Tag: Dungeons and Dragons

  • Lore Collage: Dungeons & Dragons movie adds another big name, new product announced Tuesday, and dozens more items to read and watch

    Lore Collage: Dungeons & Dragons movie adds another big name, new product announced Tuesday, and dozens more items to read and watch

    Sometimes you go to bed thinking ‘self tomorrow’s story is already written.’ Then you wake up and major news breaks as Wizards of the Coast is teasing a product announcement for Tuesday. Before we get into that, and the movie news, let’s review what Full Moon Storytelling had for you last week. There was a review of what the site is all about and a post related to this month’s Blog Carnival as the history of the Everflow was made public for the first time.

    Let’s get into the news, which leads off with the Dungeons & Dragons movie from Paramount and eOne, again.

    Official D&D Products Releases and Reviews

    Dungeons & Dragons Movie News

    Last week week we learned that Michelle Rodriguez and Justice Smith joined Chris Pine. This week it is Regé-Jean Page, yeah from Bridgerton, is joining the party — no, we don’t know if they are all actually heroes, yet. As a reminder, the studio space that Paramoun/eOne are using is the same one that Game of Thrones used.

    The scale of actors brought aboard have people asking if this will be the next MCU. Let’s be honest the only thing remotely on par with the MCU at this time is the Fast & Furious universe. D&D now shares one of their actors.

    New Book Release Announcement Tuesday February 23

    The teaser from Wizards of the Coast doesn’t announce a release date, but thanks to online retailers we know that the product announcement is Feb 23 for a book coming out on May 18 – a great birthday gift for me.

    The Mist Beckons

    Guess we’ll all be heavily online this week as we learn just where in the demiplanes of Ravenloft we’ll be going. This will be the second book with a Ravenloft theme, the first time that Wizards of the Coast returns to a non-Forgotten Realms setting for a second book in 5th edition. The most recent Unearthed Arcana featured mechanics for three horror-based races as well.

    Other Official News

    Want to play D&D in an English Castle? One lucky winner of a Comic Relief donation-raffle will get a seat at the table when the pandemic next permits what was an annual event.

    Every Saturday morning I listen to #DragonTalk. This week my question for Anthony Rapp, of Star Trek: Discovery fame, made the show.

    https://open.spotify.com/episode/4J7zMASRXkYzM15J90ApXg

    Advice for Dungeons & Dragons Payers and DMs

    DnDBeyond.com has new stories on Chase Scenes and how to create WandaVision in your home games.

    If you reward combat, and only combat, that’s the kind of game you’re going to get. This rule may be true in cRPGs, but it’s also true for D&D.

    Avoid Total Party Kills by giving the players the types of tips that their characters would already notice.

    Playing D&D in Civic Spaces During the Pandemic

    Madison, WI public libraries are hosting D&D, as well as expanding their other tabletop gaming content. Their games use DnDBeyond and a video conference softward. This makes a lot of sense, as Madison is one of the birthplaces of the game.

    Larimie County, WY public libraries are hosting D&D. Their games use Discord.

    Arlington Heights Memorial Library is hosting a D&D character building session.

    Kitsap County Library on Bainbridge Island, WA is hosting Rime of the Frostmaiden.

    Every week more libraries and community centers are diving into Dungeons & Dragons.

    Dungeons & Dragons is Mainstream Now

    People in isolation struggle to find socialization. This is true during a pandemic; this is true during prison. In both cases, D&D has helped create and maintain connections. | Dungeons & Dragons Is the Pandemic Distraction My Family Needs – The New York Times

    Need ideas for Date Night? Sure you do. Try D&D, or maybe board games. | 8 creative date night options to make winter a little more fun – Omaha World-Herald

    The Royal Society of Chemistry takes a deep dive into the reality of D&D’s famous poisons. | The critical role of chemistry in D&D poisons – Chemistry World

    Up in British Columbia, Canada a writer for Simon Fraser University praises D&D for helping them through the pandemic. | How Dungeons and Dragons got me through 2020 – The Peak

    Other Geek Stuff

    Swordsfall’s art drop is an evocative piece showing a caravan passing along the side of a cliff with some monsters looming on one edge.

    Yeah, I made about twenty icebergs just to see how they would float.

    Before I was a D&D nerd I was a Star Trek nerd. This new site is a home to celebrate the Women of Trek.

    10 great RPGs that aren’t D&D.

    As Always, Maps

    Maps and an education about Roman London.

    For those playing in modern or cyberpunk games this tool enables you to turn a neighborhood into the target of an investigation or attack.

    Free Fantasy Map – Dragon Cave
    Free is a great price.

    Change the orientation on a map, and change how you view the world.

    And another great map from Dyson Logos.

    Loreweaver Monastery
  • The Everflow, a gift from the gods

    The Everflow, a gift from the gods

    The Font of Two Paths, the Two-Headed Spring, Pool of Life, Lake of Wonder — the Everflow. This supernatural gift from Quar is the result of the last action of gods who turned their backs on Kin. The Lake of Wonder has two exits, a thing that shouldn’t ever, ever happen when making maps. This wasn’t because of Quar, but instead due to the people who wanted to spread these waters as far as possible. The Font of Two Paths is as much a study of Quar as it is of the ingenuity of his church.

    Telse and its immediate surroundings.
    Map developed using the beta of Hex All Things by Fantastic Maps

    In the land of Kin the time of creation of the Everflow started one of the popular calendars. This day is known, only due to the Church of Quar (in actuality it is the date when the first Bishop took the Church from religion to merchant guild and non-national power).

    The modern era, 21-26 Post Awakening (PA), the Everflow has a few mechanical benefits. This is true in a world where common magic is merely cantrips and the kinship between beasts. A vial of Everflow, attainable in many markets in Telse and through the rest of Kin only at the Church of Quar, works as three uses of a Potion of Healing. In this world it takes only a Bonus Action to consume a use. Taking all three at once is an Action, and also removes a level of Exhaustion. Again, magic is quite rare, so this healing power has created the potency and power of the Church, which profits off of controlling the Source.

    This post is an entry in the Blog Carnival, a group of blogs who share content inspired by the same prompt for a month. This month’s host is Sea of Stars.

    Make up new items or stat up those from myth, describe places where lost items can be found or quests set by the gods for those who wish to “borrow” item for an important task, what artifacts would your campaign villain seek?  What is the craftsman of the gods working on?

    The Third Celestial Armory is their own entry into the Blog Carnival.

    When the Western Wildes were controlled by the Empire of Sheljar the Church’s influence was so strong that Telse remained a mostly-independent city, though the defenses of Telse and Upper Telse were provided by Sheljar as the mighty empire controlled all lands around the lake town.

    This power dynamic shifted at the Fall of Sheljar. As the Necromancer took power in the bog city the other cities in the west earned their freedoms, for the most part.

    Telse, Mira, Qin and the other cities near the Everflow and its two rivers.
    • Sheljar then sat empty as people fled the Tunneling Nightmares and the Night Peoples.
    • Mira is a port city in the north, with some influence over Fort Ooshar.
    • Qin is the city of guilds in the south.
    • The Ferments are a region of hot springs, alcohol, homesteads, and vibrant independence.
    • Bell’an’aur is the community of mines and glass blowing.

    But Telse and Upper Telse remain influential. Bishop Ollium maintains power through the wealth of the church — both in the masses of gold and the healing powers of the Everflow. His church-shops are scattered in all kingdoms (Crinth, Azsel, Kirtin, Daoud, and even Mehmd in the dry east). Though smaller than Qin and Mira, Telse’s gift from the gods, an everflowing fountain of healing water that fills a lake with large locks controlling outflow towards both Mira and Qin.

    This gift changed the world. Due to the corruption inherent in the People of Love (humans, halflings, goliaths — the Kin) a gift of healing created a church more powerful than nations, able to control who lives and dies, able to topple dynasties.

    In times legendary, Quar expected his gift to be a lasting connection created through generous health, as the Font never runs dry everyone would benefit. The flawed god of life did not expect the flaws of man to control this ability.

    Other worlds may have mighty boons from the divine that shake the land, or summon kaiju, or protect cities. In the World of the Everflow the minor gift of healing created a non-national empire, a form of currency, and a town that now has a large refugee populace fleeing the Fall of Sheljar or the cursed magicks now entering the Western Wildes — and dragons.

    No matter how large or small an artifact of the gods is it will change your world. The Waters of the Everflow did so much more than a god intended.

  • Creating a new world

    Creating a new world

    It comes with just a single question. What if? What if I started a new blog? What if we talked about fantasy fiction? What if the stories told coincided with a role-playing game? What if I set myself back two decades and cracked open Dungeons & Dragons again?

    bard-dave
    Every storyteller needs their tools – a good mug, a notebook (or netbook), a satchel for tokens and memories and a block of cheese maybe some sausage, and a trusty sword.

    What if the themes were strong adult subject matter that made for gritty tales of life, death and heroism? What if magic was real? And the gods could talk, but then they stopped?

    What if the continents were small, the peoples plentiful and not all human? What if humans didn’t believe in magic because it had disappeared in the only continent they know? How about making it so they are defined more by their cultures than by their phenotype?

    Have they stopped believing in themselves, in their gods? Do they see good and evil? How?

    Is there slavery? Why? Is there nobility? Can someone be both?

    These questions and the cascade of answers start to form more questions. It’s a nearly infinite series of responses. World building, particularly the creation of a world that breathes, is hard. Crafting a world-space that can withstand episodic gaming is harder.

    Take chunks at a time. That’s what Full Moon Storytelling will be. Small chunks of content for use in a campaign setting, built around a custom set of rules adapted from 5th edition D&D, but with accompanying tales. If the setting says “The Necromancer is just someone trying to be good” there will be a story that explains how that happened.

    As The Worthing Saga took a novella and broke out portions into branch stories, Full Moon Storytelling takes a campaign setting, rule set and crafts micro-fiction, short stories, plotless narrations and episodic adventures within the World of the Everflow.

    Maybe that’s where we start, not with a character, but with a story about a fountain that flows from a cliff and diverts along two paths – the Font of Two Paths, the Two-Headed Spring, Pool of Life, Lake of Wonder. The Everflow influences the western peninsula of Kin, is clearly unnatural and …

    This is Full Moon Storytelling. It’s a way to share writing, writing process and to think aloud, while words spring forth from tiny digits. Things will happen live, in front of you. Process will be as important as output. Creation is play. Come, join me at this fire under a full moon with clear sky as we look up through trees staring towards the open world of wonder, knowing that behind those trees at your back is whatever reality you can imagine.

    Fediverse Reactions
  • Lore Collage: D&D movie adds two more talents; how to play videos from Wizards and Todd Kenreck, dozens of other news items about your favorite game

    Lore Collage: D&D movie adds two more talents; how to play videos from Wizards and Todd Kenreck, dozens of other news items about your favorite game

    Inspiration is everywhere, and anywhere. Read a story about mushroom bricks? Add mushroom bricks to your world. Read a story about how dinosaurs weren’t actually as fast as people think? Adjust their speeds. Everything is prep — even a cold spell and winter storm that hits 1/3 of the country. That should help inform your Rime of the Frostmaiden sessions.

    Let’s get into the news, which leads off with the Dungeons & Dragons movie from Paramount and eOne.

    Official D&D Products Releases and Reviews

    Dungeons & Dragons Movie News

    Michelle Rodriguez and Justice Smith are joining Chris Pine in the D&D movie project from Paramount and eOne/Hasbro. Most of the news around this is bare-bones, but one thing stick out — Rodriguez and Pine are both already part of multi-billion dollar franchises (Fast & Furious, Avatar, Star Trek, Wonder Woman/DCU). The aim on this project is huge. There is no indicator that the studios are just floating the movie as a possible success. They are targeting the type of success that creates new sub-studios and genre defying popularity. Vulture thinks they may just have a chance.

    Will Hasbro be able to ride the success of 5th edition during the pandemic into something even bigger?

    New to the Game?

    Two new video series look to guide first-time players through the experience.

    Yawning Portal Games Sign Up Opens for February

    Looking for a game and can’t find one locally during the pandemic? The Yawning Portal hosts Adventurer’s League games and original adventures once a month with official virtual D&D. Their doors are back open.

    Idle Champions

    Idle Champions creator Codename Entertainment grabbed Todd Kenreck (creative manager) and Lauren (community manager) from Fandom unit DnDBeyond. Codename also recently added the Combat Wheelchair to their game.

    Advice for Dungeons & Dragons Payers and DMs

    There are a lot of ways to cheat in D&D. All of them are dumb, unnecessary, and fun ruining. Don’t cheat while playing D&D.

    Build your villains the same way pro wrestling does — big, over-the-top and vibrant.

    Use this one cool trick to connect the party before they adventure together.

    TechRadar talks about using your smart speaker to add sound effects to your game. At Full Moon Storytelling we were fans of Syrinscape back in our in-person sessions.

    Third-Party Products

    Free NPC token pack? Free NPC token pack for VTTs.

    Playing D&D in Civic Spaces During the Pandemic

    As someone who grew up in the 80s, with a mom who bought into the Satanic Panic, I will never get used to libraries and community centers hosting D&D for the general public.

    The Sachse Library out in Texas is hosting D&D.

    Laney decided it would be best to host the ses­sion on Zoom. He says he will also utilize tools and resources from the website dndbeyond.com, which can help new play­ers with character creation and help him manage the games. He also contacted Wizards of the Coast, the publisher for Dun­geons and Dragons, who said they are proud to support li­brary and school D&D groups. The publisher donated digital copies of all published Dun­geons and Dragons 5th Edition sourcebook.

    A Sonoma theater is hosting a D&D inspired play. The actor-player-actor cycles just doesn’t stop.

    U Mass – Farmington is hosting D&D in the Commons. They are also presenting discussion groups and lectures on the game.

    Ocean City Public Libraries in New Jersey are hosting both middle school and high school D&D sessions. If you’re ever in Ocean City, check out their beach. My grandad worked on some of the building design.

    Dungeons & Dragons & Mainstream

    GameRant wants D&D to have an official VTT. For me this would be an error that forces homogenization. Just like every home table in the pre-pandemic varied, so should the virtual tables around which we gather. Some DMs work best with a video camera and story without any specific mechanics tied to the digital world. Others may like a complete customizable virtual game that approaches video game levels of detail. Find the one that is best for your group and use it.

    The Star Trek: Discovery cast plays D&D. Star Trek News is now recapping their adventures.

    They’ve shared art styles for years, and now metal bands are playing D&D on Twitch.

    Another story about how D&D saved people’s social experiences during the pandemic, this one out of Lancaster.

    The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon of the 80s was too short lived. If you miss it, or need to know what it is Boing Boing has your write up, and shared this video.

    Other Geek Stuff

    Looking for other RPGs not just D&D? This winter has a bunch coming out.

    The second most popular fantasy RPG has a new beginner’s box out.

    D&D isn’t the only fantasy property getting a new look. Netflix is launching Redwall with a movie and TV series.

    The Dragon Prince is getting an RPG. You can test it out now.

    As Always, Maps

    A pastoral town that demands a story.

  • Inspiration Is Everywhere: Mushrooms

    Inspiration Is Everywhere: Mushrooms

    They can be disgusting. There are times that I’ve called them the rats of the vegetable world — they are not vegetables. In our games we can use mushrooms as food.

    What dungeon bound civilization hasn’t used fields of mushrooms for sustenance? Every time Drow, Dueger, Svirfneblin, and the rest raise shrooms. It’s part of the lore. Bioluminescent fungus and molds can be used for lighting as well.

    These tropes are common in Dungeons & Dragons.

    But you should also use mushrooms to build things. This is happening in the real world, but as bricks. Sure, that works in D&D. It makes a lot of sense for certain cultures.

    Expand on that idea.

    Who lives inside the shrooms like the Smurfs did. Or do your fey hide from the rain underneath a little cap.

    Photo by Visually Us on Pexels.com

    What secret assassin group searches for a specific fungus for their signature poison? What apothecary makes a healing tisane out of mycelium and molds? Which street vendor took the meals of the underdark and turned them into handheld pastries stuffed with minced mushrooms and aged cheese making a name for themselves in the lighted world?

    Everything you experience — eat, read, watch, listen to, encounter — can inspire you to add a little bit to your gameworld or character.