When I step away from reality for a few days, playing D&D is difficult. Visiting family or friends isn’t the best time to schedule a Dungeons & Dragons game (except for when it is). But that space away from the table is also fuel for new ideas (the Vintner Background is on its way). Dungeon Mayhem was also a great way to get light-D&D themes while playing with single-digit kids.
Whenever I visit a town I stop by a local café, a local brewery/winery, and their local gaming store. Book & Game was stocked full of D&D.
On Tuesdays Lore Collage focuses on the D&D game of dice and paper.
D&D’s best year ever (Forbes, PC Gamer) isn’t expected to lead to a slow down. It’s part of a planned slow-growth design that was amplified by the covid-19 pandemic.
“From the outside, D&D looks like math,” he added. “But you watch people livestreaming D&D, and you think, ‘it’s a group of friends drinking beer and making each other laugh. I didn’t know there was a game for that.’ It really helps make it more approachable. The game’s a sort of social lubricant.”
Wizards’ own streaming show, D&D Live, is scheduled for July 16-17, billed as a special two-day event. Its schedule includes interviews, special product announcement, and a Dungeon Masters’ roundtable discussion, but is centered around four “star-studded” live-play games. The exact lineup for this year’s games has yet to be announced at time of writing.
This program is aimed at complete groups (6 players) looking for specific games, at specific times, and perhaps even with a specific DM. This is not for single players trying to make the perfect schedule (that makes my head hurt). For our initial beta of the program we are going to limit it to a handful of groups to work out the kinks and make sure we are offering what you want, that it is scalable and repeatable, and that the program has value.
Want to play yourself? Melbourne University created an app that converts your face into the six attributes and a suggested class. It thinks I am a CE, Cleric with STR 15, DEX 9, CON 12, INT 9, WIS 15, CHA 9. Maybe. Probably not, as I haven’t been close to a STR 15 since my 20s.
As always, maps
Here is a map of mine on the @roll20app I have up, with more on the way!
Summerfort is a city of intrigue, a city of traders, explorers, madmen, and murderers, against a backdrop of rolling hills and luscious woods.
With a week away from collaging about Dungeon lore and Dragon news, this collation of links, videos, podcasts, and maps is bigger than every. It may be the last in the weekly collection. They are becoming too hefty. Maybe a scheduled day for the major topics of the Collage makes more sense? We’ll see.
If you’ve ever wanted to play a carnival barker or newsie you had to reskin other backgrounds. Until now. The Crier/Herald/Barker is what you are looking for.
I started listening to The Black Dice Society because I wanted to prepare for Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. What wound up happening is me discovering a layered horror show with excellent characterization and a creep factor that hits me just right.
Just so you don’t forget, the Derek Kolstad TV project isn’t the only D&D TV project. It is merely the only one with a known personality attached to it.
Yawning Portal Opens for Virtual Weekend Play May 7-9
Event Grid for the May Virtual D&D Weekend? Why of course.
ThinkDM has a review of MCDM’s Illrigger, their first custom class. It’s an evil leaning class that has some flavors similar to Paladins, Warlocks, and blood magic.
Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent is the heavy metal, overpowered D&D setting from the creator of Warcraft. The Kickstarter will hit One Million Dollars shortly.
ThinkDM expands on the discussion of the Illrigger. The class may echo other class themes, but takes a unique mechanical approach that amplifies the story elements.
Calendaring is the number one death of any D&D campaign. One way to reduce that impact is through Duet-play. That style does take an even more character-centric approach to design, luckily the experts at Duet have a guide for you.
D&D is too often seen as an American phenomena. That’s lazy. The game is popular throughout the English speaking world with it continuing to rebuild in Spanish, Portuguese, German-speaking countries and more. | Rolling with it: Ottawa’s Dungeons and Dragons community thriving online – Capital Current
Remember when everyone in geekdom, and mainstream, cared about Game of Thrones and now no one does? It’s ten years old and the world has forgotten.
Are you a comics fan that’s into D&D? IDW has a Humble Bunble of up to 100 titles starting at just 1$.
Amazon Prime’s Second Age telling of JRR Tolkien’s saga of The Rings will cost over $465 million in season one. To put that in some perspective that’s more than WandaVision and The Mandalorian season ones, combined. We are in peak fantasy in TV and movies.
There are lighter fantasy tales to tell. Wanderhome is an RPG about sentient animal folk living lives that aren’t necessarily violent, but still quite dramatic.
Someone needs to invite me into a Strixhaven D&D campaign, because that world s amazing.
I owe Jeff a review of Blue Planet: Recontact still. For now, here’s an interview about the sci-fi setting that combines David Brin’s Uplift world with heavy doses of environmental stewardship.
As Always, Maps
Your next trip to the feywild or Domains of Dread needs a dungeon where you are going both up and down at the same time.
What happens when the lich doesn't follow the Ikea dungeon assembly directions properly…
The quiet little cottage sits on the lakeside, smoke billowing from the chimney and plants steadily growing from the personal garden tucked away on the side. Wouldn't you like to come for a swim? pic.twitter.com/qW95JhJcow
Let’s skip the spoilers for Tuesday’s new product reveal. You can search the internet if you want that stuff. The big news not related to that product is this weekend’s Yawning Portal event, which is basically a convention without keynote speakers, just lots of games. The DMs are paid, so you need to toss a coin to them.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is already out in Early Access. Dark Alliance, which is more of a team shooty/stabby game, is one of the most anticipated releases of 2021.
Theaters and actors continue to turn to D&D as an outlet, and fundraiser. Hazards & Hijinks leans into improve. The just hosted their second session on their YouTube page.
i09’s Gizmado writes that D&D can inspire your fiction storytelling. This speaks to me. I can’t really tell the difference between whether I create for unplayed D&D or unpublished short stories.
This amazing artist takes dice cases and turns them into little dioramas. When the pandemic fades and office life is exists again, I will have a corner dedicated to gaming. Something like this is perfect.
February is New Gamemaster Month. If you’ve never sat behind the screen start planning your first adventure and then invite me to play.
Reuben Wu uses drones to create modern art in landscapes. How does your illusionist or other magical entertainer paint with magic?
Many businesses slow down during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, so there is no new news regarding the D&D movie. It’s also just a lighter week in general. A reminder, Baldman Games and Wizards of the Coast are hosting monthly sessions via the The Yawning Portal.
Check out my portfolio of 20 writings in 2020 for an example as to how I can help your content grow.
Official D&D Products Releases and Reviews
According to Forbes, the five best D&D products of 2020 include stuff from Kobold Press (Tome of Beasts 2; I own Tome of Beasts and use it regularly), Nord Games (Spectacular Settlements; I own this and regularly consult it when creating communities for fiction and gaming) and three from Wizards of the Coast.
The Yawning Portal is calling out for more adventurers. This month’s WotC/Baldman Games gaming sessions are January 15-17. There are Adventurer’s League games set in Eberron, the Moonshaes, Thay, and a new season entirely. Select DMs will also be running their original non-AL games.
Bustle put together a “How To” guide to D&D and Zoom (works for any video call platform really). My groups have used jitsi, Zoom, and Google Meet over the past months.
Your desert dwellers can and should have snow cones, ice cream, and other frozen treats. Yes, I’m serious. Yakhchāl were the ancient Persian way to create ice in the middle east.
So much Sci-fi/Fantasy genre to stream this month. I’ll be binging The Magicians, WandaVision, Hook, Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, Snowpiercer (movie and the series), and The Princess Bride (duh). What are you looking forward to?
Full Moon Storytelling 