Tag: DnD

  • Barbers and bloodletters – hedge healers belong in your D&D campaign

    Barbers and bloodletters – hedge healers belong in your D&D campaign

    Waterdeep, Tear, Dragaera City, Tajar, Zobeck — whatever the city in your world, there are barbers. The technology exists, and the art of Dungeons & Dragons provides a dazzling array of hair and beard styles that go well beyond those from the real world. But how would you play a barber or stylist in D&D?

    That’s easy, via backgrounds. They’re what you were before. Maybe some heroes, especially rogues and bards, would learn to use their common implements as weapons. But anyone could be a stylist or barber before.

    Get your shave and a haircut for two silver.

    Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

    Barber

    Whether in a big city or travelling between cities, you are an expert at maintaining hair whether on face or head. With your scissors or razor you create art with hair. Additionally you are capable of non-magical healing. Depending on your practice you may use leaches, your blades or some other form of blood letting.

    Barbers, under any name, are also strong conversationalists. When others are in your stool or chair they feel welcome, sharing the conversation of the neighborhood and their own life.

    Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Medicine
    Tool Proficiencies: Barber’s Tools, Healer’s Kit
    Languages: No additional languages
    Equipment: Barber’s kit, two Healer’s Kits, two vials of perfume, a stool, pouch with 5 gold.

    Feature: Bloodletting

    Whether via razors or leaches, using an action the Barber grants a willing creature the ability to expand a hit die to heal or recover from certain non-magical conditions (Charmed, Frightened, Incapacitated, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Unconscious). The creature takes on a level of exhaustion.

    Personality traits would be similar to the Folk Hero, the Acolyte and the Fisher.

    Barber’s Kit

    Cost: 25 gp | Weight: 2 lbs

    Proficiency with Barber’s Tools means that you are familiar with how to style hair — cutting it, braiding it, etc. You can color it with various dyes as well. The kit includes a couple razors, scissors, a silver mirror, lotions, dyes, hair ties and other small items to help the barber.

    Photo by Nikolaos Dimou on Pexels.com

    Design Goals

    Once upon a time I read, played and DMed in al-Qadim. The Arab/Turk/etc-ish setting included a barber, part healer and part friendly ear. That barber and their role in post-Renaissance England as “surgeons” fits many of the worlds of D&D.

    They aren’t common in literature and games that inspire our games. That’s okay. They should be. Visiting a barber should be part of the story, even in magical worlds. Mending and Prestidigitation don’t trim your locks or beards.

    Have a conversation, look better, maybe get a tiny bit of natural healing (no, it doesn’t work like this in real life). Also, I really like my stylist Chamaine.

    Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

  • D&D Gifts of Many Parts: A Holiday Shopping Guide

    D&D Gifts of Many Parts: A Holiday Shopping Guide

    There are a lot of great deals available on line. Which is fine if you must save money. But, I strongly recommend supporting your local games shop. My favorites are Destiny City Comics, Wizards Keep Games, Shane’s Cards, Tacoma Games, Mox Boarding House, Krampus Kave, Book and Game, and Digital Heroes.

    Supporting a local shop introduces you to great people, encourages them to host games and helps your city continue a culture of discovery and creation.

    Here’s some general overview of gifts before we head into my particular callouts as great purchases to amplify fun.

    Every suggested item is something I’ve purchased myself or from a company I have purchased from .

    Starting Up

    Stormwreck Isle (review at Strange Assembly) – The current Starter Set launched at Target, but is now available everywhere. It’s cleaner, simpler than the initial Starter Set (Lost Mines of Phandelver). If you have someone in your life who hasn’t played before but should this 10-20 dollar purchase is perfect.

    Stranger Things (review at Polygon) – Millions of people had their love of Dungeons & Dragons reawakened by Will in the Netflix series Stanger Things. There’s a box set available written as if the group wrote it. It can be hard to find, with eBay prices over $60.

    Player’s Handbook – Amazon has it so cheap you may as well give it to a friend who hasn’t said they’re interested in D&D.

    Adventures

    Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen (review at Polygon) – Send your party to war in the world of Krynn. The adventure’s main opponent is a death knight that rides death dragons and lives in a flying citadel. As war rages around you, you will have to deal with the chaos of war to attempt to save a kingdom as dragon armies ready to conquer the world.

    Journeys through Radiant Citadel (review roundup at ENWorld) – What I love about Radiant Citadel is that it doesn’t tell stories that I am familiar with — these are new tales by mostly new talent, all BIPOC. The art is vibrant and fantastical; the stories well written.

    Subscriptions

    DnD Beyond – The entry level (hero) subscription is perfect for people who create characters for fun. I have nearly 100 characters created because creating characters helps teach me about myself and the world.

    Warlock – Kobold Press is a third-party publisher that puts out unrivaled content mostly focused on swords & sorcery mixed with high fantasy. Their Warlock magazine-style subscription has the feelings of pre-2e D&D with rules perfect for modern play. I have several of their books, Tome of Beasts is an excellent collection of monsters.

    Arcadia – From MCDM, the creators of Kingdoms and Warfare and several other supplements, Arcadia is a full-color, fantastical to D&D-superheroes type of content. Many of their authors have freelanced for official D&D.

    T-shirts – I may just be including this because my body changed a bit during the years of stress related to the global pandemic. I need new shirts and frequently wear graphic T-s underneath flannel. Head to Heroes & Villains if you just want to give someone a one-off that’s stunning.

    Maps

    I cannot map. So I support these creators.

    Deven Rue creates amazing frame-able maps that equally belong on office walls and gaming table.s

    Dyson Logos focuses on dungeons. Most of their maps are available for free because of the strong Patreon support. Add to that support if you plan on using the art. Like Deven, Dyson has appeared in official products.

    For outdoor battle maps I love 2-minute Tabletop. They also create assets for a creator to blend and make their own maps.

    Watabou is where I head when I need a map fast and trust a procedural generator.

    Lifestyle

    Psuedodragon – I may get this one for myself. Who doesn’t want a smol draggo hanging out with you in the office? It’s about the size of a large textbook.

    Eldrador Creatures – These minis that aren’t official; they are perfect for fantasy play. You will need to stat them up. That’s one of the joys of playing D&D.

    My favorite fancy dice are from Artisan Dice. Their woods and stones are unique. For cases and Hope Shields I go to Wyrmwood. There are two places I suggest for people with personal 3D printers — Hero Forge for characters and mz4250 for creatures.

    As big of a coffee nerd as I am a D&D nerd, I’ve found one roaster that combines their passion for both to put out the highest quality — Found Familiar. Regular Gnoll is what I get when I want something with cream.

    Friday Afternoon Tea creates dozens of geek-inspired blends. Bard’s Blend is my most frequent purchase.

    What if you’re shopping for me?

    If you’re me you’ll enjoy everything listed above, as well as things on my wishlist.

  • Highlights from Geekwire’s interview with Wizards of the Coast President Cynthia Williams

    Highlights from Geekwire’s interview with Wizards of the Coast President Cynthia Williams

    Local tech website Geekwire has access to Wizards of the Coast, because they too are local. So sometimes, Geekwire dips into the world of tabletop gaming, the business. Much of the conversation between Cynthia Williams, Wizards of the Coast President, and Thomas Wilde is dedicated to big picture stuff. Now, I’m fascinated by that, but many of my readers just want to play Dungeons & Dragons.

    Williams has some thoughts that are important for players and potential players of the game that aren’t interested in business news.

    Yes, the word race is gone. But its replacement isn’t confirmed.

    I think it’s important to remember that One D&D (a new publishing initiative) is at the point of playtest. I don’t think that we have finalized that the word will be “species.” It’s a word being tested.

    Where D&D in the 80s was much more about escapism and simulation, modern D&D is about story and diversity, the amplification of teamwork.

    Our games teach that diversity is a strength. D&D in particular will teach you that together, you can overcome tasks, challenges, or an adventure that you wouldn’t have been able to on your own.

    …

    I love the stories of people playing Dungeons & Dragons and being able to express who they are in that game, which leads them to being able to express who they are in their real life. We’re very much cultivating that level of diversity as we’re inviting players in.

    There’s a push about the upcoming movie and mention of the next big video game release after Baldur’s Gate, too. Wizards owns six video game studios now.

    It’s interesting to see that Magic grew to a billion dollar brand even as it has issues with the fanbase. There’s also more evidence that the D&D side is hoping to hit that number, but through a different path that isn’t about microtransactions or a flood of book releases — instead D&D has a movie, a TV show and multiple video games to get to that number.

    Read the whole thing

  • Latest Honor Among Thieves trailer establishes Dungeons & Dragons through cast interviews

    Latest Honor Among Thieves trailer establishes Dungeons & Dragons through cast interviews

    In a departure from most genre movie rollouts, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves second trailer isn’t a new tease of action in the movie. Almost every scene is from the first trailer, with some small expansion. The latest version shows cast interviews. That cast clearly gets what makes D&D, D&D — heroes journeys, a group that works together and monsters.

    https://twitter.com/JohnFDaley/status/1599817017187762176

    To quote Edgin, Chris Pine’s character, “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”

    Previously some of the cast spoke about their history with the game. Those that hadn’t played until joining the project have either been coached up into what fans expect or learned to love it on their own.

    Much of what happens in these two trailers are things that happen at the table of the RPG. Discussions about what to do with treasure, how to acquire it, going to the bar to make plans. That’s typical Dungeons and Dragons.

    Daley and Goldstein, both players of the game, seem to have taken a serious approach to the non-serious topic. They capture the fun of the game with care and attention, because like their core audience they love it too.

    Each bit of video that Paramount, eOne and Hasbro put out about this heist movie make it seem better than the last. The hype seems to be building. Part of the promotional push includes sending cast to comic cons outside of the English-speaking world. Their latest appearance was in Brazil.

    Other D&D movie and TV notes

    Studio eOne (the third pillar of Hasbro) is for sale. But, the TV show and other Hasbro IP are still going to be turned into shows and movies.

    “I think buyers will still want Dungeons & Dragons because the brand is important, the script is good, and Rawson Marshall Thurber is an exciting piece of talent,” one person said.

    Deadline
  • Riff off everything — adding official monsters to your unofficial world

    Riff off everything — adding official monsters to your unofficial world

    Earlier today Wizards of the Coast released eleven free monsters in the Monstrous Compendium 2: Dragonlance Creatures. These are available for anyone with a free or paid account on DnDBeyond. You can access them through frontpage access.

    My campaign world doesn’t need more monsters, but it does need more ideas. That’s a great way to look at settings and adventures — they are other people’s ideas to put into your world. That’s a short cut to worldbuilding, and a great one.

    Goblins in the World of the Everflow are part of a smog-punk society building gadgets, very much like Tinker Gnomes, but grimy and greasy. Today’s release is an opportunity for me to use several new inventions in my world.

    The Nevermind Gnome Inventor has three inventions. The Flying Fangtrap is a springwork device with tiny wings that pinch and pierce to do damage and may even stop the movement of the target.

    In my world the Thunderscream gadget is an opportunity to latch onto the concepts from the Airmatics and Waterwerks Alliance. They could build a cannon of screaming sounds that damage like a breath weapon.

    Of course the Alchems Sisterhood would invent Flash Powder, the blinding simple fireworks that can aid the goblin to escape.

    The more complex Nevermind Gnome Mastermind has even more inventions that I will use at my table.

    Clockwork Claws that act like a third arm, or even a first or second arm; Chattergrab is essentially a grenade that is a bear trap; Phasmoball would be another invention from the Alchems.

    In just this one free download the World of the Everflow has six new inventions for goblins. You can borrow from official materials for your own world too.

    Maybe your world needs some undead knights? Use the Foresworn.

    Another variety of magical giantkin? Irda.

    Humanoid walruses? Thanoi.

    A unicorn older than every forest? Forest Master has impressive powers and is not the passive unicorn at the game’s core.

    Everything you encounter can be part of your session prep or worldbuilding, especially if it is a free release from the creators of the game.

    Fediverse Reactions
  • Adding Feats to 5e Backgrounds

    Adding Feats to 5e Backgrounds

    Spelljammer is already on printing two. That’s because they need to make some changes to the Hadozee for reasons of insensitivity. They’re good changes and Wizards of the Coast is changing the processes that allowed the culturally insensitive material to appear first too. This new printing has other errata too.

    The one that sticks out is the addition of Feats to every Background.

    “These backgrounds each give a feat. If a character takes a background from elsewhere and doesn’t get a feat from that background, the character gains one of the following feats of the player’s choice: Magic Initiate, Skilled, or Tough.”

    Dragonlance will have something similar. For Dragonlance this was because these are characters in a war. They must be stronger, tougher, etc. In Spelljammer it kind of makes sense. Normal people aren’t space halflings and asteroid dwarves.

    Similar to the Dragonlance decision my world has an additional feat at first level. In the case of the World of the Everflow these choices are;

    • Kin get a Bonded Companion.
    • Ken get a feat that grants a cantrip.
    • Kon get Artificer Initiate and the Rock Gnome’s tinker ability.

    Similar to the Dragonlance decision to add Feats this was done to add flavor, speaking to the types of powers that people from various continents have.

    With One D&D’s playtest we know there’s a chance at adding Feats for everyone at 1st level.

    What if the One D&D system of 1st Level Feats was added to 5e now?

    You could add Feats to any character in the current game with a minor, but not overwhelming, increase in power with a few simple guidelines.

    1. Only allow Feats that don’t have a +1 to an attribute.
    2. Don’t allow the +5/-10 Feats.
    3. Don’t allow Lucky.
    4. Don’t allow Polearm Master

    That’s it.

    Now you can have flavorful feats in your 5e game at 1st level.

    Instead, attach Feats to Backgrounds

    Now, my current world attaches Feats to racial choices, but one could choose to go the path of Dragonlance, Spelljammer, and Strixhaven. Each of those books assigns their unique Backgrounds specific Feats for flavor.

    A more flexible system would be to attach Feats on a small curve. Those Feats would be selected to emphasize specific stories typically told regarding that Background.

    Using my most popular original Background, the Tinker, as an example. We’ll include the three default Feats from the errata — Magic Initiate, Skilled, Tough. Then only selecting Feats from the Player’s Handbook, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything since those are a core book and the two rules expansions.

    Actor reminds me of Paden Fain. Artificer Initiate seems obvious. Linguist fits the wanderer mold. Ritual Caster makes sense to capture the one who picks up hedge magic.

    Putting those on a chart with a curve using two dice can influence the commonality of the Feats.

    Roll 2d4 or choose your favorite.

    2. Magic Initiate
    3. Tough
    4. Linguist
    5. Actor
    6. Skilled
    7. Ritual Caster
    8. Artificer Initiate

    Since it looks likely that Before We Were Heroes won’t be ready before the 2024 edition, I’m thinking of adding that Feat guidance to each listed Background.

    Have another Background you’d like a Feat Chart for, ask in comments.

  • The mistake of abandoning personality via One D&D

    The mistake of abandoning personality via One D&D

    Due to the massive scale of the two playtests that have come out for the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons reviewing them seems impractical. Unlike Unearthed Arcana they are dozens of pages, with some mechanical changes that make the game a bit easier, some that are hefty.

    Overall One D&D’s tabletop test is backwards compatible so far. A current character could be converted and on a level playing field just by selecting a 1st level Feat.

    In a surprising turn, the Backgrounds available via the One D&D playtest “origins” remove story elements. That’s the first time during the current popularity of D&D that Wizards of the Coast has made a story reduction rather than expansion. No longer are there any personality suggestions, nor personality associated with Backgrounds or Races. That is coupled with changing Inspiration away from rewarding role play to rewarding roll play. The second One D&D playtest also removes Inspiration as a role-play reward and just shoves it to rolling a 1 on a d20.

    This is a mistake.

    Every other change in 5e has been about expanding the stories that are told while expanding how they can be told using our silly dice and paper game.

    Removing Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws is a reduction of story content, a reduction of the style of play which surged D&D into the mainstream. It’s a damn shame.

    Personality isn’t just part of the social pillar. These tiny tools available via backgrounds aren’t locked away from combat scenes. Story and dice should co-exist in modern Dungeons & Dragons. That’s what we see in various livestreams and podcast actual plays. It is one of the grand differentiators from video gaming and board gaming.

    The rules of D&D should include character personality beyond alignment. TIBF expands on alignment and can even replace it, as a better and simpler system with story power.

    No, the TIBF system isn’t perfect. But it’s better than it not existing.

    Fixing Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws

    • Reduce them from the one to two sentence structure to a one to three word phrase.
    • Consolidate the Traits, Ideals and Bonds into a single section and pick two or three there.
    • Have a main list of suggestions rather than have them directly tied to specific Backgrounds, with examples at the Background.
    • Continue to reward role play at the table — my suggestion is to have a specific d20 (I use gold).
    • Have Inspiration dice capped at proficiency bonus uses per long rest, rather than just a cap of one available. People are more likely to use something that they have more than one use of – the potion problem.

    As a lover of backgrounds, I want them to succeed. I want more of them, a lot more. The addition of minor Feats to Backgrounds is glorious (I’m in the process of adding the most common first level Feats to each of my released backgrounds)

    Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

    And yes, every response to every playtest survey has me saying this. I don’t expect it to change, and it’s sad that the guidance towards story will be reduced in the 2024 version of the ruleset.

  • Timelines in the World of the Everflow

    Timelines in the World of the Everflow

    The timeline of the World of the Everflow is getting harder for me to track. There have been six campaigns with some overlap in both reality and at the table. In order for me to keep better track of events and so that the players and their characters have a better idea of events in the past prior to the campaign I started to build a timeline.

    The desire is that these are basically small phrases containing history, not a book of common knowledge to study. I’ll be adding to this as the players remind me of events, create things from their own history or ask questions.

    Current day

    Uprising & Rebellion 2 and Gendarmmes of Sheljar

    One year ago

    Red Oak burns, allowing red dragons to be born; Uprising & Rebellion 1; 7th Fleet of Daoud encamps to the south of Kirtin-on-the-Lake

    Five years ago

    Dragons and the Ken fly to Kirtin-on-the-Lake; Sheljar is freed from Necromancy and the Tunneling Nightmares; some Scholars (Diviner, Necromancer) are made public; Kin can learn magic

    Six years ago

    Goblin Queen’s Fleet lands near Sheljar; Discovery of the Lorebook of Divination; Children of Chorl created; Eruption of Dakan Thaeeb; Lorebook Hunters start their search

    Twenty-seven years ago

    Sheljar falls to the Necromancer

    Twenty-eight years ago

    Born Generation

    Seventy years ago

    Crinth Confederation re-structures to stop expansion of Azsel

    One hundred and twenty-two years ago

    Kirtin loses Kirtin-on-the-Lake again

    Two hundred and twenty-four years ago

    Kirtin retakes Kirtin-on-the-Lake

    Four hundred and sixty-four years ago

    Daoud takes Kirtin-on-the-Lake

    Seventeen hundred years ago

    Az and Sel establish the Bond, rising to godhood; other bondings besides dogs are discovered; the Goliath nation of Galinor disappears

    Two thousand years ago

    Church of Quar controls the Everflow and the Font of Two paths, becoming a continent wide faith; Mehmd closes off the empire with foreigners only allowed at Gate

    Millenia ago

    Quar and the gods create Habergeon, the Everflow and separate the Lands of the Six Kingdoms from the world of magic

  • Introducing Militia Actions to support base defense in urban rebellion play

    Introducing Militia Actions to support base defense in urban rebellion play

    In my Uprising & Rebellion Campaign Two the players decided to take on the Mayor’s forces in the open, rather than the dead of night or through obfuscation. In response the Mayor and his forces attacked their home base, the Rusty Clam. Dungeons & Dragons doesn’t do great for large battles.

    A few tweaks I made to more represent the fiction of a rebellious militia and their allies defending their most significant resource were;

    • Have the minions represent half of a squad. The idea here was that the lesser trained guards would break morale when they lost half their group.
    • Allow the PCs to set up themselves up where they wanted. This is their territory. They know it best.
    • Added actions to represent the other rebels and commoners who side with the goals of the uprising. These Militia Actions operate similar to Lair Actions. That initial use has been modified here.

    Militia Actions

    For the session these operated as a Lair Action for each PC. They were taken on the initiative count 10 after their own initiative, which worked out as PC1, enemy1, Militia Action1. That part was a success.

    Each Militia Action was tied to a saving throw by the NPCs. These were designed for Tier 2 play as that’s where the PCs in question are at this time, but since I used cantrips as a guideline they are easy to adjust.

    Funnel – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause build a wall using objects or themselves to block a path. This wall is 5′ long per tier of play. A successful Strength save (DC 10/15/20/25 based on tier) enables the enemy to ignore the wall.

    Falling or Thrown Objects – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause pick up objects nearby and throw them at the enemy. These objects do 1d8 damage per tier of play in a space that is 5×5/10x/10/15×15/20×20 by tier. A successful Dex save results in half damage (DC 10/15/20/25).

    Overturn Stand or Cart – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause create an area of difficult terrain by using common objects to clutter the path. Any enemy passing through the area moves must use twice their movement through the 5×5/10x/10/15×15/20×20 space by tier. They may attempt to move at normal speed, and if using the Dash or Disengage actions, must succeed on a Con save (DC 10/15/20/25) or take 1d6 per tier damage and fall Prone.

    (this one needs the most work)

    Harass – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause harass and pester the enemies in such a way that limits their defenses. This can be done by word or by minor physical altercation. The next attack by that enemy NPC or intelligent monster is at disadvantage. A successful Int save (DC 10/15/20/25) results in no disadvantage.

    Distract – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause harass and pester the enemies in such a way that limits their attacks. This can be done by word or by minor physical altercation. The next attack against that enemy NPC or intelligent monster is at advantage. A successful Int save (DC 10/15/20/25) results in no advantage.

    Rally – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause shouts in support of the PCs. The PCs are then granted 1d6 temporary hit points per tier of play. A successful Cha save (DC 10/15/20/25) by the leader of the enemy results in no temporary hit points being granted, this is to represent their ability to speak over or interrupt the rallying calls.

    Changes for the future?

    I may tie these to various skills or tools rather than saving throws. I had the players roll, and asking players to roll under for a success just didn’t make sense.

    Finally, I think I would allow a summoned swarm from the Propagandist use these when the Propagandist commands them via a bonus action. This would help raise the power level of a subclass that lacks in combat, though in many campaigns this wouldn’t be enough.

    Design Goals

    The primary inspirations for these actions were to mimic some of the play of Assassin’s Creed, where the small crowd of neutrals and allies can support your violence. There are also scenes in Black Sails where the common people of Nassau join the fight against the British. The invasion of Tear and other conflicts in the Wheel of Time feature actions by commoners supporting the heroes too. Various Robin Hood tales, the rescue of The Shire, the movie Aladdin, and so many other tales have common peoples helping the heroes by impeding the enemy.

    While highly urbanized campaigns aren’t common in D&D, they should be supported. The literature and other inspirations for the game do have these elements. Our game can include them in ways that are more than just background story.

    What improvements do you see needing attention?

  • Counting in the Land of Kon

    Counting in the Land of Kon

    The smogpunk land of goblins in the World of the Everflow was set apart from the Kingdom of Sheljar, Crinth, and other areas for a few millennia. Within this separation the goblins and hobgoblins changed from the standard tropes.

    In the Everflow they answer to the Queen Mother. Everyone is organized around their family’s history of developing teknology for one of the various guilds. Inventiveness and cleverness are more important than fighting and viciousness.

    To emphasize these differences, but still capture traditional goblinoid feelings there should be a some differences in language. This discovery of numerals from the 13th century feels proper for the gobkon of the world.

    It works in a printing press, scribbled on paper or carved into wood.

    Will it ever see the table? Probably not. Or maybe just one or two numbers in a handout for the players to demonstrate the differences between their lands with the languages of Telse (Common) and the rest of the Six Kingdoms.

    If there was a campaign book for the World of the Everflow this could be a tiny sidebar for flavor, not a rule for use.