Likely inspired by this interview over at Flipboard, I decided to bring back Lore Collage. This is a weekly look at things I read/watched/etc. The focus will be on building and playing in a mid to high fantasy world using 5th edition D&D and related rulesets.
Reading
Beyond the Gates: Where Dungeons & Dragons Meets Sacred Community(Roll 4 Joy) Once upon a time I was active in a church youth group and also actively played D&D. I wouldn’t have dared crossed those interests. I’m happy this group now feels comfortable to do so.
Avoid Removing Player Agency (SlyFlourish) This is the money quote “Players want to do stuff. They want to use the tools their characters have to interact with the world.” The article is a good reminder that the lack of agency should be used intentionally and rarely.
Kickstarter’s New Head Of Games Asher McClennahan Discusses His Vision (Forbes) 80% of tabletop games on Kickstarter deliver.
Southern resident orcas pick up, use kelp in newly discovered behavior (Seattle Times) The real, natural world continues to find new ways to influence my world. Inspired by this story I want to work some weird play/symbology with the various beasts in the world.
New Monster – Dreadful Tree (Sea of Stars RPG) My Sunday campaign, where I play the smog-goblin Xabal, keeps running into various blights. We can always use more blights. Recently Sea of Stars also wrote about adding weaknesses to monsters to add in their story.
How Dungeons & Dragons: Dragon Delves is breaking all fantasy art rules (Creative Bloq) Now-released Dragon Delves artist Andre Kolb and writer Justice Arman talk to Creative Bloq about a new approach to official D&D art in an adventure book.
Design Diary with Richard Green, one of the authors of Labyrinth Worldbook (Kobold Press) Green writes about the setting expansion — the Labyrinth Worldbook, which was cooperatively created for Tales of the Valiant. Even if you don’t play ToV/Black Flag, everything in the book can be used to create a new multiverse for your own world.
Watching
While the era of peak high fantasy may be fading away, you can still dip back into low to mid fantasy via shows like Merlin or Cursed. These lower magic shows do a great job of establishing a world where magic is special, powerful and intimidating. They also provide a slice of life for the zero-to-not-yet-hero portion of play.
Creating
For my upcoming Ferments-set nearly-zero prep game I put together an encounters table. The intent is to include things that aren’t only combat and that fit the tale of the setting.
‘Wine lets secrets out’ – the Vintner, a 5e D&D Background (Full Moon Storytelling) To update to 2024 D&D or Black Flag;
5e24
Pick one of the following Feats. They are listed in order of commonality;
- Skilled
- Musician
- Magic Initiate (Druid)
- Tavern Brawler
- Healer
Then assign ability score bonuses to Wisdom, Charisma or Intelligence.
Black Flag
Pick one of the following Talents. They are listed in order of commonality;
- Polyglot
- Trade skills
- Scrutinous
- Ritualist (Primordial)
- Athletic
Full Moon Storytelling 