#the print was from a roll the d20 and you get a different one based on the number you roll

[flamingo-writes]

Heyyyyyy, sooo I was thinking bout being Mike's older sister, and dating eddie secretly, but then, Ed has to mention his girlfriend( they still dont know who it is, just that he has one),but none of the hellfire boys believe him and then one night, in a make out sesh on his throne, the boys come in the room,( eddie "forgot"😉 it was DnD night) and Mike is just like, shooketh and it's really funny, sorry if it's too precise or detailed

I was away for the weekend and hardly had time to write. But, As soon as I saw this request I fell in love with it and started writing it right away. It took me some time to get done bcs adult life sucks, and this kinda turned out longer than expected 🤡 but that shouldn’t come as a surprise at this point. This also turned out fluffier than expected, I wanted this to be funny but it turned out to be more soft and fluffy… with some funny parts ofc.

Im also implying that the design of the Hellfire shirt was made by the reader.

Got To Be Real — e.m.

Eddie Munson x Wheeler!Reader

Title based off N.I.B. by Black Sabbath

Word count: 3.6K

Warnings: None that I can think of. Mentions of the reader having an active sex life, I guess?

Mixtape Masterlist

Mike unfolded the new shirt Eddie had thrown at them. Giving a new shirt to each and every one of the members of the Hellfire Club, making sure he handed the right size at everyone. Dustin chuckled next to Mike as Mike admired the details, the D20, a sword in fire, the logo, it all looked pretty badass, Mike thought.

“Oh shit, Eddie, these new shirts are amazing. Where did you get them?” Dustin asked as Mike wasted no time and put it on over the Star Wars shirt he was wearing.

“Oh, my girlfriend does screen printing” Eddie replied.

Dustin laughed again, this time differently, as Mike’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion and looked up, meeting Eddie’s dark eyes incredulously. Girlfriend?

“Whoa, whoa, your what now?”

“My girlfriend, Henderson” Eddie said in a sassy voice.

“Yeah right”

“You don’t believe me?” He asked, his voice growing more serious, as the look in his eyes changed quickly.

“I me-mean, I rarely see you talk to girls, you know, you intimidate most people…and screen printing is such an odd hobby…” Dustin said, justifying himself with a nervous giggle as he tried to reach at straws for whatever could help him from seeing Eddie’s wrath.

“My sister does screen printing” Mike said, looking at Dustin.

“Your sister is an art student…” Dustin blurted out “Besides, she’s living in Indianapolis, she’s not dating Eddie”

Eddie frowned, his look only growing more and more serious and colder, looking at Dustin, as if he wasn’t making any sense.

“I mean, yeah…She’s been acting odd ever since she started college, I think she might be dating someone, though…but every time I ask she refuses to tell me” Mike added, making Eddie chuckle and look away, rolling his eyes annoyed.

“She’s dating some dude from college…” Dustin stated as if it were obvious.

"Are you done chit chatting, kids?" Eddie interrupted bitterly.

"How’s your girlfriend called, then, Eddie…" Dustin asked with a defying look.

Eddie chuckled.

"That’s none of your goddamn business, Henderson" Eddie growled.

"Because she isn’t real" Dustin intervened.

Mike hit Dustin on the ribs with his elbow, as Dustin flinched and whined. Mike giving him a look with wide scared eyes, hoping that Dustin would het the message that he was pissing Eddie off. However, Dustin raised his eyebrows confused and shrugged, making Mike sigh and roll his eyes.

"Can I level with you?" Eddie's voice suddenly sounded calm "Assuming my girlfriend was imaginary, then why would I bother lying to you about where I got the shirts?" He asked.

"Good question," Dustin said, "But I still think it’s odd we’ve never seen you with a girl before, and you don’t tell us her what name is—"

"Henderson," Eddie cut him off with a serious low growl.

"Yes?"

"Give me back that shirt"

"Wha-what?" Dustin laughed uncomfortably "C’mon Ed…I-I’m kidding. This shirt is very cool, and your girlfriend is very talented. Tell her I said these are amazing…" Dustin mumbled nervously, as he clung to his shirt

"That's what I thought" Eddie said.

The last Friday of every month was Hellfire Club Friday. The last Friday of every month, they knew they couldn’t make any plans, as they were going to spend the entire afternoon playing D&D. However, you had forgotten that little detail.

Every time you returned to Hawkins, you usually spent the Friday nights and Sunday mornings with your family before driving back to Indianapolis. And the entirety of your Saturday with your boyfriend, Eddie. And you knew Eddie usually held campaigns on Fridays, but it was hard to track when exactly, and you knew he liked to take his time carefully planning everything, going over his notes from previous campaigns. You admired his dedication to his craft.

This, as well as his creativity, among many other things were what made you fall in love with him. Four years of high school, getting together every once in a while to play D&D, even though you two belonged to different social groups, you still got along pretty well. And slowly fell for each other over the course of your high school years, and started going out on dates in your last semester.

And while Eddie didn't get to graduate with you, that didn't stop him from asking you to be his girlfriend. And moving to Indianapolis for college did not stop you from saying yes.

And for two long years, you'd manage to keep your relationship afloat and going strong. While the both of you wished you could see each other daily as opposed to a few times a month, you made up for it by calling each other on a daily basis.

And during your last phone call, Eddie sounded particularly needy and whiny, begging you over and over again to go see him on Friday after school.

And saying no to him required a whole deal of effort. And yet, you couldn't bring yourself to say no to him. You left Indianapolis earlier than you usually did, to get to see your boyfriend for a while before your usual expected arrival at your parent's home.

Needy was an understatement. Eddie was sitting on his throne, with you straddling him. His lips attached to yours, devouring and swallowing every sweet noise that came out of your mouth. A slow yet passionate kiss, telling you exactly how much he'd missed you.

His hands roaming underneath your shirt, as you knew this make out session was going to end up with the both of you hot and bothered, as you wouldn't be able to do much in there without drawing suspicions. That, and you were running out of time. But boy, was it nostalgic. Your first kiss looked something like this. It had started as a shy kiss with the Dungeon Master after the last campaign of your high school and him confessing his feelings for you.

However, Eddie had deliberately missed the little detail that today was Hellfire Friday, and everyone else was on their way to the classroom where Eddie was taking his time teasing you. Touching your soft spots, tasting your needy moans, and making sure you knew how much he missed you and how much he needed you, although he knew he’d have to wait until tomorrow to finally claim you as his once again. Right now it wasn’t about making love to you, it was about getting to fool around, and proving his point to the newest members of the Club who didn’t believe him when he said he had a girlfriend.

"Wait, she's back already?" Dustin asked Mike curiously as they turned left on the hall, making their way to the Hellfire Club.

"Yeah she said she finished this term earlier because she aced everything and doesn't have to show to her finals…" Mike explained, telling him how your summer holidays had basically started earlier this semester.

"Whoa, she's so cool!" Dustin sighed.

"I know, night? Anyways, I asked her if she could pick me up after the campaign tonight since Nance will be busy, and I doubt my dad wants to miss on his game on the TV to pick me up…" Mike said.

"Could she give me a ride back to my place?" Dustin wondered.

"Yeah, of course. She loves you," Mike added.

As they stopped in front of the door, they pushed the door open, unaware of what they were both about to see. As the door creaked open, the heard a soft moan, and quickly exchanged uncomfortable stares before Dustin finished pushing the door open. The door made a louder creaking noise, and the horror that soon took over their faces could not be compared to anything they’d ever seen.

"Oh, oh! What the fuck?!" Dustin yelled, realizing there was a girl sitting on Eddie’s lap.

"Shit, Eddie, next time could you—" Mike whined, as shocked as Dustin, however, his voice was cut off, and he felt his jaw fall to the ground, as he put the pieces together, paralyzed, shocked.

"Shit, fuck" You growled in a low voice as you recognized your little brother’s voice and looked the opposite direction, knowing it was useless, but still clinging to the teeny tiny chance of managing to go unnoticed or at least unidentified.

"Sis?" Mike’s voice freezing your blood.

You sighed deeply and exchanged stares with Eddie, noticing a little mischievous grin on his face as you squinted, thinking he was behind all of this. You then turned to look at your little brother, and uncomfortably waved at him. Not muttering a single word.

"You're dating my sister?"

"Eddie's your boyfriend?!"

Both Mike and Dustin spat, shocked and incredulous as they replayed the conversation they had regarding Eddie’s girlfriend, and thought about the chances of it being you and wondering how obvious it was. Screen printing was an odd hobby to have, but you did…and Eddie’s girlfriend did too. Now that Mike did the math, it was obvious that Eddie and you were classmates, on his first run of the senior year, you’d been acting odd for the last two years, not really talking about your boyfriend but making it clear that you had one, Ed never really engaging with other girls aside of short simple interactions. You two had similar tastes in music, you’d taught Mike and his friends to play D&D…now that Mike thought about it, it was more possible than he’d thought.

“ Did you plan this?" You hissed, squinting at Eddie.

"Maybe" He said, as you rolled your eyes and got off his lap, fixing your shirt and your skirt.

"I can't believe this" Dustin said.

"So, all the… marks I saw on your neck, Eddie…" Mike murmured, making Eddie laugh.

"Ew, no, Mike stop!" Dustin begged as you rolled your eyes and felt your face heating up, and besting your head in your hands.

"Gentlemen," Eddie said in a calm voice as you looked up from your hands and turned your gaze to meet his. "I'd like to present to you my beautiful, talented, incredibly smart, and very real girlfriend..."

"Real? Oh, Ed—" You groaned and chuckled softly "Yeah, I should've imagine Mike was going to join your D&D club, and I should’ve imagined they were not going to believe you have a girlfriend…" You said looking at Eddie as he shrugged.

"How are you two—" Mike asked baffled.

"Eddie and l actually met in this same club, we became close friends, and I don't know, shortly before I graduated, something happened between us and we started dating" You explained.

"But you moved to Indianapolis for college!" Mike snapped.

"Aw, that's actually cute" Dustin said, noticing they way Eddie rested his head against your chest and you brought a hand to his hair, as he held you close to him.

"Yeah, so? I still come here at least twice a month to see you guys, and also to see Eddie" You replied, as Eddie’s hand grabbed you by the waist and pulled you closer to his throne, wrapping his arm around your hips as you stood in front of his seat and he gave Mike a cheeky grin.

"You have any idea how hard it's to keep a long distance relationship, Wheeler?" Eddie asked.

"It's pretty hard..." Dustin said. Thinking of Susie.

"Mike's girlfriend moved to California..." You said softly, letting Eddie know.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mike asked you.

"We'll talk about this later, Mike, I don't feel like doing this right now, in front of all of hellfire…" You said, as Dustin and Mike exchanged stares and then looked over their shoulders, noticing the little audience they’d gathered; the rest of the Hellfire Club, who knew Eddie wasn’t lying about having a girlfriend "And, Eddie," You said looking at Eddie "Give Mike a ride home after you guys are done" You said as he chuckled and looked at you.

"What?" Eddie asked with a puzzled chuckle.

"Be a good boyfriend and give my little brother a ride" You said caressing his cheek with your hand. "Would you do that for me?" You said pouting at Eddie.

"Oh this is your revenge, isn't it?" Eddie said quitting as you giggled.

"Yes" You replied and leaned forward kissing his forehead.

"Oh, shit, no! I was going to ask you if you could give me a ride back home!" Dustin whined, knowing Eddie would not give him a ride back home.

"Of course, Dustin. I can give you a ride!" You said looking at Dustin and smiling.

"Oh come on!" Eddie complained "Your evil, Wheeler" You looked at your boyfriend, raising an eyebrow, feigning a naive look.

"Am l?" You asked.

"You're so gonna pay" He murmured, giving your hips a slight squeeze.

"Me? You're the one who set up this! If anything, you owe me, Munson" You said with a grin.

After exchanging playful, yet defiant stares and a little bit of bickering, you left going to your parents house, leaving the guys to finally play Dungeons and Dragons. And, as the afternoon got wasted away, Eddie could easily go into his Dungeon Master persona, and guide and narrate the guys through their adventure, however, Mike had a harder time concentrating. A million questions flooded his mind and was eager to know the answers to them all. He knew asking Eddie mid game would only end in Eddie telling him to focus and to take the campaign seriously, and he knew better than to provoke Eddie, specially during a campaign.

And finally, when the time came to go back home, the awkward tension was palpable in Eddie’s van. Neither of them wanted to be in that situation. It was haunting and asphyxiating. But somehow, Mike felt this impending need to ask, and get at least one answer to at least one of the many questions that had been haunting him.

“So, uh…you’ve been dating my sister since she graduated?” Mike asked awkwardly, he noticed the way Eddie's hands gripped the steering wheel.

“Are we really going to have this conversation?” Eddie hissed.

“I mean, knowing my sister, I’m pretty sure this is why she asked you to bring me home”

Eddie sighed deeply, Mike's words circling his mind, and thinking about it.

“Well. Yeah, you’re right. This does sound like something she’d do…” Eddie said defeated, “And yes, we’ve been dating for two years now…”

“That’s a long time…”

“Yes it is,”

“And uh,” Mike said biting the inside of his cheek “Do you…love her?” Eddie snickered sarcastically.

“You think I’d be enduring along distance relationship if I didn’t?” He replied bitterly and gave Mike a quick glare.

“I’m just asking” Mike stiffened and shrugged.

“Yes, man. I love her,” Eddie added. “She’s…perfect. She’s smart, and talented. She likes the same music as me, she never judged me nor let my reputation get in the way of our friendship back when she was in high school…you know, she got along with the popular kids, and she was still friends with me, and god,” Eddie sighed “She plays D&D too. Seriously, the girl of my dreams…” His voice softened.

Mike wondered if he'd ever heard Eddie talk in such a sincere way. Sure, Eddie wasn't scared to speak his mind, but he'd never heard Eddie talk in such a soft voice. Even when he talked about things he liked, he kept his cheeky arrogant tone. Not this time. His voice softened, and sounded almost dreamy.

"Oh, I didn’t know that…" Mike whispered, not sure what to reply.

"If you’re worried that I might hurt her or whatever, don’t," Eddie said glancing quickly at Mike "She seriously means so much to me, I’d never do anything to hurt her" He said, that sincere soft voice remaining.

Mike nodded and looked back at the windshield, looking into the road as he still had several questions circling his mind.

"I know it's…none of my business but…can I ask why are you guys keeping your relationship a secret?" Mike asked, not sure how Eddie would react to his question.

"Because I asked her to," Eddie said with a flat voice, eyes glued to the road as he took a turn, getting close to Mike's place "I know your parents won’t be exactly accepting of their daughter dating someone like me, and I don’t want to put her in a difficult position…" Eddie explained.

Mike thought about it. And while, perhaps, their mom could warm up to Eddie, their dad would most likely disapprove. His father already told Mike on a daily basis to stop wasting his time with D&D. He also complained to you about the kind of music you listened to. If he were to meet Eddie, it would definitely start an argument with you.

"Her friends in Indianapolis know we're dating…" Eddie added, "So it’s not entirely a secret. I actually know her friends from college. When she can’t come here to Hawkins I drive to Indianapolis to see her…" Eddie explained.

"Oh, wow…Eddie that’s cool. I mean, that you go to her when she can’t come here…I’m sure it means a lot to her…"

"Yeah?" Eddie said parking outside your parents' house and looking at Mike. "Well, I'd do anything for her"

"Yeah, that's very cool of you…" Mike replied awkwardly "Well, thanks for the ride, Eddie…And, I think it’s cool that you’re dating my sister, I always saw my sister acting all cheesy and in love but she never talked about her boyfriend, she only said he was the best that has happened to her…" Eddie chuckled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but don’t tell her. She’ll know I told you and will kick my ass" Mike whined, making Eddie laugh out loud.

"Oh, I’m so sorry Wheeler, but I cannot keep that promise in particular…" He teased looking at Mike.

"Oh man," Mike chuckled softly looking away.

"Off you go, kid. I guess I’ll wait for your sister to come back from driving Henderson home,"

"What if my parents see you?" Eddie chuckled looking at Mike’s stern face.

"They never do," Eddie’s arrogant tone came back "I’ve snuck into your sister’s room countless times before and no one has ever noticed"

"You what?" Mike snapped.

"See? Not even you’ve noticed" Eddie chuckled victorious.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys, seriously"

—

“I know you’re here, Ed. I saw your van parked in the corner…” You said walking into your room noticing the open window.

Normally you’d leave it unlocked, however, not open. At least not when you’d leave the house. And after returning from giving Dustin a ride and chatting with him about the whole Eddie situation, finding your window open and Mike already home, and a very familiar van parked in the corner a few houses away from yours…it was all too suspicious.

"Welcome home, princess" Eddie said emerging from your closet, as he dramatically opened your closet doors.

You met his dark eyes and smiled walking towards him as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, and he hugged you back, lifting you up. You took a deep breath, feeling the familiar scent of his cologne and cigarette smoke. He did the same thing unconsciously, taking in the smell of your shampoo and his favorite perfume of yours.

"Did you enjoy the ride with Mike?" You asked him breaking the hug.

"We had some bonding time, yes…" He replied as you gave him an approving nod, "You seriously never told anyone" Eddie added, you met his stare and shrugged.

"You told me not to, and of course I was going to keep my promise to you" You said smiling softly at him.

Over the course of your friendship, Eddie learned you weren’t the best at keeping secrets. Or at least to your friends and family. Two years in a row you completely ruined the surprise and always told him what you’d gotten him for his birthday before you even had the chance to hand him his present. He was sure the secret would eventually slip and you’d tell at least Nancy. But not even Nancy knew.

"Your little brother told me you made it pretty clear you had a boyfriend but never talked about him…" Eddie said walking to your bed and sitting on it as you followed him, stopping in front of him, bumping your knees against his.

"Of course he told you…" You chuckled, looking into his dark brown eyes, almost black as you brushed his cheek with your hand.

"He also said that I’m the best that has happened to you?" Eddie asked as you rolled your eyes playfully and he noticed the way your cheeks lit up. "He said, and I quote ‘She never talked about her boyfriend, but she only said he was the best that has happened to her‘ or something along those lines…"

"I-I mean, you know that already, Ed. How many times do I have to tell you that I love you more than anything for you to realize you’re the best thing to happen to me?" You said cupping his face, as you stared at him tenderly. Eddie closed his eyes slowly, humming, as you noticed a subtle blush on his cheeks.

"Hm, I love you too, sweetheart. So, so much, it’s stupid" he said, as you leaned down and kissed him sweetly "As soon as I’m out of here, I’ll catch up with you in Indianapolis, and we can forget about everything else…it’ll be just you and me, babe"

"I can’t wait, Eddie" You whispered.

"Fuck, me neither. I am seriously madly in love with you" He said as he pulled you closer, making you straddle him.

"Good. As you should" You replied with a cheeky grin and kissed him again.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson fanfic #Eddie Munson #eddie stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things eddie #stranger things eddie munson

[justafriendofxanders]

enjoying your leverageposting!! question for fun if you want: do you have any headcanons about hardison?

hi thanks so much! i'm glad my descent into madness is bringing some enjoyment to people. 😄 this isn't so much a list of headcanons as it is one i've been thinking about a lot involving hardison running a game of dnd -- he chooses 5e (assuming some timeline wibblyness) not because it's the simplest system out there, but because he figures it's the most accessible given the cultural baggage around it. it's not that the others aren't smart enough to figure it out (they definitely are), but they're a little intimidated by the various handouts hardison has printed out and put into individual binder sleeves. eliot (jokingly) gives him a hard time about not wanting to dress up as an elf and do "nerd shit." hardison picks up on everyone's reticence and goes, "well if this is too complicated we can do a different system," and then stays up all night gutting and retooling the entire game and making premade character sheets and a presentation explaining how to play, but then something more important comes up and nate's gotta pull the plug on their scheduled game night. hardison gets actually bummed about it and they can tell because he insists "it's cool" and is not actively bringing it up except to occasionally give them sad puppy-dog eyes from the corner.

anyways the team make it up to him one night when he comes home and they're all sitting around the table wearing silly costumes. a couple of them have brought dice; eliot's the only one with a d20 and is arguing with nate who's brought, like, craps dice ("it's a very distinctive rolling system"), except hardison's reworked it into some 3d6 system so technically nate has the right ones. (no one can tell if nate actually knew this all along or just got lucky.) sophie's like, "oh i have six-sided dice!" except everyone knows they're loaded and she's not allowed to get them. also every single one of them is a control freak who gets upset when their rolls don't go well ("a BABY could pick that lock"). after a while, parker starts consistently rolling very well, and no one can prove that she's manipulating the dice but also no one can prove that she's NOT manipulating them.

hardison also makes premade characters for everyone based on what he anticipates their playstyles will be:

parker's a cool thief that can only do three things (sneak, steal, and stab) but does them very well

nate's a shifty used car salesman of a bard that tries to talk his way through every situation

sophie's a beautiful actress that everyone recognizes and adores. tries to seduce her way out of the situations nate gets them in.

eliot is squeaky the gnome. he grumbles about it until combat rolls around and everyone learns squeaky is built to kick absolute ass.

#hardison played 3.5e back in the day and nate played once back in seminary at the height of the satanic panic and will take it to his grave #hardison also has the time of his life throwing sexy elf maidens at eliot until eliot finally flirts back and he blue screens #that guy on reddit that made a custom table with fog machines and lights/music for his campaign? hardison. #you know that megamind scene where he's like 'what's the difference between a villain and a supervillain? PRESENTATION' #that is like. a core part of hardison's character to me. #anyway ty for the ask! #leverage #leverageposting #alec hardison

[littledragoncorp]

Brachioblue - Gabrisaur Dice - 11 Piece Dice Set

Brachioblue 11 Piece Dice Set One of the tallest Dinosaurs to walk the lands the Brachioblue dice set are like the skies and clouds in the sky with leaves falling to the ground. Full of freedom and joy like their creator this dice set was designed when Gabriel was 3 years old. This is a one-print run dice series that all the profits go to support the creators education fund. Each set is a standard RPG set with  2 D20, D10, D%, D12, D8, 4 D6, & D4. Packaged in a dice box; it is easy to display and stack in your showcases. Gabriel designed these dice after one of his favourite dinosaurs. He says that the Brachioblue dice remind him of the leaves that fall down from the sky when the Brachiosaurus eats. Because of the nebula nature of this set the colors can be vastly different from each set. Check out the History of Brachioblue Dice at Gabrisaur Dice. Brachioblue 11 Piece Dice Set Characteristics The Brachioblue Dice are made with a bluetransparent base with a white and green injected in. With silver ink it makes this set a low contrast set perfect for dms to roll. Come Visit us today to get Brachioblue 11 Piece Dice Set Dice in Person 22 Main St. S. 2nd Floor, Brampton, Ontario at Dragon World Card Games & Collectibles. - We have one of the biggest Dice Collections for sale in Canada. - We have dice from Ice Cream Dice, Die Hard, Udixi, HD, Chessex, Yusun, Bescon, Critit, Lindorm, Wizard of the Coast, Fate, Polyhero, Gate Keeper Games and more. I'm always looking to add unique interesting dice to our shop. - But wait, there's more! I also have 5E books, old school books, Maps, Terrain, Dice Trays, Miniatures both painted and unpainted. - We also carry alcohol ink for making your own dice, as well as colouring books & Markers, Puzzles and Board games. - For those who love TCG's we have both sealed and singles of Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, Dragon Ball Super, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Check out our second online store as well! Dragon World Games This is an out of print dice set, once we've run out there won't be anymore. If there is an inventory error you will be refunded. Read the full article

[feyariel]

After telling a friend about how I hate 5e (and I do), a little way into the conversation, said friend asked me, "Well, what is the best version of D&D: 3.x, Pathfinder, or 5e?" Apart from saying that PF 1e is just 3.x and shouldn't be treated differently, I had to say that none of them are.

It's like my current fork of my PokéProject™ in which I'm trying to remake Pokémon a way I would like while staying true to it: it doesn't work because there's a lot I don't like.

I'll go briefly over editions:

Chainmail: Not an edition. The action economy is IMHO poorly defined despite it being the main feature of the game, there's no such thing as Attributes (Ability Scores), etc. The magic system is more to my liking.

OD&D: There are bits and pieces that I like, but it's hard to tell if this is like BD&D in that dwarf, elf, and halfling are racial classes (a case can be made for this from how the rules worked prior to Greyhawk and the introduction of the Thief class) or like AD&D in that dwarves, elves, and halflings have to advance in certain ways to certain levels (post-Thief, elves could also advance as Thieves ad infinitum). There are lots and lots of questions that do not get answered and not a whole lot makes sense. Much of my complaints go with BD&D, so skip to that.

BD&D in its various forms: There are seven characters (Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric, Thief, Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling) and an optional eighth ("Mystic" [Monk]). You have not!THAC0, AC that is better the lower it gets (and can stack both high Dex and Full Plate for no reason), HP, six ability scores, and five saving throws. None of the races really align with the ability scores they're noted for except the Dwarf, since Dwarves are just Fighters who trade level progression for racial traits. Task resolution is not spelled out well, let alone codified as a single thing. Hell, you can only make perception-type rolls if you have the specific class ability to do so. In short, what characterization you provide has to be entirely RP-based, as you have no mechanical decisions you can make to differentiate your character from others and very little control over what you can and cannot do period.

AD&D 1e: As before, but now there's a convoluted system of class level maximums that allow you to multiclass (kinda sorta). "Bard" is effectively a prestige class which tries far too hard to be specifically the Bards of the Druidic Order, but it doesn't work terribly well towards that end and unnecessarily excludes elves from taking levels in the class.

AD&D 2e: More-or-less 1e with some added stuff. Proficiencies exist now and are percentile-based despite perception-style rolls still using a single d6 and attack rolls using d20s. THAC0 is an official rule. Fighters get "maneuvers," as were kinda a thing in one version of Basic, but they're as equally ill-defined.

3.0: The system is intentionally incomplete because Hasbro-WotC planned during development to market a revision a few years down the line and then immediately begin work on the next edition. (No, I am not making this up.) Thus, Ranger is a useless class that kinda updates the 2nd ed. version but not really, there are lots of odd hold-overs that don't make sense (e.g., Gnomes have Illusionist [not Wizard] as a favored class), there are errors here and there (e.g., "dazzled" is a worthless condition), monsters advance haphazardly for no real reason, etc. The system was not playtested well enough to see high level issues that would become obvious to people who played it. Due to oversights, WotC's edition/revision schema, the way they printed splat material but didn't create a good-enough database to keep track of all their new rules, and other idiotic ideas (like Monte Cook's notion of having some rules cater to and trap newbies in bad decisions while having others that more experienced players would like, all without notifying other designers not to use the newbie rules as taxes), many of the fundamental problems with 3.0 never got addressed. There is almost no reason to use 3.0 because 3.5 is better in literally every way, down to trying to maintain game balance.

3.5: A turn-off for new players (which PF only exacerbated) is presentation-related. The character sheet is busy and full of equations; these equations are almost never needed, but they sometimes are because the system loves to make you lose X stat's bonus to Y derived stat. There are lots and lots of feats, but only some of them are good; most of the time, you have to worry about feat taxes and not getting enough feats. The skill system relies on arbitrary skill rank caps and using other kinds of bonuses to inflate the total roll instead of simply making it expensive to raise skill ranks (either by making it increasingly expensive to do so or by giving you like one point per level to spend on raising any of your stats -- ability scores, saving throws, attack rolls, skills, HP, etc.). People complain about floating bonuses when this really only matters if you decide to have multiple buffs going at once in the middle of combat. For the record, I LIKE how 3.5's prestiging works. People complain about it for two reasons: first, they cite imbalance but have no real grasp of that, and second, they want class systems to be cleanly class-based. The main balance issues with 3.x are related to poor scaling, primarily with skill ranks and with how magic users trump mundanes. (That has always been a problem, but 3.0 got rid of having different XP growth charts for different classes, which made the problem worse.)

Pathfinder: If you can imagine it, there is likely a way of doing it, regardless of what class you pick. However, the system is a patch of 3.5, does not address fundamental issues, and at times creates weirder complexity because the devs had some weird idea and/or it was late enough into 1e that they were more focused on 2e. Don't use Occult Adventures. Fortunately, the entire game is open-sourced, so the fandom was much better able to create support and additions. Paizo's decision to discontinue support in favor of 2e, which I think is worse in nearly every way, was very nearly apocalyptic to me, regardless of what problems I had with this version.

4e: The number of ways in which this is an abomination is too great for me to list here. I am willing to burn these books and I think book burning is one of the greatest offenses you can commit.

5e: 3.x needed an overhaul and simplification; this was not the way to do it. I've tried a few times to be brief about this, but every time I try, I end up ranting. I hate 5e -- not so much that I consider it an abomination, not so much that I'm absolutely unwilling to play it, but enough that I would literally play anything else except 4e instead of it.

In short, were I tasked with picking an edition I thought was "nearly perfect," I'd say, "Why don't I make my own system instead?" And it would end up looking little to nothing like any of the above, especially since I greatly prefer point buy systems to class systems. And as my creation would diverge, I'd feel worse and worse: on the one hand, I'd be failing at making D&D; on the other, trying to conform to D&D would stifle my decisions.

[dashuisofanubis]

Continuing my trend of acquiring unintentional hoa merch, I got this at comic con yesterday 👀

It's from HannahMayCreate and its their shop logo so im pretty certain it was unitentional but it was too good to not get 😄 I also got this print and I'm obsessed with it

#the print was from a roll the d20 and you get a different one based on the number you roll #idk what the other prints were but i adore this one so i think i won #there were also pronoun pins with the eye on but i didnt get one and im now kinda regretting it 😅 #ill just have to see if theyre there again in october! #comicon was so much fun i got lectured by a dalek about speed bumps bc i made fun of its inability to do stairs

[theonyxpath]

Our next Kickstarter is for the Legendlore RPG, and starts on this Thursday, March the 12th, at 2pm Eastern US time!

From the Kickstarter:

Legendlore was originally a comic, first published by Arrow Comics in 1986 and since procured by Caliber Comics, about four people who fall through a Crossing into the Realm. The Realm is home to fantasy creatures from elves to dragons, and the characters discover they too have ‘fantasy powers’ – the jock becomes a Fighter, while the bookish one becomes a Wizard, and so on. They go on adventures and some of them eventually find their way back to Earth.

This is the basic premise of the Legendlore RPG. You Cross into the Realm, where you become a hairfoot Bard, or maybe an elven Sorcerer. You can change any characteristics you like. For example if you have hay fever and glasses, you choose if your Legendlore self keeps or drops those. Your identity might not always match your outward physique, but your Legendlore character does. We’ve also updated the 1980s setting so Realmborn characters represent all ethnicities, genders, and sexualities. No one in the Realm will bat an eyelash at your agender panromantic self.

This comes hard on the heels of our fantastic Kickstarter campaign for Hunter: The Vigil 2e, which ended up at over 500% of the funding goal and just a couple of folks away from 2000 backers! Truly, the Vigil was a rewarding one, and we’re thrilled so many folks came along with us on the hunt.

Even though we’re jumping right into the new KS for Legendlore, Hunter 2e‘s campaign left us with a number of Stretch Goal projects to continue with, and, for us, Legendlore is such a different kind of project that creatively it is a nice break in our recent string of Kickstarters in the Chronicles of Darkness and V5 game worlds.

Legendlore will also be our newest game line to use the d20 system for 5e fantasy gaming, along with Scarred Lands and (much-simplified) the Realms of Pugmire, so that also gives us a chance to stretch some system creative muscles we like to keep toned up.

If you’re a fan of D&D, etc. then I think you’ll find a lot of fresh spins you’ll enjoy in how Legendlore treats genre expectations and tropes while still providing a sweeping setting ripe for adventuring in. And if you aren’t so much, I still think you may find value in supporting developer Steffie de Vaan and her creative team’s 2020 take on this multi-decade saga and setting.

Like almost every one of our Kickstarters these days, Legendlore is pretty much finished in the writing stages, and backers will get sections of the finished text during the course of the KS campaign. Steffie is working with at least one Twitch streaming group to create actual play episodes showing how Legendlore plays at an actual gaming table, and we’re really looking forward to airing those (and they’ll be linked on the KS page).

So, anyone interested is going to have multiple chances to check this project out in a way that works for them, as we’ve been working to set up with each of our KSs. And, James Bell, our Kickstarter Concierge will be back for this KS to once again provide information and guidance, as well as his patented affable banter!

V5 Chicago Folio art by Felipe Gaona

Items From Our Monday Meeting:

In no particular order, which is a lot like our meeting style!

DriveThruRPG‘s massive GM’s Day Sale has another week to go, and hoo-boy are there a lot of our PDFs for sale over there! All of our game lines are represented, as well as offerings from the Community Content sites!

This was a Twitter note sent out during our meeting by Eddy Webb:

“Thanks to Justin Achilli, I got to be in a work meeting where we talk about the aesthetics of urine and throwing bears at the moon.”

Which is pretty much true.

Mighty Matt McElroy was scheduled to attend Emerald City convention this coming weekend, but the whole con was postponed due to concerns about the Coronavirus (COVID-19). He’d already had a bunch of meetings cancelled out from under him and was figuring on cancelling, when boop! the convention cancelled instead!

You folks all take care of yourselves out there! We’re a virtual office, so aren’t going to infect each other, and we don’t have anything currently being manufactured in China, so I’m just encouraging all our folks to stay in and work 20 hour days at their computers. (I’m kidding.) (But not really.)

Mirthful Mike Chaney wonders how that’s any different than his usual day, anyway?

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Heroic Land Dwellers art by Brian LeBlanc

We’re still getting folks asking about whether projects that come out as Advance PDFs will be released in PoD versions or if Backer PDFs will be sold to the public, along with PoDs, on DTRPG. First, we’re always glad to answer folks’ questions, and second, yes, our sales strategy has always been to deliver PDFs and PoDs of projects on DTRPG and so we have been releasing them that way for the whole time we’ve been in business.

The only caveats to that are projects we might do like printed Screens offered on Kickstarters, which DTRPG can’t create in PoD form, and recently with the V5 Cults of the Blood Gods Stretch Goal rewards which will only be available in PDF as the V5 managers at Modiphius do not want PoD versions made available.

We’ve scheduled a nice surprise for the backers of Exalted 3rd‘s Dragon-Blooded KS that should put some folks’s concerns to rest about getting their rewards. So keep your eyes open for that, DB backers!

I’m out next Monday, so Dixie Cochran will be in as our guest MMN blogger! Please be nice to her as she wrangles the rusty and arcane controls for this blog, and I’ll talk to you in two weeks about our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

On Thursday, March 12th at 2pm Eastern US Time we start the Kickstarter for Legendlore!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday the Onyx Pathcast Terrific Trio take a deep dive into Vampire: The Requiem 2e‘s Spilled Blood! Messy, but fun!

As always this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

We’ve got a stupendous number of shows on Twitch this week! Tune in for V5, Chronicles of Darkness, Scion, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition, Scarred Lands, MORE Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost, Mage: The Awakening, even more Scarred Lands, Werewolf: The Forsaken and a third Vampire: The Masquerade game! We’ve even got Eddy Webb’s Workshop, which takes you through the development process of our books! Hail Ming!

A big shout-out to our three Vampire: The Masquerade games running this week, which have been running week-in, week-out! You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed! This Ming’s a psycho.

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find the following videos uploaded last week alone:

The Onyx Path News: https://youtu.be/zKo1h7bLPE0

Scion: Behind the Screen: https://youtu.be/v9Wo38rl5-Y

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/hxSbemynBLs

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale: https://youtu.be/gKAm-zGxTW4

Even more Scion: Behind the Screen: https://youtu.be/QDSIS_ClFbE

A special shout-out to the Scion: Behind the Screen series, which has provided a wonderful entry point for people new to the game! Flying blind on a rocket cycle!

Do subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online! Spare me the madness.

In case you missed it last week, the Story Told RPG Podcast continue with their excellent Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition chronicle right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-episode-3-riders-in-the-sky

And back once again, the Story Told‘s review of Trinity Continuum: Aeon http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-40-trinity-continuum-on-overview

Red Moon Roleplaying‘s V5 Cults of the Blood Gods “The Family” chronicle continues on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts and New York City girls might be found! https://youtu.be/J1qCIhMPn7Q

Now, the tributes from Ardentia.

Even more shows from Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening fans out there!

Episode 86: Risky Business Wyrd the Seer prepares to found a legacy and shape her soul. Songbird makes contact with the Carthian Movement. Atratus meets with the Phantasm Society who have a daring plan.https://youtu.be/9XWLaxl_B-Y

Episode 87: New Lives Wyrd the Seer pays the price for tying herself to the Rookery. Songbird makes himself useful at the Arrow Armory. Atratus kills Emily Miller.https://youtu.be/ZZklb6-fC7o

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

Update: the devs are working on the updates for the roller in both Android and iOS – here is the rundown from them:

1) Redo the UI for system for android.  It will look the same as the current design.  My goal is to have something ready by Saturday to send out to the Facebook users, asking them if this fixes the issues.  This will be a beta type thing.  This will break several of the fancy dice.

2) If the above worked out and the android users give all the clear, we’ll redo the graphics system to fix the fancy dice that got broken.  We’ll do another android beta through Facebook.  This might take up to two weeks, as my schedule allows.

3) If everything worked well, we’ll release to android for real at that point.

4) Port all of the existing stuff to iOS and release on that.

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

The massive GM Day’s Sale continues for another week with huge savings on PDFs from all of our game lines!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/rpg_gmsday.php

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing the Advance PDF of Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed for Mage: The Awakening 2e AND the electronic, PDF, and physical book PoD releases of Haunting Shadows: the Wraith20th fiction anthology on DTRPG!

Conventions!

Assuming these conventions are not postponed due to plague, here is our current list:

UKGames Expo: https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

GenCon: https://www.gencon.com/

Tabletop Scotland: https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/

Gamehole Con: https://www.gameholecon.com/

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

The Book of Endless Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Editing

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Indexing

They Came From Beneath the Sea! (They Came From…!)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Awaiting replies to pings.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e (KS)

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2 – Starting to contract the rest of it.

City of the Towered Tombs

Let the Streets Run Red – Some finals in.

Deviant

Legendlore (KS) – KS prep of bits.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS)

TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Contracted.

WoD: Ghost Hunters (KS) – Cover in, getting rest of KS art set.

Tales of Aquatic Terror

Pirates Extra Adventure – Loboyko lined up for this one.

Scion Titanomachy – Contacting artists.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Ongoing.

Contagion Chronicle – With Josh, interior proof coming.

Vigil Watch – Ongoing.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

TCFBtS! Screen and Booklet

Ex3 Lunars – Yep, pretty much my March right here.

Scion Companion

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Sending back to Aileen for errata input.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

Chicago Folio – Creating PoD files.

Pirates of Pugmire – Fixes in, working on cover.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – At WW for approvals .

Geist 2e fiction anthology – Backer PDF out to backers for errata.

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 – The Silence of Our Ancestors (Exalted 3rd Edition) – Backer errata being gathered.

Distant Worlds – Errata being gathered.

VtR2 Spilled Blood – Errata being input.

At Press

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Prepping to go live with PDF/PoD versions on DTRPG a week Wednesday (the 18th).

DR:E – Shipping to backers, PoD files uploaded.

DRE Screen – Shipping to backers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Memento Mori – PoD proof ordered.

Scion Mythical Denizens – PoD files uploaded.

Wraith20 Anthology – ePub, PDF, physical book versions all live Weds on DTRPG.

MtAw2 Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Advance PDF on sale this Weds on DTRPG.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday was International Women’s Day, and that’s certainly worth celebrating today as well! (Especially since here in the US we lost an hour from yesterday due to the return of our Daylight Savings Time. Typical).

Today, we heard of the death of actor Max von Sydow at 90. The man who played chess with death, acted in just so many roles in mainstream and genre films that I’m not listing them here, and, just for Matthew Dawkins, starred as Ming the Merciless.

#Onyx Path Publishing

[jq37]

The Gary Gygax Job (An Adventure in Two Parts)

I was asked to post my “Hardison forces the gang to play D&D fic” that I wrote for @alexromero​ so here it is. It’s actually just the set up and not the game itself because that would have been a whole undertaking but, anyway, I hope the anon who asked for it enjoys it.

Part One

BASE. Gyutou. Paris.

It's Parker's idea, surprisingly. Well, surprisingly to someone who knows Parker well but not very well. The team is breaking up, at least partially (though the kids have a secret pool running about how much wedded bliss Nate and Sophie can stand before they're ready to get back into the fight). She's not ready to lose two people from her very small inner circle.

"We should do, like, a girls' night," she suggests out of the blue, over the comms while crawling through air ducts (she has some of her best ideas in air ducts, which makes sense, statistically speaking).

"Girls' night?" says Hardison from the van. "You and what girls?"

"Me and Sophie. But also you and Nate and Eliot."

"Tha-that's just hanging out Parker. It's not a girl's night if there are guys."

She shrugs (tries to shrug. There's not enough space in the air duct). "Whatever. We should do it. I miss Sophie. And Nate," she adds, belatedly.

"Me too."

"Me three," Eliot finally cuts in. He's been providing an ambient background of grunts and things smashing into other things for the past minute or so, but that kind of thing is surprisingly easy to ignore after a while. "But can we do this AFTER THE CON???" They grudgingly decide to put a pin in it while Eliot runs his hand through his hair in annoyance. Honestly.

When they call the "Call us if you need us but please try very hard not to need us," number, they get Sophie, which is good. She'll be easier to convince and if they convince her, they've got Nate too. Parker explains her idea and Sophie is very into it: Group activity, once a month, full team.

Sophie's in so they're in business. Hardison puts all of their names into a randomizer and Parker ends up with first pick.

"Greece!" she says, immediately.

"Excellent choice, Parker!" says Sophie, picturing the food and beaches and museums. And then she remembers who she's speaking to.

"Parker, what are we doing in Greece?"

They find out two weeks later and Hardison thinks that it's a good thing he loves Parker to death, because he's pretty sure she's going to get him killed.

BASE Jumping on Zakynhos Island.

"Oh, come on!" Hardison whines as he's tossed a parachute. Sophie is also not thrilled, but she seems to think that encouraging Parker's social skills is worth 5-ish seconds of sheer terror.

The jump order is Eliot, Sophie, Nate (who is choosing to be amused by this whole thing), Hardison, then Parker. Hardison and Parker are the last two on the cliff.

"Come on you big baby," she says. "You've jumped off of buildings before."

"Not for fun."

She touches his chest very deliberately. "Then don't do it for fun. Do it for me."

He shakes his head and steels his nerves. "Sophie's rubbing off on you and I don't like it."

He is so happy to land in one piece that he immediately drops to his back and makes sand angels. From above, he can hear Parker's adrenaline-high scream. He opens his eyes, sees her parachute explode out, and then closes his eyes again. Maybe if he pretends to be asleep, she won't make him go again.

Somehow, Eliot's pick is worse.

He says they're going for a cooking lesson which sounds safe enough. The lesson is at a tiny sushi place in Brooklyn and the chef is some Japanese buddy of his. They're not allowed to know how they know each other specifically (Eliot says he's a "work friend") and they're not allowed to know his name, so they just call him Chef.

Everyone's having a good time and whatever work Chef did with Eliot before, cooking is obviously his calling.

And then…well, Hardison's not sure. It happens really quickly. The door bursts open and a man in dark clothes bursts in. There's a flash of silver from Chef's side of the room and the man drops. Hardison doesn't even have time to jump.

Chef isn't holding his knife anymore, Hardison notices. He looks across the room. It's implanted in the intruder's chest. A gun falls out of his hand and Nate kicks it away.

"What just happened?" says Hardison, trying to keep his voice level.

"It's a Gyutou," says Eliot. "Sharpest knife in the game."

"I'm not asking ab--why would you think I was asking about the knife?"

"Because the guy's Yakuza. Obviously."

"Wait, Yakuza? Like, Yakuza-Yakuza?"

"No, one of the many other Yakuzas out there. Yes, that Yakuza!" In the time it's taken them to have this conversation, Chef has dragged their attacker's limp body into a supply closet, found a clean knife, and gone back to chopping ginger.

Hardison has so many comments that he doesn't know where to start. He just throws up his hands and goes to stand in the corner for a minute. When he remembers that the corner he's in very recently had a dead body in it, he picks a new corner.

Sophie takes everyone for a weekend in Paris because of course she does.

Paris is great. No one tries to kill anyone in Paris. There's no jumping off of anything in Paris.

But…

But it's a little like being on a three-day date with your parents sometimes. And Hardison has been Team Nate and Sophie since day one basically. That doesn't mean he wants to know every museum in Paris they've done it in. Not that he's asking, for the record. But they'll walk in and give each other this kind of smug smirk and he can just tell. It's disgusting.

So, when Hardison's turn rolls around, he feels exactly zero guilt for choice.

"Dungeons and Dragons?" Eliot says with the kind of scorn he reserves for especially bad bad guys and Hardison.

"Oh, I don't wanna hear that tone from you, alright? I don't wanna hear it from any of y'all. Little miss adrenaline junkie over there," Parker blows him a kiss, "And your crazy Samurai friends," Eliot rolls his eyes, "And y'all two making googly eyes at each other for three solid days."

Nate takes a second from doing just that to say, "You're exaggerating."

"He's really not," says Parker.  

"BASE. Gyutou. Paris," Hardison rattles off again. "I did your thing now you're doing mine." He pulls a d20 out of his pocket and holds it between two fingers with a satisfied smirk. "Age of the geek, baby."

Part Two

Nate claims character creation is too complicated for him to understand which is a blatant lie because Hardison has seen him rig an election and manipulate the stock market on the fly and give a guy a nosebleed with his mind like he was freaking Professor X.

"This isn't my thing, Hardison," he says. "Just make a character for me. I don't care about the details. Do whatever you want."

Do whatever you want.

Famous last words.

Hardison makes him a dwarf barbarian character with an intelligence score so low he'll have trouble scratching himself.

Nate texts him a one-word response: No.

Well if you don't like my painstakingly created character you can make your own, Hardison texts back.

Just fix it.

Oh, he'll fix it alright. But first, he has to deal with Eliot.

He tries a different tactic with Eliot.

"Alright," he says when Eliot reluctantly drops in the chair across from him, looking like he's just been plunked into the heart of Gitmo. "You don't have to make a character. I premade one for you. Check it."

He fans out the materials he's printed out that show the character he created--premade for Eliot's approval. He's a human fighter, with a greatsword as his main weapon. He's proficient in several languages, weapons, tools--Hardison had to fudge the rules a little to give him so many skills at level one but it's nothing more ridiculous than what he can do in real life. He even had a sketch commissioned--he knows from experience that Eliot is a sucker for cool artwork of himself.

Eliot's eyes scan the sheets of paper and Hardison thinks he detects that trademark grudging approval he was going for.

"Did I do good or did I do good?"

Eliot looks up, scowls, and then something clearly goes off in his head because a slight smirk replaces the scowl. Hardison doesn't trust it but he doesn't react either.

"OK," says Eliot. "I'll play your character. One change though."

Just one? He can handle that. The way Eliot was looking at him he thought something much worse was coming.

"Sure, what?"

"I want to play as a pacifist."

Hardison's brain BSOD's and reboots in time to see Eliot's slight smirk go full Cheshire cat.

"What?"

"I'll play your guy in your little nerd game, but I want to play as a pacifist."

"You're telling me, you want to play this character, this fighter--a guy whose entire skillset is based on fighting--as a pacifist?"

"Yup."

Hardison scatters the papers in front of him as he thinks of all the high-level encounters he'd planned, counting on Eliot's super buffed fighter to keep the party alive, just like in real life.

"I don't get no respect around here."

While he's reworking the campaign, he gets a text from Nate re: the second premade character Hardison sent him--a sexy tiefling ranger. A sexy, female, tiefling ranger.

You're aware that I know where you live, right?, the text reads.

Not my fault you won't be specific. I'm working on pure guesswork here, Hardison texts back.

Fix it, Nates texts again. Then he adds, Don't forget I know how to hypnotize people.   

Hardison snorts: And I can hack your bank account and spend everything on My Little Ponies. Make your damn character Nate.

Sophie is confused.

"If there's no goal, how do you play?" she asks him over Skype.

He never got a chance to really explain how the game worked and clearly, she hasn't looked it up in the meantime.

"There's a goal. There's just not one singular goal. You usually get some kind of quest and then you choose whatever you want to do. It's an RPG, just without the computer." When she squints in confusion he explains. "Role playing game."

Recognition goes off in her eyes and he realizes how he needs to sell the game to Sophie. "You get to pick a character. Well not pick. Make a character. You come up with a backstory and their abilities--"

"It's like coming up with a cover."

"Yes, exactly. It's exactly like that but you can also do magic if you want."

After she makes the connection, she's sold. The next day, she comes over with her backstory prepared. Or, rather, her backstories.

"I made more than one character because I couldn't decide on playing as a bard or a rogue. They're both very me. Oh," she gasps in much more excitement than Hardison thought he would ever see Sophie Devereaux show about Dungeons and Dragons. "Is there any way I could play as a bard and a rogue?"

"I got you," he says pulling out an info sheet he'd printed in anticipation of her request. "Bam. Sophie special."

"Songfilch?" she reads from the top of the sheet.

"It's not an official class," Hardison explains. "It's kind of a homebrew hybrid I whipped up. Half thief, half performer."

Sophie lights up. "You made me a grifter!"

"I told you this was a fun game."

"One more question," she says. "Is it possible I could play as a vampire? They get the thrall ability which would be useful I think."

"Uh, well you could," said Hardison. "But vampires also can't enter homes without being invited. The whole point of being a rogue is sneaking into houses without being invited to steal stuff. You can't expect them to just open the door and let you…" His words trail off as he remembers who he's speaking to. She bats her eyelashes at him, teasingly. "Yeah. Vampire songfilch. Go for it."

Nate texts him again later in the afternoon. He thinks it's gonna be in response to the munchkin baker character he sent (not a real race or class but Nate's not gonna check) but, miracles of miracles, it's a real character. Not a full character, mind you. It's just sketchy notes for a character: A cleric turned paladin. Servant of the god Helm--god of protectors.

There's not a lot there but there's enough for Hardison to know he actually put effort into it. He thinks Sophie must have gotten to him. Either way, it's enough for him to fill in the blanks and make Nate a character he will actually enjoy playing once he gives it a chance.

An enjoyable character who kicks ass since Eliot is still refusing to.

Parker is actually pretty game about the whole thing.

Which she better be, Hardison thinks. You can't force a guy to jump off of a cliff and then get mad about a little geekery.

She picks her class easily (rogue, natch) but she has trouble picking a race.

"What are you playing as?" she asks.

"I'm not playing," he explains. "I'm running the game. I'm like the narrator."

"Oh." She frowns. "That's lame. It would be more fun if you played."

"Someone has to run the game, Parker."

"I guess," she says. "It's still lame though."

He helps her finish her rogue (halfling rogue they decide), but he's only half paying attention. By the time they're done, he realizes there's someone he needs to call.

Hardison arrives at the game sesh with a guest. "Hey guys," he announces. "This is Chris, my foster brother. He's exactly like me, minus the criminal activity and rugged good looks."

He's also white, but no one mentions that.

"What's he doing here?" Eliot asks.

"Hardison asked me to DM for y'all," Chris answers.

Parker realizes what this means first. "You're playing?"

He nods. "Elven Wizard. I'm gonna hack reality, baby."

Chris rolls his eyes. "You can't just use the word hack whenever you want to. It has a very specific meaning."

"I can if I hack the language," Hardison shoots back as he sits down.

Chris grits his teeth like he's had this argument many times before (which he clearly has). "Let's do this before I kill you. Not in the game, in real life. Are you guys ready?"

Hardison looks around the table: Fighter, Songfilch, Paladin, Rogue, Wizard.

It's a weird group.

He grins.

"Ready. Let's do this."

#leverage #alec hardison #nate ford #sophie devereaux #eliot spencer #parker #does parker have a last name? #is parker her last name? #idk bro and I need to get to work

[dungeons-and-drangons-my-dudes]

So, what is D&D?

Perhaps the biggest cultural phenomenon in years, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D, DND, dnd - depending on how formal you want to get) is a Table Top Role Playing Game (TTRPG). A group of friends (or strangers, sometimes) sits down together (or virtually) to tell a fantasy story set up in a world that has defined rules. Sort of like making up a story when you’re bored with your siblings in the car, except this time when your sister yells “The queen likes me better so she’s making me the heir!” there are rules to stop her. 

For the purposes of this explanation, I’ll be using 5th edition dungeons and dragons. 

There are some key vocabulary pieces you need to know in order to understand how D&D works: 

Dungeon Master (DM) - one player is designated as the dungeon master, who, instead of playing a single character, is in charge of mediating the rules, playing every other character in the game who isn’t a player character, and in general deciding what happens when your wizard says “I cast fireball, centered on myself!”. The DM has final say on any rules questions, and is tasked with creating the general plot thread. 

Player - any member of the group (including the DM) but generally used to describe the rest of the group ‘excluding’ the DM. Oftentimes, DMs will say things like “my players”, and it’s not uncommon for anyone to reference others in the group as “the other players”. 

Player Character - Each player (aside from the DM) has one single character that they play as until that character dies or leaves the group for some other reason. 

Non-Player Character (NPC) - each other sentient being in the world of the story that is not controlled by a player. These characters may make frequent appearances, or they may only be in the story for a few minutes. If you consider the Player Characters to be the main characters, then the NPCs are everyone else, from the supporting roles to the extras. 

Stats - the numerical representation of each character’s strength (STR), dexterity (DEX), constitution (CON), intelligence (INT), wisdom (WIS), and charisma (CHA). Also referred to as your ability scores. Typically, these stats are somewhere from 8 to 20, but they can be as low as 3 at character creation. 10 is considered perfectly average. 

Ability Score Modifier - a number (taken from a table) that is smaller than your ability score but calculated based off of it. Generally, when you make a roll, you add your ability score modifier, not your ability score. 

Session - actually getting together to play D&D. Generally, sessions are at the same time each week, but there are groups that meet only a few times a year or as frequently as each day. It all comes down to the players’ availability. 

Dice - the tools of the game! D&D uses a variety of various polyhedral dice. A standard set has seven different kinds; d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d%. A d4 has four sides, a d6 has six sides, and so on. A d% looks like a d10, but it has 00, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 printed on its sides. A d% (usually called a percentile dice) is rolled with a d10 to create a d100.  

Skill - the various abilities your character possess that the DM may ask you to roll to complete a task. Each skill is associated with a specific stat. Additionally, skills are something you can have proficiency in. 

Proficiency - if your character is proficient in something, they get to add their proficiency bonus to that thing when they attempt to use that ability. You can be proficient in skills, weapons, languages, and tool sets (anything from an instrument to a loom). Your proficiency bonus goes up as you level up

Feature - a feature is any “unique” ability that a character possesses that not every character possesses. For example, not all characters have darkvision, so darkvision is a feature. 

Hit Points (HP) - how much health your character has. When this number drops to zero, you start dying. 

Hit Dice - the dice you roll each time you level up to calculate your HP. This is calculated cumulatively, so you are always increasing your HP. What dice you roll for HP is determined by your class. 

Enough chatter, how do I play!? 

Generally, when a group of people want to play D&D, they settle on who is the dungeon master and when they want to meet. Once that has been established, it’s go time. 

The first session, typically called session zero, is when you create your character. This has a number of steps: 

First, roll your stats. In 5th edition D&D (5e) there are many ways to do this - your DM will tell you what method you should use. Perhaps the most common is to roll 4d6 and drop the lowest, adding the remaining three dice together to form a number from 3 to 18. You do this six times, coming up with six numbers. Once you have these numbers, you can begin to assign things to your character - you can do these next steps in any order. 

Choose a class - a class is a stand in for your profession. In 5e you can choose from cleric, paladin, fighter, bard, barbarian, artificer, ranger, rogue, wizard, sorcerer, druid, or warlock. Your class will provide you with various features as you level up by playing the game. A class also provides you with various skills, features, and proficiencies at the beginning of the game, during character creation. 

Choose a race - a race dictates what kind of creature you are. In 5e there are many, many options due to the expansion source books, but the central races are human, elf, dwarf, tiefling, dragonborn, halfling, half-elf, half-orc, and gnome. Your race provides you with stat bonuses and additional skills, features, and proficiencies. 

Choose a background - your background is what you did in life before you became an adventurer. There are many to choose from, and they typically provide you with additional features and proficiencies. 

Once you have selected all three of these things, apply them to the stats you rolled earlier to generate your character. You will also calculate your health (your hit die’s maximum number + your CON modifier) and recieve your starting equipment from your class and background. Fill in the details; personality, appearance, and a light backstory, and you’re all good to go! 

When you’re done making your character, make sure to check with your DM so they know what your plan is. Constant and friendly conversation between the players and the DM is what makes D&D work out the best! 

After you’ve had your session zero, you’ll have your session one. Make sure to bring your character sheet, a pencil, and your dice. Some groups also encourage communal snacks, might have rules about phones, or may want you to even dress up a little. Check with your group to make sure you understand your group’s norms and make sure that everyone is on the same page. 

Session one will probably go down something like this: 

Your dungeon master sets the scene, describing where you are and what is around you. They might go into a lot of detail, or they might be more vague. Either way, once you have all been told where you are, the DM will say something along the lines of “what would you like to do?” - at this point, the story falls into the player’s hands for the first time. 

Once you’ve been asked what you’d like to do, you describe what you’d like your character to do, and depending on the difficulty level, the DM may ask you to roll a skill check. A skill check is when you roll a d20 and add any modifiers you might have. You always get to add the modifier for whatever stat the skill is tied to, and if you’re proficient, you also get to add your proficiency bonus. 

Typically, players act differently when they are in character vs when they are out of character. A shy player may play a particularly outgoing character, or vice versa. Either way, you want to come up with a way to signal when you are acting in character vs when you are out of character. A lot of players use a character voice for this, but any number of things - including simply saying “okay out of character” work just as well. 

So, you say what your character does, and you say anything they might say. The DM moderates this - you ask the bartender a question, the DM puts on an accent and replies. They might be truthful or they might lie, it is up to you as the player to determine that. If you want to do something, you describe what you want to do, and the DM determines what kind of roll you should make. If you say “I stab the goblin” then the DM will ask you to “roll to hit” - roll a d20, add your proficiency bonus if you’re proficient, and your attack modifier - which can be any number of things depending on what kind of attack it is - but that’s a conversation for another time. 

If you get into a fight, the DM will probably ask you to roll initiative (a d20 + your initiative (your DEX) modifier - although there are other things in game that can increase your initiative modifier, just not at level one) and then you will proceed from there in descending order of initiative. Once everyone has gone, the “round” is over and it starts over, which repeats until one side has won. 

Combat can be staged on a grid with miniatures, or it may be done using theater of the mind. All attacks and spells have a “range” in D&D, and so using a grid assists with measuring out those distances. The standard is that each square of the grid is 5ft. 

The game goes on like this. You’re encouraged to stay in character as much as possible, discuss things with your fellow adventurers, and make decisions and react as a group. The DM will present you with mystery, intrigue, and a story, which you will have as much of a part in telling as everyone else. 

#D&D #dungeons and dragons #dnd #ttrpg #table top rpgs

[ddcharacterideas-blog]

They've A whole lot of Similarities

In terms of roleplaying games, there are two titans that dominate: Dungeons & Dragons fifth Edition and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. They've a number of similarities, however each video games deliver one thing very totally different to the desk. Whether you’re an skilled gamer, or by no means touched a d20 before, here’s all the pieces you want to know to make the best alternative for you. They may seem like fierce competitors, however they have rather a lot in frequent. Everything that happens inside the game is set by your selections and varied dice rolls whereas the DM acts as referee and storyteller. As you play, your characters earn expertise factors and develop into extra highly effective to allow them to take on more challenging adventures. The sport was originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first printed in 1974. Wizards of the Coast has owned the property since 1997. D&D is one of the best-recognized and finest-promoting RPG on the market. Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Pathfinder can also be a fantasy-primarily based tabletop roleplaying game that's remarkably similar to D&D. Pathfinder Society is a bit more drop-in, drop-out pleasant than the D&D Adventurers League, and it’s not uncommon to play a session or two with a bunch that you just by no means see again. Games are normally organized at game or pastime retailers, and many conventions. You possibly can study more by downloading the free Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide PDF. They every have magic, elves, dragons, swords. Both have many common terms like charisma, armor class, ability checks. Both have equal opportunity for journey, combat, roleplaying, storytelling. Both use the same set of dice to determine checks, injury, and outcomes. Both have character sheets and a game master. 40. Lastly, each are highly regarded, and there’s lots of on-line and offline assist for them. You and your mates will get to explore harmful places, battle terrifying monsters, find awesome treasure, and make plenty of jokes. So the deciding issue isn't one of enjoyment, however of structure—especially relating to fight. It all is dependent upon what attracts you to these video games in the first place. If your past gaming experience contains hardcore, complicated board games, tactical grid-based mostly video video games, and wargames like Warhammer, you worth technique over character improvement or story, or are inclined to thrive in math-heavy rule programs: go together with Pathfinder. If you’re prepared to put the time into the deep, yet well-balanced system, it will likely be a really rewarding sport experience. You inherited the would possibly and majesty of your dragon ancestors. • Whenever you are taking the Dodge motion in combat, you'll be able to spend one Hit Die to heal yourself. D&D 5e Player's Handbook PDF got uncanny aim. • Whenever you've advantage on an attack roll, you'll be able to reroll one of the dice as soon as. You develop your magnetic personality to ease your method by means of the world. • You gain proficiency in the Deception and Persuasion skills. If you’re already proficient in both ability, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any examine you make with that skill. You can draw in your magical heritage to flee danger. • When you are taking injury, you should use a response to magically grow to be invisible until the top of your subsequent flip or until you attack, deal harm, or force someone to make a saving throw. Once you use this capability, you can’t accomplish that once more until you end a brief or long rest. Drawing on your fey ancestry, you've got learned the way to teleport. • You learn the misty step spell and might solid it as soon as without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast it in this way while you end a short or lengthy rest. The Centaurs and Sirrushes also speak the Elven and Draconic respectively. From here you are going to be taught in regards to the how many possible languages are there to beat your enemy with a new language. Here I am attempting to say you in regards to the languages record and from that languages, you may choose your language additionally you should use that language if you are in the battle or another interactions. 3. Once you decide up a distinct race, for ex: Half-Elf there you can entry more languages. If you choose up Half-Elf then the Dungeon Master offers you “Additional Languages To Learn”. With this process, “Your INT Score Is not going to Affect”. 8. Along with your “Dungeon Master Consent”, you'll be able to select a language from the “Exotic Languages Table”. From the above, you might learn the procedure to get more languages to your character. Once once more we're saying in regards to the linguistic system. You want to purchase a talking language talent from various abilities and you have to increase your ranges by studying extra dnd languages. At the purpose when players allude to D&D 2E, that is the amusement type they're alluding to. Once extra, it wasn’t until 10 years after the very fact, in 2000, that Cells and Winged serpents third Version, of D&D 3E, was discharged. This third launch was the largest correction of D&D rules, because it endeavoured to bind together the past Essential Set and Ad&D 2E diversion frameworks. D&D 5e Character Sheet PDF Fillable very helpful to all who're searching to study Dungeons and Dragons. This introduced a few solitary D&D diversion framework with an exceptionally complex association of guidelines. After three years, in 2003, Prisons and Winged serpents 3.5 was discharged as an endeavour to tidy up the amusement manages and streamline the framework. This is the very best D&D 5e character sheet ever, anyone can see basically. The individuals who need to spare time with out making personal character sheet.

[updatingthedragon]

Q&A from Summer 1975

TLDR: 

- In moments of dramatic tension or in the case of duels, initiative can be rerolled each round of combat to make it more cinematic. Advantage on this reroll can be given based on combat performance.

- If you have a war or combat-focused campaign, giving your players (and your monsters) advantage when attacking from the rear can help encourage better tactical positioning. 

- If "intelligent" monsters hit a casualty threshold, they should have a check for morale. If they fail their check, they should break and run. This can also be applied to NPC followers.

- In Original D&D, gold and magic items gave experience as well as defeating monsters. This has been somewhat subsumed into "Milestone Leveling."

- If you want to give XP for magic items/finding gold, adapt "Milestone Leveling" into "Milestone XP."

- Original D&D's magic system rested on the idea a magic-user memorized a spell and then immediately forgot how to do it after casting it.

Coming from the Summer 1975 issue of The Strategic Review, we get answers to what, I suppose, were the most commonly asked questions about D&D rules. It's an article from a bygone era- they got letters with questions, and had to respond with a magazine article. This compared to today, when questions about D&D on Twitter are answered by the chief rules designer within days, sometimes within hours. I also love how they say they are going to add a loose sheet of paper with corrections to future printings of the rule booklets (yes, booklets, not manuals yet), and that if you don't have that correction, you can send for it and get it for free.

Anyway, what does this article tell us about the game as it was played in 1975, and what can we bring to the game in 2020?

First, there are questions on combat rules. D&D at this time was heavily reliant on the rules for Chainmail, a miniature wargame that D&D emerged from. Unfortunately, this created some confusion with regards to combat rules. As I do not have a background of being a wargamer in the 1970s, a lot of the "clarifications" read Greek to me. There is also the fun fact that weapons did not do different damage. So a sword did the same as an ax did the same as a bow. This would change in Supplement I, Greyhawk. Strange to think that this took so long to switch out. Maybe because of the heritage from wargaming, where it's on a larger scale?

But! There are still some interesting statements we can pull from to spice up our Fifth Edition games. First, according to this article, initiative is checked every turn. Of course, initiative in this game is rolling a d6 and adding a modifier if you have high dexterity (or subtracting, if you have a low dexterity). While I understand the reasons for not rerolling initiative every turn, since that can take a long time and breaks up the flow of combat, I still like it as an option role (or roll, haha) for moments of dramatic tension. 

Say you are a paladin, and you are in a duel with the Death Knight Zerakuul. Zerakuul was responsible for the deaths of your brothers and the destruction of your order. Rolling initiative each round can add a new element of intensity, and make it much more cinematic for everyone involved. The DM could even add modifiers to the rolls, based on the outcome from the previous round of combat; if Zerakuul hit you hard with her sword, and you missed, she'll get a advantage on her roll.

The combat example given in The Strategic Review is also interesting. 10 Orcs gang up on one lost Hero and rush him. It's VERY unfair, but doesn't seem too far from a scenario one could encounter in old Dungeons and Dragons.  We have rules presented here about attacking from behind, which isn't a thing in 5e. Attacking from behind gives the Orcs a +2 to their hit dice, or I suppose in our modern terms "advantage." Granting advantage to flanking maneuvers in 5e can encourage more tactical combat, but it can also bog things down… which I guess is a recurring theme when bringing mechanical aspects of old D&D to 5e. 5e is very streamlined, especially compared to the multitudinous tables of Original D&D. Still, I think if you have a campaign with an especial focus on combat, having flanking rules could help "sell" to your players the need to use advantageous positioning and protect their rear.

We also get a mention of a balrog as a monster. This is before the Tolkein Estate got wind of TSR's usage of J.R.R.'s terminology. The balrog survived to present day D&D in a very bad disguise. Look up the 5e Balor, and you'll see it's essentially a balrog with the numbers filed off.

Next, we get a discussion on morale. The article says that morale isn't a real concern for players, since they "have their own personal morale in reality." So, your character in game has your same level of morale; they can't be forced to retreat due to broken morale. It also states that unintelligent monsters fight until they die. The really interesting part, however, is when it talks about morale checks for "troops serving with a party… or the morale of intelligent monsters." While stating that it is up to the "referee," the text says that it may occasionally be "necessary." The system for determining morale is entirely left up to the "referee." 

Let us discuss how we can implement morale into D&D 5e. Intelligent monsters are just that- intelligent. They are smart enough to realize that things are going against them, and so shouldn't just sit there and get cut down one by one. In the adventure I presented in the previous post, if goblins suffer 50% casualties, a d20 is rolled and if the number is within a certain range, they flee. This is, incidentally, similar to the Chainmail wargame morale system recommended by the text. If intelligent monsters hit a certain casualty threshold, why shouldn't they think about running? I may finagle this and try to come up with a table… if I do wind up with something good, I'll post it.

The article then moves on to discuss "experience." It seems as if acquiring magical items gave you experience in the game at this point. On further search, it also seems gold gave you experience. This explains why the article clarifies that magical items have a low value of experience, because they help you get more treasure, and therefore more experience. I completely understand why this has vanished from the game- D&D is now more high fantasy than sword and sorcery, so "killing monsters and collecting gold" is less of a drive.

Then there is a weird thing about experience- XP is reduced for high-level characters when fighting low-level monsters, unless "the circumstances of the combat were such as to seriously challenge… and actually jeopardize [the players'] life." Well… I can kind of see that, but at the same time, I feel CR and XP tied to that has helped even this out a bit. In fact, this is what I feel this correction is trying to do, since they state that certain monsters are "wroth" certain level factors… interesting. Additionally, the rise of Milestone leveling entirely counteracts this. I prefer to run my games using Milestone, something that would be completely alien to players back in 1975.

If you wished to adapt some of that "gold gives XP" or "magic items give XP" to 5e, I would suggest adapting Milestone leveling into Milestone XP. Finding a hidden magic item, for example, might be worth some bonus XP at the end of the session. 

Finally, there is a statement about spells that is intriguing. Magic in Original Dungeons and Dragons worked "in-universe" like this:

A magic-user memorized a spell at night, so that she could use it the next day. As soon as she cast that spell, she forgot how to do it. That is the justification for a magic-user not being able to repeatedly use spells over and over again. Spells inscribed on scrolls worked a similar way; as soon as they were read from the scroll, they disappeared, so that they couldn't be used again. 

It also states here that a magic-user could only "use a given spell but once during any given day, even if he is carrying his books with him." However, it goes on to clarify that a magic-user can "equip himself with a multiplicity of the same spell." So you would have to prepare three sleep spells, as the example goes, in order to use the sleep spell three times.

Spellbooks, as always, are key to a magic-user's abilities. This has been inherited by the wizard in 5e.  "If he had no books with him," the article says, "there would be no renewal of spells on the next day." 

All in all, this article demonstrates that, even this early in the game, there were questions regarding the rules as written. We can also see several concepts that have survived to this day, while also several (such as gold giving XP) that have fallen by the wayside. D&D has always been evolving, and will likely continue to evolve with time. 

#dungeons and dragons #dnd homebrew #dnd #5e

[absolutely-wretched]

I need to the know the basics of D&D. :-)

Okay so the basics is like, first you need a group. One member of that group is the DM (Dungeon Master). They write the story, and draw the maps (usually they don’t let anyone see the detailed map because it would spoil stuff). Sometimes the DM has their own character as well, sometimes not. It really depends. Now, they might draw, paint or buy a game board, but it’s not needed. The game board would have blocks (kind of like the game board for clue, if it’s not very detailed) and each block would represent an amount of space, usually in yards. the reason for this is so if there are little character models on the game board, the DM could put little monster pieces on as well, but maybe too far away for their range. 

But really, all of that is unnecessary. You could have no game board, no pieces, and just be a group of people sitting around a table rolling dice and making changes to their character sheets. That’s how I played

The other thing is, don’t piss of the DM. The DM can get you killed. 

So let’s say you have a DM, and the rest of your group and you need to start on your character. You need to pick your race and class. This can be different depending on which version of D&D you’re playing. I played 3.5, and the DM or someone in the group should have a book for that. You would also need to print your character sheet.

So, you would go through the book and pick the race and class you want. (You can google specific races and classes, and how to roll for your stats, I can’t remember specifics). There’s a good site for this called DnDBeyond. You also need a LOT of dice. When you roll for your stats, it will tell you (roll 3 d6 for strength) or something to that effect. There are d4,d10,d6,d8,d12,and d20, usually one of each in a set you can buy in tabletop stores. You need waaay more than one of each, but usually only 1 d20. So when you roll the 3 d6 (for example) and get 4, 3, and 1, you base strength stat would be 8. You can google this more in length.

You can also draw your character and give them a backstory and personality.

Ugh let me just write this out tbh

“You’re walking down a long path. You come to a fork in the road” The DM looks ominously at each player around the table. “Left or right?” He smiles as the group starts discussing which way to go.

“Do both paths look exactly the same?” Markus, a human rogue asks rolling a d20 for wisdom. It lands on 14, and he adds his wisdom stat to it, meaning the DM can tell him more. The DM pretends to think, adding to the stress of the situation, each party member looking to him with intent.

“The left is paved. Cobblestone, but its worn. The right is dirt, but seems to have been walked through recently.” 

“I think we should take the left,” Tevari, the elven Warlock says. Mumbles of agreement fill the table.

“You take the left. The sky seems to get darker and you trudge, and the trees widen the path into a cobblestone courtyard. You see a little girl crying a ways away”

Markus rolls wisdom again, hoping to learn more about her before approaching. 1. The DM laughs.

“Now you can’t see her at all.” Laughs around the table. “You have a trust your comrades.”

The Tiefling Wanda rolls for the same thing. Nat 20(natural 20).

“You see the girl’s entire past, how she died, and why she wants revenge”

“Let’s avoid her.” Tevari suggests 

.....You get the point. Skip ahead.

Tevari rolls 2 d6 and 1 d4 for Fireball. She adds her base attack stat and that of her weapon, blasting the enemy away.

I bit off more than I could chew with this. Nothing is totally accurate with this except how the game is played. You have to actually look up what rolls for what, (Like, I don’t know if wisdom is the stat you use to find things out from the DM, it might be Intelligence I can’t remember) and look up which dice need to be rolled and what needs to be added for each attack, then there are experience points and learned professions like speech and lockpicking. Everything you do is to be rolled with a d20 for the most part, except for attacking, which the book usually tells you what to roll and what to add for each attack. You want notebooks and calculators. The DM will have the enemy’s HP and whatnot. 

#i really barely remember how to play #but I'm sure you can look up more specifics on points i touched on #dungeons and dragons #dnd #tevari was my character btw #ask more specific questions and I might be able to help you further #it's hard to cover everything in one post #could even look up specifics for you #whatshernamemaria #answering shit

[xiakha]

The Races of Hyltorea

It is said that Goblinkind all originated from the Desert of Origins after the utopia that had once existed in its center collapsed. Goblinkind have ruled the lands of Hyltorea in one way or another since the beginning of recorded history. They have conquered and been conquered many times over, often times squabbling to divvy up the land under whoever thrust themselves to the world stage and dared rule. It has never lasted long. Whatever advantage commanded the throne at the time would nevertheless prove transient, a bubble of stability in the frothing turmoil of history. They have held a common bond that the other races of Hyltorea often do not share and are more willing to work towards mutual benefit, but these alliances have seldom proven permanent. All the Great Noble Houses sort themselves into Orc, Goblin, or Hobgoblin, even if their members are not all of that race. Goblinkind can be distinguished as having an olive-greenish sheen to their skin. Their eyes are large with vertically slitted irises, their noses tend to be flat and wide, their ears come to a point, and their mouths house more or less prominent tusks and incisors. Overall, they give an impression of having somewhat felid facial characteristics.

  GOBLINS

The City-State of Mauze'fel is the only explicitly Goblin-run city-state. Its ruler, Mikhael Mauze, is a typical Swiftfinger Goblin with a chip on his shoulder. He and House Mauze alone hold the secrets to Airship technology that now churns the trade winds. It is no exaggeration to claim that he may be the most powerful man in Hyltorea.

 Small yet ungainly, Goblins look like large house cats on two feet that have a bit too much limb for their body sizes, but they still carry themselves with unnerving grace and accuracy. They rarely stretch taller than 4 feet, though their arm spans often extend further than that, and usually weigh no more than 65lb. They tend to have yellow or orange eyes. Their clothes are generally practical and they prefer simple, muted blues and yellows.

Goblins are inherently technically suited, their minds work in practical, problem solving ways to the point of exaggeration. Their lanky limbs have quick purposefulness to them and their nimble fingers are as at home working on large farming engines as on the intricate internals of a watch. Goblin Noble Houses primarily busy themselves with the husbandry of machines and technology. Their greatest tend to be scientists and knowledge seekers, searching for whatever truths may lie beyond. But all the greatest architects and artists and writers that Goblinkind has produced have also been Goblins with few exceptions. Goblins group these artists into the category of knowledge seeker, as they look for the greater truths within themselves.

However, Goblins generally do not like to bring much attention to themselves. They would rather be observers, and perhaps manipulators, in the background, keeping the machines ticking and the engines of the greater world running on time. They have never openly ruled much of the world, preferring instead to be the subtle backing or the subtle knife in the back. An Orc with a Goblin's backing can conquer much, and a Hob with a Goblin's backing often gets away with more than otherwise possible.

Goblins typically venerate Bargriv'yexh, a god of creation and design and the patron god of Goblins. Bargriv'yexh's symbol is a triangle inscribed in a square inscribed in a circle and can be found in the top left corner of all Goblin printed works. Shrines to Bargriv'yexh can be found in every Goblin firm, and temples are often simple affairs of elegant work full of prayers for inspiration and tributes that resulted from said inspiration.

Their aesthetic resembles that of Classical Islamic/Persian design, with Mongol Empire influences.

Goblins take Halfling traits and characteristics with these changes:

Ability Score Increase: Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age: A Goblin is considered an adult at the age of 16 and will generally live for just over a century. The oldest Goblins have lived to 120.

Alignment: Most Goblins have a chaotic bent, with the many projects and ideas that they pick up and drop at a moment's notice. They tend to be insular and self-centered, but they will not stand for obvious and blatant injustice.

Size: Goblins average under 4ft tall and weigh about 65lb. They are Small.

Speed: Goblins have a base walking speed of 25 feet.

Lucky: When a player playing a Goblin rolls a 1 on a d20 without advantage or disadvantage, he or she may reroll that die if they justify the reroll in roleplaying terms. If he or she does so, the second die result must be used instead. (Ex: "I'm going to try to convince the shopkeeper to give me a discount." Rolls for a persuasion check, gets a 1, goes for the reroll. "I try to flirt with the shopkeeper by saying 'What's a cute girl like you doing in a place like this?' but when he turns around, I realize he is a very male Orc and very offended." Reroll is a 14, still a failure, but not a catastrophic failure. "I say, 'Why, you're so good looking I thought you were a woman!' as a smooth recovery, and he glares at me, but doesn't kick me out of his store.")

Quickfingered: Goblins have advantage on all Dexterity based d20 checks that they can justify using only their fingers and hands for (but not arms).

Goblin Nimbleness: You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours and any machine that is of a size two categories larger than yours.

Analytic Mind: Goblins have a knack for invention, and often specialize in a specific field. Upon creation, a Goblin character selects either Steamworks, Clockworks, or Magiworks. Goblins can intuitively understand machines of the chosen kind and have proficiency on skill checks they can justify when working with that chosen kind of machine.

Languages: Goblins can speak, read, and write Common and Goblintongue. Goblintongue is tonally very similar to Common, but is based in Dwarvish runes instead of Common Script, rendering it largely incomprehensible to those that know Dwarvish or Common. However, with a successful insight check, a Dwarvish reader or Common speaker can figure out what the Goblintongue says, and vice versa.

Subraces: There are two main kinds of Goblins, Resolute and Swiftfinger. These are not so much hard and fast subraces as ways Goblins tend to specialize.

Resolute

Resolute Goblins are the more common type of Goblin and are tougher than their size would indicate. They're the kind found clambering all over an engine or cranking and assembling contraptions onto sprockets.

Ability Score Increase: Constitution score increases by 1

Ironclad Resilience: Resolute Goblins have advantage on saving throws that involve machines if the player can justify it.

Swiftfinger

Swiftfinger Goblins are more likely to be dreamers and inventors. They often spend their days indoors at drafting tables and typewriters than in front of heavy machinery. They do difference engines, not steam engines. That isn't to say that every Goblin in the field is Resolute and every Goblin in academia is Swiftfinger.

Ability Score Increase: Intelligence or Charisma score increases by 1

Naturally Ignorable: Swiftfinger Goblins just kind of fade into the background when they're in an environment where they're expected to be. They may attempt to hide in any situation in which they're among other friendly or neutral Goblins or in any other place where they may justify being expected.

  ORCS

The City-State of Gi'am'fel has always been the seat of military power in the history of Hyltorea, and it has always been occupied by Orcish forces. The ruling party always takes the name of Gi'am, Reckoner, and Lu'i has not chosen to break from that tradition. It is by his word and sword that the other city-states wage war or peace, and, after the calamity that befell Prosperity, he is wise enough a man to be of few swords and fewer words.

 Orcs were said to have been bred and born for combat, once upon a time. That Force has been lost to the mists of times, but the results of their experimentation are clear to see. Orcs are the bulkiest of Goblinkind, even the smallest and lowest ranked individual would easily overpower a Hobgoblin of equal stature. They usually stand 6 to 7ft tall and weigh 200 to 250lb at full maturity, which they reach at age 20 to 23. Their faces resemble those of big cats with flat, low noses, though they do not have a snout like projection. Their bodies, though humanoid, are covered with light fur though some males have heavy fur on their bodies. They have pronounced cuspids, but rarely are they so overgrown that they emerge from an Orc's mouth unless they will it. Much of their clothing revolves around military garb worn with reckless casualness, in navy blues and olive greens and desert tans.  Some factions have traditions of ritualistic scarring and tattooing, others of war paint and colored livery, still others of medals and braided oaths. Whatever the case, these Orcs proudly present their House or family sworn displays at all events, formal or non-formal.

The martial prowess of Orcs should not be discounted, but despite their perceived destiny, they have found other uses for their militaristic habitudes. When they aren't at war, Orcs are builders of infrastructure. Most, if not all, roads on the face of Hyltorea were paved by Orcs, and Orcs were the first to introduce the concept of clean, running water and separate waste streams in cities. If Goblins discover, Orcs apply. From irrigation to public transport, engineering projects are often helmed by Orcs. Orc Noble Houses center around such facilities, and only three of the many houses deal directly with war. The Ruling House of Gi'am is not hereditarily resolved. Once the Head of House abdicates, whether due to age, politics, or death, challengers from all other Houses meet to test their strengths and wits in ritual combat. The victor becomes the next Head of House, and they nominate their lieutenants from competitors that they have personally defeated. So far, every Head of House has been an Orc, though many non-Orcs have vied for it.

Orcs are the shapers of the world. Their prevailing philosophy is not to observe and plan, not to convince and persuade, but to act and react. Opportunities present themselves most often when one goes to create them. They openly make themselves large and mighty, because they know that draws attention, and thus their enemies and allies alike will be forced to make themselves known. Subtlety is not beyond Orcs; they just have little chance to practice it, and only the most careful observers would recognize it.

Orcs traditionally post tribute to Gruumsh, a god of war and wisdom. Gruumsh's symbol is that of his mystical eye, a gift from his wife, Maglubiyet. Orcs salute by positioning their right hands diagonally over their right eyes, and pledge oaths by covering their right eyes, in deference to the sacrifice to wisdom that Gruumsh had made in order to win over his queen. Temples to Gruumsh are rare, but tributes to Gruumsh can be found on most public utility projects headed by Orc foremen, as the Mystic Eye is posted on all crevices that may be out of easy view.

Aesthetically, their art and design resembles that of Classical Indian design with Greco-Roman influences.

Orcs take Half-Orc traits and characteristics with these changes:

Ability Score Increase: Strength score increases by 2, and Constitution increases by 1.

Age: Orcs mature slightly slower than their cousins, only reaching maturity by ages 20 or 23, at which point they have mastered a weapon and a discipline and used both in a coming of age ritual. They live to 140 regularly, but rarely older than that.

Alignment: Orcs are generally lawful with the rigid systems that they grow up with. They trend to doing what is best for the greater good, but as it pertains to themselves.

Size: Orcs stand 6 to 7ft tall and weigh 200 to 250lb, though older Orcs will often weigh more. They are still considered Medium sized.

Speed: Orcs have a base walking speed of 30 feet.

Darkvision: Orcs excel at nighttime operations, and their work days have traditionally extended well beyond night fall. They can see 60 feet in front of them in dim lighting as if it where bright light, and they can see in total darkness as if it were dim light. However they cannot accurately discern color in complete darkness, only shades of gray, depending on the heat of their surroundings.

Menacing: Orcs don't really need to try to be intimidating. They just need to smile wide enough to reveal their large cuspids. They gain advantage on Intimidation checks as long as they're actively putting effort into being intimidating.

Weapon Familiarity: An Orc chooses and trains with a weapon from an early age. Though he or she may eventually adopt other weapons, their first weapon will always hold a special place for them. When an Orc character is created, choose a Weapon of Choice from longsword, greatclub, battle axe, rapier, warhammer, crossbow, longbow or shortbow. That character cannot get disadvantage while rolling to use a weapon of that kind, if they've used that specific weapon before in at least one previous encounter.

Public Utility Apprenticeship: The other rite of passage for an Orc is completion of an apprenticeship of a certain public works project. When an Orc character is created, choose a single public infrastructure (ie. roads, bridges, sewers, aquifers, etc.) of choice. That character gets proficiency any skill checks made with regard to that public infrastructure if it can be justified. (Ex: "With my knowledge of water mains, I try to intimidate the store owner by hinting at a possible water main break in his store unless I can check out his basement with my crew. I should get proficiency and advantage.")

Survival Instincts: The combat training Orcs undergo from a young age hones acutely their ability to not die. Whenever an Orc would be reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, they can choose to drop to 1 hit point instead, once per long rest.

Brutal Efficacy: Whenever an Orc scores a critical hit with a melee weapon, he or she may roll one of the weapon's damage dice one addition time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit. If the Orc is wielding a weapon that would get the Weapon Familiarity bonus (a Weapon of Choice), instead they may re-roll one of their damage dice once, and choose a preferred result, and then, if the Weapon of Choice is melee, roll one of the weapon's damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit. (Ex: A Critical Hit with a longsword with no other bonuses is 2d6. With Brutal Efficacy, the Orc can roll an additional d6. If the Orc's Weapon of Choice is longsword, the Orc may roll one of the original dice again, taking which ever result is higher, and an additional d6.)

Languages: Orcs speak, read, and write Orcish and Common. Orcish sounds significantly different from Common, but is written in Common Script. With a successful insight roll, a Common speaker can figure out written Orcish and pronounce the words on the page without understanding what the words are.

  HOBGOBLINS

For the last eight hundred years, the Hyltorean Hobgoblin Xhaga'nate held a mighty grip on the main continent and extended its reach from the Goblin Colonies in the west to the Northern Mountains in the east. Now it is shattered, and Xhan Arth'uria sits on a broken throne in a broken empire, plotting a broken revenge.

 Hobgoblins are the middle race, not as tall and bulky and Orcs, but not as lanky and small as Goblins. They stand roughly 5ft to just under 6ft and weigh from 110lb to 180lb. They have cat-like ears on their head and their limbs are furred to match. They tend to wear intricate layered outfits, and formal garb almost always consists of a loose cloak or tunic draped over a double breasted tailor-fitted inner layer.

Hobgoblins value community and diplomacy over everything else and their lives are steeped in tradition. Legends tell of a world united in harmony under a Goblinkind flag, and much of Hobgoblin cultural identity revolves around recapturing this lost era, or any of the many that came after it. The last Xhaga'nate was the most recent and most successful attempt to bottle lightning. Almost every Hobgoblin has a plan or an opinion about how to best rebuild their empires, and most do what they can to advance that agenda. The Hobgoblin Houses not dedicated to diplomacy and management usually involve understanding and interpreting history and tradition. Indeed, one could say that Hobgoblins are the most traditionally founded of Goblinkind. That's not to say that they are less forward thinking than their Orcish or Goblin compatriots, as Hobgoblins use their understanding of the past and tradition to inform their decisions and spur on the movements they helm with unerring confidence.

Hobgoblins thus are all about connections, compromise, networking, and bridge building. This often manifests itself as persuading others to take the course of action that is most optimized for the Hobgoblin. That doesn't mean all Hobgoblins are master planners, they're just convincing and good at cultivating ideas. Few operate that well outside the short term. If Goblins are all about subtle workings and Orcs are about the obvious or ostentatious, Hobgoblins draw a happy medium between the two extremes, as they are oft to do.

All Hobgoblins have at some point in their lives prayed to Maglubiyet, goddess of ambition and cunning. Her symbol is her Iron Throne, and every one of her many temples has this uncomfortable device at its centerpiece. People come to worship the Patron Goddess of Hobgoblins in pairs or groups, never alone. Almost all rites and prayers require at least another to join in, whether it be in chorus, response, or round. Outside of her temples, Maglubiyet and her symbols rarely appear save in the morality stories taught to children.

Aesthetically, Hobgoblins use an interplay of Mongol Empire and Greco-Roman design.

Hobgoblins take Half-Elf traits and characteristics with these changes:

Ability Score Increase: Charisma increases by 2, and two other ability scores of choice increase by 1.

Age: Hobgoblins come of age in mass ceremonies at 18. Most live about 150 years, but there are claims that some have lived to see their second century.

Alignment: Hobgoblins come in all stripes, and do not necessarily veer more lawfully or chaotically, though individuals will obviously have explicit preferences.

Size: Hobgoblins are 5 to 6 feet tall and weigh 110 to 180lb. They are Medium sized.

Speed: Hobgoblins have a base walking speed of 30 feet.

Darkvision: Hobgoblins retain this throwback to some ancient time, and Hobgoblins that live in the city generally only find use of this trait in the unlit Temples of Maglubiyet, as it is believed the darkness improves one's spiritual connections. They can see 60 feet in front of them in dim lighting as if it were bright light, and they can see in total darkness as if it were dim light. However they cannot accurately discern color in complete darkness, only shades of gray, depending on the heat of their surroundings.

City-State Heritage: All Hobgoblins know more than they realize about the places that they grew up in. Choose one of the marked geopolitical points of interest on the Hyltorea world map west of (and including) Prosperity and south of the northern reaches of the Spine of Hyltorea as a region of origin. Hobgoblins have advantage on all skill checks made with reference to that region of origin if it can be justified.

Skill Versatility: Hobgoblins have proficiency in two skills of their choice. Hobgoblins that hail from a city-state choose an additional proficiency in a skill that uses Intelligence checks or Charisma checks. Hobgoblins that hail from a non-city-state choose an additional proficiency that uses Wisdom checks or Charisma checks.

Languages: Hobgoblins speak, read, and write Common primarily, Goblin or Orc as a secondary. City-state based Hobgoblins tend to learn Elvish as a third language, and non-city-state based Hobgoblins tend to learn Dwarvish. Common tongue is also known as Hobtongue or Hoblish.

  ELVES

The Moon Elves and Sun Elves have always danced in complementary cycles, even before their gods united as one being. The uneasy truce they brokered in their many wars was planted in trees, and the lofty tops were used as a neutral ground, forcing the Elves to rise up, metaphorically and physically. The pale Moon Elves have been hunters and sailors since antiquity, living nomadic lives in the frozen north. The god they worshipped, Corellon, was a mighty hunter and trickster who could disappear with a twist. His traveling cloak was the Moon. The tanned Sun Elves have always been planters and herders, and settled in the rich fields of what is now the Xham'bel Fielfdom and Luran Forests. Their goddess, Larethian, is primarily seen as a nurturing mother too beautiful and vindictive to look at directly, liable to kill with the very power that feeds. Her chariot was the Sun. As the myth goes, the romance that never could be was struck and consummated when Corellon used his traveling cloak to disappear not just himself, but Larethian's chariot entirely. And from that unity emerged a new being, Corellon Larethian, a deity of dualities, both Sun and Moon, both male and female, both life and death. They have remained this way ever since, traveling in the Chariot of the Sun by day, and the Cloak of the Moon by night.

Luran Forest was planted, nurtured, and filled with all manners of beasts as a symbol of this new unison, and was one of the first places Moon and Sun Elves intermingled. Within the treetops, the city is symbiotic structures woven out of the living branches of the canopy. The Elven retreat from Luran Forest and the Xham'bel plains eastwards lead to the Unification of Sylvanian tribes, a response to the increasing grasp and power of Xhan'fel. But even Unified Sylvania eventually signed away power to the Hobgoblin Empire in treaties that have since been negated and neglected as Xhan'fel no longer has any ability to enforce them. In Unified Sylvania, years of intermarriage between Moon and Sun Elves have lead to progeny that claim themselves "Dawn Elves."

Moon Elves take aesthetic cues from Norse and Mesoamerican designs.

Sun Elves take aesthetic cues from Egyptian and Mesoamerican designs.

Dawn Elves are largely super organic Art Nouveau.

Elves retain the same stats except as follows:

Ability Score Increase: Dexterity increases by 2.

Age: Elves reach physical maturity slightly later than Hobgoblins, at about 25, but most Elves are not treated as full adults until they reach 75 years of age, because of cultural traditions and the experiences they have to master. Elves age slowly after that and do not seem to age after 150 years of life. Arguably, an Elf could potentially live forever, and the oldest Elves are record to be over a thousand, but most die long before then.

Alignment: Sun Elves tend to be a bit more settled in their ways, and Moon Elves are continuously in flux. Thus in general, Elves tend to be neither overly chaotic nor lawful on average, but individuals may vary wildly, especially among citizens of Sylvania.

Size: Elves are 5 to nearly 6 feet tall and are slender to skinny looking. Their size is Medium.

Speed: Elves have a base walking speed of 30 feet.

Darkvision: Elves see in the dark, potentially because everyone else can see in the dark too. They can see 60 feet in front of them in dim lighting as if it were bright light, and they can see in total darkness as if it were dim light. However they cannot accurately discern color in complete darkness, only shades of gray, depending on the heat of their surroundings.

Keen Senses: Elves have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Trance: Elves don't technically need to sleep. Most adult Elves do not, choosing to meditate or "Trance" instead for four hours a night. This comes easily to Dawn Elves, and even children grasp this naturally. Sun and Moon Elves need to train to do this, and some Elves just never learn how.

Elvish Knowledge: Elves that are considered adults have proficiency in Intelligence checks when dealing with Elvish history, tradition, religion, or artifacts.

 Subraces:

Dawn Elves

Hailing from Unified Sylvania, Dawn Elves have a certain mystical quality to them. It might be magic. Their skin tones tend to fall in the average between the warm, saturated tones of the Sun Elves and the cold, desaturated tones of Moon Elves, though some are as tanned or as pale as their ancestors. Their somewhat unearthly eyes tend to be silver-blue, purple, yellow-green, or red. Likewise, their hair tends to venture into the "unnatural" ranges of purples, bright reds, greens, and blues.

Ability Score Increase: Intelligence increases by 1.

Fey Ancestry: It is said that the union between Corellon and Larethian and their children was blessed by the Fey. At least, that's what Dawn Elves claim their natural resistance to charm and sleep is. They have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and magic can't put them to sleep.

Elf Weapon Training: Dawn Elves have proficiency in two of the following: rapiers, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow. Adult Dawn Elves have proficiency in all four.

Elvish Diplomacy: Dawn Elves have proficiency in Charisma checks when dealing with other Elves.

Cantrip: Dawn Elves can cast one cantrip of choice from the wizard spell list. They use Intelligence for spellcasting ability.

Languages: Apart from Elvish and Common, many Dawn Elves also pick up at least a smattering of Sylvan. Dawn Elves of at least 75 years of age are usually fully fluent in Sylvan, and most also pick up a fourth language.

 Moon Elves

Moon Elves come from the icy north and have spent most of their time raiding the coasts and following the herds of dire caribou and dire buffalo as they migrate up and around the spine of Hyltorea. This activity brought them in contact with both Sun Elves and Goblinkind, often in less-than-civil engagements. They have colder, less saturated skintones that reflect their environment with eyes and hair to match, though red hair and eyes may appear in fiery defiance of the hoar frost.

Ability Score Increase: Constitution increases by 1.

Frozen Heritage: Moon Elves have resistance to cold damage and have proficiency on Wisdom checks related to cold or oceanic environs or hunting prey in those environs if the link can be justified.

Elf Weapon Training: Moon Elves have proficiency in two of the following: shortsword, trident, shortbow, longbow. Adult Moon Elves have proficiency in all four.

Elvish Diplomacy: Moon Elves have proficiency in Charisma checks when dealing with other Moon Elves and Dawn Elves.

Light of Foot: Moon Elves have a base walking speed of 35. When a Moon Elf passes through snow and ice or similar difficult terrain, they may attempt a Dexterity check to pass through the difficult terrain without trace. Whether or not they succeed, they still take no penalty to movement speed, and they can move at a steady pace without slowing while working through the terrain. They may do the same with rocking surfaces.

Languages: Moon Elves learn Elvish, Moon dialect, and Common. When learning other languages, they often pick up either Sun dialect Elvish, or Goblin. Elvish speakers can intuit what is said in Moon dialect Elvish with a successful Insight check.

 Sun Elves

Sun Elves are native to the hot and flat plains of the south, and have long lived a pastoral life based on grains and herd animals. They are more friendly and amendable to Goblinkind, as they have been in constant contact and trade since time immemorial. They have a warmer, more saturated complexions, eyes, and hair. Every so often, there's one with white to blonde hair and light eyes, but they are rare.

Ability Score Increase: Wisdom increases by 1.

Pastoral Charm: Whenever a Sun Elf is in a position to talk about their culture or spin a yarn about their life on the plains, they gain advantage on all justifiable Charisma checks. They also have proficiency for Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks and Wisdom (Survival) checks when in prairie.

Elf Weapon Training: Sun Elves have proficiency in two of the following: longsword, shortsword, longbow, shortbow. Adult Sun Elves have proficiency in all four.

Elvish Diplomacy: Sun Elves have proficiency in Charisma checks when dealing with other Sun Elves and Dawn Elves.

Cantrip: Sun Elves can cast one cantrip of choice from the druid spell list. They use Wisdom for spellcasting ability.

Languages: Sun Elves learn Elvish, Sun dialect, and Common. When learning other languages, they often pick up either Moon dialect Elvish, Goblin, or Orc. Elvish speakers can intuit what is said in Sun dialect Elvish with a successful Insight check.

  DWARVES

Dwarves believe their race was cast from iron and hammered into shape by Moradin, a sentient Godhammer. Before the metal cooled, the detail work was done by Moradin's spouse, Kalavin, a sentient Godsickle. Together, they raised the Dwarvish race from the depths of the earth to the favorable place underground they find themselves now. But it has taken much hard work and sacrifice to reach the position that they are currently at, and Dwarves know better than anyone else that a community often must move with conviction and coherency.

Underground, the Dwarves are super utilitarian and put the needs of the community before their own. Dwarves traditionally mask themselves literally to honor the agreement they made with Moradin to metaphorically treat all other Dwarves as the same, that no Dwarf is below or above any other in the dark. They wear their beards long and braided, one braid for every bond, pact, and allegiance that they have.  All receive what they require and all give what they can. Any Dwarf putting self before others is stripped of her beard and removed from society, left to wander the Underdark eternally, or until they reach the surface.

Above ground, then, are the Dwarves that were ejected from that perfect state and their descendants. Some still wear masks and braids in keeping with Moradin's ways. Others have turned to Kalavin, expressing and emphasizing the details the Godsickle granted them. Most farm or herd, and the ones in the mountains mine. They have taken to recreational use of explosives in very small quantities, high boots, and outsized floppy hats.

Yes, Dwarvish vaquero.

Above ground Dwarvish aesthetic take cues from Chinese design with Wild West influences.

Dwarves have the same stats as stated in the Player's Handbook with these additions:

Tool Proficiency: Dwarves gain proficiency with one of these artisan's tools: smith's tools, gunsmith's tools, brewer's supplies, mason's tools, or leatherworker's tools.

Persuasive Professionalism: Dwarves gain advantage on all Charisma checks when discussing the trade they work in or subject matter related to the trade they work in.

Blend In: A masked Dwarf can attempt to hide in a group of other masked Dwarves even without anything else obscuring her. In an area with ten or more other masked Dwarves, a masked Dwarf has advantage on this hide check.

Languages: Dwarvish is written in pictographs that have been formalized and standardized as runes.

  GNOMES

Gnomes primarily hail from the southeastern islands, and most can trace roots back to Gnometown. Little is known about their origins, save that they seem to be oddly in sync with the Fey, which tolerate their presence better than any other race. Are they Fey that lost their access to the Feywilds? Are they reject-Dwarves from Moradin's first casting? Are they the result of forbidden Elvish experimentation? Are they counterparts to Goblins? Who knows. The fact remains that they have tunnels everywhere in their cities, they tunneled into the mainland, and they are intensely curious.

Gnomes take the same stats as stated in the Player's Handbook with these additions:

Sylvan Connections: Gnomes have advantage on all Charisma checks relating directly to the Fey.

Gnome Connections: Gnomes always know a guy, and with an Intelligence check, can always figure out how to reach that guy, even if that guy is trying very hard not to be reached.

ANIBORN

The Aniborn are humanoids with animalistic traits, as would suit those of the Anima lineage. In that respect, they have even more variation to how they look, and some even have ears resembling those of an animal that extend past the tops of their heads and antlers they may grow and shed like deer. These traits are usually rather benign and do not change their silhouette dramatically. Wings grown are generally small and useless, hands still include thumbs, digitigrade feet still allow for typical bipedal locomotion, tails are nuisances and not prehensile, faces do not get snouts, and for the most part, the Aniborn are only as hirsute as the other mortal races. There are some exceptions, but those are rare and often live as hermits, shut away from even other Aniborn. They have an affinity for nature like the Anima they resemble, and have natural magical ability like the Fey. Though they most likely have origins in the Great Spirits that sunk into the earth, they readily interbreed with most other mortal races; however, their offspring are never hybrid.

Aniborn generally live in villages on their own, near Fey conclaves, and rarely interact with the other mortal races. When they do, they often come across as cunning and charismatic, in an uncanny manner. As they generally have a good relationship with their Anima brethren, it isn’t unheard of Aniborn living among the Fey and Anima themselves, serving as liasons between the more animalistic of the Anima and mortals. Some even work with the Unseelie. However this disconnect with modern society and a lack of social graces in comparison to their suave Lumi cousins, has given the Aniborn a somewhat undeserved reputation for being awkward and naive. City Aniborn do not lack these graces but the reputation still precedes them, much to their chagrin.

The Aniborn use stats for Tieflings. DM fiat for changes to resistances and Infernal Legacy replacement spells

LUMI

The Lumi clearly have some kind of elemental matter running through their veins. They may have hair of a mottled brown, a fiery red, a wispy blonde, or even no hair at all. Their skin likewise range from a coppery tan to an ethereal pale. Their eyes are invariably an unearthly yellow or purple. In general, most Lumi take form very similar to that of very large Luminal influenced Fey, so oddly they resemble Elves more often than not. Their variability means that short Lumi may only be slightly taller than Dwarves and tall Lumi tower over Hobgoblins. They also have some aspect of control over the elements they resemble, and it is not unheard of Lumi without magical training unleashing gouts of flame or sparks or controlling boulders or ponds. As Luminal are generally incompatible with the usual methods of mortal reproduction, it is often said that the original Lumi were creations by the Great Spirits that ascended to the skies, potentially by fusing Luminal with mortals.

The Luminal in them give the Lumi strength and a dazzle that other mortal races find oddly compelling. As they have no homeland and their Luminal “brethren” are generally wary of them, they instead integrate themselves among the other moral races, and it is not odd to find them working closely with Hobgoblins or Elves. Though they may take lovers of different races, the Luminal have difficulty conceiving even among themselves (half-Elf half-Lumi are basically unheard of), making Lumi society rare. Only in the Luminal city-state of Xhor'Ruvula is there a significant Lumi population, and even that, subservient to the Luminal that rule the city-state, could hardly be called a thriving society of its own right.

The Lumi use stats for Dragonborn. DM fiat for breath weapon replacement and other details.

#dungeons and dragons #hyltorea #campaign setting

[littledragoncorp]

Brachioblue - Gabrisaur Dice - 11 Piece Dice Set

Brachioblue 11 Piece Dice Set One of the tallest Dinosaurs to walk the lands the Brachioblue dice set are like the skies and clouds in the sky with leaves falling to the ground. Full of freedom and joy like their creator this dice set was designed when Gabriel was 3 years old. This is a one-print run dice series that all the profits go to support the creators education fund. Each set is a standard RPG set with 2 D20, D10, D%, D12, D8, 3 D6, & D4. Packaged in a dice box; it is easy to display and stack in your showcases. Gabriel designed these dice after one of his favourite dinosaurs. He says that the Brachioblue dice remind him of the leaves that fall down from the sky when the Brachiosaurus eats. Because of the nebula nature of this set the colors can be vastly different from each set. Check out the History of Sapphire Birthday Dice at Gabrisaur Dice. Brachioblue 11 Piece Dice Set Characteristics The Brachioblue Dice are made with a bluetransparent base with a white and green injected in. With silver ink it makes this set a low contrast set perfect for dms to roll. Come Visit us today to get Brachioblue 11 Piece Dice Set Dice in Person 22 Main St. S. 2nd Floor, Brampton, Ontario at Dragon World Card Games & Collectibles. - We have one of the biggest Dice Collections for sale in Canada. - We have dice from Ice Cream Dice, Die Hard, Udixi, HD, Chessex, Yusun, Bescon, Critit, Lindorm, Wizard of the Coast, Fate, Polyhero, Gate Keeper Games and more. I'm always looking to add unique interesting dice to our shop. - But wait, there's more! I also have 5E books, old school books, Maps, Terrain, Dice Trays, Miniatures both painted and unpainted. - We also carry alcohol ink for making your own dice, as well as colouring books & Markers, Puzzles and Board games. - For those who love TCG's we have both sealed and singles of Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, Dragon Ball Super, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Check out our second online store as well! Dragon World Games This is an out of print dice set, once we've run out there won't be anymore. If there is an inventory error you will be refunded. Read the full article

[derkastellan]

Musings: A look at the OSR - Part II: Love the presentation, come to hate the rules

There’s countless people out there who cut their teeth on Classic Dungeons & Dragons (”little brown books” plus supplements, OD&D, Oe, 0e), Basic D&D (Holmes Basic, B/X, BECMI) or Advanced D&D (1e). And a lot of present day OSR games emulate these, for example OSRIC (1e),  Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (1e), Swords & Wizardry (0e), Labyrinth Lord (Basic), BLUEHOLME (Holmes Basic), and so on. Some of these were specifically written to provide reference game systems to write for to retain compatibility with earlier editions of D&D without having to reference the D&D name or out-of-print products. Especially Labyrinth Lord. The basic releases of Swords and Wizardry integrate either only the original White Box, or also Supplement 1, or all supplements released for 0e. But these games also have been polished, unified, cleaned up, and updated a bit. S&W features support for ascending armor class, a feature introduced to D&D no sooner than 3rd edition. These games stay true to their preferred editions in most ways, while also providing a bit more streamlined experience than you might expect from 0e (where you had to construct your own game out of all released material and home rules) or Basic (where material was distributed across boxes and level-limited, and some material got never published before another, contradicting new line was released).

What they have in common is that they are labors of love of a devoted fanbase who enjoy D&D gameplay, consider D&D their favorite game or even only game of choice, and who devote significant time to playing it, writing for it, and refining it. 

The art is often a callback to earlier editions. I feel right at home with black-and-white line art. It gives me a cozy feeling and evokes the fantastic for me. The rules... not so.

The capabilities of D&D characters don’t seem so fantastic in earlier editions, there’s a long, arduous grind to go up in level, and not much is gained. Magic gear is where it’s at. What can a mid-level S&W Complete Fighter do? He can multi-attack mobs of pitiful monsters, is harder to hit if dextrous, is the only one who gets strength boni, can hit better, and has more hit points. He eventually gets to have a stronghold. If you look for a reason why there’s such a variety of magical swords back in the day, look no further.

This is not truly a surprise. The D&D character as we know it evolved out of Dave Arneson’s wargaming group. Arneson wasn’t a great rules writer or editor, but his group pioneered advancing by level because they moved away from one-shot encounters with meaningless pawns to keeping continuity for their chosen avatars. Frankly, players didn’t like seeing them dying, so they were given increased capability to increase survivability. (Don’t expect any Gygax fanboy-ing from me, I pretty much think Arneson invented the actual game and Gygax wrote the first ruleset for it. I’m not happy with all the “Gygax this” or “Gygax that” which - to me - seems to be endemic in the American player base. If I have to “worship” an individual “hero” or “titan” over everybody else, Arneson would be my pick. But frankly, I would rather not. I respect both and their legacy.)

And early D&D reflects this legacy in that characters are more capable than their fantasy wargame antecedents, but not very fantastic or awesome, really. I personally am just fine with the short time 5th edition let’s pass between level 1 and level 3 and the range of capabilities a 5e character can have. If somebody tells me they needed 10 years or more to get to level X and that is the right pace and was still an accomplishment, I gag a little. Because time is getting scarce, players are not necessarily easy to find, and there’s precious few opting for a punishing game. I love many things about the older editions but I consider a lot of it “a work in progress.” I appreciate the “use it as you want and extend it, it’s your game” culture ideals of 0e which seemed to come to lessen with 1e... a lot. I do appreciate the raw creativity of building fantastic worlds for the first time, no matter how eclectic, slapped together, improvised. But I tried to run games that are true to what some people believe to be the punishing ideal of gaming, and players ran for the hills.

You could blame computer games and their ever-evolving power fantasies. But many people have come forward and shown that computer games in turn owe the idea to an extent also to D&D. The chickens have simply come home to roost. History cannot be dialed back. And it shows. And why shouldn’t it? D&D was often a power trip in the first place. It just got “trippier” over the years.

Now, I’m not saying that you could not run a fantastic game with these rulesets and materials out of the box. You can. But it will depend on your charisma, inventiveness, and sheer skill as GM to actually sell these games today to new players. It can work, of course, and it can be great fun. I’m not denying that. But I’m not so sure why I should try to sell that in the first place?

Compatibility with old material is a great plus. There’s tons of existing material out there, especially starting with 1st edition or AD&D. But frankly, I hate AD&D. I have it standing on my shelf and I feel like it’s not a good ruleset. AD&D2 has it beat in my opinion. I’m not a big fan of Gary Gygax, rules designer. Gary Gygax the creator of adventures and evocative prose... that’s a different thing. Frankly, I am not a fan of where 1e tried to wander - into this semi-simulationist territory. I can do very well with a game that understands that it is merely a game and that complexity needs a well-defined pay-off.

In fact, in comparison the 1st edition Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide are both examples of lots of mini-rule-systems thrown together. Whatever Gygax could think of he foisted his own rule-systems on. And they lack in coherency. A lot. You also cannot play the game without the DMG - because even the actual to-hit matrices of player characters are hidden in that tome. I tried to like this game. I really did. It’s a disaster. People keep singing its praises but I’m not sure you can put these three books - including the Monster Manual, of course - into the hands of most 20-year-olds with an interest in roleplaying and expect them to like this stuff and starting to play. The legend of 1e lives on because the players who started with 1e (or spent a long time with it) live on.

None of those specific games I mentioned truly dare to transcend the original rulesets. Fixes. Unification attempts. It’s all in there. But there’s also “d100 for this” and “d20 for that” and “roll high for this” and “roll low for that”. That persists. Action resolution is a mixed bag of separate rule systems and little engines. It’s a replication of the rules more than anything else.

I find it funny because one of the OSR mantras is “Rulings, not rules.” Placing authority in the hand of the GM to rule individual situations from deliberating this instance (or set of instances) instead of relying on a fixed set of rules. But these games come with rules! They are just... messy, unnecessarily complex in some cases, underdefined in others, lack design or coherence. So, GM help yourself! No wonder there’s so many fantasy heartbreakers out there... People love playing D&D, but it’s hard to ignore there’s some - or many - things in there that need fixing! So they fixed and released and fixed and released.

And so did the owners of the D&D trademarks and copyrights. The game changed. Monster-killing became more important. But it’s not like many players already hadn’t thought that most of the time. It comes with a book full of monsters, after all. Player character capabilities increased. Rules were streamlined, unified. Not all for the better. I don’t exactly prefer Pathfinder’s heap of feats and 4e’s oodles of class powers to 1e or 2e or Basic. But I recognize that these newer games come with more deeply unified engines. 

How powerful a unified engine truly is can be seen in games like Dungeon Crawl Classics (which has a streamlined 3e under its hood, then grafted lots of tables on it) and... 5e. I like 5e. I’m really glad this edition came out because I like both the old school and new rules. And 5e came somewhere in between, if not perfectly then at least it tried. Because all the “d100 here” vs “d6 here” and “d20 high here” and “d20 low here” and their endless variations... I can’t be bothered with. Not truly. Not for long.

Because I love the old school feel. Not the rules. I suspect something like the Black Hack is more up my alley than 1e. I know Dungeon World definitely is. I have tried. I keep buying OSR material. But I don’t really get warm with the rules. I don’t feel “converted.” The rules of old D&D were a worthy first try. The game once was meant to evolve with the needs of the GM and the players. Instead the rules... stuck. At least for some. I personally see that as one of the unluckiest inversions. I think it was never meant to be.

And I’m happy every time somebody makes a new riff on D&D without simply going back. Kevin Crawford’s “Scarlet Heroes” is foremost on my mind. Moving towards elegance, simplicity, honoring the spirit of the game.

(to be continued)

#osr #oldschool #rpg #roleplaying

[softtinyhands]

Fantasy Ikea

Unpoppable Cherry Double Bubble - Chewing this gum allows the user to blow a large red unpoppable bubble  that surrounds the user’s head, making them feather light!!

Allows the user to levitate for 2d10 minutes

20 GP

Unpoppable Blueberry Double Bubble -  Chewing this gum allows the user to blow a large blue unpoppable bubble that surrounds the user’s head, giving you a clean air supply!

Allows the user to breath under water for 2d10 minutes

20 GP

Morning Soul Wood - A prosthetic penis made of soul wood. Given time, it will attune to the wearer’s body and functions the same way a penis of the person’s flesh would.

Grants +2 on Persuasion rolls related to seduction.

60 GP

Coke bottle glasses - Pros: you’ll be able to see like you’ve never seen before. Cons: Everyone will think you’re a nerd :/

Grants +2 to Perception Checks and Passive Perception

90 GP

Large Print Proverb Bible - The easily accessible print and excessive use of phrases from back in the day make this Bible especially appealing to an older crowd

Can be used as a holy symbol. Grants +1 to the user’s spell save DC and spell attack rolls.

90 GP

Iridescent arrow and pendant - an arrow and pendant cut from the same moonstone. They say moonstone is the gem of travelers…

After attuning to the user’s body, the arrow and pendant can be used as a teleportation device. The arrow is shot anywhere within the range of the user’s bow and the wearer of the pendant switches places with the arrow.

When shooting the arrow, roll 1d6. If you roll a 1, the arrow breaks and the pendant shatters causing 1d4 piercing damage. All other rolls are successful, and, as long as the arrow is retrieved, it can be used until it breaks. Roll 4d20 to see how far you teleport. Can be used only 2 times a day.

80 GP

Hand knit sweater - There was a reason Grandma told you to never leave the house without one.

Grants the wearer resistance to cold damage.

40 GP

Rhinestone Shades - These aren‘t your everyday cheap sunglasses, these are cheap sunglasses with shiny baubles! Everyone’s too busy looking at your dazzling shades to notice who you are!

Add +3 to Deception rolls regarding your identity (i.e. as the local militia runs past, you point down the alley while bedecked in your stunning eye wear and yell: “The killer went that way!”)

40 GP

Chanel No 5 - Utterly irresistible

Forces disadvantage on saves against enchantment spells

200 GP

The Amulet of Sparky Sparky Boom Man - After attuning to it, once per long rest you can speak a power word over the Amulet of Sparky Sparky Boom Man, this summoning Sparky Sparky Boom Man himself. Sparky Sparky Boom Man is a fire elemental who is hell-bent on destruction. He springs into existence, makes two touch based attacks:

Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) fire damage. If the target is a creature or a flammable object, it ignites. Until a creature takes an action to douse the fire, the target takes 5 (1d10) fire damage at the start of each of its turns. After two touch attacks, Sparky Sparky Boom Man explodes, hitting anyone in a twenty foot radius with 3d8 fire damage. You have no control over who he hits with his touch attacks, although he'll never hit you. When he does his touch attacks roll 1d10. On a roll of 1, one of his touch attacks hits a random companion. A roll of 2-10 means both of his attacks will hit enemies. If there is only one enemy, he will automatically hit a companion and an enemy. Exactly who is hit is at the discretion of the dm.

100 GP

Stone of Far Speech - A small stone that can connect to other similar stones and allow for communication between the owners.

40 GP

Scuttle Buddy - A mechanical beetle that the user can use for spying. It will talk to the user, but won't have anything interesting to say beyond its primary function. The owner can wind it up four times before it breaks. The beetle can easily fit through small places and climb walls. It cannot fly and is very fragile.

100 GP

Wand of Switcharoo - Once a day, when pointed at another creature of similar size within 100ft, the target and the holder of the wand will switch places. If the target is unwilling to switch, it must succeed a DC 17 Constitution saving throw to remain in place.

200 GP

Slippies of Haste - Footwear that resemble house slippers with small aesthetic wings attached on the heel. These slippers give the wearer Advantage on initiative rolls.

90 GP

Haunted Doll - A very creepy looking doll. When the owner of this doll fails a third death saving throw, the doll will die in place of its owner.

200 GP

Cloak of the Manta Ray - A slick, black leather cloak that grants the wearer a +1 to AC. When the wearer in submerged in water, it grants the wearer +2 AC instead, grants water breathing, and allows 60ft of underwater movement speed.

100 GP

Shield of Heroic Memories -This perfectly round silver shield initially has a mirror finish. As a hero takes it into battle it remembers the enemies encountered, gaining a +1 to AC on any subsequent battle with creatures of that type. The events of the battle are intricately engraved onto the shield’s surface (which has a seemingly endless capacity for detail).

The bearer of the shield may also attempt to recount past battles (real or imagined) to the shield. Upon a DC 10 charisma check or DC 15 deception check, the shield confers a +1 AC against the creatures described in the tall tales.

3 failed attempts at recounting stories cause the shield to be cleared of all of its memories. The engravings disappear. It reverts to its mirror finish. All bonuses are lost.

300 GP

The Glutton's Fork - Once a day, this fork will allow the user to eat any non-magical item they can fit in their mouth and regain 2d6 hit points. Just tap the the fork on the item and it will turn edible.

60 GP

Plastic Sheriff's Badge - Adds +3 to deception skill checks when impersonating a person of authority.

60 GP 

All-or-Nothing Coin - Once a day, the owner of the coin can substitute a regular 2-sided coin flip in place of a d20 roll. If the coin lands on heads, it is considered a Critical Hit. If the coin lands on tails, it is considered a Critical Fail.

50 GP

Ring of the Grammarian - The wearer of this ring can, once a day, alter one letter on a spell's title to alter the spell being cast for a different effect:

Example:

Cause Fear becomes Cause Bear.

The effect of these altered spells are determined by the DM, but with the caster's intentions taken into account.

100 GP

PHARMACY SECTION

Potion of Healing - All cow’s blood in this potion was obtained from free range, grass-fed cattle.

Heals 2d4+2 hit points upon consumption

15 GP

Nut Mylk - Every travelling party has that one vegan…

Heals 2d4+3 hit points upon consumption

16 GP

Alchemist Ring - When the wearer of this ring imbibes a healing potion, they recieve an additional 1d6 hit points.

50 GP

Vampire Facial - A facial made of vampire’s blood. How did we get vampire’s blood? Isn’t vampire’s blood super poisonous? To these accusatory questions we say: shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. This will make you beautiful and that’s all that counts.

This item permanently raises the user’s Charisma by one, but can only be used once— multiple exposures to vampire’s blood will cause the user’s heart to stop. You won’t be undead, just regular dead.

30 GP

Lord Tanygun the Rad’s Totally Medicinal Cave Moss - The dankest of herbs. Use it for back pain, to calm your anxiety, as a sleeping aid, or to get lit the fuck up.

An airbender who smokes it will gain a +4 to bending proficiency for the duration of the weed’s effects, but will be unable to cast concentration spells and will take a -1 to intelligence. Anyone else who smokes it will gain a +1 to bending and a +2 to charisma checks, but again but will be unable to cast concentration spells and will take a -1 to intelligence. The effects of the weed last 2 hours. When smoked outside a battle the user will fall asleep 20 minutes after smoking. The weed lasts for 10 individual smoking sessions, or 5 group sessions.

42.0 GP

Glitter Lotion - For when your skin is dry but you also want everyone to know you’re a party animal who’s always dtf, or maybe some type of fairy.

Since lotion is made primarily of water, water benders take a +2 to bending proficiency. Additionally this gives a +1 to charisma checks. The lotion’s effects last a day. This tube will give you ten uses.

40 GP

Iron Tablets - For when you’re kind of anemic and you hate leafy greens

An earth bender who takes an iron tablet at the beginning of each day with get a +2 to their bending for that day. This box contains 10 pop-out tablets.

30 GP

Santana Acosta’s Infernal Fire Hot sauce - You think maybe someone misplaced this in the pharmacy section, but there are like 10 bottles here. You suppose someone could get some medicinal use out of it, maybe.

A fire bender who takes a swig of hot sauce and succeeds on a constitution save will gain a +2 to bending for a whole day. The bottle contains 20 good sips.

50 GP

SPF 50 Sunscreen - Everyone should wear sunscreen, always. Slather that shit on. UV rays are dangerous!

Anyone wearing sunscreen can impose disadvantage on fire-based attacks. Has 10 uses, sunscreen application lasts 2 hours, or 1 hour if the wearer happens to get wet.

40 GP

CLEARANCE SECTION

Robe of occasionally useful items [16 total items] - When we first sold this item, we billed it as a Robe of Useful Items. Just one long shouting rant from a slightly scorched customer at our return desk later, and we now know that the items found within aren’t always strictly useful. Still! Sometimes they are, and wouldn’t you rather have this on hand, just in case?

If you want any common item (a crowbar, a rope, a candle, etc) you can try to pull it from your robe by rolling a d3. A roll of 3 gets you the item you wanted, a roll of 2 gets you an item that isn’t quite what you wanted, but is relevant to your situation, and a roll of 1 gets you an item that isn’t relevant to your situation, and could possibly be dangerous.

The exact item received on a roll of one or two is chosen at the dms discretion.

10 GP

Pocket Pickler - Okay, our manufacturers kiiiiiiiiind of fucked the bag real bad on this one. The Pocket Pickler is designed to pickle picklable perishables in your pocket once an hour, which it does! Stick a cucumber in there and you’ll have a sour dill in sixty minutes! It’ll just be very, very poisonous. Oops?

The Pocket Pickler comes with 5 starting cucumbers.

10 GP

Jar of Bees - Exactly what it says on the tin, err— glass?

An object limited only by your creativity and what our Dearest Mint will allow. Bees do 1d3 piercing damage per sting, plus 1d20 poison damage when the attacked individual has an allergy, so use your buzzy little friends wisely.

5 GP

Vial of Pink Fluid - It’s probably not great to go around drinking random, unlabeled vials, but it does smell /delicious/

Gives no bonuses, but will give the drinker an erection lasting 2 hours.

1 GP

Jar of Dirt - You've got a jar of dirt! 

Earth benders can coat their hands with it at the beginning of the day to attune with their element, granting +1 bending proficiency for the day. Can also be used to earthbend in a pinch, though it does three less damage than your attack would usually do due to it's small size. Contains 5 uses, though using it as a bending material consumes it entirely

10 GP

Old Bottle of Water - Someone left this bottle put in the sun. Now it’s all cloudy and full of plastic chemicals.

Water benders can coat their hands with it at the beginning of the day to attune with their element, granting +1 bending proficiency for the day. Can also be used to water bend in a pinch, though it does three less damage than your attack would usually do due to it's small size. Contains 5 uses, though using it as a bending material consumes it entirely

10 GP

Travel-sized Lighter Fluid - Why anyone would allow lighter fluid on an airplane in the first place is beyond me.

Fire benders can coat their hands with it at the beginning of the day to attune with their element, granting +1 bending proficiency for the day. Can also be used to fire bend in a pinch, though it does three less damage than your attack would usually do due to it's small size. Contains 5 uses, though using it as a bending material consumes it entirely 

10 GP

Jar of chalk dust (with glitter) - For gay gymnasts only

Air benders can coat their hands with it at the beginning of the day to attune with their element, granting +1 bending proficiency for the day. Contains 5 uses. You could also throw it in someone’s eyes to blind them. 

10 GP

#fantasy ikea

[theonyxpath]

Over a month ago, I was talking about Onyx Path‘s sales venues and things like that. Just kind of getting folks caught up on where they could find our stuff and which projects you could find there.

A different, but similar, thing that I wanted to touch on today is some of the other sorts of projects we have to offer beyond book-shaped things. Specifically, because Mighty Matt McElroy sent me some pics of the proofs for a couple of card projects, I’m going to touch on those today.

(Never mind that I haven’t received my card proof samples yet…sob.)

The Realm illustration by Yiyhoung Li

There are two types of card-based projects that we have been creating. The first, are card games. We don’t do a lot of them, as we need to see a clear connection to whatever TTRPG they are derived from or it’s tough to put effort towards them when there are books to be created.

Right now, we have Justin Achilli’s Prince’s Gambit for Vampire: The Masquerade, which we saw as a fun political machinations game that is waaay shorter than a VTES match. Something to play while waiting for your RPG or LARP session to start up.

And Fetch Quest for Realms of Pugmire, which has shipped to Kickstarter backers, should be available to order and in stores in May, and which we are waiting for the PoD proofs for. This is a cooperative card game set in the wilds around Pugmire that complements the TTRPG.

In fact, we’re looking to have the option for folks to make their own cards via DriveThruCards, so folks can play their TTRPG characters.

You might have noticed that the part of DriveThru that deals with these sorts of things is DriveThru Cards, which is a different Print on Demand company than the one who does our books. Everything still all goes through DTRPG, or OBS as it’s corporately known, but the card guys have their own little differences in how they proof, etc.

We’ve been really happy with the quality of their cards, and that’s one of the reasons we have made both the games, and the second type of card projects we put together: roleplaying aids. These can be the extensive selection of Charm Cards for Exalted 3rd, or Condition Cards for our CofD games, or Trick Cards for Pugmire, and more.

Pugmire also has Spell Cards, and right now we are proofing Spell Cards for the Scarred Lands that can be used for a SL campaign, or worked into any 5e fantasy roleplaying session.

If you’re saying, “Hey, what is this here Scarred Lands you keep going on about, Mr. Rich?“, then you should give a listen to last Friday’s Onyx Pathcast where our terrific trio take a Deep Dive into the Scarred Lands setting, and highlight the things that they think really work. Link below in the Blurbs!.

They do a fantastic job of conveying what they love and are intrigued by in Scarred Lands, which is actually really interesting to me, as a guy who helped create it way back in the crazy d20 Rush days. None of our Trio were around then, so to hear them go over the parts that compel them about our new edition and the first one, is kind of like hearing a whole new generation finding it.

Makes me feel both old and proud, by crackee!

C20 Players Guide illustration by Brian LeBlanc

Finally, to wrap up the Scion Errata situation I touched on the last couple of weeks, Neall, in his non-real-world-job time, was able to assemble and create a list of the corrections that he had made but which hadn’t stuck. We turned that into a downloadable PDF (in both full-color and easy to print versions) for any and all to get ahold of, and input the corrections and the backer credits into the PDF and the upcoming PoD files.

When all was said and done, there is a page of Scion: Origin errata, a page of Scion: Hero errata, a page for a FAQ Neall put together, and ten updated pre-generated character sheets. For perspective, Neall’s original list derived from backer input from all over the internet was well over 300 entries (many of them duplicates) across the two books so the vast majority of the fixes worked – except for a page per book’s worth.

While we wanted all of the errata we painstakingly gathered and collated to have stuck as we intended, and we’ve changed a couple of processes to try and make sure that when a change is made it by-gum sticks, we’re just glad that none of them were so bad that they wrecked the books and made them impossible to read and play.

As Neall noted in a message to the backers, we’re disappointed that the projects aren’t as polished as we intended, and we apologize to all involved for disappointing you too.

We will do better, as we continue to create:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Our next Kickstarter starting in several weeks will be for Pirates of Pugmire!

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Illustration by Charles Bates

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast is our 50th! So please join Dixie, Matthew, and Eddy, as they look at Fun! What is “fun” in gaming? Should games even be defined by the fun they provide? Come hear them answer these and other pressing questions of our time on: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

Here’s last week’s Onyx Path News, in which Matthew talks a little about the conclusion of the Contagion Chronicle Kickstarter and the movements on our schedule: https://youtu.be/UGERLK6nFQc

No Contagion Chronicle actual play this week, as our audio failed! We do however have a wonderful Scarred Lands actual play, run by Matthew for the Red Moon Roleplaying folks. Here’s the link to episode one: https://youtu.be/1xmU0HvT1Bw

If YOU have a podcast, YouTube or Twitch channel, or talk about games on a blog or other website, and want to perform actual plays or make reviews of our games, please reach out to the Gentleman Gamer on the Onyx Path forum. From there we’ll share emails and get you started, so when you do start producing content we’ll be able to promote it on our blog and YouTube channel!

Here’s the Story Told Podcast‘s superb Dragon-Blooded actual play, for all of you who are audio-inclined: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-episode-4

As well as Occultists Anonymous, which ventures into ghost territory with their Mage: The Awakening chronicle: https://youtu.be/_rMd7rda2a0

We’re never not going to promote the superb folks at Devil’s Luck Gaming, with their excellent Scarred Lands actual play: https://www.twitch.tv/DEVILSLUCKGAMING

The Dramatic Failure Podcast ventures into Mage territory over here with a big, big story arc filled with inspirational ideas: https://dramaticfailure.podbean.com/

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

Here’s an update from the App devs:

Onyx Dice!  We’ve recently released the Changeling: The Lost, Trinity Continuum: Aeon dice, and now the Geist dice.  Next up on our radar is: Demon: The Fallen,  Mummy: The Resurrection,  Kindred of the East, Vampire Dark Ages, and Mummy: The Curse.

We have a serious issue on the Pixel and Motorola phones that prevent the user from using the app correctly.  A fix is coming shortly.  A temporary workaround is to minimize the app without shutting it down, and then restore it.

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio 2: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’ll be offering the Advance PDF of the Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition Players’ Guide!

CONVENTIONS

UK Games Expo: May 31st – June 2nd From the US comes Eddy Webb, Matt McElroy, and Rich Thomas to join with Matthew Dawkins, Steffie de Vann, John Burke, Chris Allen, and Klara Herbol! Gen Con: August 1st – August 4th Save Against Fear: Oct 12-14 GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year.

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

DR:E Threat Guide (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Let The Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Blood Sea: Crimson Abyss for 5e (Scarred Lands)

TC: Aeon Ready Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Development

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Manuscript Approval:

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Editing:

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Post-Editing Development:

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Indexing:

Trinity Core

Trinity Aeon

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Ex3 Monthly Stuff  

Chicago By Night

They Came From Beneath the Sea!

EX3 Lunars

Hunter: The Vigil 2

Contagion Chronicle

VtR Spilled Blood – Hiring artists.

M20 Book of the Fallen

Dark Eras 2 – Getting the rest contracted out.

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel

Pirates of Pugmire – KS art contracted, sketches and finals coming in.

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – KS art started contracting.

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Dystopia Rising: Evolution – With Josh.

Shunned By the Moon

Scion Jumpstart

C20 Novel: Cup of Dreams

Proofing

The Realm

Book of Oblivion – Inputting last corrections.

Signs of Sorcery – Dev comments back to layout.

Trinity Core and Aeon Screens – Prepping for printing.

Aeon Aexpansion

At Press

Scion Hero – Shipping to backers, PoD version processing.

Scion Origin – Shipping to backers, PoD version processing.

Scion Dice – Shipping to backers.

Scion Screen – Shipping to backers.

Fetch Quest – Waiting for PoD proofs.

In Media Res – PDF out to backers, gathering errata with new sheet.

Geist 2e – PDF out to backers, gathering errata with new sheet.

Scarred Lands Spell Cards – Waiting forPoD proofs.

Adventures for Curious Cats – Errata.

Tales of Excellent Cats – Errata.

Dragon-Blooded – Deluxe at printer.

Dragon-Blooded Screen – At printer.

C20 Player’s Guide – Advance PDF on sale this Wednesday!

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: 

On this day in 1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans. (And then she got screwed over. I’ll leave the message you may derive from that to you.)

#Onyx Path Publishing