.

    Sports in the 5e, the Fields of Elysia

    The project has a few differences from my past writings on sports in D&D.

    • Sports on the Fields of Elysia doesn’t use the Tools rule.
    • It leans into narrative as mechanics. The concept here is to describe the action your are taking using your specialty (an advanced 5e rule), skill and attribute in unique ways.
    • Normally I ignore individual sports as they can typically be done with a one roll roll-off. But Elysia had to have something inspired by the original multi-national sporting competition. So I added the Pentiad.
    • As the peoples are emulating the gods (a fun bit of lore I enjoy) there’s no such thing as cheating. Borrowing from The Magicians, I leaned into the concept that the gods have minds beyond people’s minds. Emulating the minds of gods meant no cheating. There’s no cheating! Do whatever you want for victory — that’s what the gods would do. Pursue victory using spells or even attacks. Just don’t kill people.
    • Throwing Stars is based off an ancient Roman juggling competition, adding in a dash of mysticism around the creation of constellations and turning it into a team event. Combat juggling is a modern thing that should be captured in this lore too. Throwing Stars takes combat juggling with magic and then instead of awarding points on surviving, awarding points on the artistry of the creation — a divine act.
    Photo by Ioannis Ritos on Pexels.com

    When Throwing Stars what object or magic will you create to impress the gods?

    You can check out Sports on the Fields of Elysia for free for a few days. It’s a proof of concept, not a final rule set. If the Kickstarter continues on its strong path you may seen the final version of the rules, along with two other team sports.

    Try out the rules for sports. Tell us what you think.

  • My first Kickstarter project — Worlds to-go! The Elysians

    My first Kickstarter project — Worlds to-go! The Elysians

    Working with PJ over at Homebrew & Hacking, I’m helping put together a set of backgrounds and other elements for a micro-setting for use in the 5e D&D variant Level Up. Our project is tightly focused on a culture of temples, philosophers, oracles and city-states — Worlds to-go! The Elysians.

    One of the reasons I chose a Level Up project rather than traditional 5e Dungeons & Dragons is that Level Up puts a large emphasis on Backgrounds and Cultures. Things like NPC connections, mementos and even advancement in that pre-heroic profession are featured in a Level Up Background. That fits how I want to tell stories using D&D.

    I also listen to PJ’s podcast quite a bit, which I guess PJ just found out.

    For the project some of my previous Backgrounds will be adapted, but there are also new ones that help fill the micro-setting of the Elysians.

    Head over to Kickstarter and click on “Notify Me On Launch” to see the project when it is live. The team PJ is putting together will provide you with some simple tools to help expand your D&D stories and maybe even tell the future.

  • Happy Full Moon, meet What We Do On The Sidelines

    Happy Full Moon, meet What We Do On The Sidelines

    This past spring I sponsored a soccer team. That one went on to the win the championship, clearly inspired by my efforts (I kid). I sponsored a team for the fall version of ECS Pub League too.

    There’s a blue super moon tonight, which feels like the perfect time to reveal “What we do on the sidelines FC.” This team is inspired by What we do in the Shadows, a fine vampire production.

    Full Moon Storytelling was kind of the perfect fit for the front of shirt sponsor.

    The orange is the keeper kit. I may need to talk to the corrupt league commissioner for one of those. When the season is done, I’ll be getting the “Strahd #83” jersey and maybe one of the other sub jerseys too.

    If you want one of the pirate themed sub jerseys from Spring ’23 reach out to me. I do not need three, but will be keeping the Dread Pirate Roberts #6 (Wesley was #4 btw) top.

    As I said last time I say again, maybe one of the players on the soccer team I sponsor will play Dungeons & Dragons for the first time because of this. Maybe not. That’s not the point. The point is my friends needed a tiny bit of help and I could help — so I did.

  • 5e D&D SRD Creative Commons 4.0 CC-BY expands into four more languages

    5e D&D SRD Creative Commons 4.0 CC-BY expands into four more languages

    Wizards of the Coast announced that they added French, Italian, German, and Spanish language releases of the 5.1 SRD via Creative Commons.

    Community Update

    Depending on sourcing (I’ll use Berlitz) that’s now languages one, four, five, twelve and Italian (outside of the top twenty) that have a free, open version of Dungeons & Dragons available to them.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if Japanese is added soon, as WotC took over the Japanese release of D&D a couple years ago.

    Chinese, Portuguese, Arabic and Dutch were the next most popular languages for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves that have not yet had an SRD released for them.

  • Proctors of the Everflow: Campaign one sheet

    Proctors of the Everflow: Campaign one sheet

    This is an introduction to the seventh campaign set in the World of the Everflow. The most significant difference between these and the previous campaigns are that the player characters are all members of the Proctors, a group that once completely restricted magic from entering the Land of the Six Kingdoms.

    The campaign will start in the city of Ras Rurulit in Daoud shortly after the PCs were dropped off there. They have a safe house. Operating in the city either in hiding or in open defiance of convention will be up to the party.

    The ground floor of a small house. The entry space has a tower-stair that goes to the second floor. There is hall that connects a living room and a kitchen.
    Home builder from Oleg Dolya
    Second floor of the small house. There is an entry loft that connects to a library and a bedroom.
    A small circular neighborhood with light woods in the north. The west and south are mostly barren. The east has a few trees. In the center is a courtyard, large tree and a few government buildings.
    Far Band is a town circle in Sas Rurulit, produced by the Neighborhood Generator
    Map of the Akamnasulun Turalagh Coast. There's a peninsula that stretches from southeast to north. Cities mostly line the coastal areas with few in the interior.
    Perilous Shores providing the Akamnasulun Turalagh Coast

    Campaign Premise

    Your group of Proctors are working together to capture and contain the Book of the Word and the Book of Dance, two groups of Scholars active in southern Daoud. You are authorized to use any measures necessary to control this group. They have been teaching well beyond just a Scholar and two Students – end them.

    Background

    In the last passing of the Dragon, the fourth moon, the World of Everflow experienced the return of magic, the introduction of goblins with smog teknologies, and empowerment of animal companions. Native to the Lands of the Everflow, the Kin all have animal companions, some learning minor magics. Rarer are those whose companions are empowered.

    The fey Ken object to these souls casting spells. Their Proctors crush the spread of magic and seek the Lorebooks from the seventeen schools where spellcraft was trapped. As the Ken invade from the west and the Six Kingdoms’ borders are rewritten, a forgotten peoples float on airxips from the north. The Kon are a smog-punk society with klackety, noisy tek coming from an island of guilds and invention.

    Heroes rise with their animal companions joining their journey. From humble beginnings these heroes show the power of fellowship and share knowledge with the greater world.

    In this case, the PCs are not heroes. They are not antiheroes. They are the Ken, people of knowledge, hoarding and limiting magic from the common people in the Six Kingdoms.

    This map is what the initial intelligence of the Ken thought the Six Kingdoms looked like. It’s quite wrong. Your group of Proctors are in the far south of Daoud, a rough land similar to the non-desert coastal Maghreb.

    Grand Conflicts

    • Proctors versus Scholars
    • Proctors versus the rare Gobkon in the south
    • Do the Elder Dragons really know best?

    Factions

    • The Book of the Word – book based spellcasters
    • The Book of the Song – music based spellcasters
    • Fleet of the Silent Knight – Daoud’s force responsible for maintaining control of the bay.
    • Isarnalijik and Isamamimir’s Squadron – the remnants of land forces who insist they are the rightful heir to the desert lands.

    Rumors

    • There are many colleges and universities in the land.
    • Magistrate Sas Rurulit is the greatest singer in Daoud’s history.
    • Ishurrumukuf has been taken over by one of the trade guilds of Qin
    • A great storm is coming from the West.

    Facets

    • The group are a collection of secret agents or special operators. They may act undercover or violently during the mission.
    • They have one ally to start, Sabrinigha. She runs the safehouse and is a halfling of the born generation slowly discovering spell craft.
    • The lack of animal companions will be obvious. They’ll need a cover story.
    • In traditional D&D this mission would be Lawful Evil.

    Variant Rules

    • Ken start with a Feat that grants a 1st level spell such as Magic Initiate.
    • Short rests are 8 hours. Long rests need sanctuary and 12 hours. This leads to a pace more similar to a novel.
    • Find Familiar and similar spells are banned from PC knowledge at the start of the game.
    • 50% of Enchantment spells no longer exist. This will not impact your spell choice.
    • Use point buy or standard array for starting attributes. If you want something random, the redrick roller gives random point buy valid stats.
    • Start at 7th level because the Proctors are powerful.
    • There are several custom backgrounds and tools available. We will use cultures, not languages. Each character will start with “Daoud (Common to the area) and Ken” for their cultures. If your PC would have more languages discuss that with the DM.
    • Each character will start with 500+1d10*25 gold to spend on mundane items or to put in a pouch and use as spending money.
    • Each character will start with TWO COMMON magic items, plus an Oriq Mask (see Strixhaven) and one RARE item based on the character’s Background and role within the Proctors. That Rare item will have story elements to it, may get stolen. May level up. We’ll see.
    • Each character must be be a spellcaster, but no Druids or Clerics or Rangers. Proctors serve the Elder Dragons, not gods or nature.
    • Every character must represent one of the Proctor factions – Seeker, Defender, Striker. The chart below shows a few examples.
    SeekerDefenderStriker
    Wizard
    EvokerX
    DivinerX
    AbjurerX
    Warlock (dragons)
    ArchfeyX
    FiendX
    Great Old OneX
    Sorcerer
    DraconicX
    WildX
    Rogue
    Arcane TricksterX
    Paladin
    AncientsX
    Devotion
    Monk
    Four ElementsX
    Fighter
    Eldritch KnightXX
    Bard
    LoreXX
    ValorXX
    Artificer
    ArmorerXXX
    ArtilleristXX
    AlchemistXX
    Battle SmithX
    Subclasses in other 5e Wizards of the Coast and Kobold Press books may be used as well.
  • Finding fantastic locations in the normal world

    Finding fantastic locations in the normal world

    Driving off into the wilderlands of Oregon my thoughts wandered to the D&D world I’ve created. Creating names for places on the fly is hard. Often people get consumed with making something that feels like Tolkien, Jordan, Weis, Bardugo or other greats. These names are complicated and often involve invented languages.

    You don’t need to be so impressive that linguists study you.

    Your world will feel alive borrowing from our own world.

    These are great names for a fantasy space.

    Seven Devils Road and Old Seven Devils Road is perfect for any Dungeons and Dragons game. You don’t need to stretch to far for there to be both an incident that involved seven devils and for the now ruling empire to have a newer, more popular road that carries the same name.

    West Beaverhill Road could mean that it is west of Beaverhill. I submit that your fantasy world is more Lewis when you have every cardinal direction have a Beaverhill Road. Each of those is for a different beaverhill. Make those beavers talkative and have them part of the empire to capture some Fillory vibes too.

    Whiskey Run Road is just down the way from where we are staying. In my fantasy world that road probably started as a minor trail used by some bootleggers. Now, as they gained power within the realm, thanks to their whiskey runs making money, Whiskey Run Road is the main thoroughfare between the capitol and its not-quite-satellite city. What was once a former smuggler cove is now the headquarters of a major influence on a failing state.

    Hidden Canyon Road is something I’m fairly certain I passed by driving to get a cranberry turnover this morning. But my memory of this road is fragile as the road may not exist. The canyon might not exist. I never saw it. In a fantasy world Hidden Canyon Road could be a road, and a bridge, that exists over a fey gulch. There are nights when the gulch exists on most days the hidden canyon and covered bridge is just a normal passage with no need of a bridge at all. But on those nights with a few moons waning the fey canyon is back. Elves and their friends come out of the gulch demanding tax from those who use the bridge.

    tl;dr

    Take a few road names with you and be ready to create them as fantastic locations using the techniques from SlyFlourish’s Lazy Dungeon Master series. These quite normal names create a world of magic and wonder. Use placenames in reality to inspire your fiction.

  • Be the hands that weave – a new 5e D&D background

    Be the hands that weave – a new 5e D&D background

    Weaving, sewing, quilting, tapestries — these arts were part of what common people did in the times that inspire fantasy storytelling. It’s rare that these professions are featured as heroes, but they should be. They are community leaders or practitioners of the quiet circle, often of women unempowered in a society.

    From these origins one may rise to be a powerful Artificer, a storytelling Bard, a Mastermind Rogue, a healing Druid, a Cleric of Peace, a vengeful Paladin. Or something else.

    The weaver is not soft, though they can make great fabrics. A quilter is not necessarily warm to all. These are the people who toil with nimble fingers and converse with those too often overlooked by authority.

    These are the people who see destiny in fabric.

    A vertical loom in a wooden branch shack. The threads on the loom are blue
    Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels.com

    Clothier

    You are an independent artisan who makes fabric or clothes or blankets. Your specific art is less important than what you do with it. Your friends and colleagues know things and count on you.

    Authority may overlook your presence, but you know their tenor and can hide what they are looking for — whether that’s a person or a thing.

    Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Sleight of Hand
    Tool Proficiencies: Disguise Kit, Weaver’s Tools
    Languages: No additional
    Equipment: Blanket, 3 candles, chalk, cloths (either common or winter), 3 needles, spool of thread, pouch, 5 gold

    Feature: As the Wheel Wills

    You have a certain comfort and understanding that you aren’t always in control. You have advantage on saves against fear, charm and other enchantments after the first round in these conditions.

    Additionally, you are able to find and protect secrets. When using Insight or Sleight of Hand to keep or discover secrets you do so with double proficiency.

    Personality: use the Folk Hero and Guild Artisan as guidance.

    Design Goals

    Avoiding the Folk Hero’s problem of “if you’re already a hero you shouldn’t be level 1” is my primary goal with the Clothier. It’s the primary goal with many of the backgrounds I’ve created. Common people become heroes through playing D&D — although someday I’ll make a False Hero, one who hasn’t yet been heroic.

    Fernando Pessoa once said “Sometimes, when I wake up at night, I feel invisible hands weaving my destiny.”

    I also wanted to capture the magic of weaving and other arts of cloth. These aren’t arts that I understand. They are arts that I want to celebrate.

    From the literature that inspires D&D the lines from Wheel of Time about “the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills” prodded me into action.

    Finally there are some important quilters in my life. This background goes out to them too. Whether by stitch, by arms long or short, they are the fabric of our lives. A quilter can tell a story in squares and thread. Hopefully this story helps tell theirs.

    Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

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  • Meet Passive Aggression and Izzy Handball, two more characters inspired by the soccer team I sponsored

    Meet Passive Aggression and Izzy Handball, two more characters inspired by the soccer team I sponsored

    I went and sponsored a soccer team. It’s a pub league team with several friends I met through Sounders soccer. Rather than advertise my soccer blog they all know about already I put the logo for Full Moon Storytelling on their kits. And then I offered to make any of them an Adventurer’s League legal character that represents some of their favorite soccer players and themselves.

    A character sheet in Dungeons & Dragons is a story told in short hand.

    Here’s the story I was trying to tell with Passive Aggression.

    With Passive Aggression, one of the first things I wanted to do was have a little honey badger companion (in Reroll I used a cat). Ozzie Alonso was Seattle’s honey badger for so long that I must, must honor him. The player who submitted their favorite players requested a minotaur, which also suits Alonso well. It is easy to imagine Alonso lowering his head and charging through someone.

    The other guidance is the maestro Luka Modrić. Ranger helped with this, because the bit of magic makes sense. Luka is one of the more technical players in the world, with the titles and individual recognition that makes sense. When the player is that exceptional only magic makes sense. Zephyr Strike seemed perfect for that representation.

    I chose the subclass Gloom Stalker because of the Our Flag Means Offside FC player sees themselves as someone who can be a support player across the battlefield, Entangle and Dread Ambuser helped capture that story

    Here’s the story I was trying to tell with Izzy Handball.

    Roger Levesque is a legendary Sounder, from the time before they were in MLS. He also puts on a great pirate impression. Pelé is the world’s greatest player, ever. Young people please don’t come at me with your modern faves — Izzy Handball will slay you.

    Combining a cult legend and the world’s greatest was a fun challenge. I started with the pirate, which meant Swashbuckler Rogue, which also fits Pelé’s personality. He loved to go one-on-one, or one-on-four, whatever. Dual-wielding swords made sense because Pelé would strike rapidly, constantly and with both feet.

    A wood elf was chosen to further lean into Pelé’s pace, his fey ancestry and his charm.

    With both of the soccer players the Folk Hero made sense. Whether form the streets of Brazil or the artificial turf of Starfire, Levesque and Pelé became legends with tales growing taller every year.

    Character graphics are made using ReRoll app. All eight players who submitted their favorite players and idealized playing styles to be imagined as D&D characters can be seen on DnDBeyond.