#playingdd — Public Fediverse posts

Using word-maps for quick reference during your games

You don’t have to be a map maker to make adequate maps for gaming. A map can be as simple as showing the relative relationship between distance and location of the important elements. Even putting a few words on a page can be a map.

Take the word map of the Six Kingdoms. It shows the relative locations and rough distances between the various kingdoms, their major cities and the other lands that interact in the World of the Everflow.

Word maps can also represent a homestead, village or neighborhoods of a city.

Any player can take a quick glance and know what each location is and what they connect to within the compound. More thorough descriptions in a blog post and in the character’s notes, but these quick notecards reminds us of Spinebloom Farms at the table.

Fort Ooshar is a bridge-town that turned into a fortress when Sheljar fell to the Necromancer. This quick sketch lays out the neighborhoods of the bridge-town, the gates, the fields and the nearby hills.

Yes, a better mapmaker would be better. My favorites are Deven Rue and Dyson Logos. I support both via Patreon and use their works in my games.

But sometimes I want something that is unique to my world. That leaves me with my lack of art. I then build a word map.

Keys to making a quick word map.

1. Decide on the central space
2. Build outward using relative distance to represent a unit of time
3. Include evocative names, especially when in tight focus
4. If building a dungeon, point crawl or town having connective tissue — this can be a road, river, or other path
5. Leave yourself space to build details and add discoveries

Doing this as a player

Old school D&D involved at least one player making highly detailed maps. But a word map may be all that’s necessary to prevent your party from getting lost. Using a room-and-halls word map by the player helps represent how the characters think.

In essence you are channeling the concept of ‘turn left after the big red barn, go over Herringbone Bridge, take the third path’ into a simplistic drawing.

These are quick, simple and can be done on a 3-by-5 card or as a sketch in something as simple as Paint, Slides, Canva or even in a Spreadsheet (the Six Kingdoms started as a spreadsheet).

One of the special powers of the word map is that they’re quick. You don’t need to search for anything. It’s a sketch that can be done in a few seconds.

Whether as a player or a DM this tool can help you understand your fantasy world better than without a map at all.

How my campaign changes when a new product drops

The recent addition of Drops subscription content to DnD Beyond is going to challenge me.

I’m running only a single intermittent 5e campaign right now. The Ferments uses 2024 as its base set, but permits things from Black Flag, 2014 and A5e in general, with a quick scan to make certain that the addition fits within the campaign themes and the setting’s common lore.

In the past it’s been easy to judge what works and doesn’t. Book releases are heavily themed. Most grimdark will not fit in The World of the Everflow. Dragon stuff always fits. Giant stuff rarely fits. The new dinosaur book added to Beyond fits well in an undiscovered-to-this-point land.

But now there are weekly drops. The player facing stuff needs a quick review. Maps and stickers won’t matter because we aren’t using the Maps VTT. The cosmetics are fine, because they help a player connect with their character.

Teos explains the broader program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJMyKu0cqDw

Evaluating the content to fit The Ferments and The World of the Everflow

First off, the five feats added are all extra planar in a way that has not been explored in our games through the several hundred sessions of play plus writing and backstory. There’s only been a single Warlock.

Those are going to be easy to ignore. If I could toggle them off at the campaign level I would.

• All five feats = no
• Pact Seeker background = with lore tweak and different feat
• Astral Flood = yes, fully
• Buzzing Bee = yes, fully
• Insidious Rhythm = yes, fully
• Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment = yes, fully
• Sticks to Snakes= yes, but DM content only

The Pact seeker background doesn’t fit as written. The lore doesn’t work because of the demand that the pact is extraplanar, but if a player wanted to rework that and take a new origin feat it would be allowed. Maybe they are seeking a pact with a religious figure, an elder dragon, a scholar or something similar.

There are also five spells in the first Drops.

Astral flood fits unchanged. The Astral and Ethereal are somewhat merged in my world and opening that up to the physical realm would be devastating.

Buzzing bee is excellent. My first encounter with Bee was the useless cantrip from Unearthed Arcana back in the 80s. This is better and needed. It fits the use of animals for the Kin too.

Insidious Rhythm is a fun spell too. The magic of performance by Bards and others would be the path of introduction.

Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment may not fit combat well. It does fit in social and political settings. Players will definitely find a way to turn a crowded room into a debate-disaster.

Sticks to Snakes is a classic spell, but this version is quite underpowered for 2024. It adds in-combat complexity for low damage. It reads more like a 2nd level spell and not a 4th. For narrative purposes it fits the world well. But it’s a waste for a player. This will be DM content only.

Eleven player facing items this week needed to be reviewed. Next week there will be more. And then there will be more. And more.

It’s going to be too much.

And each drop and each book from every publisher stretches and pushes a world. But fantasy worlds are not only defined by being permissive. They are also defined by what’s forbidden.

Every world a DM and their tables creates can choose to be a global fantasy (kitchen sink) or be as neatly defined as the group wants.

With Drops the default in the Everflow will not be for permission, but to evaluate what a player wants to add as they want to add it in order for us to continue to explore the themes of the world — how strong can the love between person and animal be, who gets to control access to knowledge, how can our local connections make the world better for most.

How my campaign changes when a new product drops

The recent addition of Drops subscription content to DnD Beyond is going to challenge me.

I’m running only a single intermittent 5e campaign right now. The Ferments uses 2024 as its base set, but permits things from Black Flag, 2014 and A5e in general, with a quick scan to make certain that the addition fits within the campaign themes and the setting’s common lore.

In the past it’s been easy to judge what works and doesn’t. Book releases are heavily themed. Most grimdark will not fit in The World of the Everflow. Dragon stuff always fits. Giant stuff rarely fits. The new dinosaur book added to Beyond fits well in an undiscovered-to-this-point land.

But now there are weekly drops. The player facing stuff needs a quick review. Maps and stickers won’t matter because we aren’t using the Maps VTT. The cosmetics are fine, because they help a player connect with their character.

Teos explains the broader program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJMyKu0cqDw

Evaluating the content to fit The Ferments and The World of the Everflow

First off, the five feats added are all extra planar in a way that has not been explored in our games through the several hundred sessions of play plus writing and backstory. There’s only been a single Warlock.

Those are going to be easy to ignore. If I could toggle them off at the campaign level I would.

• All five feats = no
• Pact Seeker background = with lore tweak and different feat
• Astral Flood = yes, fully
• Buzzing Bee = yes, fully
• Insidious Rhythm = yes, fully
• Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment = yes, fully
• Sticks to Snakes= yes, but DM content only

The Pact seeker background doesn’t fit as written. The lore doesn’t work because of the demand that the pact is extraplanar, but if a player wanted to rework that and take a new origin feat it would be allowed. Maybe they are seeking a pact with a religious figure, an elder dragon, a scholar or something similar.

There are also five spells in the first Drops.

Astral flood fits unchanged. The Astral and Ethereal are somewhat merged in my world and opening that up to the physical realm would be devastating.

Buzzing bee is excellent. My first encounter with Bee was the useless cantrip from Unearthed Arcana back in the 80s. This is better and needed. It fits the use of animals for the Kin too.

Insidious Rhythm is a fun spell too. The magic of performance by Bards and others would be the path of introduction.

Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment may not fit combat well. It does fit in social and political settings. Players will definitely find a way to turn a crowded room into a debate-disaster.

Sticks to Snakes is a classic spell, but this version is quite underpowered for 2024. It adds in-combat complexity for low damage. It reads more like a 2nd level spell and not a 4th. For narrative purposes it fits the world well. But it’s a waste for a player. This will be DM content only.

Eleven player facing items this week needed to be reviewed. Next week there will be more. And then there will be more. And more.

It’s going to be too much.

And each drop and each book from every publisher stretches and pushes a world. But fantasy worlds are not only defined by being permissive. They are also defined by what’s forbidden.

Every world a DM and their tables creates can choose to be a global fantasy (kitchen sink) or be as neatly defined as the group wants.

With Drops the default in the Everflow will not be for permission, but to evaluate what a player wants to add as they want to add it in order for us to continue to explore the themes of the world — how strong can the love between person and animal be, who gets to control access to knowledge, how can our local connections make the world better for most.

How my campaign changes when a new product drops

The recent addition of Drops subscription content to DnD Beyond is going to challenge me.

I’m running only a single intermittent 5e campaign right now. The Ferments uses 2024 as its base set, but permits things from Black Flag, 2014 and A5e in general, with a quick scan to make certain that the addition fits within the campaign themes and the setting’s common lore.

In the past it’s been easy to judge what works and doesn’t. Book releases are heavily themed. Most grimdark will not fit in The World of the Everflow. Dragon stuff always fits. Giant stuff rarely fits. The new dinosaur book added to Beyond fits well in an undiscovered-to-this-point land.

But now there are weekly drops. The player facing stuff needs a quick review. Maps and stickers won’t matter because we aren’t using the Maps VTT. The cosmetics are fine, because they help a player connect with their character.

Teos explains the broader program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJMyKu0cqDw

Evaluating the content to fit The Ferments and The World of the Everflow

First off, the five feats added are all extra planar in a way that has not been explored in our games through the several hundred sessions of play plus writing and backstory. There’s only been a single Warlock.

Those are going to be easy to ignore. If I could toggle them off at the campaign level I would.

• All five feats = no
• Pact Seeker background = with lore tweak and different feat
• Astral Flood = yes, fully
• Buzzing Bee = yes, fully
• Insidious Rhythm = yes, fully
• Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment = yes, fully
• Sticks to Snakes= yes, but DM content only

The Pact seeker background doesn’t fit as written. The lore doesn’t work because of the demand that the pact is extraplanar, but if a player wanted to rework that and take a new origin feat it would be allowed. Maybe they are seeking a pact with a religious figure, an elder dragon, a scholar or something similar.

There are also five spells in the first Drops.

Astral flood fits unchanged. The Astral and Ethereal are somewhat merged in my world and opening that up to the physical realm would be devastating.

Buzzing bee is excellent. My first encounter with Bee was the useless cantrip from Unearthed Arcana back in the 80s. This is better and needed. It fits the use of animals for the Kin too.

Insidious Rhythm is a fun spell too. The magic of performance by Bards and others would be the path of introduction.

Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment may not fit combat well. It does fit in social and political settings. Players will definitely find a way to turn a crowded room into a debate-disaster.

Sticks to Snakes is a classic spell, but this version is quite underpowered for 2024. It adds in-combat complexity for low damage. It reads more like a 2nd level spell and not a 4th. For narrative purposes it fits the world well. But it’s a waste for a player. This will be DM content only.

Eleven player facing items this week needed to be reviewed. Next week there will be more. And then there will be more. And more.

It’s going to be too much.

And each drop and each book from every publisher stretches and pushes a world. But fantasy worlds are not only defined by being permissive. They are also defined by what’s forbidden.

Every world a DM and their tables creates can choose to be a global fantasy (kitchen sink) or be as neatly defined as the group wants.

With Drops the default in the Everflow will not be for permission, but to evaluate what a player wants to add as they want to add it in order for us to continue to explore the themes of the world — how strong can the love between person and animal be, who gets to control access to knowledge, how can our local connections make the world better for most.

How my campaign changes when a new product drops

The recent addition of Drops subscription content to DnD Beyond is going to challenge me.

I’m running only a single intermittent 5e campaign right now. The Ferments uses 2024 as its base set, but permits things from Black Flag, 2014 and A5e in general, with a quick scan to make certain that the addition fits within the campaign themes and the setting’s common lore.

In the past it’s been easy to judge what works and doesn’t. Book releases are heavily themed. Most grimdark will not fit in The World of the Everflow. Dragon stuff always fits. Giant stuff rarely fits. The new dinosaur book added to Beyond fits well in an undiscovered-to-this-point land.

But now there are weekly drops. The player facing stuff needs a quick review. Maps and stickers won’t matter because we aren’t using the Maps VTT. The cosmetics are fine, because they help a player connect with their character.

Teos explains the broader program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJMyKu0cqDw

Evaluating the content to fit The Ferments and The World of the Everflow

First off, the five feats added are all extra planar in a way that has not been explored in our games through the several hundred sessions of play plus writing and backstory. There’s only been a single Warlock.

Those are going to be easy to ignore. If I could toggle them off at the campaign level I would.

• All five feats = no
• Pact Seeker background = with lore tweak and different feat
• Astral Flood = yes, fully
• Buzzing Bee = yes, fully
• Insidious Rhythm = yes, fully
• Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment = yes, fully
• Sticks to Snakes= yes, but DM content only

The Pact seeker background doesn’t fit as written. The lore doesn’t work because of the demand that the pact is extraplanar, but if a player wanted to rework that and take a new origin feat it would be allowed. Maybe they are seeking a pact with a religious figure, an elder dragon, a scholar or something similar.

There are also five spells in the first Drops.

Astral flood fits unchanged. The Astral and Ethereal are somewhat merged in my world and opening that up to the physical realm would be devastating.

Buzzing bee is excellent. My first encounter with Bee was the useless cantrip from Unearthed Arcana back in the 80s. This is better and needed. It fits the use of animals for the Kin too.

Insidious Rhythm is a fun spell too. The magic of performance by Bards and others would be the path of introduction.

Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment may not fit combat well. It does fit in social and political settings. Players will definitely find a way to turn a crowded room into a debate-disaster.

Sticks to Snakes is a classic spell, but this version is quite underpowered for 2024. It adds in-combat complexity for low damage. It reads more like a 2nd level spell and not a 4th. For narrative purposes it fits the world well. But it’s a waste for a player. This will be DM content only.

Eleven player facing items this week needed to be reviewed. Next week there will be more. And then there will be more. And more.

It’s going to be too much.

And each drop and each book from every publisher stretches and pushes a world. But fantasy worlds are not only defined by being permissive. They are also defined by what’s forbidden.

Every world a DM and their tables creates can choose to be a global fantasy (kitchen sink) or be as neatly defined as the group wants.

With Drops the default in the Everflow will not be for permission, but to evaluate what a player wants to add as they want to add it in order for us to continue to explore the themes of the world — how strong can the love between person and animal be, who gets to control access to knowledge, how can our local connections make the world better for most.

Rebranding Downtime into the Fourth Pillar it deserves to be

D&D and its variants are often referred to as “combat simulations” or “tactical combat games” or “dungeon crawling miniature games” in a somewhat dismissive way that seeks to reduce the other things that players have their characters do during sessions and campaigns.

These mostly heroic characters do have a lot of combat support. A vast majority of the rules support violence portrayed in what is now six-second rounds. Combat’s scenes in 5th edition are done in expanded time taking many real minutes for less than thirty seconds of cinematic action.

But combat is not all of modern Dungeons & Dragons. Other pillars are supported.

The three main pillars of D&D play are social interaction, exploration, and combat.

5.2.1 SRD / Wizards of the Coast / CC BY 4.0

Social interaction in the modern game is mostly done in scenes lasting a few minutes. These scenes take place in real time at the table. Ritual spells do not make sense in the context of social interaction because of the nature of social interaction. Other spell casting is less frequent than in combat, while it can still fit. The main engine of social interaction within the rules are skills (Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence) and a light dusting of feature from class, archetype, feat or species.

Taking a longer period of time, historically measured in ten-minute chunks, is Exploration. This is abstracted in an opposite fashion from Combat in that where combat sees time expanded, Exploration compresses it. Some, but not all travel makes sense as exploration. Rituals are frequently used. Spells are common. Certain spells and features may make classic exploration challenges meaningless (Goodberry or Find & Remove Traps). But Exploration, the delve into dungeons, the searching the wildes, the entry to a wondrous temple or the site of a majestic floating city is and always will be a part of the D&D genre.

There’s a fourth pillar.

It’s so hidden, it’s not even part of the SRD.

— Downtime —

Between the 2014 core books, and Xanathar’s there are 37 sometimes overlapping options for what can be done with Downtime. The 2024 core books and the Forgotten Realms expansions add many Bastion and Crafting options onto this.

Most downtime choices are measured in weeks, though small projects are within days. These scenes are time-compressed frequently taking only a roll or two per character to resolve as weeks, months, maybe even seasons pass. In film, TV and books the montage is how downtime is presented. Pick your favorite heroic montage — we’ll get back to it.

Every class supports downtime activities in some capacity, especially with the 2024 ruleset adding on Bastions. Skill challenges, as adopted to 5e by some homebrewers, make sense as resolution systems for downtime, exploration and sometimes social events.

But downtime is often viewed by players and DMs as accounting, boring academics, spreadsheet management.

Even the name is boring.

Downtime has a branding problem

Stories and adventures are an assembly of beats, eventually leading to rising action, climax and resolution. There are sometimes downbeats, setback.

Downbeats.

Who wants downbeats? Who wants downtime.

Even how downtime is presented, either by name or by style of play (Bastions and Crafting), it is shown as an appendage with little support. Downtime is a thing to rush past, not to enjoy.

A Bastion offers a character temporary refuge from the dangerous world of adventuring, and it provides opportunities for a character to craft magic items, conduct research, harvest poisons, build ships, and carry out a range of other activities.

2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide

Heroes do not want a refugee from danger!

They do want the ability to craft magic items, research mysteries, harvest fantastic elements, carouse, gamble, set sail across an astral sea, or plot the overthrow of a corrupt regime.

Those are all upbeats, not downtime.

Downtime also a massive part of the game

Acquisitions Inc combines D&D and modern franchise capitalism for fun. It contains franchise rules. It also lists every one of the 2014 options in downtime at its point of publication.

These choices are things heroes do!

The options above belong at your table. At some tables the options in Dragon Heist, Acq Inc, Tasha’s (Group Patrons), Strixhaven (schooling) and other official and unofficial books expand your campaign in ways that make sense too.

Think of your favorite montage scenes in your personal Appendix N. Do they involve plotting the overthrow of a corrupt leader? Do they involve building a guild? Do they involve carousing to gain information? Do they involve long study to craft a previously unknown spell? Do you have a favorite montage that includes sowing rumors? Or mayhap one that involves training for new skills? You probably have one where the heroes prepare for a test of skill, chance or magic?

In traditional D&D that’s downtime.

In the fiction these things advance the plot and add excitement.

Downtime has a branding problem.

That’s why you are going to start scheming.

Scheming

• making intelligent, secret plans, often to deceive others
• behaviour or activities that involve making clever secret plans intended to deceive people

In British English schemes aren’t necessarily deceptive or secret. They are plots and advancements, plans and procedures. They are the many days, weeks, months processes.

Both versions work for modern D&D, but the American concept of intelligent, secret plans especially fits my preferred themes.

Why Scheming? Other considerations

Concerns – while this captured the idea of the character being in charge of things it felt less involved in the plot and continued the ‘set aside’ concept of Downtime.

Occupations – but who wants to do work? That’s spreadsheet life, not plot advancement and fantastic discoveries.

Rejuvenation – is wonderful for healing, but poor for plot advancement and heroic actions over time.

Strategic play – this conveys the proper tone and your schemes should be strategic while other pillars are tactical.

Schemes involve rising action by heroes and antiheroes to get ready for the messy work that needs doing. Schemes are active plots and machinations (maybe that belongs above). Sometimes they are down notes, sometimes they are upbeats. They build rising action.

Unifying disparate subsystems into Scheming

Crafting, Bastions, Franchises, Group Patrons, Schooling, Carousing, Sacred rites, Grand rituals, Research, Business operations, Running a faction, Guild matters, Training militias, Communal defense, Grand voyages ….

The list goes on.

When these are schemes they are multi-check montages where failure matters and the results fuel the story. They either help or hinder a character or party on their quest. They take time.

Whatever you take to calling downtime (and do include Bastions and Crafting when appropriate for your campaign) you need to unify this set of systems together.

1. Describe the quest with the amount before the pace of action changes again. Set the expectation that there is time to Scheme.
2. Players describe their goals using the above activities or a combination thereof to achieve that goal within the amount of time (measure in weeks).
3. Narrate the results of the actions. These may require skill checks, use of various features or cooperation in the party. If there isn’t meaningful failure there is not a check unless extraordinary success matters. Use an odd number of checks (3 or 5 are best) mimicking skill challenges or use group checks if everyone is cooperating. Or combine the two.
4. Move on from the Scheme into action with a faster pace taking note of how much time passed and what that means for those that oppose the group.

If that resolution system feels familiar it is because it is the basic rhythm of play at the table, while capturing the montage and compressed time nature of a Scheme.

It’s not a scheme if the activities are passive. It’s not a scheme if it doesn’t advance a quest or plot. It’s not a scheme if it is fast. It’s not a scheme if it is tactical.

Frankly it’s not worth doing at the table if the activity is passive and/or doesn’t advance the quest

Schemes are strategic, long-term, montage-y activities that advance the action fitting a rising narrative building the eventual heroes towards a climax. They should not be the climax, nor the resolution. A denouement can be a scheme as it preps for the next campaign.

Ways to add Schemes to common campaign types

Try working in schemes into your campaign. Use a timehop that creates challenges because the enemy is building a grand army. The timehop also gives the heroes time to train a militia (as in Wheel of Time).

In a heist adventure use a scheme as the way to collect the necessary materials or information, setting up the background before the strike on the location (as the Crows in Shadow & Bone).

Maybe the scheme is to collect a group of allies to help the party cross a perilous ocean or astral sea, commissioning a ship and its crew (as in One Piece).

Play a scheme at your table inspired by the fictions that inspire your D&D.

Rebranding Downtime into the Fourth Pillar it deserves to be

D&D and its variants are often referred to as “combat simulations” or “tactical combat games” or “dungeon crawling miniature games” in a somewhat dismissive way that seeks to reduce the other things that players have their characters do during sessions and campaigns.

These mostly heroic characters do have a lot of combat support. A vast majority of the rules support violence portrayed in what is now six-second rounds. Combat’s scenes in 5th edition are done in expanded time taking many real minutes for less than thirty seconds of cinematic action.

But combat is not all of modern Dungeons & Dragons. Other pillars are supported.

The three main pillars of D&D play are social interaction, exploration, and combat.

5.2.1 SRD / Wizards of the Coast / CC BY 4.0

Social interaction in the modern game is mostly done in scenes lasting a few minutes. These scenes take place in real time at the table. Ritual spells do not make sense in the context of social interaction because of the nature of social interaction. Other spell casting is less frequent than in combat, while it can still fit. The main engine of social interaction within the rules are skills (Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence) and a light dusting of feature from class, archetype, feat or species.

Taking a longer period of time, historically measured in ten-minute chunks, is Exploration. This is abstracted in an opposite fashion from Combat in that where combat sees time expanded, Exploration compresses it. Some, but not all travel makes sense as exploration. Rituals are frequently used. Spells are common. Certain spells and features may make classic exploration challenges meaningless (Goodberry or Find & Remove Traps). But Exploration, the delve into dungeons, the searching the wildes, the entry to a wondrous temple or the site of a majestic floating city is and always will be a part of the D&D genre.

There’s a fourth pillar.

It’s so hidden, it’s not even part of the SRD.

— Downtime —

Between the 2014 core books, and Xanathar’s there are 37 sometimes overlapping options for what can be done with Downtime. The 2024 core books and the Forgotten Realms expansions add many Bastion and Crafting options onto this.

Most downtime choices are measured in weeks, though small projects are within days. These scenes are time-compressed frequently taking only a roll or two per character to resolve as weeks, months, maybe even seasons pass. In film, TV and books the montage is how downtime is presented. Pick your favorite heroic montage — we’ll get back to it.

Every class supports downtime activities in some capacity, especially with the 2024 ruleset adding on Bastions. Skill challenges, as adopted to 5e by some homebrewers, make sense as resolution systems for downtime, exploration and sometimes social events.

But downtime is often viewed by players and DMs as accounting, boring academics, spreadsheet management.

Even the name is boring.

Downtime has a branding problem

Stories and adventures are an assembly of beats, eventually leading to rising action, climax and resolution. There are sometimes downbeats, setback.

Downbeats.

Who wants downbeats? Who wants downtime.

Even how downtime is presented, either by name or by style of play (Bastions and Crafting), it is shown as an appendage with little support. Downtime is a thing to rush past, not to enjoy.

A Bastion offers a character temporary refuge from the dangerous world of adventuring, and it provides opportunities for a character to craft magic items, conduct research, harvest poisons, build ships, and carry out a range of other activities.

2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide

Heroes do not want a refugee from danger!

They do want the ability to craft magic items, research mysteries, harvest fantastic elements, carouse, gamble, set sail across an astral sea, or plot the overthrow of a corrupt regime.

Those are all upbeats, not downtime.

Downtime also a massive part of the game

Acquisitions Inc combines D&D and modern franchise capitalism for fun. It contains franchise rules. It also lists every one of the 2014 options in downtime at its point of publication.

These choices are things heroes do!

The options above belong at your table. At some tables the options in Dragon Heist, Acq Inc, Tasha’s (Group Patrons), Strixhaven (schooling) and other official and unofficial books expand your campaign in ways that make sense too.

Think of your favorite montage scenes in your personal Appendix N. Do they involve plotting the overthrow of a corrupt leader? Do they involve building a guild? Do they involve carousing to gain information? Do they involve long study to craft a previously unknown spell? Do you have a favorite montage that includes sowing rumors? Or mayhap one that involves training for new skills? You probably have one where the heroes prepare for a test of skill, chance or magic?

In traditional D&D that’s downtime.

In the fiction these things advance the plot and add excitement.

Downtime has a branding problem.

That’s why you are going to start scheming.

Scheming

• making intelligent, secret plans, often to deceive others
• behaviour or activities that involve making clever secret plans intended to deceive people

In British English schemes aren’t necessarily deceptive or secret. They are plots and advancements, plans and procedures. They are the many days, weeks, months processes.

Both versions work for modern D&D, but the American concept of intelligent, secret plans especially fits my preferred themes.

Why Scheming? Other considerations

Concerns – while this captured the idea of the character being in charge of things it felt less involved in the plot and continued the ‘set aside’ concept of Downtime.

Occupations – but who wants to do work? That’s spreadsheet life, not plot advancement and fantastic discoveries.

Rejuvenation – is wonderful for healing, but poor for plot advancement and heroic actions over time.

Strategic play – this conveys the proper tone and your schemes should be strategic while other pillars are tactical.

Schemes involve rising action by heroes and antiheroes to get ready for the messy work that needs doing. Schemes are active plots and machinations (maybe that belongs above). Sometimes they are down notes, sometimes they are upbeats. They build rising action.

Unifying disparate subsystems into Scheming

Crafting, Bastions, Franchises, Group Patrons, Schooling, Carousing, Sacred rites, Grand rituals, Research, Business operations, Running a faction, Guild matters, Training militias, Communal defense, Grand voyages ….

The list goes on.

When these are schemes they are multi-check montages where failure matters and the results fuel the story. They either help or hinder a character or party on their quest. They take time.

Whatever you take to calling downtime (and do include Bastions and Crafting when appropriate for your campaign) you need to unify this set of systems together.

1. Describe the quest with the amount before the pace of action changes again. Set the expectation that there is time to Scheme.
2. Players describe their goals using the above activities or a combination thereof to achieve that goal within the amount of time (measure in weeks).
3. Narrate the results of the actions. These may require skill checks, use of various features or cooperation in the party. If there isn’t meaningful failure there is not a check unless extraordinary success matters. Use an odd number of checks (3 or 5 are best) mimicking skill challenges or use group checks if everyone is cooperating. Or combine the two.
4. Move on from the Scheme into action with a faster pace taking note of how much time passed and what that means for those that oppose the group.

If that resolution system feels familiar it is because it is the basic rhythm of play at the table, while capturing the montage and compressed time nature of a Scheme.

It’s not a scheme if the activities are passive. It’s not a scheme if it doesn’t advance a quest or plot. It’s not a scheme if it is fast. It’s not a scheme if it is tactical.

Frankly it’s not worth doing at the table if the activity is passive and/or doesn’t advance the quest

Schemes are strategic, long-term, montage-y activities that advance the action fitting a rising narrative building the eventual heroes towards a climax. They should not be the climax, nor the resolution. A denouement can be a scheme as it preps for the next campaign.

Ways to add Schemes to common campaign types

Try working in schemes into your campaign. Use a timehop that creates challenges because the enemy is building a grand army. The timehop also gives the heroes time to train a militia (as in Wheel of Time).

In a heist adventure use a scheme as the way to collect the necessary materials or information, setting up the background before the strike on the location (as the Crows in Shadow & Bone).

Maybe the scheme is to collect a group of allies to help the party cross a perilous ocean or astral sea, commissioning a ship and its crew (as in One Piece).

Play a scheme at your table inspired by the fictions that inspire your D&D.

Rebranding Downtime into the Fourth Pillar it deserves to be

D&D and its variants are often referred to as “combat simulations” or “tactical combat games” or “dungeon crawling miniature games” in a somewhat dismissive way that seeks to reduce the other things that players have their characters do during sessions and campaigns.

These mostly heroic characters do have a lot of combat support. A vast majority of the rules support violence portrayed in what is now six-second rounds. Combat’s scenes in 5th edition are done in expanded time taking many real minutes for less than thirty seconds of cinematic action.

But combat is not all of modern Dungeons & Dragons. Other pillars are supported.

The three main pillars of D&D play are social interaction, exploration, and combat.

5.2.1 SRD / Wizards of the Coast / CC BY 4.0

Social interaction in the modern game is mostly done in scenes lasting a few minutes. These scenes take place in real time at the table. Ritual spells do not make sense in the context of social interaction because of the nature of social interaction. Other spell casting is less frequent than in combat, while it can still fit. The main engine of social interaction within the rules are skills (Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence) and a light dusting of feature from class, archetype, feat or species.

Taking a longer period of time, historically measured in ten-minute chunks, is Exploration. This is abstracted in an opposite fashion from Combat in that where combat sees time expanded, Exploration compresses it. Some, but not all travel makes sense as exploration. Rituals are frequently used. Spells are common. Certain spells and features may make classic exploration challenges meaningless (Goodberry or Find & Remove Traps). But Exploration, the delve into dungeons, the searching the wildes, the entry to a wondrous temple or the site of a majestic floating city is and always will be a part of the D&D genre.

There’s a fourth pillar.

It’s so hidden, it’s not even part of the SRD.

— Downtime —

Between the 2014 core books, and Xanathar’s there are 37 sometimes overlapping options for what can be done with Downtime. The 2024 core books and the Forgotten Realms expansions add many Bastion and Crafting options onto this.

Most downtime choices are measured in weeks, though small projects are within days. These scenes are time-compressed frequently taking only a roll or two per character to resolve as weeks, months, maybe even seasons pass. In film, TV and books the montage is how downtime is presented. Pick your favorite heroic montage — we’ll get back to it.

Every class supports downtime activities in some capacity, especially with the 2024 ruleset adding on Bastions. Skill challenges, as adopted to 5e by some homebrewers, make sense as resolution systems for downtime, exploration and sometimes social events.

But downtime is often viewed by players and DMs as accounting, boring academics, spreadsheet management.

Even the name is boring.

Downtime has a branding problem

Stories and adventures are an assembly of beats, eventually leading to rising action, climax and resolution. There are sometimes downbeats, setback.

Downbeats.

Who wants downbeats? Who wants downtime.

Even how downtime is presented, either by name or by style of play (Bastions and Crafting), it is shown as an appendage with little support. Downtime is a thing to rush past, not to enjoy.

A Bastion offers a character temporary refuge from the dangerous world of adventuring, and it provides opportunities for a character to craft magic items, conduct research, harvest poisons, build ships, and carry out a range of other activities.

2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide

Heroes do not want a refugee from danger!

They do want the ability to craft magic items, research mysteries, harvest fantastic elements, carouse, gamble, set sail across an astral sea, or plot the overthrow of a corrupt regime.

Those are all upbeats, not downtime.

Downtime also a massive part of the game

Acquisitions Inc combines D&D and modern franchise capitalism for fun. It contains franchise rules. It also lists every one of the 2014 options in downtime at its point of publication.

These choices are things heroes do!

The options above belong at your table. At some tables the options in Dragon Heist, Acq Inc, Tasha’s (Group Patrons), Strixhaven (schooling) and other official and unofficial books expand your campaign in ways that make sense too.

Think of your favorite montage scenes in your personal Appendix N. Do they involve plotting the overthrow of a corrupt leader? Do they involve building a guild? Do they involve carousing to gain information? Do they involve long study to craft a previously unknown spell? Do you have a favorite montage that includes sowing rumors? Or mayhap one that involves training for new skills? You probably have one where the heroes prepare for a test of skill, chance or magic?

In traditional D&D that’s downtime.

In the fiction these things advance the plot and add excitement.

Downtime has a branding problem.

That’s why you are going to start scheming.

Scheming

• making intelligent, secret plans, often to deceive others
• behaviour or activities that involve making clever secret plans intended to deceive people

In British English schemes aren’t necessarily deceptive or secret. They are plots and advancements, plans and procedures. They are the many days, weeks, months processes.

Both versions work for modern D&D, but the American concept of intelligent, secret plans especially fits my preferred themes.

Why Scheming? Other considerations

Concerns – while this captured the idea of the character being in charge of things it felt less involved in the plot and continued the ‘set aside’ concept of Downtime.

Occupations – but who wants to do work? That’s spreadsheet life, not plot advancement and fantastic discoveries.

Rejuvenation – is wonderful for healing, but poor for plot advancement and heroic actions over time.

Strategic play – this conveys the proper tone and your schemes should be strategic while other pillars are tactical.

Schemes involve rising action by heroes and antiheroes to get ready for the messy work that needs doing. Schemes are active plots and machinations (maybe that belongs above). Sometimes they are down notes, sometimes they are upbeats. They build rising action.

Unifying disparate subsystems into Scheming

Crafting, Bastions, Franchises, Group Patrons, Schooling, Carousing, Sacred rites, Grand rituals, Research, Business operations, Running a faction, Guild matters, Training militias, Communal defense, Grand voyages ….

The list goes on.

When these are schemes they are multi-check montages where failure matters and the results fuel the story. They either help or hinder a character or party on their quest. They take time.

Whatever you take to calling downtime (and do include Bastions and Crafting when appropriate for your campaign) you need to unify this set of systems together.

1. Describe the quest with the amount before the pace of action changes again. Set the expectation that there is time to Scheme.
2. Players describe their goals using the above activities or a combination thereof to achieve that goal within the amount of time (measure in weeks).
3. Narrate the results of the actions. These may require skill checks, use of various features or cooperation in the party. If there isn’t meaningful failure there is not a check unless extraordinary success matters. Use an odd number of checks (3 or 5 are best) mimicking skill challenges or use group checks if everyone is cooperating. Or combine the two.
4. Move on from the Scheme into action with a faster pace taking note of how much time passed and what that means for those that oppose the group.

If that resolution system feels familiar it is because it is the basic rhythm of play at the table, while capturing the montage and compressed time nature of a Scheme.

It’s not a scheme if the activities are passive. It’s not a scheme if it doesn’t advance a quest or plot. It’s not a scheme if it is fast. It’s not a scheme if it is tactical.

Frankly it’s not worth doing at the table if the activity is passive and/or doesn’t advance the quest

Schemes are strategic, long-term, montage-y activities that advance the action fitting a rising narrative building the eventual heroes towards a climax. They should not be the climax, nor the resolution. A denouement can be a scheme as it preps for the next campaign.

Ways to add Schemes to common campaign types

Try working in schemes into your campaign. Use a timehop that creates challenges because the enemy is building a grand army. The timehop also gives the heroes time to train a militia (as in Wheel of Time).

In a heist adventure use a scheme as the way to collect the necessary materials or information, setting up the background before the strike on the location (as the Crows in Shadow & Bone).

Maybe the scheme is to collect a group of allies to help the party cross a perilous ocean or astral sea, commissioning a ship and its crew (as in One Piece).

Play a scheme at your table inspired by the fictions that inspire your D&D.

Rebranding Downtime into the Fourth Pillar it deserves to be

D&D and its variants are often referred to as “combat simulations” or “tactical combat games” or “dungeon crawling miniature games” in a somewhat dismissive way that seeks to reduce the other things that players have their characters do during sessions and campaigns.

These mostly heroic characters do have a lot of combat support. A vast majority of the rules support violence portrayed in what is now six-second rounds. Combat’s scenes in 5th edition are done in expanded time taking many real minutes for less than thirty seconds of cinematic action.

But combat is not all of modern Dungeons & Dragons. Other pillars are supported.

The three main pillars of D&D play are social interaction, exploration, and combat.

5.2.1 SRD / Wizards of the Coast / CC BY 4.0

Social interaction in the modern game is mostly done in scenes lasting a few minutes. These scenes take place in real time at the table. Ritual spells do not make sense in the context of social interaction because of the nature of social interaction. Other spell casting is less frequent than in combat, while it can still fit. The main engine of social interaction within the rules are skills (Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence) and a light dusting of feature from class, archetype, feat or species.

Taking a longer period of time, historically measured in ten-minute chunks, is Exploration. This is abstracted in an opposite fashion from Combat in that where combat sees time expanded, Exploration compresses it. Some, but not all travel makes sense as exploration. Rituals are frequently used. Spells are common. Certain spells and features may make classic exploration challenges meaningless (Goodberry or Find & Remove Traps). But Exploration, the delve into dungeons, the searching the wildes, the entry to a wondrous temple or the site of a majestic floating city is and always will be a part of the D&D genre.

There’s a fourth pillar.

It’s so hidden, it’s not even part of the SRD.

— Downtime —

Between the 2014 core books, and Xanathar’s there are 37 sometimes overlapping options for what can be done with Downtime. The 2024 core books and the Forgotten Realms expansions add many Bastion and Crafting options onto this.

Most downtime choices are measured in weeks, though small projects are within days. These scenes are time-compressed frequently taking only a roll or two per character to resolve as weeks, months, maybe even seasons pass. In film, TV and books the montage is how downtime is presented. Pick your favorite heroic montage — we’ll get back to it.

Every class supports downtime activities in some capacity, especially with the 2024 ruleset adding on Bastions. Skill challenges, as adopted to 5e by some homebrewers, make sense as resolution systems for downtime, exploration and sometimes social events.

But downtime is often viewed by players and DMs as accounting, boring academics, spreadsheet management.

Even the name is boring.

Downtime has a branding problem

Stories and adventures are an assembly of beats, eventually leading to rising action, climax and resolution. There are sometimes downbeats, setback.

Downbeats.

Who wants downbeats? Who wants downtime.

Even how downtime is presented, either by name or by style of play (Bastions and Crafting), it is shown as an appendage with little support. Downtime is a thing to rush past, not to enjoy.

A Bastion offers a character temporary refuge from the dangerous world of adventuring, and it provides opportunities for a character to craft magic items, conduct research, harvest poisons, build ships, and carry out a range of other activities.

2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide

Heroes do not want a refugee from danger!

They do want the ability to craft magic items, research mysteries, harvest fantastic elements, carouse, gamble, set sail across an astral sea, or plot the overthrow of a corrupt regime.

Those are all upbeats, not downtime.

Downtime also a massive part of the game

Acquisitions Inc combines D&D and modern franchise capitalism for fun. It contains franchise rules. It also lists every one of the 2014 options in downtime at its point of publication.

These choices are things heroes do!

The options above belong at your table. At some tables the options in Dragon Heist, Acq Inc, Tasha’s (Group Patrons), Strixhaven (schooling) and other official and unofficial books expand your campaign in ways that make sense too.

Think of your favorite montage scenes in your personal Appendix N. Do they involve plotting the overthrow of a corrupt leader? Do they involve building a guild? Do they involve carousing to gain information? Do they involve long study to craft a previously unknown spell? Do you have a favorite montage that includes sowing rumors? Or mayhap one that involves training for new skills? You probably have one where the heroes prepare for a test of skill, chance or magic?

In traditional D&D that’s downtime.

In the fiction these things advance the plot and add excitement.

Downtime has a branding problem.

That’s why you are going to start scheming.

Scheming

• making intelligent, secret plans, often to deceive others
• behaviour or activities that involve making clever secret plans intended to deceive people

In British English schemes aren’t necessarily deceptive or secret. They are plots and advancements, plans and procedures. They are the many days, weeks, months processes.

Both versions work for modern D&D, but the American concept of intelligent, secret plans especially fits my preferred themes.

Why Scheming? Other considerations

Concerns – while this captured the idea of the character being in charge of things it felt less involved in the plot and continued the ‘set aside’ concept of Downtime.

Occupations – but who wants to do work? That’s spreadsheet life, not plot advancement and fantastic discoveries.

Rejuvenation – is wonderful for healing, but poor for plot advancement and heroic actions over time.

Strategic play – this conveys the proper tone and your schemes should be strategic while other pillars are tactical.

Schemes involve rising action by heroes and antiheroes to get ready for the messy work that needs doing. Schemes are active plots and machinations (maybe that belongs above). Sometimes they are down notes, sometimes they are upbeats. They build rising action.

Unifying disparate subsystems into Scheming

Crafting, Bastions, Franchises, Group Patrons, Schooling, Carousing, Sacred rites, Grand rituals, Research, Business operations, Running a faction, Guild matters, Training militias, Communal defense, Grand voyages ….

The list goes on.

When these are schemes they are multi-check montages where failure matters and the results fuel the story. They either help or hinder a character or party on their quest. They take time.

Whatever you take to calling downtime (and do include Bastions and Crafting when appropriate for your campaign) you need to unify this set of systems together.

1. Describe the quest with the amount before the pace of action changes again. Set the expectation that there is time to Scheme.
2. Players describe their goals using the above activities or a combination thereof to achieve that goal within the amount of time (measure in weeks).
3. Narrate the results of the actions. These may require skill checks, use of various features or cooperation in the party. If there isn’t meaningful failure there is not a check unless extraordinary success matters. Use an odd number of checks (3 or 5 are best) mimicking skill challenges or use group checks if everyone is cooperating. Or combine the two.
4. Move on from the Scheme into action with a faster pace taking note of how much time passed and what that means for those that oppose the group.

If that resolution system feels familiar it is because it is the basic rhythm of play at the table, while capturing the montage and compressed time nature of a Scheme.

It’s not a scheme if the activities are passive. It’s not a scheme if it doesn’t advance a quest or plot. It’s not a scheme if it is fast. It’s not a scheme if it is tactical.

Frankly it’s not worth doing at the table if the activity is passive and/or doesn’t advance the quest

Schemes are strategic, long-term, montage-y activities that advance the action fitting a rising narrative building the eventual heroes towards a climax. They should not be the climax, nor the resolution. A denouement can be a scheme as it preps for the next campaign.

Ways to add Schemes to common campaign types

Try working in schemes into your campaign. Use a timehop that creates challenges because the enemy is building a grand army. The timehop also gives the heroes time to train a militia (as in Wheel of Time).

In a heist adventure use a scheme as the way to collect the necessary materials or information, setting up the background before the strike on the location (as the Crows in Shadow & Bone).

Maybe the scheme is to collect a group of allies to help the party cross a perilous ocean or astral sea, commissioning a ship and its crew (as in One Piece).

Play a scheme at your table inspired by the fictions that inspire your D&D.

Rebranding Downtime into the Fourth Pillar it deserves to be

D&D and its variants are often referred to as “combat simulations” or “tactical combat games” or “dungeon crawling miniature games” in a somewhat dismissive way that seeks to reduce the other things that players have their characters do during sessions and campaigns.

These mostly heroic characters do have a lot of combat support. A vast majority of the rules support violence portrayed in what is now six-second rounds. Combat’s scenes in 5th edition are done in expanded time taking many real minutes for less than thirty seconds of cinematic action.

But combat is not all of modern Dungeons & Dragons. Other pillars are supported.

The three main pillars of D&D play are social interaction, exploration, and combat.

5.2.1 SRD / Wizards of the Coast / CC BY 4.0

Social interaction in the modern game is mostly done in scenes lasting a few minutes. These scenes take place in real time at the table. Ritual spells do not make sense in the context of social interaction because of the nature of social interaction. Other spell casting is less frequent than in combat, while it can still fit. The main engine of social interaction within the rules are skills (Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence) and a light dusting of feature from class, archetype, feat or species.

Taking a longer period of time, historically measured in ten-minute chunks, is Exploration. This is abstracted in an opposite fashion from Combat in that where combat sees time expanded, Exploration compresses it. Some, but not all travel makes sense as exploration. Rituals are frequently used. Spells are common. Certain spells and features may make classic exploration challenges meaningless (Goodberry or Find & Remove Traps). But Exploration, the delve into dungeons, the searching the wildes, the entry to a wondrous temple or the site of a majestic floating city is and always will be a part of the D&D genre.

There’s a fourth pillar.

It’s so hidden, it’s not even part of the SRD.

— Downtime —

Between the 2014 core books, and Xanathar’s there are 37 sometimes overlapping options for what can be done with Downtime. The 2024 core books and the Forgotten Realms expansions add many Bastion and Crafting options onto this.

Most downtime choices are measured in weeks, though small projects are within days. These scenes are time-compressed frequently taking only a roll or two per character to resolve as weeks, months, maybe even seasons pass. In film, TV and books the montage is how downtime is presented. Pick your favorite heroic montage — we’ll get back to it.

Every class supports downtime activities in some capacity, especially with the 2024 ruleset adding on Bastions. Skill challenges, as adopted to 5e by some homebrewers, make sense as resolution systems for downtime, exploration and sometimes social events.

But downtime is often viewed by players and DMs as accounting, boring academics, spreadsheet management.

Even the name is boring.

Downtime has a branding problem

Stories and adventures are an assembly of beats, eventually leading to rising action, climax and resolution. There are sometimes downbeats, setback.

Downbeats.

Who wants downbeats? Who wants downtime.

Even how downtime is presented, either by name or by style of play (Bastions and Crafting), it is shown as an appendage with little support. Downtime is a thing to rush past, not to enjoy.

A Bastion offers a character temporary refuge from the dangerous world of adventuring, and it provides opportunities for a character to craft magic items, conduct research, harvest poisons, build ships, and carry out a range of other activities.

2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide

Heroes do not want a refugee from danger!

They do want the ability to craft magic items, research mysteries, harvest fantastic elements, carouse, gamble, set sail across an astral sea, or plot the overthrow of a corrupt regime.

Those are all upbeats, not downtime.

Downtime also a massive part of the game

Acquisitions Inc combines D&D and modern franchise capitalism for fun. It contains franchise rules. It also lists every one of the 2014 options in downtime at its point of publication.

These choices are things heroes do!

The options above belong at your table. At some tables the options in Dragon Heist, Acq Inc, Tasha’s (Group Patrons), Strixhaven (schooling) and other official and unofficial books expand your campaign in ways that make sense too.

Think of your favorite montage scenes in your personal Appendix N. Do they involve plotting the overthrow of a corrupt leader? Do they involve building a guild? Do they involve carousing to gain information? Do they involve long study to craft a previously unknown spell? Do you have a favorite montage that includes sowing rumors? Or mayhap one that involves training for new skills? You probably have one where the heroes prepare for a test of skill, chance or magic?

In traditional D&D that’s downtime.

In the fiction these things advance the plot and add excitement.

Downtime has a branding problem.

That’s why you are going to start scheming.

Scheming

• making intelligent, secret plans, often to deceive others
• behaviour or activities that involve making clever secret plans intended to deceive people

In British English schemes aren’t necessarily deceptive or secret. They are plots and advancements, plans and procedures. They are the many days, weeks, months processes.

Both versions work for modern D&D, but the American concept of intelligent, secret plans especially fits my preferred themes.

Why Scheming? Other considerations

Concerns – while this captured the idea of the character being in charge of things it felt less involved in the plot and continued the ‘set aside’ concept of Downtime.

Occupations – but who wants to do work? That’s spreadsheet life, not plot advancement and fantastic discoveries.

Rejuvenation – is wonderful for healing, but poor for plot advancement and heroic actions over time.

Strategic play – this conveys the proper tone and your schemes should be strategic while other pillars are tactical.

Schemes involve rising action by heroes and antiheroes to get ready for the messy work that needs doing. Schemes are active plots and machinations (maybe that belongs above). Sometimes they are down notes, sometimes they are upbeats. They build rising action.

Unifying disparate subsystems into Scheming

Crafting, Bastions, Franchises, Group Patrons, Schooling, Carousing, Sacred rites, Grand rituals, Research, Business operations, Running a faction, Guild matters, Training militias, Communal defense, Grand voyages ….

The list goes on.

When these are schemes they are multi-check montages where failure matters and the results fuel the story. They either help or hinder a character or party on their quest. They take time.

Whatever you take to calling downtime (and do include Bastions and Crafting when appropriate for your campaign) you need to unify this set of systems together.

1. Describe the quest with the amount before the pace of action changes again. Set the expectation that there is time to Scheme.
2. Players describe their goals using the above activities or a combination thereof to achieve that goal within the amount of time (measure in weeks).
3. Narrate the results of the actions. These may require skill checks, use of various features or cooperation in the party. If there isn’t meaningful failure there is not a check unless extraordinary success matters. Use an odd number of checks (3 or 5 are best) mimicking skill challenges or use group checks if everyone is cooperating. Or combine the two.
4. Move on from the Scheme into action with a faster pace taking note of how much time passed and what that means for those that oppose the group.

If that resolution system feels familiar it is because it is the basic rhythm of play at the table, while capturing the montage and compressed time nature of a Scheme.

It’s not a scheme if the activities are passive. It’s not a scheme if it doesn’t advance a quest or plot. It’s not a scheme if it is fast. It’s not a scheme if it is tactical.

Frankly it’s not worth doing at the table if the activity is passive and/or doesn’t advance the quest

Schemes are strategic, long-term, montage-y activities that advance the action fitting a rising narrative building the eventual heroes towards a climax. They should not be the climax, nor the resolution. A denouement can be a scheme as it preps for the next campaign.

Ways to add Schemes to common campaign types

Try working in schemes into your campaign. Use a timehop that creates challenges because the enemy is building a grand army. The timehop also gives the heroes time to train a militia (as in Wheel of Time).

In a heist adventure use a scheme as the way to collect the necessary materials or information, setting up the background before the strike on the location (as the Crows in Shadow & Bone).

Maybe the scheme is to collect a group of allies to help the party cross a perilous ocean or astral sea, commissioning a ship and its crew (as in One Piece).

Play a scheme at your table inspired by the fictions that inspire your D&D.

Using Feats to expand your setting: Church of Quar

In the new Forgotten Realms books, Strixhaven, 5e Dragonlance and a recent Unearthed Arcana official D&D is using Feat trees/chains. Every published instance so far is a set of two.

While there are mechanical reasons to have tiered Feats every expression to this point also leans quite heavily into the story elements added. In Strixhaven the feat-taker goes from early student to late in the class. In Dragonlance a squire becomes a knight. In the Realms you are early in a Faction and then a powerful member of it.

The Feat helps tell the story in ways that a subclass wouldn’t because in all cases the feat has two expressions in Tier 1 available where a subclass gets a single expression. By the end of Tier 2 a subclass gets two expressions while a Feat chain can be up to four. There’s more space for story.

An initiate becoming an expert is the most common example. The chain (I prefer that to tree as the published versions are two options linked) naturally fit this.

Let’s explore how a Feat chain could tell a story in my homebrew world by looking at three feats connected to the Church of Quar.

In the Six Kingdoms of the World of the Everflow the Church of Quar is a hybrid church-healing center-merchant guild. It controls access to the healing waters of the Everflow at the Font of Two Paths in Telse. Their tongue became the common language of the Six Kingdoms because of the strong influence of their healing elixir in a world without magic.

No faith, no kingdom, no magic school after magic returned to the land has the influence of the Church of Quar. They’re in every town. That does not mean that every town has an Acolyte, a formal role represented by a member of the faith who is becoming a hero.

The following three feats expand the story of the Church of Quar for heroes (and villains) using the Feat system.

Acolyte of Quar

Origin Feat

You gain the following benefits.

Cultured. You learn an additional culture (or language).

Balm of rest. During a Short Rest you create a balm using a Healing Potion that removes one level of exhaustion and grants the creature advantage on a saving throw versus one condition with a save.

Blessing of the Everflow. When you administer a Healing Potion to a creature they may use a Hit Die to heal as well as gain the benefits from the Healing Potion.

Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Wisdom

Oratory. You have Advantage when using Influence Action with Indifferent or Friendly peoples with which you share a culture or language (and Hostile creatures who are members of the Church of Quar).

Lord of Life. You learn the Aid spell and may cast it one time a day without using a spell slot. It becomes a known spell for you.

Lord of Rivers. You know how to create a Healing Potion (vial of Everflow) with only water and herbs. This lesser potion costs only 5 gp and can be created during a Short Rest. This potion is only half as effective as a standard Healing Potion. Sharing this concept is forbidden.

Free Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, membership in the Reformed Church, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Constitution

Rivers and Roads. You learn two cultures or languages and the Religion skill (or another skill if you are already proficient). You have Advantage on Constitution checks brought about by Environmental Effects.

First Aid: Taking one minute you can grant a Hit Point to a stabilized creature. They are also subjected to Blessings of the Everflow if you have a Healing Potion available.

Together these dual Feat chains tell the story behind the Orthodox and Reformed Churches of Quar.

In just the tiniest bits of flavor text you see examples of how two branches of the faith are different, not just in their ability to be heroes, but what is expected from their most ardent believers.

Where a subclass gains features at 3rd, 6th and 10th level (mostly). Classes have feats at 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th (mostly). By 8th level a member of Quar’s faith could take all three faith feats, going on a journey from being part of a merchant-church to dedicated hedge healer.

This story doesn’t need to be connected to a class because they aren’t spellcasters. Plus, in the fiction inspiring the game contains people who are faithful without being clerics or druids or paladins.

Maybe another feat deals with Quars pantheon. After being an Acolyte of Quar the individual is a Devotee to Belsem the Untamed (leaning into animal companionship?) or a Teacher (adherent to Glight becoming an expert at knowing things). These would emphasize branching, which fits the pantheon.

The other pantheons may start dispersed and then unify (The Siblilngs) or emphasize bonding (Az and Sel) or only be about fellowship (Mehmd’s faith).

Maybe an aspect of your world is a military organization and feats could be ranks or branches. Does your world lean into magical schools like Strixhaven? A feat chain from underclass, to senior student, to teacher, to dean could work. A setting that anchors the horrors of the environment could use feats as a way to describe various paths to survival (water, shelter, food, community).

Feats are a discreet, light space that empowers all classes to carry bits of lore that connect to the world mechanically.

Using Feats to expand your setting: Church of Quar

In the new Forgotten Realms books, Strixhaven, 5e Dragonlance and a recent Unearthed Arcana official D&D is using Feat trees/chains. Every published instance so far is a set of two.

While there are mechanical reasons to have tiered Feats every expression to this point also leans quite heavily into the story elements added. In Strixhaven the feat-taker goes from early student to late in the class. In Dragonlance a squire becomes a knight. In the Realms you are early in a Faction and then a powerful member of it.

The Feat helps tell the story in ways that a subclass wouldn’t because in all cases the feat has two expressions in Tier 1 available where a subclass gets a single expression. By the end of Tier 2 a subclass gets two expressions while a Feat chain can be up to four. There’s more space for story.

An initiate becoming an expert is the most common example. The chain (I prefer that to tree as the published versions are two options linked) naturally fit this.

Let’s explore how a Feat chain could tell a story in my homebrew world by looking at three feats connected to the Church of Quar.

In the Six Kingdoms of the World of the Everflow the Church of Quar is a hybrid church-healing center-merchant guild. It controls access to the healing waters of the Everflow at the Font of Two Paths in Telse. Their tongue became the common language of the Six Kingdoms because of the strong influence of their healing elixir in a world without magic.

No faith, no kingdom, no magic school after magic returned to the land has the influence of the Church of Quar. They’re in every town. That does not mean that every town has an Acolyte, a formal role represented by a member of the faith who is becoming a hero.

The following three feats expand the story of the Church of Quar for heroes (and villains) using the Feat system.

Acolyte of Quar

Origin Feat

You gain the following benefits.

Cultured. You learn an additional culture (or language).

Balm of rest. During a Short Rest you create a balm using a Healing Potion that removes one level of exhaustion and grants the creature advantage on a saving throw versus one condition with a save.

Blessing of the Everflow. When you administer a Healing Potion to a creature they may use a Hit Die to heal as well as gain the benefits from the Healing Potion.

Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Wisdom

Oratory. You have Advantage when using Influence Action with Indifferent or Friendly peoples with which you share a culture or language (and Hostile creatures who are members of the Church of Quar).

Lord of Life. You learn the Aid spell and may cast it one time a day without using a spell slot. It becomes a known spell for you.

Lord of Rivers. You know how to create a Healing Potion (vial of Everflow) with only water and herbs. This lesser potion costs only 5 gp and can be created during a Short Rest. This potion is only half as effective as a standard Healing Potion. Sharing this concept is forbidden.

Free Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, membership in the Reformed Church, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Constitution

Rivers and Roads. You learn two cultures or languages and the Religion skill (or another skill if you are already proficient). You have Advantage on Constitution checks brought about by Environmental Effects.

First Aid: Taking one minute you can grant a Hit Point to a stabilized creature. They are also subjected to Blessings of the Everflow if you have a Healing Potion available.

Together these dual Feat chains tell the story behind the Orthodox and Reformed Churches of Quar.

In just the tiniest bits of flavor text you see examples of how two branches of the faith are different, not just in their ability to be heroes, but what is expected from their most ardent believers.

Where a subclass gains features at 3rd, 6th and 10th level (mostly). Classes have feats at 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th (mostly). By 8th level a member of Quar’s faith could take all three faith feats, going on a journey from being part of a merchant-church to dedicated hedge healer.

This story doesn’t need to be connected to a class because they aren’t spellcasters. Plus, in the fiction inspiring the game contains people who are faithful without being clerics or druids or paladins.

Maybe another feat deals with Quars pantheon. After being an Acolyte of Quar the individual is a Devotee to Belsem the Untamed (leaning into animal companionship?) or a Teacher (adherent to Glight becoming an expert at knowing things). These would emphasize branching, which fits the pantheon.

The other pantheons may start dispersed and then unify (The Siblilngs) or emphasize bonding (Az and Sel) or only be about fellowship (Mehmd’s faith).

Maybe an aspect of your world is a military organization and feats could be ranks or branches. Does your world lean into magical schools like Strixhaven? A feat chain from underclass, to senior student, to teacher, to dean could work. A setting that anchors the horrors of the environment could use feats as a way to describe various paths to survival (water, shelter, food, community).

Feats are a discreet, light space that empowers all classes to carry bits of lore that connect to the world mechanically.

Using Feats to expand your setting: Church of Quar

In the new Forgotten Realms books, Strixhaven, 5e Dragonlance and a recent Unearthed Arcana official D&D is using Feat trees/chains. Every published instance so far is a set of two.

While there are mechanical reasons to have tiered Feats every expression to this point also leans quite heavily into the story elements added. In Strixhaven the feat-taker goes from early student to late in the class. In Dragonlance a squire becomes a knight. In the Realms you are early in a Faction and then a powerful member of it.

The Feat helps tell the story in ways that a subclass wouldn’t because in all cases the feat has two expressions in Tier 1 available where a subclass gets a single expression. By the end of Tier 2 a subclass gets two expressions while a Feat chain can be up to four. There’s more space for story.

An initiate becoming an expert is the most common example. The chain (I prefer that to tree as the published versions are two options linked) naturally fit this.

Let’s explore how a Feat chain could tell a story in my homebrew world by looking at three feats connected to the Church of Quar.

In the Six Kingdoms of the World of the Everflow the Church of Quar is a hybrid church-healing center-merchant guild. It controls access to the healing waters of the Everflow at the Font of Two Paths in Telse. Their tongue became the common language of the Six Kingdoms because of the strong influence of their healing elixir in a world without magic.

No faith, no kingdom, no magic school after magic returned to the land has the influence of the Church of Quar. They’re in every town. That does not mean that every town has an Acolyte, a formal role represented by a member of the faith who is becoming a hero.

The following three feats expand the story of the Church of Quar for heroes (and villains) using the Feat system.

Acolyte of Quar

Origin Feat

You gain the following benefits.

Cultured. You learn an additional culture (or language).

Balm of rest. During a Short Rest you create a balm using a Healing Potion that removes one level of exhaustion and grants the creature advantage on a saving throw versus one condition with a save.

Blessing of the Everflow. When you administer a Healing Potion to a creature they may use a Hit Die to heal as well as gain the benefits from the Healing Potion.

Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Wisdom

Oratory. You have Advantage when using Influence Action with Indifferent or Friendly peoples with which you share a culture or language (and Hostile creatures who are members of the Church of Quar).

Lord of Life. You learn the Aid spell and may cast it one time a day without using a spell slot. It becomes a known spell for you.

Lord of Rivers. You know how to create a Healing Potion (vial of Everflow) with only water and herbs. This lesser potion costs only 5 gp and can be created during a Short Rest. This potion is only half as effective as a standard Healing Potion. Sharing this concept is forbidden.

Free Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, membership in the Reformed Church, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Constitution

Rivers and Roads. You learn two cultures or languages and the Religion skill (or another skill if you are already proficient). You have Advantage on Constitution checks brought about by Environmental Effects.

First Aid: Taking one minute you can grant a Hit Point to a stabilized creature. They are also subjected to Blessings of the Everflow if you have a Healing Potion available.

Together these dual Feat chains tell the story behind the Orthodox and Reformed Churches of Quar.

In just the tiniest bits of flavor text you see examples of how two branches of the faith are different, not just in their ability to be heroes, but what is expected from their most ardent believers.

Where a subclass gains features at 3rd, 6th and 10th level (mostly). Classes have feats at 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th (mostly). By 8th level a member of Quar’s faith could take all three faith feats, going on a journey from being part of a merchant-church to dedicated hedge healer.

This story doesn’t need to be connected to a class because they aren’t spellcasters. Plus, in the fiction inspiring the game contains people who are faithful without being clerics or druids or paladins.

Maybe another feat deals with Quars pantheon. After being an Acolyte of Quar the individual is a Devotee to Belsem the Untamed (leaning into animal companionship?) or a Teacher (adherent to Glight becoming an expert at knowing things). These would emphasize branching, which fits the pantheon.

The other pantheons may start dispersed and then unify (The Siblilngs) or emphasize bonding (Az and Sel) or only be about fellowship (Mehmd’s faith).

Maybe an aspect of your world is a military organization and feats could be ranks or branches. Does your world lean into magical schools like Strixhaven? A feat chain from underclass, to senior student, to teacher, to dean could work. A setting that anchors the horrors of the environment could use feats as a way to describe various paths to survival (water, shelter, food, community).

Feats are a discreet, light space that empowers all classes to carry bits of lore that connect to the world mechanically.

Using Feats to expand your setting: Church of Quar

In the new Forgotten Realms books, Strixhaven, 5e Dragonlance and a recent Unearthed Arcana official D&D is using Feat trees/chains. Every published instance so far is a set of two.

While there are mechanical reasons to have tiered Feats every expression to this point also leans quite heavily into the story elements added. In Strixhaven the feat-taker goes from early student to late in the class. In Dragonlance a squire becomes a knight. In the Realms you are early in a Faction and then a powerful member of it.

The Feat helps tell the story in ways that a subclass wouldn’t because in all cases the feat has two expressions in Tier 1 available where a subclass gets a single expression. By the end of Tier 2 a subclass gets two expressions while a Feat chain can be up to four. There’s more space for story.

An initiate becoming an expert is the most common example. The chain (I prefer that to tree as the published versions are two options linked) naturally fit this.

Let’s explore how a Feat chain could tell a story in my homebrew world by looking at three feats connected to the Church of Quar.

In the Six Kingdoms of the World of the Everflow the Church of Quar is a hybrid church-healing center-merchant guild. It controls access to the healing waters of the Everflow at the Font of Two Paths in Telse. Their tongue became the common language of the Six Kingdoms because of the strong influence of their healing elixir in a world without magic.

No faith, no kingdom, no magic school after magic returned to the land has the influence of the Church of Quar. They’re in every town. That does not mean that every town has an Acolyte, a formal role represented by a member of the faith who is becoming a hero.

The following three feats expand the story of the Church of Quar for heroes (and villains) using the Feat system.

Acolyte of Quar

Origin Feat

You gain the following benefits.

Cultured. You learn an additional culture (or language).

Balm of rest. During a Short Rest you create a balm using a Healing Potion that removes one level of exhaustion and grants the creature advantage on a saving throw versus one condition with a save.

Blessing of the Everflow. When you administer a Healing Potion to a creature they may use a Hit Die to heal as well as gain the benefits from the Healing Potion.

Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Wisdom

Oratory. You have Advantage when using Influence Action with Indifferent or Friendly peoples with which you share a culture or language (and Hostile creatures who are members of the Church of Quar).

Lord of Life. You learn the Aid spell and may cast it one time a day without using a spell slot. It becomes a known spell for you.

Lord of Rivers. You know how to create a Healing Potion (vial of Everflow) with only water and herbs. This lesser potion costs only 5 gp and can be created during a Short Rest. This potion is only half as effective as a standard Healing Potion. Sharing this concept is forbidden.

Free Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, membership in the Reformed Church, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Constitution

Rivers and Roads. You learn two cultures or languages and the Religion skill (or another skill if you are already proficient). You have Advantage on Constitution checks brought about by Environmental Effects.

First Aid: Taking one minute you can grant a Hit Point to a stabilized creature. They are also subjected to Blessings of the Everflow if you have a Healing Potion available.

Together these dual Feat chains tell the story behind the Orthodox and Reformed Churches of Quar.

In just the tiniest bits of flavor text you see examples of how two branches of the faith are different, not just in their ability to be heroes, but what is expected from their most ardent believers.

Where a subclass gains features at 3rd, 6th and 10th level (mostly). Classes have feats at 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th (mostly). By 8th level a member of Quar’s faith could take all three faith feats, going on a journey from being part of a merchant-church to dedicated hedge healer.

This story doesn’t need to be connected to a class because they aren’t spellcasters. Plus, in the fiction inspiring the game contains people who are faithful without being clerics or druids or paladins.

Maybe another feat deals with Quars pantheon. After being an Acolyte of Quar the individual is a Devotee to Belsem the Untamed (leaning into animal companionship?) or a Teacher (adherent to Glight becoming an expert at knowing things). These would emphasize branching, which fits the pantheon.

The other pantheons may start dispersed and then unify (The Siblilngs) or emphasize bonding (Az and Sel) or only be about fellowship (Mehmd’s faith).

Maybe an aspect of your world is a military organization and feats could be ranks or branches. Does your world lean into magical schools like Strixhaven? A feat chain from underclass, to senior student, to teacher, to dean could work. A setting that anchors the horrors of the environment could use feats as a way to describe various paths to survival (water, shelter, food, community).

Feats are a discreet, light space that empowers all classes to carry bits of lore that connect to the world mechanically.

Using Feats to expand your setting: Church of Quar

In the new Forgotten Realms books, Strixhaven, 5e Dragonlance and a recent Unearthed Arcana official D&D is using Feat trees/chains. Every published instance so far is a set of two.

While there are mechanical reasons to have tiered Feats every expression to this point also leans quite heavily into the story elements added. In Strixhaven the feat-taker goes from early student to late in the class. In Dragonlance a squire becomes a knight. In the Realms you are early in a Faction and then a powerful member of it.

The Feat helps tell the story in ways that a subclass wouldn’t because in all cases the feat has two expressions in Tier 1 available where a subclass gets a single expression. By the end of Tier 2 a subclass gets two expressions while a Feat chain can be up to four. There’s more space for story.

An initiate becoming an expert is the most common example. The chain (I prefer that to tree as the published versions are two options linked) naturally fit this.

Let’s explore how a Feat chain could tell a story in my homebrew world by looking at three feats connected to the Church of Quar.

In the Six Kingdoms of the World of the Everflow the Church of Quar is a hybrid church-healing center-merchant guild. It controls access to the healing waters of the Everflow at the Font of Two Paths in Telse. Their tongue became the common language of the Six Kingdoms because of the strong influence of their healing elixir in a world without magic.

No faith, no kingdom, no magic school after magic returned to the land has the influence of the Church of Quar. They’re in every town. That does not mean that every town has an Acolyte, a formal role represented by a member of the faith who is becoming a hero.

The following three feats expand the story of the Church of Quar for heroes (and villains) using the Feat system.

Acolyte of Quar

Origin Feat

You gain the following benefits.

Cultured. You learn an additional culture (or language).

Balm of rest. During a Short Rest you create a balm using a Healing Potion that removes one level of exhaustion and grants the creature advantage on a saving throw versus one condition with a save.

Blessing of the Everflow. When you administer a Healing Potion to a creature they may use a Hit Die to heal as well as gain the benefits from the Healing Potion.

Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Wisdom

Oratory. You have Advantage when using Influence Action with Indifferent or Friendly peoples with which you share a culture or language (and Hostile creatures who are members of the Church of Quar).

Lord of Life. You learn the Aid spell and may cast it one time a day without using a spell slot. It becomes a known spell for you.

Lord of Rivers. You know how to create a Healing Potion (vial of Everflow) with only water and herbs. This lesser potion costs only 5 gp and can be created during a Short Rest. This potion is only half as effective as a standard Healing Potion. Sharing this concept is forbidden.

Free Minister of Quar

Feat (prerequisites: Acolyte of Quar, membership in the Reformed Church, 4th+ level)

You gain the following benefits.

+1 to Charisma or Constitution

Rivers and Roads. You learn two cultures or languages and the Religion skill (or another skill if you are already proficient). You have Advantage on Constitution checks brought about by Environmental Effects.

First Aid: Taking one minute you can grant a Hit Point to a stabilized creature. They are also subjected to Blessings of the Everflow if you have a Healing Potion available.

Together these dual Feat chains tell the story behind the Orthodox and Reformed Churches of Quar.

In just the tiniest bits of flavor text you see examples of how two branches of the faith are different, not just in their ability to be heroes, but what is expected from their most ardent believers.

Where a subclass gains features at 3rd, 6th and 10th level (mostly). Classes have feats at 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th (mostly). By 8th level a member of Quar’s faith could take all three faith feats, going on a journey from being part of a merchant-church to dedicated hedge healer.

This story doesn’t need to be connected to a class because they aren’t spellcasters. Plus, in the fiction inspiring the game contains people who are faithful without being clerics or druids or paladins.

Maybe another feat deals with Quars pantheon. After being an Acolyte of Quar the individual is a Devotee to Belsem the Untamed (leaning into animal companionship?) or a Teacher (adherent to Glight becoming an expert at knowing things). These would emphasize branching, which fits the pantheon.

The other pantheons may start dispersed and then unify (The Siblilngs) or emphasize bonding (Az and Sel) or only be about fellowship (Mehmd’s faith).

Maybe an aspect of your world is a military organization and feats could be ranks or branches. Does your world lean into magical schools like Strixhaven? A feat chain from underclass, to senior student, to teacher, to dean could work. A setting that anchors the horrors of the environment could use feats as a way to describe various paths to survival (water, shelter, food, community).

Feats are a discreet, light space that empowers all classes to carry bits of lore that connect to the world mechanically.

The D&D Stranger Things boom is bigger than you think

This post will not contain spoilers for Season 5 because I haven’t yet watched Season 5 of Stranger Things, though I do know it features more Dungeons & Dragons than Seaons 2-4 combined.

If you were to go into Target this fall you’d see a massive Stranger Things display somewhere in the store. Part of that display would feature the D&D boxed set Welcome to the Hellfire Club, which is a continuation of Eddie’s D&D campaign. It felt late, because Eddie isn’t part of season 5.

It was not late.

Welcome to the Hellfire Club sold out at Target. It sold out on Amazon. A light informal survey of local-to-me stores have it as sold out. The physical boxed set can still be ordered on DnDBeyond.

Sure, that could be a lack of ambition from Wizards of the Coast by not manufacturing enough of the sets.

It’s much more likely that the heavy lean back into D&D by Stranger Things Season 5 drove more desire for D&D the game than previous seasons, Critical Role and Baldur’s Gate 3. BG3’s drive of interest into D&D is hard to quantify, but has an extended window over several years.

Google Trends can show you.

Search trends for Stranger Things

Here are the four adjacent media and D&D

D&D, the game, had its biggest boom from the movie, but…

There’s one major difference — lack of tie-in gaming products.

Rime of the Frostmaiden contained a single adventure related to the movie. There was a boutique NPC download related to the movie, but nothing like the amazing boxed set Stranger Things got. Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus was barely related to the video game and its release timing was horrible.

Nothing sold out because of Honor Among Thieves, the best D&D marketing in the history of the game, because D&D wasn’t run as a franchise system with business units failing to talk to each other.

Both the current starter set and Welcome to the Hellfire Club are selling out.

What’s that mean for us Dungeon Masters?

1. Be welcoming to new and returning players.
2. Reduce house rules when they join you.
3. Talk about the intent of your table and what type of play you focus on .
4. Be familiar with the most popular products.
5. Help teach your current players to DM.
6. See if local cafes, libraries, schools, pubs, etc need DMs.

We are responsible for growing this glorious hobby. Thanks to the Creative Commons, various SRDs, the eternal nature of homebrewing and the thousands of other roleplaying games there is always something that’s right for someone.

Find what’s right for your family, your friends and your community.

People are interested. It’s up to you to be the reason they stay interested.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #HonorAmongThieves #PlayingDD #RPG #StrangerThings #TTRPG #WelcomeToTheHellfireClub

The D&D Stranger Things boom is bigger than you think

This post will not contain spoilers for Season 5 because I haven’t yet watched Season 5 of Stranger Things, though I do know it features more Dungeons & Dragons than Seaons 2-4 combined.

If you were to go into Target this fall you’d see a massive Stranger Things display somewhere in the store. Part of that display would feature the D&D boxed set Welcome to the Hellfire Club, which is a continuation of Eddie’s D&D campaign. It felt late, because Eddie isn’t part of season 5.

It was not late.

Welcome to the Hellfire Club sold out at Target. It sold out on Amazon. A light informal survey of local-to-me stores have it as sold out. The physical boxed set can still be ordered on DnDBeyond.

Sure, that could be a lack of ambition from Wizards of the Coast by not manufacturing enough of the sets.

It’s much more likely that the heavy lean back into D&D by Stranger Things Season 5 drove more desire for D&D the game than previous seasons, Critical Role and Baldur’s Gate 3. BG3’s drive of interest into D&D is hard to quantify, but has an extended window over several years.

Google Trends can show you.

Search trends for Stranger Things

Here are the four adjacent media and D&D

D&D, the game, had its biggest boom from the movie, but…

There’s one major difference — lack of tie-in gaming products.

Rime of the Frostmaiden contained a single adventure related to the movie. There was a boutique NPC download related to the movie, but nothing like the amazing boxed set Stranger Things got. Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus was barely related to the video game and its release timing was horrible.

Nothing sold out because of Honor Among Thieves, the best D&D marketing in the history of the game, because D&D wasn’t run as a franchise system with business units failing to talk to each other.

Both the current starter set and Welcome to the Hellfire Club are selling out.

What’s that mean for us Dungeon Masters?

1. Be welcoming to new and returning players.
2. Reduce house rules when they join you.
3. Talk about the intent of your table and what type of play you focus on .
4. Be familiar with the most popular products.
5. Help teach your current players to DM.
6. See if local cafes, libraries, schools, pubs, etc need DMs.

We are responsible for growing this glorious hobby. Thanks to the Creative Commons, various SRDs, the eternal nature of homebrewing and the thousands of other roleplaying games there is always something that’s right for someone.

Find what’s right for your family, your friends and your community.

People are interested. It’s up to you to be the reason they stay interested.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #HonorAmongThieves #PlayingDD #RPG #StrangerThings #TTRPG #WelcomeToTheHellfireClub

The D&D Stranger Things boom is bigger than you think

This post will not contain spoilers for Season 5 because I haven’t yet watched Season 5 of Stranger Things, though I do know it features more Dungeons & Dragons than Seaons 2-4 combined.

If you were to go into Target this fall you’d see a massive Stranger Things display somewhere in the store. Part of that display would feature the D&D boxed set Welcome to the Hellfire Club, which is a continuation of Eddie’s D&D campaign. It felt late, because Eddie isn’t part of season 5.

It was not late.

Welcome to the Hellfire Club sold out at Target. It sold out on Amazon. A light informal survey of local-to-me stores have it as sold out. The physical boxed set can still be ordered on DnDBeyond.

Sure, that could be a lack of ambition from Wizards of the Coast by not manufacturing enough of the sets.

It’s much more likely that the heavy lean back into D&D by Stranger Things Season 5 drove more desire for D&D the game than previous seasons, Critical Role and Baldur’s Gate 3. BG3’s drive of interest into D&D is hard to quantify, but has an extended window over several years.

Google Trends can show you.

Search trends for Stranger Things

Here are the four adjacent media and D&D

D&D, the game, had its biggest boom from the movie, but…

There’s one major difference — lack of tie-in gaming products.

Rime of the Frostmaiden contained a single adventure related to the movie. There was a boutique NPC download related to the movie, but nothing like the amazing boxed set Stranger Things got. Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus was barely related to the video game and its release timing was horrible.

Nothing sold out because of Honor Among Thieves, the best D&D marketing in the history of the game, because D&D wasn’t run as a franchise system with business units failing to talk to each other.

Both the current starter set and Welcome to the Hellfire Club are selling out.

What’s that mean for us Dungeon Masters?

1. Be welcoming to new and returning players.
2. Reduce house rules when they join you.
3. Talk about the intent of your table and what type of play you focus on .
4. Be familiar with the most popular products.
5. Help teach your current players to DM.
6. See if local cafes, libraries, schools, pubs, etc need DMs.

We are responsible for growing this glorious hobby. Thanks to the Creative Commons, various SRDs, the eternal nature of homebrewing and the thousands of other roleplaying games there is always something that’s right for someone.

Find what’s right for your family, your friends and your community.

People are interested. It’s up to you to be the reason they stay interested.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #HonorAmongThieves #PlayingDD #RPG #StrangerThings #TTRPG #WelcomeToTheHellfireClub

The D&D Stranger Things boom is bigger than you think

This post will not contain spoilers for Season 5 because I haven’t yet watched Season 5 of Stranger Things, though I do know it features more Dungeons & Dragons than Seaons 2-4 combined.

If you were to go into Target this fall you’d see a massive Stranger Things display somewhere in the store. Part of that display would feature the D&D boxed set Welcome to the Hellfire Club, which is a continuation of Eddie’s D&D campaign. It felt late, because Eddie isn’t part of season 5.

It was not late.

Welcome to the Hellfire Club sold out at Target. It sold out on Amazon. A light informal survey of local-to-me stores have it as sold out. The physical boxed set can still be ordered on DnDBeyond.

Sure, that could be a lack of ambition from Wizards of the Coast by not manufacturing enough of the sets.

It’s much more likely that the heavy lean back into D&D by Stranger Things Season 5 drove more desire for D&D the game than previous seasons, Critical Role and Baldur’s Gate 3. BG3’s drive of interest into D&D is hard to quantify, but has an extended window over several years.

Google Trends can show you.

Search trends for Stranger Things

Here are the four adjacent media and D&D

D&D, the game, had its biggest boom from the movie, but…

There’s one major difference — lack of tie-in gaming products.

Rime of the Frostmaiden contained a single adventure related to the movie. There was a boutique NPC download related to the movie, but nothing like the amazing boxed set Stranger Things got. Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus was barely related to the video game and its release timing was horrible.

Nothing sold out because of Honor Among Thieves, the best D&D marketing in the history of the game, because D&D wasn’t run as a franchise system with business units failing to talk to each other.

Both the current starter set and Welcome to the Hellfire Club are selling out.

What’s that mean for us Dungeon Masters?

1. Be welcoming to new and returning players.
2. Reduce house rules when they join you.
3. Talk about the intent of your table and what type of play you focus on .
4. Be familiar with the most popular products.
5. Help teach your current players to DM.
6. See if local cafes, libraries, schools, pubs, etc need DMs.

We are responsible for growing this glorious hobby. Thanks to the Creative Commons, various SRDs, the eternal nature of homebrewing and the thousands of other roleplaying games there is always something that’s right for someone.

Find what’s right for your family, your friends and your community.

People are interested. It’s up to you to be the reason they stay interested.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #HonorAmongThieves #PlayingDD #RPG #StrangerThings #TTRPG #WelcomeToTheHellfireClub

The D&D Stranger Things boom is bigger than you think

This post will not contain spoilers for Season 5 because I haven’t yet watched Season 5 of Stranger Things, though I do know it features more Dungeons & Dragons than Seaons 2-4 combined.

If you were to go into Target this fall you’d see a massive Stranger Things display somewhere in the store. Part of that display would feature the D&D boxed set Welcome to the Hellfire Club, which is a continuation of Eddie’s D&D campaign. It felt late, because Eddie isn’t part of season 5.

It was not late.

Welcome to the Hellfire Club sold out at Target. It sold out on Amazon. A light informal survey of local-to-me stores have it as sold out. The physical boxed set can still be ordered on DnDBeyond.

Sure, that could be a lack of ambition from Wizards of the Coast by not manufacturing enough of the sets.

It’s much more likely that the heavy lean back into D&D by Stranger Things Season 5 drove more desire for D&D the game than previous seasons, Critical Role and Baldur’s Gate 3. BG3’s drive of interest into D&D is hard to quantify, but has an extended window over several years.

Google Trends can show you.

Search trends for Stranger Things

Here are the four adjacent media and D&D

D&D, the game, had its biggest boom from the movie, but…

There’s one major difference — lack of tie-in gaming products.

Rime of the Frostmaiden contained a single adventure related to the movie. There was a boutique NPC download related to the movie, but nothing like the amazing boxed set Stranger Things got. Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus was barely related to the video game and its release timing was horrible.

Nothing sold out because of Honor Among Thieves, the best D&D marketing in the history of the game, because D&D wasn’t run as a franchise system with business units failing to talk to each other.

Both the current starter set and Welcome to the Hellfire Club are selling out.

What’s that mean for us Dungeon Masters?

1. Be welcoming to new and returning players.
2. Reduce house rules when they join you.
3. Talk about the intent of your table and what type of play you focus on .
4. Be familiar with the most popular products.
5. Help teach your current players to DM.
6. See if local cafes, libraries, schools, pubs, etc need DMs.

We are responsible for growing this glorious hobby. Thanks to the Creative Commons, various SRDs, the eternal nature of homebrewing and the thousands of other roleplaying games there is always something that’s right for someone.

Find what’s right for your family, your friends and your community.

People are interested. It’s up to you to be the reason they stay interested.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #HonorAmongThieves #PlayingDD #RPG #StrangerThings #TTRPG #WelcomeToTheHellfireClub

A letter to the workshop

TO: Flasfur Wreltor with Blackbirds and the gobkons Chofs Chupmolea badged al-Chems and Bolnis Abica nox Qawaha via Artok at the Keep

Aboard the ship you’ll find a vial of the corruption I discovered. Additionally this letter’s addendum includes a report of testing as well as a sketch-print of a mechanical hand discovered on this long journey. When I return is unknown. This journey shall be long and ideally fruitful. It is also violent and absurd. Tsavancoast is a land of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, with many artificers, tinkers and crafters mostly gobkon with a few goliaths, plus you wouldn’t believe if but I think there’s a human using cattle to turn wheels like we might a mill. I saw a monkey pushing bellows.

It’s a large city. Where Sheljar is one with the land and full of righteousness Tsavancoast is bright even at night, garish. There’s gambling where we stay. I win regularly.

Sorry. Too long. I get distracted.

You are probably wondering what’s happened with the corruption. It’s a much bigger problem than we or Le Remoden Eisha or the Dragon Council thought. There’s also a local leader in Tsavancoast who is working to spread the corruption while supposedly being in Le Remoden Eisha.

I found that out after repelling an army of walking trees and this weird elf-insect hybrid creatures. Yes, others helped, including some great dwarven sappers who brought down a bridge, scouts that helped save outlying communities, a lot of wizards. It was a staged battle. Midqh helped quite a bit. I learned how to make even bigger fire and booms through its apparatuses.

Anyway, after that massive series of battles — yes, we won, that’s how you’re getting this letter — we chatted with the leaders of the wizard and dragon groups, plus a gent named Ryghast. Don’t ask me the order of who talked to who and when it happened. We were in a casino! I won a few games, many games.

Eventually we chatted. But chatting with Ryghast was difficult. He took me into a magical silence to spill secrets. I tried and tried and tried to break his spells with my own systems. A wizard of his power is well beyond my teknical abilities.

BUT, in his confidence he told me of his double-crossing ways. I immediately told Amos, Rolf, Crag and Nandi, who passed the information around.

Probably created a big enemy. Hopefully he didn’t follow the Sadijh back to the keep. If he did please flee. Artok cannot defend you on his own.

Anyhow, we’re back off to the wilds. The source of the corruption that created that army of trees is our goal. I don’t know when I’ll see you again. I have ideas about what we can do with this hand and I’ve started to work on armored carts with Rolf. There’s also a clockwork amulet that can give one a second chance. My latest invention is to burn a bit of corruption to power our items.

See you again under the Dragon Moon.

Xabal Gaitee Quarter-Flagged Optigraph Balaneer nox Free Tink and non-Commissioned Officer of the Sadijh (on leave in absence)

This recap of the Defense of Tsavancoast is written in first person by Xabal, a gnome artificer, to their hirelings at Xabal’s Workshop set in the Age of Myths campaign.

#AgeOfMyths #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #NilborgSCrossing #PlayingDD #Tsavancoast #Xabal

A letter to the workshop

TO: Flasfur Wreltor with Blackbirds and the gobkons Chofs Chupmolea badged al-Chems and Bolnis Abica nox Qawaha via Artok at the Keep

Aboard the ship you’ll find a vial of the corruption I discovered. Additionally this letter’s addendum includes a report of testing as well as a sketch-print of a mechanical hand discovered on this long journey. When I return is unknown. This journey shall be long and ideally fruitful. It is also violent and absurd. Tsavancoast is a land of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, with many artificers, tinkers and crafters mostly gobkon with a few goliaths, plus you wouldn’t believe if but I think there’s a human using cattle to turn wheels like we might a mill. I saw a monkey pushing bellows.

It’s a large city. Where Sheljar is one with the land and full of righteousness Tsavancoast is bright even at night, garish. There’s gambling where we stay. I win regularly.

Sorry. Too long. I get distracted.

You are probably wondering what’s happened with the corruption. It’s a much bigger problem than we or Le Remoden Eisha or the Dragon Council thought. There’s also a local leader in Tsavancoast who is working to spread the corruption while supposedly being in Le Remoden Eisha.

I found that out after repelling an army of walking trees and this weird elf-insect hybrid creatures. Yes, others helped, including some great dwarven sappers who brought down a bridge, scouts that helped save outlying communities, a lot of wizards. It was a staged battle. Midqh helped quite a bit. I learned how to make even bigger fire and booms through its apparatuses.

Anyway, after that massive series of battles — yes, we won, that’s how you’re getting this letter — we chatted with the leaders of the wizard and dragon groups, plus a gent named Ryghast. Don’t ask me the order of who talked to who and when it happened. We were in a casino! I won a few games, many games.

Eventually we chatted. But chatting with Ryghast was difficult. He took me into a magical silence to spill secrets. I tried and tried and tried to break his spells with my own systems. A wizard of his power is well beyond my teknical abilities.

BUT, in his confidence he told me of his double-crossing ways. I immediately told Amos, Rolf, Crag and Nandi, who passed the information around.

Probably created a big enemy. Hopefully he didn’t follow the Sadijh back to the keep. If he did please flee. Artok cannot defend you on his own.

Anyhow, we’re back off to the wilds. The source of the corruption that created that army of trees is our goal. I don’t know when I’ll see you again. I have ideas about what we can do with this hand and I’ve started to work on armored carts with Rolf. There’s also a clockwork amulet that can give one a second chance. My latest invention is to burn a bit of corruption to power our items.

See you again under the Dragon Moon.

Xabal Gaitee Quarter-Flagged Optigraph Balaneer nox Free Tink and non-Commissioned Officer of the Sadijh (on leave in absence)

This recap of the Defense of Tsavancoast is written in first person by Xabal, a gnome artificer, to their hirelings at Xabal’s Workshop set in the Age of Myths campaign.

#AgeOfMyths #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #NilborgSCrossing #PlayingDD #Tsavancoast #Xabal

A letter to the workshop

TO: Flasfur Wreltor with Blackbirds and the gobkons Chofs Chupmolea badged al-Chems and Bolnis Abica nox Qawaha via Artok at the Keep

Aboard the ship you’ll find a vial of the corruption I discovered. Additionally this letter’s addendum includes a report of testing as well as a sketch-print of a mechanical hand discovered on this long journey. When I return is unknown. This journey shall be long and ideally fruitful. It is also violent and absurd. Tsavancoast is a land of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, with many artificers, tinkers and crafters mostly gobkon with a few goliaths, plus you wouldn’t believe if but I think there’s a human using cattle to turn wheels like we might a mill. I saw a monkey pushing bellows.

It’s a large city. Where Sheljar is one with the land and full of righteousness Tsavancoast is bright even at night, garish. There’s gambling where we stay. I win regularly.

Sorry. Too long. I get distracted.

You are probably wondering what’s happened with the corruption. It’s a much bigger problem than we or Le Remoden Eisha or the Dragon Council thought. There’s also a local leader in Tsavancoast who is working to spread the corruption while supposedly being in Le Remoden Eisha.

I found that out after repelling an army of walking trees and this weird elf-insect hybrid creatures. Yes, others helped, including some great dwarven sappers who brought down a bridge, scouts that helped save outlying communities, a lot of wizards. It was a staged battle. Midqh helped quite a bit. I learned how to make even bigger fire and booms through its apparatuses.

Anyway, after that massive series of battles — yes, we won, that’s how you’re getting this letter — we chatted with the leaders of the wizard and dragon groups, plus a gent named Ryghast. Don’t ask me the order of who talked to who and when it happened. We were in a casino! I won a few games, many games.

Eventually we chatted. But chatting with Ryghast was difficult. He took me into a magical silence to spill secrets. I tried and tried and tried to break his spells with my own systems. A wizard of his power is well beyond my teknical abilities.

BUT, in his confidence he told me of his double-crossing ways. I immediately told Amos, Rolf, Crag and Nandi, who passed the information around.

Probably created a big enemy. Hopefully he didn’t follow the Sadijh back to the keep. If he did please flee. Artok cannot defend you on his own.

Anyhow, we’re back off to the wilds. The source of the corruption that created that army of trees is our goal. I don’t know when I’ll see you again. I have ideas about what we can do with this hand and I’ve started to work on armored carts with Rolf. There’s also a clockwork amulet that can give one a second chance. My latest invention is to burn a bit of corruption to power our items.

See you again under the Dragon Moon.

Xabal Gaitee Quarter-Flagged Optigraph Balaneer nox Free Tink and non-Commissioned Officer of the Sadijh (on leave in absence)

This recap of the Defense of Tsavancoast is written in first person by Xabal, a gnome artificer, to their hirelings at Xabal’s Workshop set in the Age of Myths campaign.

#AgeOfMyths #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #NilborgSCrossing #PlayingDD #Tsavancoast #Xabal

A letter to the workshop

TO: Flasfur Wreltor with Blackbirds and the gobkons Chofs Chupmolea badged al-Chems and Bolnis Abica nox Qawaha via Artok at the Keep

Aboard the ship you’ll find a vial of the corruption I discovered. Additionally this letter’s addendum includes a report of testing as well as a sketch-print of a mechanical hand discovered on this long journey. When I return is unknown. This journey shall be long and ideally fruitful. It is also violent and absurd. Tsavancoast is a land of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, with many artificers, tinkers and crafters mostly gobkon with a few goliaths, plus you wouldn’t believe if but I think there’s a human using cattle to turn wheels like we might a mill. I saw a monkey pushing bellows.

It’s a large city. Where Sheljar is one with the land and full of righteousness Tsavancoast is bright even at night, garish. There’s gambling where we stay. I win regularly.

Sorry. Too long. I get distracted.

You are probably wondering what’s happened with the corruption. It’s a much bigger problem than we or Le Remoden Eisha or the Dragon Council thought. There’s also a local leader in Tsavancoast who is working to spread the corruption while supposedly being in Le Remoden Eisha.

I found that out after repelling an army of walking trees and this weird elf-insect hybrid creatures. Yes, others helped, including some great dwarven sappers who brought down a bridge, scouts that helped save outlying communities, a lot of wizards. It was a staged battle. Midqh helped quite a bit. I learned how to make even bigger fire and booms through its apparatuses.

Anyway, after that massive series of battles — yes, we won, that’s how you’re getting this letter — we chatted with the leaders of the wizard and dragon groups, plus a gent named Ryghast. Don’t ask me the order of who talked to who and when it happened. We were in a casino! I won a few games, many games.

Eventually we chatted. But chatting with Ryghast was difficult. He took me into a magical silence to spill secrets. I tried and tried and tried to break his spells with my own systems. A wizard of his power is well beyond my teknical abilities.

BUT, in his confidence he told me of his double-crossing ways. I immediately told Amos, Rolf, Crag and Nandi, who passed the information around.

Probably created a big enemy. Hopefully he didn’t follow the Sadijh back to the keep. If he did please flee. Artok cannot defend you on his own.

Anyhow, we’re back off to the wilds. The source of the corruption that created that army of trees is our goal. I don’t know when I’ll see you again. I have ideas about what we can do with this hand and I’ve started to work on armored carts with Rolf. There’s also a clockwork amulet that can give one a second chance. My latest invention is to burn a bit of corruption to power our items.

See you again under the Dragon Moon.

Xabal Gaitee Quarter-Flagged Optigraph Balaneer nox Free Tink and non-Commissioned Officer of the Sadijh (on leave in absence)

This recap of the Defense of Tsavancoast is written in first person by Xabal, a gnome artificer, to their hirelings at Xabal’s Workshop set in the Age of Myths campaign.

#AgeOfMyths #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #NilborgSCrossing #PlayingDD #Tsavancoast #Xabal

A letter to the workshop

TO: Flasfur Wreltor with Blackbirds and the gobkons Chofs Chupmolea badged al-Chems and Bolnis Abica nox Qawaha via Artok at the Keep

Aboard the ship you’ll find a vial of the corruption I discovered. Additionally this letter’s addendum includes a report of testing as well as a sketch-print of a mechanical hand discovered on this long journey. When I return is unknown. This journey shall be long and ideally fruitful. It is also violent and absurd. Tsavancoast is a land of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, with many artificers, tinkers and crafters mostly gobkon with a few goliaths, plus you wouldn’t believe if but I think there’s a human using cattle to turn wheels like we might a mill. I saw a monkey pushing bellows.

It’s a large city. Where Sheljar is one with the land and full of righteousness Tsavancoast is bright even at night, garish. There’s gambling where we stay. I win regularly.

Sorry. Too long. I get distracted.

You are probably wondering what’s happened with the corruption. It’s a much bigger problem than we or Le Remoden Eisha or the Dragon Council thought. There’s also a local leader in Tsavancoast who is working to spread the corruption while supposedly being in Le Remoden Eisha.

I found that out after repelling an army of walking trees and this weird elf-insect hybrid creatures. Yes, others helped, including some great dwarven sappers who brought down a bridge, scouts that helped save outlying communities, a lot of wizards. It was a staged battle. Midqh helped quite a bit. I learned how to make even bigger fire and booms through its apparatuses.

Anyway, after that massive series of battles — yes, we won, that’s how you’re getting this letter — we chatted with the leaders of the wizard and dragon groups, plus a gent named Ryghast. Don’t ask me the order of who talked to who and when it happened. We were in a casino! I won a few games, many games.

Eventually we chatted. But chatting with Ryghast was difficult. He took me into a magical silence to spill secrets. I tried and tried and tried to break his spells with my own systems. A wizard of his power is well beyond my teknical abilities.

BUT, in his confidence he told me of his double-crossing ways. I immediately told Amos, Rolf, Crag and Nandi, who passed the information around.

Probably created a big enemy. Hopefully he didn’t follow the Sadijh back to the keep. If he did please flee. Artok cannot defend you on his own.

Anyhow, we’re back off to the wilds. The source of the corruption that created that army of trees is our goal. I don’t know when I’ll see you again. I have ideas about what we can do with this hand and I’ve started to work on armored carts with Rolf. There’s also a clockwork amulet that can give one a second chance. My latest invention is to burn a bit of corruption to power our items.

See you again under the Dragon Moon.

Xabal Gaitee Quarter-Flagged Optigraph Balaneer nox Free Tink and non-Commissioned Officer of the Sadijh (on leave in absence)

This recap of the Defense of Tsavancoast is written in first person by Xabal, a gnome artificer, to their hirelings at Xabal’s Workshop set in the Age of Myths campaign.

#AgeOfMyths #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #NilborgSCrossing #PlayingDD #Tsavancoast #Xabal

Ferments, Sessions three & four: Mud mephit slide, wake, fey chwinga

In session three the focus was on Keesrah. A duet session handled on Discord due to let turnout, session three was a fine example of the intent behind The Ferments campaign — always find a way to play D&D.

Session four was held at Logan Brewing in Burien, as is typical. Keesrah and Guarese attended.

What did the other characters do? We’ll use downtime to talk about the use of their homesteads as bastions, Xanathar’s downtime actions and/or improving their defenses for Militia Actions. And, due to player feedback we’re including traps in Militia Actions to embrace the case where a homestead may be solo or light on membership.

The Ferments reading;

• One sheet
• Common knowledge
• Sesion one
• Session two

Session three

Keesrah heads into the scrub mountains for food to celebrate the visit of the liquor-creating family of halflings from downway. Her mom is on the trip.

During this trip in horrific weather a mudslide forces a change in path, and eventually she is attacked by mud mephits. It’s a fierce encounter on the edge of failure. But together the two managed to hold off the mephits.

Later in the trip home they notice a fox, Rennard. Using spellcraft, Keesrah learns that fox is the companion to Taier Henkel. Tier is missing, and presumed dead.

Keesrah and her mother, Velthuria, need to cross the mudflow to return home. Using some craft, luck and Crow the Raven the two managed to safely cross the mud mephit slide. Keesrah is punched by a mud mephit swimming through the flow.

After the flow and storm subsides Keesrah and Caile (the brother) head into the hills to talk to the Henkels and then the Drudzhars. One of these conversations goes much better than the other.

As a sign of fellowship, and because of Caile, Taier’s memorial is to be held at the Trading Post — there’s also easy access to the liquors from the visiting family.

The celebration goes well, except for the fight between Caile and Keesrah.

Learned clues

• Keesrah Maltunyn learned that the Henkel halflings get along with Clan Drudzhar.
• Caile is friendly with both the Henkel halflings and Drudzhar.
• Taier Henkel washed away in the mephit mudslide.
• Keesrah rescued Taier’s fox Rennard.
• Taier’s body was encased in mud by chwingas claiming he gave them a piece of his soul.
• Chwingas released Taier when Guarase Spinebloom said he’d find them another bit of soul — maybe his.
• Ken raiders with an ambush drake made their presence known. One donated its soul.
• Guarase earned a Charm of Heroism granted by the semi–domesticated fey chwinga that now live in the Spinebloom’s rice marsh.

Session four

This was the first session featuring the Spinebloom homestead. It is a series of mostly underground dome structures in a desert environment. Many Spineblooms have some druidic magic and they use this and their traditional growing methods to have the least influence on the environment as possible.

The same river that goes past the Maltunyn’s flows to the Spineblooms. Since The Ferments are infested with extreme elemental influences the desert and scrub mountains are close than is practical in a typical world.

Keesrah and Caile travel along that river to try to find Taier’s remains. That journey includes meeting Guarase who helps them search. There is a mud casing hidden in the rice marsh the Spineblooms farm.

Unfortunately there are also chwingas, little elemental sprites whose morality is not the same as humanity. These chwingas rescued Taier, but kept him cased as a way to protect him during the mephit mudslide.

In order to get Taier free the chwingas demand another soul. Somewhat confused, Guarase agrees. Then the goliath figures out that they mean his soul.

During this exchange the non-chwingas notice two advancing elves and an ambush drake. Keesrah sends Caile and Taier home.

Guarase and Keesrah fend off the elves, while the drake and those elves destroy a third of the rice marsh including many chwingas. When one of the elves is dropped unconscious in the marsh a chwinga captures its soul.

The elves also damage a Spinebloom home.

Keesrah and Guarase learn of more threats to The Ferments, more friends that could be made and the challenges to come in a land that threatens their livelihood.

#ambushDrake #chwinga #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #Ferments #homebrew #mephit #PlayingDD #recap

Ferments, Session two: Punch chickens, Malk the taker, Lenny the lynx

The second session of The Ferments campaign, an East March style took place again at West Thundermoon Trading Post.

Again, the session started with rolling on the random encounter chart. Only one of the encounters happened, as there was a lot of great roleplay between the characters.

That encounter was with “Chickens with arms and fists” also referred to as “punch chickens.” These larger-than-a-turkey chickens have humanoid arms coming out of their wing joints and are semi intelligent.

The Ferments reading;

• One sheet
• Common knowledge
• Sesion one

Session two started with a brief recap of the last session and a reminder of the nature of the East March campaign — problems come to you.

Then Keesrah spoke to her brother, Caile, about the situation with the open door up to the game trails. That conversation leads to the discovery that the brother is dating one of the goliaths in the rival clan up in the hills. Keesrah leans on the young love bird to keep the doors and gates closed as the brother mocks Keesrah for the fight with the fire snakes.

Ellis, a guest (another PC) enters the compound seeking materials for their homestead. He’s taken over an abandoned plateau homestead nearby. Those religious zealots left the region nearly 30 years ago during the time of the born generation. With decades of wear on the home, mill and other equipment Ellis will have to work hard to reopen the spring-fed mill and granary.

Needing smithed goods, Ellis chats with Keesrah’s father, Cay, and the goblin Malk. During those conversations Keesarh and Ellis learn that Malk is not merely a refugee, but has strong goals to learn how to take the magma and steam power from The Ferments to the Queen.

This learning is specifically called out in the quick recap as a note for all players. As was the brother's love interest.One piece of advice I try to follow is to remind players of the clues their characters learn. Our memories of a game are more fallible than our characters' memories of their lives.

Learned clues

• Malk (goblin leader) is a taker. They want to take whatever they can from The Ferments that helps the Queen.
• Keesrah’s brother has a lover up with the Goliath Clan Drudzhar.
• Ellis homestead was previously abandoned by religious zealots during the Born Generation when magic returned.
• Someone is creating animal hybrids.

Those first three clues are from the conversations between the characters and the named NPCs.

The fourth clue was an interjection because I could tell the table needed some action, plus there were two random encounters rolled and we hadn’t gotten to either.

Using the open door to the game trail from session one, and the obvious wealth of the trading post as inspiration the punch chickens were the easier of the two random rolls to integrate.

Punch chickens

Three punch chickens are discovered by Ellis’ lynx, Lenny. The lynx flushes them out of one of the merchant booths. Those armed chickens are carrying some goods away, sprinting towards the open door.

What are punch chickens?

Statistically they are axe beaks (Black Flag page 371) that punch rather than poke. Their special ability of Evasion turns out to be too significant for 2.5 combatants.

Deadly encounter

This is a deadly encounter with two characters and one combatant animal companion. The action economy combined with consistent dodging means both characters are dropped unconscious. The final roll comes down to Ellis’ lynx versus a wounded punch chicken. The lynx lands the fatal blow.

Keesrah did bar the door preventing a simple escape, so even if they had completely failed there was a narrative success available via the peasants and non-heroic NPCs.

Keesrah’s mother, Velthuria, helps the group heal.

During the recovery the group used some social checks to learn that the punch chickens likely originate from a group that myths call the Children of Chorl (an evil transmuter who tried to create various hybrid creatures).

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #EastMarches #Ferments #PlayingDD #recap

Ferments, Session two: Punch chickens, Malk the taker, Lenny the lynx

The second session of The Ferments campaign, an East March style took place again at West Thundermoon Trading Post.

Again, the session started with rolling on the random encounter chart. Only one of the encounters happened, as there was a lot of great roleplay between the characters.

That encounter was with “Chickens with arms and fists” also referred to as “punch chickens.” These larger-than-a-turkey chickens have humanoid arms coming out of their wing joints and are semi intelligent.

The Ferments reading;

• One sheet
• Common knowledge
• Sesion one

Session two started with a brief recap of the last session and a reminder of the nature of the East March campaign — problems come to you.

Then Keesrah spoke to her brother, Caile, about the situation with the open door up to the game trails. That conversation leads to the discovery that the brother is dating one of the goliaths in the rival clan up in the hills. Keesrah leans on the young love bird to keep the doors and gates closed as the brother mocks Keesrah for the fight with the fire snakes.

Ellis, a guest (another PC) enters the compound seeking materials for their homestead. He’s taken over an abandoned plateau homestead nearby. Those religious zealots left the region nearly 30 years ago during the time of the born generation. With decades of wear on the home, mill and other equipment Ellis will have to work hard to reopen the spring-fed mill and granary.

Needing smithed goods, Ellis chats with Keesrah’s father, Cay, and the goblin Malk. During those conversations Keesarh and Ellis learn that Malk is not merely a refugee, but has strong goals to learn how to take the magma and steam power from The Ferments to the Queen.

This learning is specifically called out in the quick recap as a note for all players. As was the brother's love interest.One piece of advice I try to follow is to remind players of the clues their characters learn. Our memories of a game are more fallible than our characters' memories of their lives.

Learned clues

• Malk (goblin leader) is a taker. They want to take whatever they can from The Ferments that helps the Queen.
• Keesrah’s brother has a lover up with the Goliath Clan Drudzhar.
• Ellis homestead was previously abandoned by religious zealots during the Born Generation when magic returned.
• Someone is creating animal hybrids.

Those first three clues are from the conversations between the characters and the named NPCs.

The fourth clue was an interjection because I could tell the table needed some action, plus there were two random encounters rolled and we hadn’t gotten to either.

Using the open door to the game trail from session one, and the obvious wealth of the trading post as inspiration the punch chickens were the easier of the two random rolls to integrate.

Punch chickens

Three punch chickens are discovered by Ellis’ lynx, Lenny. The lynx flushes them out of one of the merchant booths. Those armed chickens are carrying some goods away, sprinting towards the open door.

What are punch chickens?

Statistically they are axe beaks (Black Flag page 371) that punch rather than poke. Their special ability of Evasion turns out to be too significant for 2.5 combatants.

Deadly encounter

This is a deadly encounter with two characters and one combatant animal companion. The action economy combined with consistent dodging means both characters are dropped unconscious. The final roll comes down to Ellis’ lynx versus a wounded punch chicken. The lynx lands the fatal blow.

Keesrah did bar the door preventing a simple escape, so even if they had completely failed there was a narrative success available via the peasants and non-heroic NPCs.

Keesrah’s mother, Velthuria, helps the group heal.

During the recovery the group used some social checks to learn that the punch chickens likely originate from a group that myths call the Children of Chorl (an evil transmuter who tried to create various hybrid creatures).

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #EastMarches #Ferments #PlayingDD #recap

Inkling Dragon

Inkling Dragons are thought to be related to pseudodragons, but where the pseudodragon is a wilderness lover the inkling dragon is generally an urban drake that enjoys being surrounded by books, scrolls and pamphlets.

Generally the size of a large rat or small cat inkling dragons can be mistaken for an immature jaculus drake. As all dragonkin hoard something, an inkling dragon is consumed with the pursuit of knowledge and writing, similar to paper drakes.

An inkling dragon without a companion can be found in libraries, universities, bardic colleges and wherever records are kept. Some are creatives writing fiction and song. Others are historians, tracking the world through the written word. At least one inkling dragon is known to only write in mathematics. This inkling dragon, Aymon, is a friend of transmuters, tax collectors and merchants often working as a clerk or calculator.

The Inkling Dragon was created as part of a limited commission in the upcoming book Dragons of the Dwindling by Dragons of Wales (Andy Frazer).
Follow Dragons of Wales on Instagram, Threads and Mastodon. Support Dragons of Wales on Patreon.

Inkling Dragon companions

Frequently inkling dragons and writers bond over their love of the written word. Sought after by many wizards and writers, an inkling dragon chooses their companion as much as their companion chooses them — the tiny dragon has to find the work engaging and relevant to their own writing.

1. Wizard
2. Bard
3. Propagandist
4. Novelist
5. Poet
6. Merchant
7. Tax collector
8. Cleric
9. Clerk
10. Noble

This work includes material taken from the Black Flag Reference Document 1.0 (“BFRD 1.0”) by Kobold Press and available at Black Flag Roleplaying

Inkling Dragon stat block

Inkling Dragon (CR 1/4)
Tiny Dragon

Armor Class 14 (natural armor, small size)
Hit Points 8
Speed 10 ft., fly 30 ft.
Perception 11 Stealth 12
Resistant none | charmed
Senses darkvision 30 ft., keensense 10 ft.
Languages Common and four other languages (or cultures)

Heightened Senses. The inkling dragon’s Perception is 20 when perceiving by sight. Ability checks for Perception using sight use Intelligence.

Magic Resistance. The inkling dragon has advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects.

Limited Telepathy. The inkling dragon can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with any creature within 30 feet of it that can understand a language it knows.

Copying a Spell into the Book. When an inkling dragon or its companion finds an Arcane spell of 1st circle* or higher, the inkling dragon can add it to a spellbook if it is of a spell circle the companion can prepare and if they can make time to decipher and copy it. For each circle of the spell, the process takes 1 hour with no gp costs. Once the inkling dragon spends this time, the companions can prepare the spell just like their other Arcane spells. Copying a spell from a scroll into a spellbook doesn’t consume or destroy the scroll. Non-magical writing is written four times as fast when compared to humans. The inkling dragon produces ink from its tail as long as it isn’t at level two exhaustion or higher.
* Black Flag uses circle as D&D uses spell level.

Ritualist. An inkling dragon with its own book can be a Ritualist, per the Black Flag Talent. The spell source is Arcane. Intelligence is their spellcasting ability. The inkling dragon knows one 1st circle ritual (typically Identify). If the inkling dragon is a companion to a spellcaster it can learn rituals at the same circle and source as their spellcasting companion.

1st circle Arcane rituals

• Alarm
• Create Familiar (these can only be common beasts)
• Identify
• Illusory Script
• Unseen Servant

ACTIONS

Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 11 DEX save or be poisoned for 10 minutes. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it is stained by ink per Ink Stain below. This staining does not count against the number of uses per day.

Ink Stain (1/short rest). On a successful sting the inkling dragon can mystic mark (Ranger) one creature. While a creature is marked (including for the attack that triggered the mark), the inkling dragon and allies deal an extra 1d4 damage to it (of the same damage type as the weapon) each time you successfully hit it with a weapon attack. A marked creature can use an Action to remove the Ink Stain. An inkling dragon that is a familiar or companion to a character may use this ability proficiency bonus (of that character) times per day rather than once per short rest.

#BlackFlag #DnD #dragons #DragonsOfWales #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #inklingDragon #monster #PlayingDD #TalesOfTheValiant

Inkling Dragon

Inkling Dragons are thought to be related to pseudodragons, but where the pseudodragon is a wilderness lover the inkling dragon is generally an urban drake that enjoys being surrounded by books, scrolls and pamphlets.

Generally the size of a large rat or small cat inkling dragons can be mistaken for an immature jaculus drake. As all dragonkin hoard something, an inkling dragon is consumed with the pursuit of knowledge and writing, similar to paper drakes.

An inkling dragon without a companion can be found in libraries, universities, bardic colleges and wherever records are kept. Some are creatives writing fiction and song. Others are historians, tracking the world through the written word. At least one inkling dragon is known to only write in mathematics. This inkling dragon, Aymon, is a friend of transmuters, tax collectors and merchants often working as a clerk or calculator.

The Inkling Dragon was created as part of a limited commission in the upcoming book Dragons of the Dwindling by Dragons of Wales (Andy Frazer).
Follow Dragons of Wales on Instagram, Threads and Mastodon. Support Dragons of Wales on Patreon.

Inkling Dragon companions

Frequently inkling dragons and writers bond over their love of the written word. Sought after by many wizards and writers, an inkling dragon chooses their companion as much as their companion chooses them — the tiny dragon has to find the work engaging and relevant to their own writing.

1. Wizard
2. Bard
3. Propagandist
4. Novelist
5. Poet
6. Merchant
7. Tax collector
8. Cleric
9. Clerk
10. Noble

This work includes material taken from the Black Flag Reference Document 1.0 (“BFRD 1.0”) by Kobold Press and available at Black Flag Roleplaying

Inkling Dragon stat block

Inkling Dragon (CR 1/4)
Tiny Dragon

Armor Class 14 (natural armor, small size)
Hit Points 8
Speed 10 ft., fly 30 ft.
Perception 11 Stealth 12
Resistant none | charmed
Senses darkvision 30 ft., keensense 10 ft.
Languages Common and four other languages (or cultures)

Heightened Senses. The inkling dragon’s Perception is 20 when perceiving by sight. Ability checks for Perception using sight use Intelligence.

Magic Resistance. The inkling dragon has advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects.

Limited Telepathy. The inkling dragon can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with any creature within 30 feet of it that can understand a language it knows.

Copying a Spell into the Book. When an inkling dragon or its companion finds an Arcane spell of 1st circle* or higher, the inkling dragon can add it to a spellbook if it is of a spell circle the companion can prepare and if they can make time to decipher and copy it. For each circle of the spell, the process takes 1 hour with no gp costs. Once the inkling dragon spends this time, the companions can prepare the spell just like their other Arcane spells. Copying a spell from a scroll into a spellbook doesn’t consume or destroy the scroll. Non-magical writing is written four times as fast when compared to humans. The inkling dragon produces ink from its tail as long as it isn’t at level two exhaustion or higher.
* Black Flag uses circle as D&D uses spell level.

Ritualist. An inkling dragon with its own book can be a Ritualist, per the Black Flag Talent. The spell source is Arcane. Intelligence is their spellcasting ability. The inkling dragon knows one 1st circle ritual (typically Identify). If the inkling dragon is a companion to a spellcaster it can learn rituals at the same circle and source as their spellcasting companion.

1st circle Arcane rituals

• Alarm
• Create Familiar (these can only be common beasts)
• Identify
• Illusory Script
• Unseen Servant

ACTIONS

Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 11 DEX save or be poisoned for 10 minutes. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it is stained by ink per Ink Stain below. This staining does not count against the number of uses per day.

Ink Stain (1/short rest). On a successful sting the inkling dragon can mystic mark (Ranger) one creature. While a creature is marked (including for the attack that triggered the mark), the inkling dragon and allies deal an extra 1d4 damage to it (of the same damage type as the weapon) each time you successfully hit it with a weapon attack. A marked creature can use an Action to remove the Ink Stain. An inkling dragon that is a familiar or companion to a character may use this ability proficiency bonus (of that character) times per day rather than once per short rest.

#BlackFlag #DnD #dragons #DragonsOfWales #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #inklingDragon #monster #PlayingDD #TalesOfTheValiant

Inkling Dragon

Inkling Dragons are thought to be related to pseudodragons, but where the pseudodragon is a wilderness lover the inkling dragon is generally an urban drake that enjoys being surrounded by books, scrolls and pamphlets.

Generally the size of a large rat or small cat inkling dragons can be mistaken for an immature jaculus drake. As all dragonkin hoard something, an inkling dragon is consumed with the pursuit of knowledge and writing, similar to paper drakes.

An inkling dragon without a companion can be found in libraries, universities, bardic colleges and wherever records are kept. Some are creatives writing fiction and song. Others are historians, tracking the world through the written word. At least one inkling dragon is known to only write in mathematics. This inkling dragon, Aymon, is a friend of transmuters, tax collectors and merchants often working as a clerk or calculator.

The Inkling Dragon was created as part of a limited commission in the upcoming book Dragons of the Dwindling by Dragons of Wales (Andy Frazer).
Follow Dragons of Wales on Instagram, Threads and Mastodon. Support Dragons of Wales on Patreon.

Inkling Dragon companions

Frequently inkling dragons and writers bond over their love of the written word. Sought after by many wizards and writers, an inkling dragon chooses their companion as much as their companion chooses them — the tiny dragon has to find the work engaging and relevant to their own writing.

1. Wizard
2. Bard
3. Propagandist
4. Novelist
5. Poet
6. Merchant
7. Tax collector
8. Cleric
9. Clerk
10. Noble

This work includes material taken from the Black Flag Reference Document 1.0 (“BFRD 1.0”) by Kobold Press and available at Black Flag Roleplaying

Inkling Dragon stat block

Inkling Dragon (CR 1/4)
Tiny Dragon

Armor Class 14 (natural armor, small size)
Hit Points 8
Speed 10 ft., fly 30 ft.
Perception 11 Stealth 12
Resistant none | charmed
Senses darkvision 30 ft., keensense 10 ft.
Languages Common and four other languages (or cultures)

Heightened Senses. The inkling dragon’s Perception is 20 when perceiving by sight. Ability checks for Perception using sight use Intelligence.

Magic Resistance. The inkling dragon has advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects.

Limited Telepathy. The inkling dragon can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with any creature within 30 feet of it that can understand a language it knows.

Copying a Spell into the Book. When an inkling dragon or its companion finds an Arcane spell of 1st circle* or higher, the inkling dragon can add it to a spellbook if it is of a spell circle the companion can prepare and if they can make time to decipher and copy it. For each circle of the spell, the process takes 1 hour with no gp costs. Once the inkling dragon spends this time, the companions can prepare the spell just like their other Arcane spells. Copying a spell from a scroll into a spellbook doesn’t consume or destroy the scroll. Non-magical writing is written four times as fast when compared to humans. The inkling dragon produces ink from its tail as long as it isn’t at level two exhaustion or higher.
* Black Flag uses circle as D&D uses spell level.

Ritualist. An inkling dragon with its own book can be a Ritualist, per the Black Flag Talent. The spell source is Arcane. Intelligence is their spellcasting ability. The inkling dragon knows one 1st circle ritual (typically Identify). If the inkling dragon is a companion to a spellcaster it can learn rituals at the same circle and source as their spellcasting companion.

1st circle Arcane rituals

• Alarm
• Create Familiar (these can only be common beasts)
• Identify
• Illusory Script
• Unseen Servant

ACTIONS

Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 11 DEX save or be poisoned for 10 minutes. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it is stained by ink per Ink Stain below. This staining does not count against the number of uses per day.

Ink Stain (1/short rest). On a successful sting the inkling dragon can mystic mark (Ranger) one creature. While a creature is marked (including for the attack that triggered the mark), the inkling dragon and allies deal an extra 1d4 damage to it (of the same damage type as the weapon) each time you successfully hit it with a weapon attack. A marked creature can use an Action to remove the Ink Stain. An inkling dragon that is a familiar or companion to a character may use this ability proficiency bonus (of that character) times per day rather than once per short rest.

#BlackFlag #DnD #dragons #DragonsOfWales #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #inklingDragon #monster #PlayingDD #TalesOfTheValiant

Inkling Dragon

Inkling Dragons are thought to be related to pseudodragons, but where the pseudodragon is a wilderness lover the inkling dragon is generally an urban drake that enjoys being surrounded by books, scrolls and pamphlets.

Generally the size of a large rat or small cat inkling dragons can be mistaken for an immature jaculus drake. As all dragonkin hoard something, an inkling dragon is consumed with the pursuit of knowledge and writing, similar to paper drakes.

An inkling dragon without a companion can be found in libraries, universities, bardic colleges and wherever records are kept. Some are creatives writing fiction and song. Others are historians, tracking the world through the written word. At least one inkling dragon is known to only write in mathematics. This inkling dragon, Aymon, is a friend of transmuters, tax collectors and merchants often working as a clerk or calculator.

The Inkling Dragon was created as part of a limited commission in the upcoming book Dragons of the Dwindling by Dragons of Wales (Andy Frazer).
Follow Dragons of Wales on Instagram, Threads and Mastodon. Support Dragons of Wales on Patreon.

Inkling Dragon companions

Frequently inkling dragons and writers bond over their love of the written word. Sought after by many wizards and writers, an inkling dragon chooses their companion as much as their companion chooses them — the tiny dragon has to find the work engaging and relevant to their own writing.

1. Wizard
2. Bard
3. Propagandist
4. Novelist
5. Poet
6. Merchant
7. Tax collector
8. Cleric
9. Clerk
10. Noble

This work includes material taken from the Black Flag Reference Document 1.0 (“BFRD 1.0”) by Kobold Press and available at Black Flag Roleplaying

Inkling Dragon stat block

Inkling Dragon (CR 1/4)
Tiny Dragon

Armor Class 14 (natural armor, small size)
Hit Points 8
Speed 10 ft., fly 30 ft.
Perception 11 Stealth 12
Resistant none | charmed
Senses darkvision 30 ft., keensense 10 ft.
Languages Common and four other languages (or cultures)

Heightened Senses. The inkling dragon’s Perception is 20 when perceiving by sight. Ability checks for Perception using sight use Intelligence.

Magic Resistance. The inkling dragon has advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects.

Limited Telepathy. The inkling dragon can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with any creature within 30 feet of it that can understand a language it knows.

Copying a Spell into the Book. When an inkling dragon or its companion finds an Arcane spell of 1st circle* or higher, the inkling dragon can add it to a spellbook if it is of a spell circle the companion can prepare and if they can make time to decipher and copy it. For each circle of the spell, the process takes 1 hour with no gp costs. Once the inkling dragon spends this time, the companions can prepare the spell just like their other Arcane spells. Copying a spell from a scroll into a spellbook doesn’t consume or destroy the scroll. Non-magical writing is written four times as fast when compared to humans. The inkling dragon produces ink from its tail as long as it isn’t at level two exhaustion or higher.
* Black Flag uses circle as D&D uses spell level.

Ritualist. An inkling dragon with its own book can be a Ritualist, per the Black Flag Talent. The spell source is Arcane. Intelligence is their spellcasting ability. The inkling dragon knows one 1st circle ritual (typically Identify). If the inkling dragon is a companion to a spellcaster it can learn rituals at the same circle and source as their spellcasting companion.

1st circle Arcane rituals

• Alarm
• Create Familiar (these can only be common beasts)
• Identify
• Illusory Script
• Unseen Servant

ACTIONS

Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 11 DEX save or be poisoned for 10 minutes. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it is stained by ink per Ink Stain below. This staining does not count against the number of uses per day.

Ink Stain (1/short rest). On a successful sting the inkling dragon can mystic mark (Ranger) one creature. While a creature is marked (including for the attack that triggered the mark), the inkling dragon and allies deal an extra 1d4 damage to it (of the same damage type as the weapon) each time you successfully hit it with a weapon attack. A marked creature can use an Action to remove the Ink Stain. An inkling dragon that is a familiar or companion to a character may use this ability proficiency bonus (of that character) times per day rather than once per short rest.

#BlackFlag #DnD #dragons #DragonsOfWales #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #inklingDragon #monster #PlayingDD #TalesOfTheValiant

Inkling Dragon

Inkling Dragons are thought to be related to pseudodragons, but where the pseudodragon is a wilderness lover the inkling dragon is generally an urban drake that enjoys being surrounded by books, scrolls and pamphlets.

Generally the size of a large rat or small cat inkling dragons can be mistaken for an immature jaculus drake. As all dragonkin hoard something, an inkling dragon is consumed with the pursuit of knowledge and writing, similar to paper drakes.

An inkling dragon without a companion can be found in libraries, universities, bardic colleges and wherever records are kept. Some are creatives writing fiction and song. Others are historians, tracking the world through the written word. At least one inkling dragon is known to only write in mathematics. This inkling dragon, Aymon, is a friend of transmuters, tax collectors and merchants often working as a clerk or calculator.

The Inkling Dragon was created as part of a limited commission in the upcoming book Dragons of the Dwindling by Dragons of Wales (Andy Frazer).
Follow Dragons of Wales on Instagram, Threads and Mastodon. Support Dragons of Wales on Patreon.

Inkling Dragon companions

Frequently inkling dragons and writers bond over their love of the written word. Sought after by many wizards and writers, an inkling dragon chooses their companion as much as their companion chooses them — the tiny dragon has to find the work engaging and relevant to their own writing.

1. Wizard
2. Bard
3. Propagandist
4. Novelist
5. Poet
6. Merchant
7. Tax collector
8. Cleric
9. Clerk
10. Noble

This work includes material taken from the Black Flag Reference Document 1.0 (“BFRD 1.0”) by Kobold Press and available at Black Flag Roleplaying

Inkling Dragon stat block

Inkling Dragon (CR 1/4)
Tiny Dragon

Armor Class 14 (natural armor, small size)
Hit Points 8
Speed 10 ft., fly 30 ft.
Perception 11 Stealth 12
Resistant none | charmed
Senses darkvision 30 ft., keensense 10 ft.
Languages Common and four other languages (or cultures)

Heightened Senses. The inkling dragon’s Perception is 20 when perceiving by sight. Ability checks for Perception using sight use Intelligence.

Magic Resistance. The inkling dragon has advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects.

Limited Telepathy. The inkling dragon can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with any creature within 30 feet of it that can understand a language it knows.

Copying a Spell into the Book. When an inkling dragon or its companion finds an Arcane spell of 1st circle* or higher, the inkling dragon can add it to a spellbook if it is of a spell circle the companion can prepare and if they can make time to decipher and copy it. For each circle of the spell, the process takes 1 hour with no gp costs. Once the inkling dragon spends this time, the companions can prepare the spell just like their other Arcane spells. Copying a spell from a scroll into a spellbook doesn’t consume or destroy the scroll. Non-magical writing is written four times as fast when compared to humans. The inkling dragon produces ink from its tail as long as it isn’t at level two exhaustion or higher.
* Black Flag uses circle as D&D uses spell level.

Ritualist. An inkling dragon with its own book can be a Ritualist, per the Black Flag Talent. The spell source is Arcane. Intelligence is their spellcasting ability. The inkling dragon knows one 1st circle ritual (typically Identify). If the inkling dragon is a companion to a spellcaster it can learn rituals at the same circle and source as their spellcasting companion.

1st circle Arcane rituals

• Alarm
• Create Familiar (these can only be common beasts)
• Identify
• Illusory Script
• Unseen Servant

ACTIONS

Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 11 DEX save or be poisoned for 10 minutes. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it is stained by ink per Ink Stain below. This staining does not count against the number of uses per day.

Ink Stain (1/short rest). On a successful sting the inkling dragon can mystic mark (Ranger) one creature. While a creature is marked (including for the attack that triggered the mark), the inkling dragon and allies deal an extra 1d4 damage to it (of the same damage type as the weapon) each time you successfully hit it with a weapon attack. A marked creature can use an Action to remove the Ink Stain. An inkling dragon that is a familiar or companion to a character may use this ability proficiency bonus (of that character) times per day rather than once per short rest.

#BlackFlag #DnD #dragons #DragonsOfWales #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #inklingDragon #monster #PlayingDD #TalesOfTheValiant

Saying yes to adventure

It’s incredibly difficult to capture what D&D can be in 30 or 60 seconds. That may be part of why the latest advert for the Starter Set, Heroes of the Borderlands is 75 seconds.

That’s also a short amount of time.

My sessions are typically three hours. We’ve played nearly a dozen campaigns in 5th edition from 2014 to the present averaging a game session every other week for the past 11 years.

Critical Role plays closer to four hours on average with the main campaign playing about 40 sessions a year over that same stretch.

How do you introduce the layers of play, the layers of friendship and the depth of potential in a minute?

Wizards of the Coast did that by showing a generation of players who said yes to adventure in the 90s and now play with their kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFOiXvVidwo

Saying that first “yes” to playing D&D

The people who introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons way back in the 80s introduced me to science fiction, to creative writing, to journalism and debate.

Later the second group I played with introduced to the concept of joining the Army, anime/comic books, writing my own game, and British comedy because we played Twilight:2000, Albedo, TMNT, Synnibarr, MERPS and of course D&D.

Saying yes to Vampire: The Masquerade helped me during language school, when the stresses of required success were overwhelming and I needed an escape from the combination Army-university life.

A year later saying yes to D&D with another nerd in 5th Special Forces Group helped me be myself while being all I could be and more. Those duet sessions created an escape and creative outlet.

Then I stopped.

Saying yes later

As my soccer blog matured and jobs came-and-went 5th edition D&D came out. I didn’t have a group. I hadn’t played in two decades except for those dozen or so sessions with a combat medic.

But, I was intrigued.

I asked my friends who wrote with me, who edited, who advised a small soccer blog as we grew.

Those first sessions of 5e included grand friends who helped each other learn the new system, remember our pasts and tell tales of glory through fellowship.

Those campaigns tuckered out and then ceased due to a wonderful job opportunity and then the pandemic.

Yes during covid

My last yes to adventure was when one of those friends asked me to DM again. During the pandemic I’d stopped running sessions. I still played, but online play and my DMing style don’t get along. I tried it once, in an actual play.

This yes meant getting a new group together. The old groups had scattered. Unlike the characters in that D&D advert I’ve never managed to maintain a group across decades. Not even my brother who was part of that first yes still plays.

But we got together.

And it grew. It taught me to share my world with another DM. This most recent yes reminded me that the fellowship at the table is as important as the fellowship of the characters.

This yes has our group playing in public, right in front of other people who don’t know what D&D is. We played with strangers who became friends. We introduced others to the game.

Marketing D&D

Saying yes to playing role playing games took me a lot of places.

And in 75 seconds the marketing team behind D&D reminded me of all of that. Taking us backwards on a journey of glory, of watching a child grow up, of a pregnant woman playing the game and a group of friends who stick together from 1995 to the present is brilliant.

Where will yes take you?

To the Caves of Chaos and The Ferments. To rolling d20s at a brewery and getting on stage at a security event. To Krynn, to Theros, to Sigil, to Exandria, to Trinyvale, to The Strix, to Wagadu, to al-Qadim, to Grim Hollow, to Drakenheim, to Midgard, to Obojima, to Eberron, to the darkest crypts and the glorious eternal afterlife, from dragons to halflings.

But mostly it will take you on a journey of friendship and discovery of the stories that you are unable to tell yourself.

That’s what saying yes does — it opens you up to things beyond what is contained within your own being.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #HeroesOfTheBorderlands #marketing #PlayingDD #RolePlaying #RPG

Ferments, Session one: Smog buggy and fire snakes

The East marched on West Thundermoon Trading Post.

Wrapping up a typical day, Keesrah noticed a thick, acrid cloud coming from the east. At the same time a not-unusual goliath walked up the packed dirt road from the south.

The goliath, Guarase Spinebloom, reached the gates of the wooden palisade enclosure a few minutes before the smog buggy. Keesrah starts closing the doors.

The smog buggy encounter was one of three random encounters rolled by the three players taking part in today's session.

In a thick accent, the boss of the smog buggy, a goblin with driver and second passenger, demands/requests entry to escape “fire snakes.”

Keesrah messages her mother. This takes nearly a minute because it is the spell. She opens the gate and lets the rancid smoke engulfed clackety buggy into the trading post.

Mere feet behind them are fire snakes.

This was not a euphemism. They are snakes, made of fire.

Fire snakes were also rolled on the random encounter chart.

The fight is swift with another Trading Post visitor, a halfling with six tiny terrier companions, Luke with a silent and non-appearing q in his name. Luke is a cleric and joins in the defense. He was picking up farm implements from Keesrah’s father, a smith whose forge burns over an open lava seam.

Luke, Keesrah and Guarase try to defend these goblins. They have difficulty conversing with the goblins. Though the goblins know common (Telsian as we’re using cultures not languages)the two dialects known aren’t similar between the Ferments-born and the Essians (goblin born).

A unique use of Create Water by Luke reduces the fire snake effectiveness for a round, while also limiting the spread of fire in the walls.

During the fight the fire snakes kill one of the goblin minions and damage everyone, as well as a bit of the palisade. It’s a win, but with a hefty loss.

A mistake the DM, me, made was having four fire snakes. Standard fire snakes have too many hit points for three 1st level characters, even with their allies.As soon as I realized the error I dropped them to 13 or 14 HP. That meant the fight was very difficult, but not a campaign ender.

A morale roll means that the smog buggy driver will likely never leave the trading post again. Their best friend is gone, burnt. Malk, the goblin boss needs to repair their buggy, which is also crispy, and find a crew and find the resources to use as fuel. The goblins normally use tar trees, but outside of Essia those are extremely rare.

Malk and Keesrah’s father talk about the possibility of using lava to fuel the smog buggy.

After a bit of rest, and setting up a guard by Keesrah’s family the group tries to recover. They talk a bit.

Looking around the Post they notice the overflight of dozens of hunting birds. The Maltunyn family rivals up in the hills almost always bond with birds. At a heightened alert, the group of Luke, Guarase and Keesrah notice that one of the smaller doors out to the game trails is open. Keesrah’s younger brother is gone.

The overflight was the third random encounter rolled.

Key learnings (SlyFlourish would call these secrets).

• Goblins are searching The Ferments for a resource that can fuel their smog-tek.
• Fire snakes are now aggressive, rather than passive. They will chase outsiders in the area.
• Keesrah’s brother snuck out at night. That raised an alert from the adversarial clan nearby.
• Community helps community. No matter the challenge and the danger.

This was the first session of The Ferments, an East Marches Campaign set in the World of the Everflow.

It is an experiment in using random encounters, defensible places, and a West Marches style to talk about community, control of knowledge and love of pets.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #EastMarches #Ferments #PlayingDD #recap

Ferments, Session one: Smog buggy and fire snakes

The East marched on West Thundermoon Trading Post.

Wrapping up a typical day, Keesrah noticed a thick, acrid cloud coming from the east. At the same time a not-unusual goliath walked up the packed dirt road from the south.

The goliath, Guarase Spinebloom, reached the gates of the wooden palisade enclosure a few minutes before the smog buggy. Keesrah starts closing the doors.

The smog buggy encounter was one of three random encounters rolled by the three players taking part in today's session.

In a thick accent, the boss of the smog buggy, a goblin with driver and second passenger, demands/requests entry to escape “fire snakes.”

Keesrah messages her mother. This takes nearly a minute because it is the spell. She opens the gate and lets the rancid smoke engulfed clackety buggy into the trading post.

Mere feet behind them are fire snakes.

This was not a euphemism. They are snakes, made of fire.

Fire snakes were also rolled on the random encounter chart.

The fight is swift with another Trading Post visitor, a halfling with six tiny terrier companions, Luke with a silent and non-appearing q in his name. Luke is a cleric and joins in the defense. He was picking up farm implements from Keesrah’s father, a smith whose forge burns over an open lava seam.

Luke, Keesrah and Guarase try to defend these goblins. They have difficulty conversing with the goblins. Though the goblins know common (Telsian as we’re using cultures not languages)the two dialects known aren’t similar between the Ferments-born and the Essians (goblin born).

A unique use of Create Water by Luke reduces the fire snake effectiveness for a round, while also limiting the spread of fire in the walls.

During the fight the fire snakes kill one of the goblin minions and damage everyone, as well as a bit of the palisade. It’s a win, but with a hefty loss.

A mistake the DM, me, made was having four fire snakes. Standard fire snakes have too many hit points for three 1st level characters, even with their allies.As soon as I realized the error I dropped them to 13 or 14 HP. That meant the fight was very difficult, but not a campaign ender.

A morale roll means that the smog buggy driver will likely never leave the trading post again. Their best friend is gone, burnt. Malk, the goblin boss needs to repair their buggy, which is also crispy, and find a crew and find the resources to use as fuel. The goblins normally use tar trees, but outside of Essia those are extremely rare.

Malk and Keesrah’s father talk about the possibility of using lava to fuel the smog buggy.

After a bit of rest, and setting up a guard by Keesrah’s family the group tries to recover. They talk a bit.

Looking around the Post they notice the overflight of dozens of hunting birds. The Maltunyn family rivals up in the hills almost always bond with birds. At a heightened alert, the group of Luke, Guarase and Keesrah notice that one of the smaller doors out to the game trails is open. Keesrah’s younger brother is gone.

The overflight was the third random encounter rolled.

Key learnings (SlyFlourish would call these secrets).

• Goblins are searching The Ferments for a resource that can fuel their smog-tek.
• Fire snakes are now aggressive, rather than passive. They will chase outsiders in the area.
• Keesrah’s brother snuck out at night. That raised an alert from the adversarial clan nearby.
• Community helps community. No matter the challenge and the danger.

This was the first session of The Ferments, an East Marches Campaign set in the World of the Everflow.

It is an experiment in using random encounters, defensible places, and a West Marches style to talk about community, control of knowledge and love of pets.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #EastMarches #Ferments #PlayingDD #recap

Ferments, Session one: Smog buggy and fire snakes

The East marched on West Thundermoon Trading Post.

Wrapping up a typical day, Keesrah noticed a thick, acrid cloud coming from the east. At the same time a not-unusual goliath walked up the packed dirt road from the south.

The goliath, Guarase Spinebloom, reached the gates of the wooden palisade enclosure a few minutes before the smog buggy. Keesrah starts closing the doors.

The smog buggy encounter was one of three random encounters rolled by the three players taking part in today's session.

In a thick accent, the boss of the smog buggy, a goblin with driver and second passenger, demands/requests entry to escape “fire snakes.”

Keesrah messages her mother. This takes nearly a minute because it is the spell. She opens the gate and lets the rancid smoke engulfed clackety buggy into the trading post.

Mere feet behind them are fire snakes.

This was not a euphemism. They are snakes, made of fire.

Fire snakes were also rolled on the random encounter chart.

The fight is swift with another Trading Post visitor, a halfling with six tiny terrier companions, Luke with a silent and non-appearing q in his name. Luke is a cleric and joins in the defense. He was picking up farm implements from Keesrah’s father, a smith whose forge burns over an open lava seam.

Luke, Keesrah and Guarase try to defend these goblins. They have difficulty conversing with the goblins. Though the goblins know common (Telsian as we’re using cultures not languages)the two dialects known aren’t similar between the Ferments-born and the Essians (goblin born).

A unique use of Create Water by Luke reduces the fire snake effectiveness for a round, while also limiting the spread of fire in the walls.

During the fight the fire snakes kill one of the goblin minions and damage everyone, as well as a bit of the palisade. It’s a win, but with a hefty loss.

A mistake the DM, me, made was having four fire snakes. Standard fire snakes have too many hit points for three 1st level characters, even with their allies.As soon as I realized the error I dropped them to 13 or 14 HP. That meant the fight was very difficult, but not a campaign ender.

A morale roll means that the smog buggy driver will likely never leave the trading post again. Their best friend is gone, burnt. Malk, the goblin boss needs to repair their buggy, which is also crispy, and find a crew and find the resources to use as fuel. The goblins normally use tar trees, but outside of Essia those are extremely rare.

Malk and Keesrah’s father talk about the possibility of using lava to fuel the smog buggy.

After a bit of rest, and setting up a guard by Keesrah’s family the group tries to recover. They talk a bit.

Looking around the Post they notice the overflight of dozens of hunting birds. The Maltunyn family rivals up in the hills almost always bond with birds. At a heightened alert, the group of Luke, Guarase and Keesrah notice that one of the smaller doors out to the game trails is open. Keesrah’s younger brother is gone.

The overflight was the third random encounter rolled.

Key learnings (SlyFlourish would call these secrets).

• Goblins are searching The Ferments for a resource that can fuel their smog-tek.
• Fire snakes are now aggressive, rather than passive. They will chase outsiders in the area.
• Keesrah’s brother snuck out at night. That raised an alert from the adversarial clan nearby.
• Community helps community. No matter the challenge and the danger.

This was the first session of The Ferments, an East Marches Campaign set in the World of the Everflow.

It is an experiment in using random encounters, defensible places, and a West Marches style to talk about community, control of knowledge and love of pets.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #EastMarches #Ferments #PlayingDD #recap

Ferments, Session one: Smog buggy and fire snakes

The East marched on West Thundermoon Trading Post.

Wrapping up a typical day, Keesrah noticed a thick, acrid cloud coming from the east. At the same time a not-unusual goliath walked up the packed dirt road from the south.

The goliath, Guarase Spinebloom, reached the gates of the wooden palisade enclosure a few minutes before the smog buggy. Keesrah starts closing the doors.

The smog buggy encounter was one of three random encounters rolled by the three players taking part in today's session.

In a thick accent, the boss of the smog buggy, a goblin with driver and second passenger, demands/requests entry to escape “fire snakes.”

Keesrah messages her mother. This takes nearly a minute because it is the spell. She opens the gate and lets the rancid smoke engulfed clackety buggy into the trading post.

Mere feet behind them are fire snakes.

This was not a euphemism. They are snakes, made of fire.

Fire snakes were also rolled on the random encounter chart.

The fight is swift with another Trading Post visitor, a halfling with six tiny terrier companions, Luke with a silent and non-appearing q in his name. Luke is a cleric and joins in the defense. He was picking up farm implements from Keesrah’s father, a smith whose forge burns over an open lava seam.

Luke, Keesrah and Guarase try to defend these goblins. They have difficulty conversing with the goblins. Though the goblins know common (Telsian as we’re using cultures not languages)the two dialects known aren’t similar between the Ferments-born and the Essians (goblin born).

A unique use of Create Water by Luke reduces the fire snake effectiveness for a round, while also limiting the spread of fire in the walls.

During the fight the fire snakes kill one of the goblin minions and damage everyone, as well as a bit of the palisade. It’s a win, but with a hefty loss.

A mistake the DM, me, made was having four fire snakes. Standard fire snakes have too many hit points for three 1st level characters, even with their allies.As soon as I realized the error I dropped them to 13 or 14 HP. That meant the fight was very difficult, but not a campaign ender.

A morale roll means that the smog buggy driver will likely never leave the trading post again. Their best friend is gone, burnt. Malk, the goblin boss needs to repair their buggy, which is also crispy, and find a crew and find the resources to use as fuel. The goblins normally use tar trees, but outside of Essia those are extremely rare.

Malk and Keesrah’s father talk about the possibility of using lava to fuel the smog buggy.

After a bit of rest, and setting up a guard by Keesrah’s family the group tries to recover. They talk a bit.

Looking around the Post they notice the overflight of dozens of hunting birds. The Maltunyn family rivals up in the hills almost always bond with birds. At a heightened alert, the group of Luke, Guarase and Keesrah notice that one of the smaller doors out to the game trails is open. Keesrah’s younger brother is gone.

The overflight was the third random encounter rolled.

Key learnings (SlyFlourish would call these secrets).

• Goblins are searching The Ferments for a resource that can fuel their smog-tek.
• Fire snakes are now aggressive, rather than passive. They will chase outsiders in the area.
• Keesrah’s brother snuck out at night. That raised an alert from the adversarial clan nearby.
• Community helps community. No matter the challenge and the danger.

This was the first session of The Ferments, an East Marches Campaign set in the World of the Everflow.

It is an experiment in using random encounters, defensible places, and a West Marches style to talk about community, control of knowledge and love of pets.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #EastMarches #Ferments #PlayingDD #recap

Ferments, Session one: Smog buggy and fire snakes

The East marched on West Thundermoon Trading Post.

Wrapping up a typical day, Keesrah noticed a thick, acrid cloud coming from the east. At the same time a not-unusual goliath walked up the packed dirt road from the south.

The goliath, Guarase Spinebloom, reached the gates of the wooden palisade enclosure a few minutes before the smog buggy. Keesrah starts closing the doors.

The smog buggy encounter was one of three random encounters rolled by the three players taking part in today's session.

In a thick accent, the boss of the smog buggy, a goblin with driver and second passenger, demands/requests entry to escape “fire snakes.”

Keesrah messages her mother. This takes nearly a minute because it is the spell. She opens the gate and lets the rancid smoke engulfed clackety buggy into the trading post.

Mere feet behind them are fire snakes.

This was not a euphemism. They are snakes, made of fire.

Fire snakes were also rolled on the random encounter chart.

The fight is swift with another Trading Post visitor, a halfling with six tiny terrier companions, Luke with a silent and non-appearing q in his name. Luke is a cleric and joins in the defense. He was picking up farm implements from Keesrah’s father, a smith whose forge burns over an open lava seam.

Luke, Keesrah and Guarase try to defend these goblins. They have difficulty conversing with the goblins. Though the goblins know common (Telsian as we’re using cultures not languages)the two dialects known aren’t similar between the Ferments-born and the Essians (goblin born).

A unique use of Create Water by Luke reduces the fire snake effectiveness for a round, while also limiting the spread of fire in the walls.

During the fight the fire snakes kill one of the goblin minions and damage everyone, as well as a bit of the palisade. It’s a win, but with a hefty loss.

A mistake the DM, me, made was having four fire snakes. Standard fire snakes have too many hit points for three 1st level characters, even with their allies.As soon as I realized the error I dropped them to 13 or 14 HP. That meant the fight was very difficult, but not a campaign ender.

A morale roll means that the smog buggy driver will likely never leave the trading post again. Their best friend is gone, burnt. Malk, the goblin boss needs to repair their buggy, which is also crispy, and find a crew and find the resources to use as fuel. The goblins normally use tar trees, but outside of Essia those are extremely rare.

Malk and Keesrah’s father talk about the possibility of using lava to fuel the smog buggy.

After a bit of rest, and setting up a guard by Keesrah’s family the group tries to recover. They talk a bit.

Looking around the Post they notice the overflight of dozens of hunting birds. The Maltunyn family rivals up in the hills almost always bond with birds. At a heightened alert, the group of Luke, Guarase and Keesrah notice that one of the smaller doors out to the game trails is open. Keesrah’s younger brother is gone.

The overflight was the third random encounter rolled.

Key learnings (SlyFlourish would call these secrets).

• Goblins are searching The Ferments for a resource that can fuel their smog-tek.
• Fire snakes are now aggressive, rather than passive. They will chase outsiders in the area.
• Keesrah’s brother snuck out at night. That raised an alert from the adversarial clan nearby.
• Community helps community. No matter the challenge and the danger.

This was the first session of The Ferments, an East Marches Campaign set in the World of the Everflow.

It is an experiment in using random encounters, defensible places, and a West Marches style to talk about community, control of knowledge and love of pets.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #EastMarches #Ferments #PlayingDD #recap

Your D&D campaign should have eyeglasses

One of the tenets of Dungeons & Dragons is that your character can be anything. Well nearly anything. There are certain limitations on species, mostly due to fantasy tropes. Those continue to expand. The embrace of characters with crutches, wheelchairs, and other ambulatory aids continues. Official books always include art showing these samples.

While the movement towards inclusion of disabled people as potential heroes is slow. It is there. This is wonderful. Because everyone deserves representation. Everyone should have the choice to see themselves as a hero.

Me? I wear glasses. Have all my life. This includes when I was a cartoon superhero as a linguist in the 5th Special Forces. On the range? Glasses. Jumping out of airplanes? Glasses. Setting det-cord? Glasses. Giving an IV? Glasses.

But how would my character where glasses? How could I play this?

My next D&D character is a glasses wearer.
They carry dozens of lenses for varied uses. One of the land’s best archers, they can shoot a bee’s nest at 300 lengths.
Once a truffle hunter always paying attention what was close, they now look afar, constantly.

There’s no rules for wearing glasses. The fix is simple. The worlds of D&D have magnifying glasses (100 gp, can start fires) and spyglasses (1000 gp, doubles size of object). So grinding glass isn’t a problem within typical D&D. Neither is the construction of simple frames. In the real world glasses as we know them date to the 13th century.

Eyeglasses or Spectacles

Type: Adventuring Gear | Cost: 25 gp* | Weight: —
Wearers of eyeglasses or spectacles have their vision corrected to normal within the world.

* any player who wants to start their character with lenses should be permitted at no cost.

Now, you may ask — what happens if they get knocked off?

First, I say? Whatever. No, seriously, is your game a constant barrage of disarming player characters of their weapons, shields, and spell components? If not, then don’t worry about it. If you do run that kind of game, then use the same rules for other disarms and expect that characters would carry an extra set of lenses, as I did when I was a cartoon superhero. Maybe their next attack is at disadvantage if you feel cruelty is necessary in your game of heroics.

Those rules are rather unnecessary. My glasses fell off only once during training exercises that involved nearly the highest level of training in the US Army (I was SOT-A, not tabbed).

Hero Forge, DM Heroes, ReRoll, Never Ending all have glasses options for art. Currently DnD Beyond does not have character art with glasses, but many of the 2024 books do.

My next D&D Character is bespectacled.
They wear lens to correct their poor eyesight. Not a nerd, just a person who lives life with lenses on their face. They slay dragons with a giant sword and use their shield to protect their friends.

This post was originally published in 2022.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #equipment #gear #glasses #PlayingDD

Picking the Fall release 5e products best for you

Somewhat overshadowed by the release of several high-fantasy systems not based in 5e D&D is that Wizards of the Coast has two starter sets, a two-book/three-pdf Forgotten Realms set, and Eberron expansion coming out from September through the holidays.

Additionally, other 5e systems inspired by D&D are also cranking right now.

There’s a plethora of choice, right as genre TV’s most D&D related property is coming back — Stranger Things season 5 releases Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s in the U.S. Several of the early monsters based on Dungeons & Dragons are making a comeback.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKZyYdwS3Wg

Your normie (non-RPG) friends may be interested in the game again thanks to the combination of product releases, the Mighty Nein release, Stranger Things and the general zeitgeist around being big heroes with power in a world where that feels missing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7OCKYZjOcY

What game or books are the right system for them right now?

If you read Full Moon Storytelling it is likely that you are a DM/GM. It’s also likely that you lean towards 5e D&D. That will be the focus, with a small discussion of the other systems capturing attention (million dollar+ Kickstarters and the like).

Are you the GM/DM?

Go with what you like best, what fits your world, and be welcoming. Cut back on house rules and homebrew, at first, as the people who are new to the game can be overwhelmed with normal rule sets that can stretch to 1,000 pages.

Fold the new invitees into your world by asking them what they enjoy about high fantasy roleplaying. Finding out what your table’s Appendix N always helps, but it is the most helpful knowing what someone new (or returning from long ago) to the hobby wants.

If they want something simple, but familiar like the D&D of the 80s, but modern there are a few routes. Sticking with 2014 5e one can still get the older starter sets from Target or Amazon. Dragons of Strormwreck Isle is under $16 at Target online, and some physical stores may have it. Check with your local gaming store to see if they are offloading old product.

You can also intro them to 2014 via Kobold Press Tales of the Valiant Starter Set. It is under $14 at the time of publishing. The primary differences between Wizards of the Coast 2014 D&D and Tales of the Valiant lies in Tales having character creation that separates nature and nurture, luck replacing inspiration and the insertion of unique abilities on every monster.

I’d recommend Tales of the Valiant over 2014 D&D because of those changes, even if it doesn’t have the branding your friends expect. It also comes with minis! If Stormwreck Isle is 5.1 5e, ToV is probably 5.3.

Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club

Maybe your friends didn’t get into D&D from Stranger Things season 1, or 2, or 3, or 4. Or maybe they did, but didn’t have the time, energy or mental space to play the game.

Welcome to the Hellfire Club uses Wizards of the Coast’s modern take on starter sets — lots of tokens, handouts, cards and a written approach that blurs the line between board game and roleplaying game.

modern take on starter sets — lots of tokens, handouts, cards

The presentation includes a look that borrows from 80s nostalgia as expected. The four adventure books include trade dress that would make Gary Gygax and TSR proud.

This is the second starter set built out of Stranger Things by Wizards of the Coast. Both lean heavily into using the voice of the character from the show that was the featured DM, lean into the mythology of the TV show with its ‘not quite D&D monsters, but monsters that middle/high schoolers would think are D&D monsters.’

The first Stranger Things set was rather linear in nature, which fit the times and works fairly well for people newer to roleplaying. Welcome to the Hellfire Club uses 2024 5e D&D rules.

D&D Starter Set: Heroes of the Borderlands

https://youtu.be/evsJ_nZ7Sws

Similar to Stranger Things pulling out 80s nostalgia to pull people into its world, Wizards of the Coast uses Dungeons & Dragons most popular adventure from the foundational period to inspire its new general purpose Starter Set.

Keep on the Borderlands is now Heroes of the Borderlands, with three adventures. Using 2024 5e D&D’s rules, card-based character creation, tokens and maps, the intent of Heroes is to again bridge that gap between board game night and RPG night.

Because it is 2024’s rules rather than 1974s, the set is massive. Those three little folios that could fit in a small lunchbox are gone. Instead Heroes has more than 400 cards and tokens, a quick start, a set of rules, and three adventures.

The game of D&D is simultaneously more complex and more approachable than it was in the 70s and 80s. Being a more pervasive part of the culture is part of that. Also the decades of exposure to computer RPGs changes how one approaches teaching the game.

Forgotten Realms expansions

A massive two-book, three-digital book expansion coming with the brilliant marketing around “The Realms will know your name” these books aren’t necessarily great for first timers to tabletop roleplaying, unless…

You know people who were heavy into the lore of Baldur’s Gate 3 and/or D&D: Honor Among Thieves and/or the once dominant fantasy novels set in the Realms. Those legends exist within the expansion, but the point of D&D and RPGs in general is to tell your story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06Oe-XtgScs

Only dive into this if you are being joined by people who absolutely love those non-tabletop versions of the Forgotten Realms. These expansions include 50 micro-adventures that fit an on-the-fly DM rather well (similar to those in the 2024 DMG).

Those playing with your classic group you need little guidance. If you are using the 2024 D&D rules, or at a table that permits a broad swath of 5e rules, the expansion is handy if you want to borrow factions, subclasses, new species and nuggets of lore to insert into your homebrew.

In total the Realms expansions add about 30% more character creation options while dramatically expanding the story through the lore expansions.

Eberron: Forge of the Artificer

High fantasy doesn’t have to take place in a world that’s pseudo medieval/Renaissance and Euro coded.

It can also include pervasive magic, spread widely among the populace in a world that echoes tropes related to early Industrialization with great Houses, lightning rails, elemental airships and a ‘war to end all wars.’

That’s Eberron.

Forge of the Artificer is a lightweight updated to the setting originally invented by Keith Baker.

Due to a product failure on the physical book, it is being entirely reprinted with digital and print now out 9 December, 2025.

Don’t get Forge of the Artificer unless you already have Rising from the Last War or you really want to have the magitech Artificers at your table or you are a completionist. I’ll be getting it for the first two reasons. I’m currently playing a goblin Artificer.

The Artificer in Forge is updated for 2024 with a brand new subclass as well. From what was in the Unearthed Arcana developing this coming version of the Artificer it looks to have the quality of life improvements I would expect.

Other RPGs

LevelUp

LevelUp is built on the 5.1 5e chassis, but advances it. This does make it a more complex version of high fantasy role playing. Some of the greatest improvements come from expanding the social and exploration pillars. This helps tell a wider variety of stories. Like every offshoot of D&D from the 5e era it separates nature and nurture.

There’s now a Starter Set available. Yes, it has tokens and multiple adventure, because that’s what modern starter sets do. EN Publishing’s Starter Set is an excellent way to try on a different version of the game you already know.

Cosmere RPG

If you enjoy Brandon Sanderson’s writing you might enjoy the Cosmere RPG. It is not based on 5e. It is the highest earning RPG kickstarter of all time.

Cosmere is beautiful, complex and the most extensive lore heavy game upon release likely ever.

Draw Steel

While not the level of Kickstarter success of Cosmere, Draw Steel was still a massive earner. The design team from MCDM is mostly people who produced wonderful 5e products, but are now releasing a system that emphasizes combat (tactical, heroic, cinematic) even more than D&D. The rules are crafted so that the feeling of conflicts is a reminder of watching a movie or TV show’s fight scenes.

Daggerheart

If Draw Steel is inspired by D&D, but wanting to be more combat, Daggerheart is inspired by D&D, but wanting to empower more story. Like Draw Steel and Cosmere, Daggerheart is a wholly new system. Most simply defined there is a Hope/Fear mechanic attached to the double-dice roll of players. Additionally it covers more ground about how to communally create the worlds and social interaction. Coming from Critical Role’s Darrington Press Daggerheart is designed to showcase the types of stories Critical Role excelled at.

Similar to Cosmere and D&D there is a wealth of media associated with it already — with more coming from the media arm of what was once a D&D actual play, but is now a multimedia company.

There are plenty of other games too — listing them all is foolhardy. Pathfinder and Starfinder, Legend of the Ring, Warhammer, Shadowdark and the list could go on.

But the zeitgeist right now seems to be focused on 2024 D&D versus a few upstarts with million dollar or more crowdfunding campaigns all coming out in the second half of 2025.

No matter what you choose — play more games.

#5e #Cosmere #Daggerheart #dd #DnD #DrawSteel #DungeonsAndDragons #LevelUp #PlayingDD #RolePlaying #RPG #StarterSets #TalesOfTheValiant #TTRPG

Black Flag is in the Creative Commons, now what? Backgrounds!

Over the past decade the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons grew three main offshoots from its original 2014 release by Wizards of the Coast. These three trunks are all now in the Creative Commons thanks to Kobold Press’s announcement this week.

A5e is the Systems Reference Document for LevelUp, from EN Publishing. This branch of 5e places much greater emphasis on social and exploration, while also being a more complex combat engine. It’s “advanced” 5e.

2024 D&D by Wizards of the Coast (the 5.2.1 SRD) is an evolution of the most popular version of the game in history. It adds minor layers of complexity, and removes most bioessentialism.

Now, Black Flag, the SRD for Tales of the Valiant is also in the Commons under the CC BY 4.0. The primary changes within Black Flag are replacing Inspiration with Luck, adding Dread and similar to A5e uses both nature and nurture to define an upbringing.

All three modern offshoots add a unique element to every monster. Rather than have merely have bigger numbers, monsters do something different — a Commoner in Black Flag has Angry Mob, while in A5e Commoners have a Stone (they can also be a Group) and in 5.2.1 they have Training.

What can a DM/GM/designer do with all four in the same license?

1. I am not a lawyer. Nor am I your lawyer. Use an actual lawyer if you have questions and are publishing for money.
2. Read all relevant SRDs as well as their related FAQs.
3. Find the place you want fiddle with and become an expert at that before you try to be an expert at everything.
4. At your home table, borrow liberally from every system. If you don’t find yourself handing out 2014 Inspiration and don’t like 2024 D&D’s mechanical implementation, use Luck from Black Flag. Use everyone’s monsters — they’re balanced enough for the elastic system that is 5e — your players will have fun interacting with different commoners doing different things.

Maybe you’re thinking “that’s nice advice Dave, but what are you going to do?”

Backgrounds!

Full Moon Storytelling’s most popular types of stories are various Backgrounds. The ones on this site focus on empowering a wider variety of tales within our 5e games, while leaning into short-form personality, a spread of Feats/Talents for each and sometimes a cantrip.

Each of the main trunks of 5e do something different from the 2014 version of the game. That’s good! Your table can use a Background from any of the modern versions and there will be no balance issues. That means dozens of more origin stories for your heroes.

For myself it means my eternal project becomes a simple project. A few dozen new Backgrounds with methodology to fit in all four trunks of 5e.

Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

• Barker or Crier
• Remarkable Drudge
• Farmer & Beekeeper
• Vintner
• Midwife
• Caravanserai & Innkeeper
• Sparkler
• Tinker
• Lamplighter or Street Sweeper
• Herbalist
• Far Talker
• Hunter
• Messenger
• Clerk & Tax Collector
• Barber, Stylist or Bloodletter
• Cabbie & Ferien
• Clothier or Weaver

The Tinker

This week the Tinker is my most popular Background. Tuning it for each version of 5e doesn’t take much.

2014 5e by WotC

It’s already released, but the key point is the feature “I Can Fix It.” The feature helps in exploration situations, mostly, as it means the Tinker will usually have a way to MacGyver there way through a problem even if they don’t have the proper supplies.

2024 5e by WotC

If you leave Ability Score Improvements within the Background rather than have them float the Tinker would choose between Dexterity, Intelligence and Charisma.

Origin Feats

Choose one;

• Crafter
• Magic Initiate (Wizard)
• Skilled
• Tavern Brawler
• and from Tasha’s Artificer Initiate

Black Flag from Kobold Press

Choose a Talent

• Far Traveler
• Polyglot
• Trade Skills
• Scrutinous
• Ritualist (Arcane)

A5e from EN Publishing

ASI – Tinkers typically grant a +1 in Dexterity

Connections – Tinkers might know a caravanserai, an innkeeper, a ferien, a smith, a group of bandits, a sergeant from a warring nation, a local farmer, a maker of fine meed, a faerie that’s a cheesemonger.

Memento – Tinker memento options could include a letter from home, a chapbook of poetry, a metal they’ve never been able to bend or smelt, a strap of leather from their first failed project, the stein from their favorite inn, or a book of cantrips though they don’t know any.

Adventures and Advancement – A Tinker who repaired a notable authority’s broken item may be granted a writ of access granting the Tinker expertise on Persuasion rolls.

Feature – same as the original on Full Moon Storytelling.

Now, these examples are quick looks at a future project that will include the score of Backgrounds already on the site, plus the four Everflow specific Backgrounds that didn’t get their own entry. And more as my reading expands.

With four versions of 5e available in the Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0) how will you create for your table?

#A5e #backgrounds #BlackFlag #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #gaming #homebrew #LevelUp #PlayingDD #RPG #TalesOfTheValiant

Lore Collage: Everyone has dragons, they’re all different

I have to blog. It’s a curse

It’s also a space full of unpublished drafts. I wouldn’t want to see what drafts I lost when Sounder at Heart left SB Nation. I can still check what SaH has of mine in drafts, but I don’t dare check that. I recently checked my work drafts and even there I have unpublished drafts. Here there are unpublished drafts.

Anyway, I have to blog.

But also I let things get in the way of publishing. Which is frustrating.

It does mean that I don’t need to shave the yak like my friend, but sometimes, maybe I need a bit of a reset. That’s a part of what Lore Collage is. It compels me to write more. Even if I don’t think my words are worthy — I press publish.

Reading

Dragons are funny things. Almost every culture has dragon-ish monsters in their stories. In my own world they horde things and emotions and knowledge. In others they are a warring faction of old gods. What are your dragons?

Over on EN World SlyFlourish asked people to share their game prep. Since I’m not DMing right now I didn’t share, but seeing the variety of ways people prep for games is wonderful.

While most of my role-play is centered around 5e and similar systems, I like the Ennies as a way to keep me aware of new systems, creators and aids. The 2025 nominee list includes two products I’ve already used (DungeonScrawl and Hero Forge Kitbashing).

Post by @scottfgray View on Mastodon

https://dice.camp/embed.js

If you live in the Puget Sound and Columbia Basins you don’t need to worry about the tiny earthquake swarms under Tahoma. If you are creating a fantasy world, add earthquake swarms as a natural hazard, make them big. See how the characters react to things they cannot fight. Then make them fight an earthquake swarms.

Making Enemies is the next book from The Monsters Know What They’re Doing creator Keith Amman. The way Keith approaches lore based in the short story of a stat block makes me excited to see what he does when he’s teaching me how to make the stat blocks.

Creating an RPG is hard. It takes either an immense amount of talent or a network of people. It probably takes both. PJ Coffey gets into the details of all the tasks that go into publishing a work. I’ve worked with PJ on two of their projects.

A few weeks ago I spoke at a risk intelligence conference about using role playing games as a teaching aid for non practitioners. My search algorithm is working. Both Rascal News and Military.com put out stories that will be part of my next work presentation on the same subject.

• Preparing for Public Health Disasters With Tabletop Games
• How Tabletop War Games Build Strategy and Community

Want help telling your world’s history of empires? Procedurally generate the ebb and flow of conquest (if you have a Windows machine and understand GitHub).

Watching

There’s always more to learn about sports, and I’m already trying to figure out how to insert tuj lub into my D&D games — I’m big about that too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FWhgnRjQME

Kobold Press has a deal on shipping right now. I’m looking at the Labyrinth Worldbook. It is full of ideas I can borrow into the World of the Everflow. Which would be funny since as a backer for Tales of the Valiant I pitched the World of the Everflow to be included.

Handily, SlyFlourish has a review up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT3Dl1rbPKs

Creating

Alignment is too simple. Personality traits, ideals, bonds and flaws is too complex. Use short form personality instead — 2-6 words that describe your character.

Converting Full Moon Storytelling’s Herbalist Background to modern 5e

5e24

Pick one of the following Feats. They are listed in order of commonality;

1. Healer
2. Magic Initiate (Druid)
3. Skilled
4. Musician
5. Magic Initiate (Cleric)

Then assign ability score bonuses to Wisdom, Intelligence or Dexterity.

Black Flag

Pick one of the following Talents. They are listed in order of commonality;

1. Field Medic
2. Trade Skills
3. Physical Fortitude
4. Ritualist (Primordial)
5. Psycanist

#BlackFlag #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #herbalist #PlayingDD #RPG #TalesOfTheValiant

Lore Collage: Everyone has dragons, they’re all different

I have to blog. It’s a curse

It’s also a space full of unpublished drafts. I wouldn’t want to see what drafts I lost when Sounder at Heart left SB Nation. I can still check what SaH has of mine in drafts, but I don’t dare check that. I recently checked my work drafts and even there I have unpublished drafts. Here there are unpublished drafts.

Anyway, I have to blog.

But also I let things get in the way of publishing. Which is frustrating.

It does mean that I don’t need to shave the yak like my friend, but sometimes, maybe I need a bit of a reset. That’s a part of what Lore Collage is. It compels me to write more. Even if I don’t think my words are worthy — I press publish.

Reading

Dragons are funny things. Almost every culture has dragon-ish monsters in their stories. In my own world they horde things and emotions and knowledge. In others they are a warring faction of old gods. What are your dragons?

Over on EN World SlyFlourish asked people to share their game prep. Since I’m not DMing right now I didn’t share, but seeing the variety of ways people prep for games is wonderful.

While most of my role-play is centered around 5e and similar systems, I like the Ennies as a way to keep me aware of new systems, creators and aids. The 2025 nominee list includes two products I’ve already used (DungeonScrawl and Hero Forge Kitbashing).

Post by @scottfgray View on Mastodon

https://dice.camp/embed.js

If you live in the Puget Sound and Columbia Basins you don’t need to worry about the tiny earthquake swarms under Tahoma. If you are creating a fantasy world, add earthquake swarms as a natural hazard, make them big. See how the characters react to things they cannot fight. Then make them fight an earthquake swarms.

Making Enemies is the next book from The Monsters Know What They’re Doing creator Keith Amman. The way Keith approaches lore based in the short story of a stat block makes me excited to see what he does when he’s teaching me how to make the stat blocks.

Creating an RPG is hard. It takes either an immense amount of talent or a network of people. It probably takes both. PJ Coffey gets into the details of all the tasks that go into publishing a work. I’ve worked with PJ on two of their projects.

A few weeks ago I spoke at a risk intelligence conference about using role playing games as a teaching aid for non practitioners. My search algorithm is working. Both Rascal News and Military.com put out stories that will be part of my next work presentation on the same subject.

• Preparing for Public Health Disasters With Tabletop Games
• How Tabletop War Games Build Strategy and Community

Want help telling your world’s history of empires? Procedurally generate the ebb and flow of conquest (if you have a Windows machine and understand GitHub).

Watching

There’s always more to learn about sports, and I’m already trying to figure out how to insert tuj lub into my D&D games — I’m big about that too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FWhgnRjQME

Kobold Press has a deal on shipping right now. I’m looking at the Labyrinth Worldbook. It is full of ideas I can borrow into the World of the Everflow. Which would be funny since as a backer for Tales of the Valiant I pitched the World of the Everflow to be included.

Handily, SlyFlourish has a review up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT3Dl1rbPKs

Creating

Alignment is too simple. Personality traits, ideals, bonds and flaws is too complex. Use short form personality instead — 2-6 words that describe your character.

Converting Full Moon Storytelling’s Herbalist Background to modern 5e

5e24

Pick one of the following Feats. They are listed in order of commonality;

1. Healer
2. Magic Initiate (Druid)
3. Skilled
4. Musician
5. Magic Initiate (Cleric)

Then assign ability score bonuses to Wisdom, Intelligence or Dexterity.

Black Flag

Pick one of the following Talents. They are listed in order of commonality;

1. Field Medic
2. Trade Skills
3. Physical Fortitude
4. Ritualist (Primordial)
5. Psycanist

#BlackFlag #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #herbalist #PlayingDD #RPG #TalesOfTheValiant

Your favorite fantasy TV series was cancelled, now what? RPGs

A few years ago it was the heyday of big, high fantasy TV series. Yes, the grit of Game of Thrones and Witcher were still popular, but there were also a selection of shows with a higher level of magic, higher level of heroism and a set of characters who you wanted to win. It was the era of peak fantasy TV.

Slowly but surely these faded away.

Some series got a reasonable run — The Magicians reached a conclusion. Some series were cut quite short — Willow, ended with more story to tell.

Universes were announced to be expanding. Shadow & Bone went from having the Six of Crows spinoff announced to the entire project dying.

There was big money in fantasy for a bit. These weren’t Brit TV specials like Merlin or modern attempts at low budget like Xena.

The biggest money of them all is still around. Rings of Power, the prequel-ish endeavor by Prime Video churns along at price points that are normally saved for theater or Andor.

The wheel weaves as the wheel wills, always turning.

Sometimes the wheel destroys the things you enjoy, like Wheel of Time — especially the last half of season 2 and all of season 3 with strong reviews and great fan appreciation. While there was enormous pushback against the changes made to adapt to the shorter run time of a book plus a bit per season, as well as pushback against the attempts to be less coded and more openly diverse, the series was generally well received. It was generally profitable.

It’s gone.

The story won’t finish (except in the books, which will always be around). Yes, there’s a petition to Save Wheel of Time. I hope it succeeds. Brandon Sanderson seems to suggest it should, but will not.

Petitions and book reading are passive.

Don’t be passive — adapt those stories to an RPG

Playing games in those worlds is active participation in the fandom, and helps build out that word of mouth.

You don’t need to have an authorized book in order to play. Any fantasy series, movie, video game, book, comic, etc can show up at your table.

You can instead borrow the themes, cultures, characters and put them in your world. Sure, you could play pure within the world created by Robert Jordan or Lev Grossman or Jonathan Kasdan.

The power of roleplaying games is that the tale is yours, no one can take it from you. The rules can be simple enough to fit on a business card or so complex it fills bookshelves.

What happens to Jade, Kit and Elora?

That’s up to you.

What happens to Mat, Perrin, Elayne, Min and the rest?

That’s up to you.

Take the themes, tropes and world of that story that a committee decided was no longer worth being told and tell it yourself.

That’s why I fell in love with D&D and RPGs in the 80s.

The unfinished trilogy, or maybe not

Back in my youth my bookshelves were covered with science fiction, fantasy and encyclopedias. Words on a page were meant to be consumed by me, like a black hole consumes a galaxy.

I’d shop at a used bookstore, looking for a new series to start. Except sometimes I’d never find book 2, let alone the inevitable trilogy. Sometimes I would start with book 3!

One of my favorite tales, and I say this as someone who had pets but didn’t really discover the love of pets until my 30s, was a story about a fading order of knights who rode giant tigers. The hero wasn’t really part of the order. His family was and he had that extremely large cat. In this dying world they journeyed, starting as outsiders and immediately recognized as legendary. But they were just a dude and a great cat.

They didn’t want to be heroes. It was so compelling, this story of man and beast who wanted to be normal while the world needed them to be great.

I never found book 2.

But I had already discovered Dungeons & Dragons. A character paralleling that tale was created. We roamed the worlds that Erik and Justin and Chis and Abel and Hayes and Jacob and Colin and Andrew and others created.

We finished that tale.

Wheel of Time is over, unless it isn’t

The series explored slightly different things from the books. One of those was how tales are told. There’s a suggestion from the meta of the series that within a world where there are endless retellings of tales and history.

What changes, and what stays the same is part of that story.

Your RPG could lean into that by playing similar characters at different levels, at different times with a power to oncer per month to have a past power show up, maybe ramping faster as time goes by.

Another possible exploration from the Wheel of Times series and books is how power corrupts. The nature of saidin is that man with power lose control of themselves — mentally, emotionally, physically.

Want to toss a saidin power into your D&D?

Maybe your Rand-ish character is a Warlock that has to roll on the Wild Magic table every time they cast a spell.

Of course, one of the most potent tales from the books that is amplified in the series is that women are not side characters. They are as important to the story, and powerfully so, as anyone else.

You don’t need special rules for this. The modern versions of D&D encourage this.

From Willow there is a connection in the series to the tales from the movie (history is a massive throughput in Wheel of Time as well).

To see this at your table means connecting a current adventure or campaign to one that ended a decade, a century, a millennia, an age ago.

A D&D campaign that builds off of former campaigns is a structure that generally needs some continuity of players, but can also be done through one-sheets, common knowledge pages and a regular re-telling of special moments.

This could happen around the campfire, on the steps of a temple, inside a tavern or any place where the PCs meet NPCs.

Find what’s important from these tales and make them your own

It’s rough to lose a special story.

You have your memory. You have your hope.

You have a game to help you continue the legends that are important to you. You don’t need Rafe or Sera or Kasdan.

You need dice, paper and a table of friends.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #fantasyTV #PlayingDD #RolePlaying #RPG #WheelOfTime #Willow

This I’ll Defend, The Ferments: A campaign one sheet

The Ferments are a rough land of geysers, lava flows, fast glaciers, waterfalls, hot springs, tornadoes, earthquakes — the raw power of the world. From this land the best alcohols of the Six Kingdoms come. The peoples of the Ferments are dispersed, spread over the many miles with four main towns. They generally live in defensible homesteads interacting when they need goods or during festivals.

Campaign Premise

Our eventual heroes start out as the primary defender of a homestead. They know how to contact other homesteads for help when needed, but mostly they are on their own hoping to remain safe from a world where dragons came real, magic became powerful and kaiju returned.

Grand Conflicts

Elementals burst from the land, stronger than before and with a hungry intelligence that threatens the land. Outsiders fleeing the wars of Six Kingdoms come for safe harbor. Dragons and their Ken continue to search for more scholars.

Each homestead has a book, collection of scrolls or other devices that helps them control an element (earth, air, fire, water) or paraelemental (smoke, magma, dust, ice, steam, mud, etc). These start out with each PC knowing Elementalism, limited by their choice of element. Each was passed down since the time of Gallinor, before the time of dragons.

Factions

Every player will create either an ally or adversary family besides their own. They may also have a connection to one of the families (not all families share blood-ties) of other characters.

Adversaries

Allies

Rumors

This section will fill over time.

• Kaiju roam as in the time of Gallinor — some even are ridden. Word is they come from the Kirtin-in-the-Sky and the Cliffs of Gallinor.

Facets

• Exploring the zero-to-hero tropes, friendship with animals, and who gets to control knowledge.
• Defending your people.
• Inverted West Marches.
  • Enemy generally comes to you. Though you may sallly in order to obtain resources.
  • Episodic – attend when you can.
• Sessions are 3 hours, with each story completed in one session.
  • Characters will level up every 3 sessions.
• Recaps will be posted to Full Moon Storytelling.

Variant Rules

• Wizards of the Coast’s 2024 D&D is the baseline
  • Monsters may come from Black Flag, A5E, 5.1 and 5.2 products.
  • Player options must be consistent within the ruleset (i.e. if you play a Mechanist all options should be from Tales of the Valiant for that character).
  • There is a campaign set up on DnD Beyond. Email me to get an invite.
  • Start at 1st level.
  • Use point buy or standard array for starting attributes. If you want something random, the redrick roller gives random point-buy-valid stats.
    • SlyFlourish’s Simple Array is permitted (17 14 14 12 10 8). Do not use ASIs from other sources.
• Playable races are Human, Hin(what they call themselves)/Halfling, or Goliath.
  • Start with a Bonded Companion.
• There are several custom backgrounds and tools available. We will use cultures, not languages. Common is the Western Wildes. Other cultures are;
  • Kirtin
  • Daoud
  • Crinth
  • Azsel
  • Mehmd
  • Gobkon
  • Dragonken
  • Church of Quar
  • Every character is assumed to have Common Knowledge in the Six Kingdoms.
• Heroic Inspiration will exist as a shared dice pool that is a maximum of 2+ the number of PCs that day.
  • In addition to the normal ways to award Heroic Inspiration it will be awarded for playing to Short Form Personality.
• Each PC manages a Homestead (Bastion from 5e 2024) that starts with no Special Buildings.
  • When defending your homestead you will have Militia Actions available. If you control a Barracks you have additional Militia Actions.
• Each session will offer the opportunity for a short rest. Long rests are between sessions.

Practicum

Sessions are on Sundays from 1-4 when my main campaign isn’t being played. We’ll meet at Logan Brewing, usually. I’m willing to do duet play outside of that timeline as well.

Each character should be built in a session zero discussing their personality, homestead, allies/adversaries and key abilities.

#campaign #campaignOneSheet #dd #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #gaming #PlayingDD #RPG #TTRPG

Militia actions for 5e systems

Sometimes in D&D and similar games you need to empower the players to manage groups of allies supporting the narrative, without precise actions by individuals. When running a rebellion, skirmish or base defense you can use militia actions representing the training a character conducted with a group of commoners.

1. On every PC’s turn they now have a Militia Action. This is independent of their character’s actions and reflect the training that the character put into the small unit (think squad sized) during downtime.
2. In initiative the Militia Action happens after all player actions and the actions of that character’s companions (familiars, pets, constructs, etc)
3. A militia is a Swarm of Commoners (AC: 10, HD: 6, PB: 0, all abilities are 10, a Swarm may have a tool proficiency or skill for flavor). Every time it is attacked it makes a Wisdom ability check against the damage dealt. It gains a bonus from the controlling character’s Charisma (Persuasion). Each failure removes a Hit Die. When it drops below 3 HD it loses one of its damage dice. Do not track damage.
   Suggestion: Use a d6 to track the HD of a Swarm of Commoners.
4. Pick one of the following actions
   • Ranged attack – this attack is rolled with an Attack Bonus of + controlling character’s Charisma+PB (and whichever ability they use to command). Range is 30/60 to represent inaccurate and improvised weapons. Damage is 2d4.
   • Melee attack – this attack is rolled with an Attack Bonus of + controlling character’s Charisma+PB (and whichever ability they use to command). Reach is 10′ to represent pitchforks, spears, and other implements. Damage is 2d6.
   • Funnel – the swarm moves 20′ and creates an 10×10 area of difficult terrain. If the terrain is already difficult it now costs twice that movement. After that the terrain becomes impassable except through magical means.
   • Rally – the militia energizes an ally, enabling it to expand an Hit Die. If the ally is another militia it regains a Hit Die.
   • Pester – if an opponent is in reach of the militia the unit can distract it so that the next attack against the opponent is at Advantage.
   • Move and/or Hide – the militia unit can move 20′ and then if cover is available it can make its defensive check at advantage.
   • Activate terrain, traps, spell craft or siege weapons – If a siege weapon is nearby a Swarm of Commoners has as many Utilize Actions as it does damage dice. It can also activate Magic Items, Rituals or Terrain as allowed by the scenario and dungeon master.
5. A player may choose to use a second Bonus Action (if they have one, to make another Militia Action.

A character may only command one Swarm of Commoners unless they are a Propagandist or Inspiring Leader (PB number of Swarms).

This is a refined approach on the earlier Introducing Militia Actions to support base defense in urban rebellion play.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #MilitiaActions #PlayingDD #skirmishes #SwarmOfCommoners

Militia actions for 5e systems

Sometimes in D&D and similar games you need to empower the players to manage groups of allies supporting the narrative, without precise actions by individuals. When running a rebellion, skirmish or base defense you can use militia actions representing the training a character conducted with a group of commoners.

1. On every PC’s turn they now have a Militia Action. This is independent of their character’s actions and reflect the training that the character put into the small unit (think squad sized) during downtime.
2. In initiative the Militia Action happens after all player actions and the actions of that character’s companions (familiars, pets, constructs, etc)
3. A militia is a Swarm of Commoners (AC: 10, HD: 6, PB: 0, all abilities are 10, a Swarm may have a tool proficiency or skill for flavor). Every time it is attacked it makes a Wisdom ability check against the damage dealt. It gains a bonus from the controlling character’s Charisma (Persuasion). Each failure removes a Hit Die. When it drops below 3 HD it loses one of its damage dice. Do not track damage.
   Suggestion: Use a d6 to track the HD of a Swarm of Commoners.
4. Pick one of the following actions
   • Ranged attack – this attack is rolled with an Attack Bonus of + controlling character’s Charisma+PB (and whichever ability they use to command). Range is 30/60 to represent inaccurate and improvised weapons. Damage is 2d4.
   • Melee attack – this attack is rolled with an Attack Bonus of + controlling character’s Charisma+PB (and whichever ability they use to command). Reach is 10′ to represent pitchforks, spears, and other implements. Damage is 2d6.
   • Funnel – the swarm moves 20′ and creates an 10×10 area of difficult terrain. If the terrain is already difficult it now costs twice that movement. After that the terrain becomes impassable except through magical means.
   • Rally – the militia energizes an ally, enabling it to expand an Hit Die. If the ally is another militia it regains a Hit Die.
   • Pester – if an opponent is in reach of the militia the unit can distract it so that the next attack against the opponent is at Advantage.
   • Move and/or Hide – the militia unit can move 20′ and then if cover is available it can make its defensive check at advantage.
   • Activate terrain, traps, spell craft or siege weapons – If a siege weapon is nearby a Swarm of Commoners has as many Utilize Actions as it does damage dice. It can also activate Magic Items, Rituals or Terrain as allowed by the scenario and dungeon master.
5. A player may choose to use a second Bonus Action (if they have one, to make another Militia Action.

A character may only command one Swarm of Commoners unless they are a Propagandist or Inspiring Leader (PB number of Swarms).

This is a refined approach on the earlier Introducing Militia Actions to support base defense in urban rebellion play.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #MilitiaActions #PlayingDD #skirmishes #SwarmOfCommoners

Militia actions for 5e systems

Sometimes in D&D and similar games you need to empower the players to manage groups of allies supporting the narrative, without precise actions by individuals. When running a rebellion, skirmish or base defense you can use militia actions representing the training a character conducted with a group of commoners.

1. On every PC’s turn they now have a Militia Action. This is independent of their character’s actions and reflect the training that the character put into the small unit (think squad sized) during downtime.
2. In initiative the Militia Action happens after all player actions and the actions of that character’s companions (familiars, pets, constructs, etc)
3. A militia is a Swarm of Commoners (AC: 10, HD: 6, PB: 0, all abilities are 10, a Swarm may have a tool proficiency or skill for flavor). Every time it is attacked it makes a Wisdom ability check against the damage dealt. It gains a bonus from the controlling character’s Charisma (Persuasion). Each failure removes a Hit Die. When it drops below 3 HD it loses one of its damage dice. Do not track damage.
   Suggestion: Use a d6 to track the HD of a Swarm of Commoners.
4. Pick one of the following actions
   • Ranged attack – this attack is rolled with an Attack Bonus of + controlling character’s Charisma+PB (and whichever ability they use to command). Range is 30/60 to represent inaccurate and improvised weapons. Damage is 2d4.
   • Melee attack – this attack is rolled with an Attack Bonus of + controlling character’s Charisma+PB (and whichever ability they use to command). Reach is 10′ to represent pitchforks, spears, and other implements. Damage is 2d6.
   • Funnel – the swarm moves 20′ and creates an 10×10 area of difficult terrain. If the terrain is already difficult it now costs twice that movement. After that the terrain becomes impassable except through magical means.
   • Rally – the militia energizes an ally, enabling it to expand an Hit Die. If the ally is another militia it regains a Hit Die.
   • Pester – if an opponent is in reach of the militia the unit can distract it so that the next attack against the opponent is at Advantage.
   • Move and/or Hide – the militia unit can move 20′ and then if cover is available it can make its defensive check at advantage.
   • Activate terrain, traps, spell craft or siege weapons – If a siege weapon is nearby a Swarm of Commoners has as many Utilize Actions as it does damage dice. It can also activate Magic Items, Rituals or Terrain as allowed by the scenario and dungeon master.
5. A player may choose to use a second Bonus Action (if they have one) to make another Militia Action.

A character may only command one Swarm of Commoners unless they are a Propagandist or Inspiring Leader (PB number of Swarms).

This is a refined approach on the earlier Introducing Militia Actions to support base defense in urban rebellion play.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #MilitiaActions #PlayingDD #skirmishes #SwarmOfCommoners

Militia actions for 5e systems

Sometimes in D&D and similar games you need to empower the players to manage groups of allies supporting the narrative, without precise actions by individuals. When running a rebellion, skirmish or base defense you can use militia actions representing the training a character conducted with a group of commoners.

1. On every PC’s turn they now have a Militia Action. This is independent of their character’s actions and reflect the training that the character put into the small unit (think squad sized) during downtime.
2. In initiative the Militia Action happens after all player actions and the actions of that character’s companions (familiars, pets, constructs, etc)
3. A militia is a Swarm of Commoners (AC: 10, HD: 6, PB: 0, all abilities are 10, a Swarm may have a tool proficiency or skill for flavor). Every time it is attacked it makes a Wisdom ability check against the damage dealt. It gains a bonus from the controlling character’s Charisma (Persuasion). Each failure removes a Hit Die. When it drops below 3 HD it loses one of its damage dice. Do not track damage.
   Suggestion: Use a d6 to track the HD of a Swarm of Commoners.
4. Pick one of the following actions
   • Ranged attack – this attack is rolled with an Attack Bonus of + controlling character’s Charisma+PB (and whichever ability they use to command). Range is 30/60 to represent inaccurate and improvised weapons. Damage is 2d4.
   • Melee attack – this attack is rolled with an Attack Bonus of + controlling character’s Charisma+PB (and whichever ability they use to command). Reach is 10′ to represent pitchforks, spears, and other implements. Damage is 2d6.
   • Funnel – the swarm moves 20′ and creates an 10×10 area of difficult terrain. If the terrain is already difficult it now costs twice that movement. After that the terrain becomes impassable except through magical means.
   • Rally – the militia energizes an ally, enabling it to expand an Hit Die. If the ally is another militia it regains a Hit Die.
   • Pester – if an opponent is in reach of the militia the unit can distract it so that the next attack against the opponent is at Advantage.
   • Move and/or Hide – the militia unit can move 20′ and then if cover is available it can make its defensive check at advantage.
   • Activate terrain, traps, spell craft or siege weapons – If a siege weapon is nearby a Swarm of Commoners has as many Utilize Actions as it does damage dice. It can also activate Magic Items, Rituals or Terrain as allowed by the scenario and dungeon master.
5. A player may choose to use a second Bonus Action (if they have one) to make another Militia Action.

A character may only command one Swarm of Commoners unless they are a Propagandist or Inspiring Leader (PB number of Swarms).

This is a refined approach on the earlier Introducing Militia Actions to support base defense in urban rebellion play.

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #homebrew #MilitiaActions #PlayingDD #skirmishes #SwarmOfCommoners