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capriprov · 2 months

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Watch the FULL version of our trailer here!

CAPRICIOUS PROVENANCE is an award winning D&D 5e AP Audio Drama fusion set in an arcanepunk, partially homebrewed world of Eberron! After The Last War devastated Khorvaire - and their lives - fate follows four unlikely friends attempting to grapple with their own destinies as the fate of the world falls into a chaotic uncertainty.Join our…heroes(?) as they navigate their ever-changing lives in the wake of destruction, wading in the depths of their trauma as they connect with the troubled people living in a fragmented world. We’re an all queer & trans, majority BIPOC cast of tabletop creatives that bend the rules, change the lore, and break the game to tell a story of fighting tooth and nail against the way things are, and daring to hope for change.

Capricious Provenance is free to listen to, and advertisement-free. Our team is small, and we have started this project with no funding. This podcast is a labor of love and collaboration between a group of friends that are very passionate about the art they create. We are hoping to acquire funding and grow the team in the future! For now, you can support the show via Ko-fi.

Will I like Capricious Provenance?

While Capricious Provenance’s main game system is D&D 5e, we use a mixture of different games in the podcast - such as Pathfinder and 1400 Sneak - to help tell our story. Additionally, while the world is set in 5e’s Eberron, it has been altered significantly and partially homebrewed to suit our main characters, featuring elements from various supplements such as Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting. Capricious Provenance is full of magic, whimsy, gods, monstrosities, political intrigue, and queer romance. There is a heavy focus on storytelling through character roleplay that makes room for heart wrenching character arcs and gives space for relationships between the characters to organically develop. The show explores themes of found family, generational trauma, religious trauma, healing, self discovery, the cost of war, freedom and revolution against an oppressive regime. It is ultimately a story of hope in dire times, embracing the monsters within ourselves formed by the world we live in, and finding the beauty in brutality. If you are a fan of media such as Dragon Age, Castlevania, Monster Hunter, The Owl House or Baldur’s Gate 3, you may enjoy Capricious Provenance!

Capricious Provenance Features:

A mixture of actual play and audio drama that places you in the shoes of our characters as we roll the dice.

Award-winning immersive narrative combat scenes that put you right in the center of the action. (Rainbow Roll Fest 2023)

Tarot readings and content warnings at the beginning of every episode so the listener knows precisely what they’re getting into.

Supplementary content, such as a short “radio broadcast” series providing updates directly from the world of our campaign and animatics illustrated by our artists.

Episode re-caps and lorekeeping, and more!

Where to Listen & Where to find us:

Listen on the Official Podcast Profile Listen elsewhere: Spotify || Pocket Casts || Google Play || Apple Podcasts || iHeartRadio Listen & watch more content on: Youtube You can find us on: Twitter || Instagram || Tiktok || Bluesky

Check out our website for cast information, character profiles and more details about the world: capriciousprovenance.carrd.co

#dnd #dnd art #dnd oc #podcast #dnd podcast #ttrpg #ttrpg podcast #ttrpg art #capriprov

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indierpgnewsletter · 1 year

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The Axes of TTRPG Game Design

All the way back in Issue #69 of the Indie RPG Newsletter, I linked to a series of episodes from the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff podcast about the “axes of game design”. I've been thinking about them again recently and thought it might be interesting to look at each one. I'll be referring to the summary on the Pelgrane Press blog as I comment on them.

So the basic exercise is trying to figure out the standard axes or spectrums on which every game can fit. The idea is for these axes to be as descriptive and objective as possible. While there is always going to be debate around the classification of specific games, the idea is that in a perfect world with perfect communication, that debate would have a truly correct answer. We don’t live in a perfect world but I'm happy to discuss things like this forever.

So here we go:

Elegance versus Ornamentation

"A game has Elegance if all of its subsystems work in the same way, stemming from a central resolution mechanic, or is Ornamented if its many subsystems work in different ways"

So the first axis is one of the strongest and makes a great example of the level of objectivity we can hope to achieve here. In some sense, the degree to which a game falls back on a single unified mechanic should be clear and measurable. At the same time, it’s not any indication of how “good” a game is. One-page games are highly elegant but they’re by no means “better” than longer games.

One thing that's interesting is to see where PbtA falls on this spectrum. A game like Monster of the Week is pretty elegant because everything is essentially 2d6+stat. But does the number of moves, especially moves like Big Magic where you negotiate the effects of a spell or ritual, push it toward being more ornamentated?

2. Wide versus Focused

"A game has Width if it supports play equally well over a long progression of power levels, or Focus if it works best at a narrower sweet spot."

I think this is where it’s probably best to start moving away from Hite and Laws’ wording. I think terms like “power level” is a wargame hangover. I think this is better phrased as “kinds of characters”. A game that is Wide is designed for a many kinds of characters. A game that is Focused is designed for specific characters or types of characters.

So you get something like Lady Blackbird (which has a cast of named characters on one side) as Focused and Risus (which is as generic as it gets in terms of character creation) as Wide. And yes, I put D&D 5e in there because I revel in the symphony of a hundred angry keyboards click-clacking away.

3. Directed Emotion versus Emergent Emotion

"A game can have Directed Emotion, stemming from rules that lead you to feel a certain way, or Emergent Emotion, in which the reactions of players and GMs stem from the story content they introduce."

This phrasing is a little clunky because in their discussion, Hite and Laws felt that something like “Emotional versus Detached” was uncharitable. And I understand. But I also think that “Directed versus Emergent” is a bit like saying “Designed versus Undesigned”. I think the premise of the exercise that is “undesigned” isn’t a thing. If we want to describe a game as “neutral” on some axes, it should ideally fall somewhere in the middle. So I propose Hot versus Cool. Hot games try to stoke up emotions in the players. Cool games try to cultivate an air of cool, ironic detachment. They don’t want you to feel too strongly about the events of the game.

(The original article also mentions “Abstract rules for their mathematical or formal attributes, or Emotional rules when they grow out of the feelings they are meant to evoke at the table.” but this feels like it overlaps heavily with this point now.)

4. Applicability versus Versatility

"A game has high Applicability if it is designed for a single highly specific player character core activity, or Versatility if it supports many possible core activities."

This is just Wide versus Focused for mechanics rather than characters. On one hand, they’re separate things. On the other hand, it’s clearly related. It’s a bit hard to imagine how a game might support wide characters with focused mechanics or focused characters but with wide mechanics, right?

5. Simulation versus Emulation

"Games that focus on Simulation resolve events as they would unfold in a causal reality, or engage in Emulation, so that events unfold as they would in a movie or book, to keep the narrative running in a satisfying manner."

I’m not quite sure about this one. I’m struggling to understand which games commit to simulating real world physics. What’s the game on that end of the spectrum? I know OSR games revolve around the GM arbitrating physics impartially but in a game where dragons exist, how seriously do I take that claim? They would probably be in the middle of this axis at best if you ask me.

6. Ease versus Mastery

"A game favors Ease when players can pick it up and run with it right away, or Mastery if it presents complex or elaborate rules or setting material, favoring those who take the time and brainspace to learn it."

For me, the important thing to ask ourselves here is whether the word “player” includes GMs. If it does, all rules-light games that might seen to favour Ease are not so easy anymore. (Which reminds me that I never actually talked about “affordances” as a design concept - an article for another day.) If we limit ourselves to “player facing mechanics”, then yes, I can see the spectrum. The problem is, of course, it looks exactly like my Elegant versus Ornamented spectrum.

What kind of games are Ornamented but don’t reward Mastery? What kind of games are Elegant but don’t favour Ease?

(The original article also uses a "Harmonica vs Violin" axis with Harmonicas being simple to play and Violins requiring more work. I think the overlap here is high.)

7. Canon versus Open

"When it comes to setting, a game oriented around Canon presents a detailed setting with a set continuity meant to instill the same suspension of disbelief we apply to SF and fantasy worlds in traditional media. Open settings arise from the authorship of GM and/or players, with plenty of room to make stuff up as you go along."

This seems really clear. And I think examples might be unnecessary.

8. Randomness versus Choice

"A game or system dependent on Randomness uses die results to work out what happens. A game that privileges Choice has players and GMs decide."

This also seems clear. Some games don’t give players the power to just choose what happens next. Some games push players to decide when they want spend resources to just make a specific thing happen.

Okay, so does that all check out?

#indie rpg #ttrpg #ttrpg community #rpg #ttrpg design #ttrpgsolidarity

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strautmaskreplica · 1 year

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hello! :)

hey there! i'm J!

I'm a touring bass player, singer, composer, podcaster, audio editor, and TTRPG nerd. I love to perform and entertain! I'm nonbinary and my pronouns are they/them.

I've worked on a lot of wildly different projects, and here are some of my babies ♥

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My podcast Planet Arcana: A tightly edited, tarot-flavored, retrofuturistic D&D podcast. 5e based and double DMed.

I co-DM for the show and do all the audio editing and scoring.

youtube

Here are a few tracks I've composed for the show:

I've toured internationally playing bass and singing harmonies. This is me playing Molotow in Hamburg, Germany:

Photo by Alexander Schliephake

And here's an album I wrote with my old band, tanblonde (I play bass and sing lead):

---

More than anything I really love to collaborate with cool folks doing anything from TTRPG to live music to composition and everything in between. Let's be friends?

#ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg podcast #tabletop #role playing games #musician #bassplayer #composer #producer #podcast #indie podcast #singer #songwriter #Youtube #Bandcamp

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utilitycaster · 1 year

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@handbellanon, putting this here instead of in massive reblogs:

"Question (mostly because I know 👌 about IP law): for your second point about actual play being mostly unaffected, how does that work with shows like CR that are upfront about using D&D as a system (though with the homebrew setting as mentioned)? Is that something that would fall under this license for things like Twitch subs since they are making money directly off of the show (rather than strictly merch, etc)?"

I am also in no way an expert on IP law, so if anyone is, feel free to correct me, but from what I understand actual play does not fall under the terms of use in the OGL, which governs the SRD (systems reference document; available here). I believe it is comparable to, for example, streaming video games on Twitch or YouTube, and falls under Fair Use.

It is possible, actually, that Dimension 20 might be affected because their stream is strictly paywalled (vs CR: you do not need a Twitch subscription to watch CR live or on YouTube, and it is legal to have a premium subscription option followed by a delayed free VOD), but also D20 does often eventually post most of their content to YouTube, and some of it is also available for free in podcast format. But shows that are available to watch/listen to for free and use homebrew settings should all be fine, even if they also make money off the show through ads, Patreon, Twitch subs, etc.

I also, to be honest, suspect that given all the discussion, WoTC may provide a statement on actual play specifically, and I would be surprised if they took issue with any actual play, unless it was being wildly bigoted or using extensive amounts of WoTC-specific IP (like Ravnica) for the setting. It's well-known that a significant reason for the popularity of 5e is because it's appeared on major actual play shows like CR or TAZ.

Finally, it's worth noting is that CR has worked closely and extensively with Wizards of the Coast, and almost certainly has separate agreements that will take precedence. If you're concerned about specific shows, I would wait and see what their official channels are saying (with the understanding that they may not have anything to say yet; if they haven't made an announcement, please be patient and do not go bothering Travis Willingham or Sam Reich or whomever on Twitter).

#cr tag

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live-from-the-apocalypse · 1 year

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WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE

Welp, here we are gang. Seems worth doing a real introduction even though this account has existed for a couple of weeks now. Glad some of our friends from the cursed bird app are already finding us, but for the uninitiated...

Live From The Apocalypse is not-for-profit TTRPG studio; a collective of over 15 talented players, GMs, and content creators who record, stream, edit, and produce hours of free actual play content, discussions, and interviews focusing on tabletop role-playing games and the community around them each week—all while raising money for progressive causes and good organizations. Everything we do benefits a nonprofit or aid organization exclusively, even merch sales and Patreon support exclusively keeps the lights on and covers operational costs. Since we started doing this we've raised well over $20,000 for organizations like Planned Parenthood, the International Rescue Committee, Communities United Against Police Brutality, Extra Life, and many more!

As for our games, we have six livestreamed actual play campaigns going at any given time over on our Twitch channel:

Veil Breakers [D&D 5E]: We've all heard stories of heroes preventing the end of the world, but what if they failed? What if they died? And what if they got a second chance? Veil Breakers is a 5E homebrew adventure across the veil of death, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms.

Academy H [Masks]: A Powered By the Apocalypse game following four new students at the Brandt Academy, the world's foremost school for superpowered individuals, in a collaboratively-created setting with over 70 years of history. Academy H streams are the live recording sessions for the podcast, which you can find fully edited on your podcast platform of choice!

Missing Numbers [Pokeymanz]: A sports anime-inspired Pokemon game about a failing gym and the trainers trying to restore it to its former glory, with just a dash of eldritch horror thrown in for good measure.

Class Reunion [D&D 5E]: 10 years ago 4 high school students from Avalon, Ohio were trapped in our homebrew D&D 5E setting, the magical world of Annwn. Now, reunited after a decade, the time has come to discover what brought them there in the first place.

And on Wednesdays you can find our short-form series of games known as Wild Card Wednesdays, which features a rotating cast of GMs and players. We also make podcasts which are available on your podcast platform of choice under the banner Live From The Apodcalypse! We currently have three shows there: the fully-edited and soundscaped version of our Masks campaign Academy H, our TTRPG talk show Table Talk-alypse, and we're currently releasing our freshman attempt at content creation recorded back during the height of the pandemic: a Monster of the Week game called Cryptid Community College.

So we do a lot of things. And all of them are pretty good. If any of this sounds like it might be up your alley, maybe give us a follow! We're currently putting together a big fundraising push for the holidays benefiting the International Rescue Committee, and we'll be bringing on some guest GMs and players for that. Watch this space for more info! In the meantime: Follow our Twitch channel! Check out our game archive on YouTube! Join our Discord community! Listen to our podcasts! Or learn more about us and what we do at livefromtheapocalypse.com! And with that I guess all that's left to say is, hello new friends! Glad you're here, glad we're here, looking forward to what comes next! Oh, and this is Haz! Everyone say hi Haz!

#ttrpgs #tabletop #twitter refugees #dungeons and dragons #podcast #content creator #pbta #pokemon #charity

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tranthologies · 11 months

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D&D ONE-SHOT

It’s a pleasure to announce that one of our lovely voice actors Avalon Willowbloom (she/they) will be running a D&D 5e Feywild one-shot on Saturday to promote our crowdfunding campaign!

The one-shot will be hosed by ESP - Enchanting Sorcery Productions, and will take place on SATURDAY MAY 27TH at 8PM EST!

https://www.twitch.tv/enchantingsorcery

The one-shot will be GM’ed by Avalon Willowbloom (she/they), a voice actor with Tranthologies who also voice acts a bunch with Faustian Nonsense. She likes the scary, silly, and strange most of all.

The players will be:

C.V.V.M. (any neopronouns) is an artist/voice actor for podcasts such as Tranthologies, The Domestic Life of Anthony Todd, and Station Arcadia among others. In qis free time, qi enjoys writing and drawing - and is working on an ever-expanding D&D homebrew world. Ey have been playing D&D and other TTRPGS for 5 or so years.

Shawn Tumbokon-Flowers (he/him) is a VA for various side roles in Tranthologies and larger roles across the [Listless] Network, including Nicky Dixon in The Children of Room 56. Recording out of Chicago, he’s been on many podcasts and even on live radio. He’s a fan of D&D, has been a GM for 6 years, and can’t wait to play for Tranthologies!

Maegan Fellner (she/they/he) is an actor who also sometimes writes, draws, and knits sweaters. Some of their favorite voice acting roles include Vela in Flower/Serpent, from Tranthologies, and Lady Luna in The Knight and the Sorcerer, from Unnamed Anthology Podcast. On stage, Maegan has played Celia in As You Like It, Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing, and Olive Ostrovsky in 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. As a huge d&d nerd (and fan of fantasy nature), he's excited to be participating in this one-shot!

Kayla Bell (she/her) is one of the writers for Tranthologies. She usually infects everything she writes and does with horror, but always with a smile on her face.

This one-shot is going to be a whole lot of fun, and we hope you tune in to watch!

But remember, the one-shot is promoting the crowdfunding campaign for our second season, which you can donate to here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tranthologies-season-2/x/33577128#/

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deckofmanyaces · 1 year

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Deck of Many Aces - an Introduction

Deck of Many Aces is a D&D 5e actual play podcast made with actual asexuals and aromantics! Join our heroes as they investigate the mysterious goings-on in a magical world on the brink of technological revolution, augmented by magic.

Listen on Podchaser, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Acast, YouTube, or Google Podcasts. New episodes released every other Friday.

Featuring: Eleanor Webster as the DM @welsh_webster Am Chisholm as Tohsya @Am_Chisholm Chloe Elliott as Raina @clo_withtheflow Eiriol Evans as Delphi @EiriolEvans Katie MacLeod as Morgan

Logo by Eiriol Evans.

Original soundtrack by Chloe Elliott. Listen to the full soundtrack on Soundcloud. Music from the main campaign can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and Deezer.

(Deck of Many Aces is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC All the characters in this podcast are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.)

#deck of many aces #podcast #actual play podcast #ttrpg #dungeons and dragons #dnd #asexual #aromantic #putting this upfront we are a trans podcast and transphobes should begone from here

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mr-up-on-a-downer · 2 years

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If the classic D&D stereotype is a nerd living out their power fantasy of being Conan the Barbarian, the new D&D stereotype is a chaotic neutral tiefling bard because the new demographic are weird anime theater girls, the same ones who do the fanfic stuff so they can have their power fantasy of being the witty flirtatious one because they grew up on tumblr with superwholock and Onceler and Rise of the Guardians and instead of muscles and brute strength they see appeal in being this popular theatrical flirt because it's a fulfillment of the kind of person they are in their head.

the only answer is to be misogynistic as hell and start calling them all foids till they get!

but honestly I don’t think that’s very fair to put the blame on them because for everyone gal that’s like that there’s some dude grown on harem isekai anime that wants to be his own Kirito and get all the girls. I’m sure even before nu DnD Neckbeards since time immemorial have forcing their hostages friends into role playing bizarre sexescapades. One of the og third party supplements was like, the book of erotic magic or whatever. I think it’s with the rise of social media and the advent of 5e’s popularity via Critical Role among other podcasts it’s been more prominent.

#anon

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stormcrow13 · 1 year

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So how to explain these. April Fools Day seemed to be the appropriate day to post these, not pretending that everything will be in this style because their eyes haunt my nightmares enough already.

If you don't know what Precious Moments Figurines are they are Boomer Funko Pops but somehow even more horrifying. They all have a constant look of mild concern which makes me so much fonder of the black soulless eyes of Funko Pops.

Rolling with Difficulty is a live play 5e D&D Planescape podcast and this is a reference to a joke made several times in Season 3.

Right to left:

Finbar the Firbolg Druid Ranger played by Wally Twitter: @walpoleinspace

Kyana the Kalashtar Way of Astral Self Monk played by Red of Overly Sarcastic Productions and @comicaurora

VR-LA the Mechanite (Warforged) Wizard played by Noir Twitter: @NoirGalaxies

Dani the Fire Genasi Artificer played by Sophia (AKA Indigo of OSP) Twitter: @sophie_kay_

I had been considering making minis of the cast of Rolling With Difficulty or Heart Of Elynthi when Sophia made a joke about Precious Moments Figures and that woke up the art gremlin in me. I would like to thank Sophia for new way to make something completely cursed without needing to resort to body horror.

Download the models from thingiverse and print your own

#rolling with difficulty #osp red #osp #dnd #precious moments #Random Reblog

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hieronymus-botch · 1 year

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My take on the OGL situation and what it means for the future of TTRPGs

From what I’ve seen, a lot of publishers who used to exclusively make 5e products are going “we’ll make our own RPG, with blackjack, and hookers!”. This will likely lose them a lot of sales, because D&D is basically popular because it’s popular. Lots of people play it and publish content for it, because lots of people already play it and publish content for it, so it’s more convenient for players and more profitable for developers. If a bunch of developers publish “blackjack and hookers” systems, people will have no reason to chose one over the other beyond personal taste, so everyone will choose different ones and have to learn new rules every time they play with a new group, which is exactly what people play D&D to avoid. Given this, and the fact that people are mad enough about this whole thing that they probably won’t just all keep playing D&D with no third party products, I see four paths things can take from here, which could change the course of the hobby anywhere from negligibly to massively.

Path 1: BUSINESS AS USUAL. Hasbro backs down, keeps the old OGL. Everyone keeps playing D&D. 3rd party developers quietly scrap their blackjack and hookers systems. Hobby changes negligibly.

Path 2: PATHFINDER 2. Someone manages to do what Paizo did again and create a new RPG that’s just D&D 5e with the rules reworded slightly but mechanically identical. Everyone switches to it so they don’t have to learn any new rules. Hobby changes a little, like what we call catfolk or half-demons, because D&D made up “tabaxi” and “tieflings”.

Path 3: THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING. One of the blackjack and hookers systems gets some sort of major edge that the others don’t, likely Critical Role switching to it or a new actual play podcast that uses it getting popular.* It achieves critical mass and takes the place D&D once had as the “default” tabletop RPG. Hobby changes to a varying degree, depending on how different it is from 5e.

Path 4: ANARCHY REIGNS. Hasbro refuses to back down, no one pulls a Pathfinder again, and none of the blackjack and hookers RPGs gets enough of an edge to hit critical mass. Hobby decentralizes massively and changes radically, hopefully for the better.

*I thought briefly, as you might be, that Pathfinder might be popular enough to hit critical mass as soon as D&D goes down, but upon research Pathfinder only has roughly 8% of D&D’s google hits, though that might be biased by the fact that Pathfinder is a regular word and the name of a bunch of other things so they could be only counting “pathfinder rpg” when most people just search “pathfinder”, and on roll20, Pathfinder 1e has 7% of the games played and 2e has only 3%, and even counting both editions on roll20 together, it’s not second place in either metric, so it probably isn’t.

#ttrpgs #tabletop rpgs #d&d #dnd #OGL

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lichlab · 2 years

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One D&D: Expert Classes (Bard Opinions)

Mostly in the interest of organizing my own thoughts and impressions, I'm going to be doing some short-ish articles about the One D&D playtest material.

I do not like what I'm seeing from bards.

I started playing D&D with 3.5 and never had a player actually want to be a bard until 5E. It seems like there are bards on every D&D podcast/AP show I listen to/watch. Hell, I've wanted to play a College of Lore bard for a long time now. Someday . . .

Bards have had it good in 5E. Bardic Inspiration is a nice little buff that's great to have in your pocket for crucial roles. A lot of subclasses can spend their Bardic dice to do cool things. Expertise can make you a true master of your chosen skills (so many bards with insanely high Deception modifiers . . .). And Jack of All Trades offers a nice bit of coverage for those situations where no one is actually trained in Nature because none of these characters has ever actually left the city. With a wide selection of spells at your fingertips ("bonus action healing word!") and the ability to cast rituals, you've got a character who is very good in a wide variety of circumstances. Some of the subclasses offer some really interesting variations on the concept. You can be a Lore bard who blurs the line between a storyteller and a wizard, or a Swords bard who can keep pace with the party's fighter. Lots of options!

I feel like these updates to the class make it much worse.

Proficiencies

There's one major change in the Proficiencies section. The live version of the bard is proficient with simple weapons, along with rapiers, longswords, shortswords, and hand crossbows. The playtest version is only proficient with simple weapons.

That's a blow. Most bards I've seen have favored rapiers, for reasons that should not need to be explained. I don't like taking that away from them.

Bardic Inspiration

, and that starts with Bardic Inspiration.

Bardic Inspiration

I'm not a fan of the proposed changes to Bardic Inspiration.

Here's the version currently on D&D beyond for comparison:

This is a big change. I like some of it but feel that the bad outweighs the good here. If you don't want to read both in their entirety, I'll summarize:

In the live version, giving a creature Bardic Inspiration is a bonus action you take on your turn. The creature has this die for 10 minutes and can be expended on any ability check, attack roll, or saving throw (as long as you choose to use it before the DM says if the roll fails). You have a pool of dice equal to your Charisma modifier.

The playtest version works significantly differently, and I'm going to emphasize a few points to discuss later. You always use it as a reaction (rather than a bonus action). You can either use it when a creature fails a d20 test or to heal a creature that takes damage. You can use it a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

with some things I like and some things I don't.

As a quick summary: Currently, giving a creature Bardic Inspiration is a bonus action you take on your turn. It sticks with the creature for 10 minutes and can be expended on any one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. You can use it a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier.

I'm going to work backwards here because that last part is my biggest problem with these changes. Your average 1st level bard probably has a Cha modifier of +3 or +4. Carefully constructed characters might be at a +5 by the time they hit 4th level. By contrast, your Proficiency Bonus always advances at the same (much slower) rate. There's nothing you can do to change that or get more uses.

I have a problem with this. Aside from Bardic Inspiration being the class's most iconic ability, most bard subclasses have features that require you to spend your Bardic Inspiration dice. By dramatically limiting the number of uses players have, you make those characters dramatically weaker.

Also, at base, Bardic Inspiration is a support ability. In its vanilla form, you can't use it on yourself, you have to use it to help others. This is an ability that encourages cooperation and teamwork. Those are things I always want to encourage in my party. I want my bards supporting their teammates as much as possible.

I think being able to use Bardic as a reaction is good. A lot of DMs kind of let their bards do that anyway. Encoding that into the rules is a good idea. What I take issue with is only being able to use it as a reaction. I like having that option (especially since a lot of players and DMs will use it that way anyway), but having that be the only way to use it is a little unsatisfying to me.

There has always been a tactical element to Bardic Inspiration. In the live version, you can use it to set your party up for success before a tricky encounter. It rewarded planning and preparation. Taking away that option reduces one of the more interesting tactical elements of the class. It's somewhat disappointing to see that go away. Using it as a reaction is good but I'd like that to be an option, not the only way to use it.

That sort of goes for how it's actually used here, too. Using Bardic as a reaction to boost a failed d20 Test is fine in and of itself, but being able to use it only to boost a failure once again takes away an important option. There are a lot of instances where an ability check or skill check will have different degrees of success. Look at the Influence Action in the rules glossary for an example of that. A result of 10–19 is distinctly worse than 20+.

The live version of Bardic can be applied any time between when you make the roll and when the DM tells you if you succeeded or not.* That gives you the option to shoot for a higher degree of success. Rolling a 17 isn't a failure, but you could still use Bardic Inspiration to try and tip that into an even greater success.

*Now is not the time to get into the endless argument over how "before the DM tells you the result" interacts with static DCs or ones you figured out for yourself like a monster's AC or a lich's spell save DC. It's a whole thing.

The playtest version of Bardic can't be used this way. You can only use it when someone fails a d20 Test, which means that you can't use it to turn a success into a greater success (unless your DM decides to interpret RAW very loosely).

As far as using Bardic for healing goes, I really wonder how often that will come up. More healing is always good and it's nice to be able to intervene in a dire emergency, but with fewer uses of Bardic Inspiration to go around, it seems like almost a waste to use it for healing. How many bards are going to use one of their only 2 uses of Bardic Inspiration for a measly 1d6 (with no ability modifier) healing when they have the more reliable healing word (1d4 + your Charisma modifier) in their pocket? That's not to say that healing with Bardic Inspiration isn't useful (more healing is always good!) but when the resource is so limited it's never going to feel like the optimal choice.

The live version of Bardic Inspiration feels like a tactical tool you can use to set your party up for success. The playtest version feels like a ripcord you can pull when things get really bad. It's an emergency escape button you can hit when someone fails a really important roll or loses their last hit points. "Break glass in case of emergency." I think those are good options to have but I dislike losing other opportunities to use it; especially knowing that Bards will have far fewer dice to spread around.

All of these problems are compounded by moving Font of Inspiration (which restores your Bardic Inspiration die after a short rest rather than a long rest) to 7th level from 5th.

Spellcasting

Another significant change comes in how the playtest bard casts spells. "Spells known" vs "spells prepared" is kind of an old argument. When I've gotten to play spellcasters I've always preferred to be a "spells known" type, and I feel like that fits the bard class more, but that's a personal preference. I don't inherently hate the change.

What I do hate is how few spells bards can prepare. The "spellcasting" paragraphs tend to get really dense and blur together, so I'm just going to stick to a summary.

With current "spells prepared" classes (like cleric, druid, and wizard), the number of spells you can prepare is equal to your spellcasting ability modifier + your class level. You can choose whatever spells you want from your class's spells list (and, in the case of wizards, they have to be in your spellbook) as long as you have the spell slots to cast them. When you finish a long rest, you can swap those prepared spells for different ones. This gives these classes more flexibility an the "spells known" types.

That's all well and good, but this version of the bard gets a worse version. The number of spells you can prepare of a given level is equal to the number of spell slots you have. This results in dramatically less flexibility (no more stocking up on useful little 1st level spells and saving one fireball for emergencies) and far fewer prepared spells overall.

This is just dramatically weaker spellcasting all around. I expect other "spells prepared" classes will get hit with the same reduction, and I won't be happy about it then, either. I'm not happy about it. This just makes bards worse at casting spells and gives them nothing to make up for it.

Song of Rest Songs of Restoration

Speaking of replacing good abilities with worse ones, let's look at Song of Rest on D&D Beyond.

In my experience as a DM, this is one of the Bard's most underrated and underappreciated abilities. I costs no resources (no spell slots or Bardic Inspiration dice) but is extremely beneficial to the party, especially when those Hit Dice don't come up in your favor during your short rest. It can really help a wounded party get back into fighting shape without making your "designated healer" spend spell slots that could be use in more urgent situations.

It is being replaced by a much worse feature, Songs of Restoration.

What exactly does this feature do? At the levels indicated, it gives you certain healing spells that you always have prepared. This sort of thing is pretty common in "spells prepared" classes. This version of the bard badly needs it, since they can only prepare a very small number of spells. Always having healing word on tap is good, but it sure doesn't feel like something I'd sacrifice Song of Rest for.

Other Changes

Other changes to the bard are much smaller. Getting Expertise at 2nd and 9th level (instead of 3rd and 10th) is fine but not hugely important.

Moving Jack of All Trades to 5th level (from 2nd) is probably going to frustrate some people. I assume this is done for game balance reasons, so I'm going to talk about that for a moment.

Balance is a funny thing in a cooperative game. Different classes should be good at different things. The adventure should present the party with different types of challenges so that everyone has an opportunity to do the thing they're good at. The potential danger with a class that is good at a wide variety of things is that if they're too good at too many things, the other characters don't get an opportunity to shine.

So, Jack of All Trades. It lets bards add half their Proficiency Bonus to any skill they aren't proficient with. That's only a +1 until 9th level. At 2nd level, having a +1 to all your untrained skills might make things a little lopsided and take opportunities away from other players. That +1 doesn't carry as much weight at 5th level. I don't know if this change was actually necessary, but that's probably the theory behind it.

Font of Inspiration is a pretty major ability for bards, restoring all of your Bardic Inspiration dice after a short rest instead of a long rest. It seems especially important given that this version of the bard has far fewer uses of Bardic Inspiration, so it really bites to see it moved from 5th level to 7th.

Countercham is gone. Just gone. It was a very context-heavy feature that didn't always come up but it was neat when it did. It was another ability that rewarded players for forethought and preparation. Going to deal with some fey or devils? I'll start strumming my countercharm now just to be on the safe side. I always like being able to reward players for thinking ahead.

Magical Secrets is another feature that saw a big change; a necessary one, given the bard's shift from "spells known" to "spells prepared." It feels far less significant now. When you knew a limited number of spells, being able to pull in a couple extra was a big deal. With the way the playtest bard casts spells, having access to the full Divine and Primal lists just feels like showing you more things you can't fit on your plate.

Other changes don't feel super significant, or at least I don't have any intense response to them. Maybe I'm just bitter at this point, since it seems like this version of the bard was designed to be worse in every way.

College of Lore

Lastly, we get our first subclass preview, the College of Lore. And friends, this breaks my heart. I've wanted to play a College of Lore bard right up until this moment.

Here's the old version on D&D Beyond for comparison:

As with everything, the playtest version feels worse. Restricting the skills you learn from your bonus proficiencies feels like an unnecessary limitation. You can sort of game this by being proficient with those skills already, but it feels unnecessary. I'm sure the idea is to prevent bards from picking up totally random skills that don't really make sense with this subclass (why did you get proficiency in Athletics?) but I think it's much better to just make players justify those choices ("Because there was a gym at the college!").

Cutting Words gets hit hard here. As with many bard abilities, having far fewer Bardic Inspiration dice to spend means you'll almost never feel comfortable using it; you're sacrificing an extremely precious resource. And personally, I have most often seen it used to mitigate damage from an attack a player expected to really hurt; that's no longer part of its use. That doesn't feel good.

I don't mind Cunning Inspiration. Essentially, creatures roll your Bardic dice with advantage, which is very useful when you have so few to spend. I do miss Additional Magical Secrets, though. With the way the Bard casts spells now I understand why it had to go away, but I really liked the bards who blurred the lines between minstrel and archmage.

Improved Cutting Words is, like it sounds, a slight improvement to Cutting Words. It's nice to get another subclass feature at 10th level (I'm always in favor of more subclass features), and it's always nice to do a little bit more damage. (And note that due to Cunning Inspiration, you roll this die with advantage because you are, in fact, a creature.)

I don't think there's much to say about the Peerless Skill changes. Both versions essentially let you spend Bardic Inspiration dice on yourself (something you can't actually do by default), and the changes to the language reflect the changes to Bardic Inspiration. As a result, the new version is worse than the old one.

Summary

I don't like this new bard. I don't like it at all. Most of the changes just make the class dramatically weaker without giving them anything to compensate for it. You can't use Bardic Inspiration very often (so you also can't use your subclass features very often), you know fewer spells, and you can't even use a rapier. Some of your most helpful class features like Jack of All Trades and Font of Inspiration don't kick in until several levels later.

Bards were finally fun to play, but I guess we can't have nice things.

#d&d #dungeons & dragons #one dnd

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slugdragoon · 4 days

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Dungeon Appreciation Post #2 - Cragmaw Hideout (Lost Mines of Phandelver, D&D 5e Starter Set)

This will be a simple one, it's not a very big dungeon, but Lost Mines of Phandelver has to have been so many people's first introduction to D&D, simply because 5th edition has exploded D&D's popularity. It's become pretty mainstream now, and you can see a progression since Community had an episode about D&D, it's appearance in Stranger Things, the rise of actual-play podcasts like Critical Role, and now the Magic: The Gathering crossover sets, the major Hollywood movie and Baldur's Gate 3.

I would assume that, other than the other Starter Set that was published later, a ton of aspiring DMs/players picked this one up as their first purchase for years. You may also know that this module was used as the basis for the first arc of The Adventure Zone podcast before they went off-book, and Cragmaw Hideout was played especially straight before they found their own footing. So, a lot of people know this one, even if it's not very complex or foundational in D&D's overall history.

Premise: A simple, goblin infested cave, which the party discovered after being ambushed on the road by a small goblin band, and following their trail. Other victims have clearly been dragged towards the cave, giving a hook to explore.

Monsters: The goblins (a dozen or so total) are led by a bugbear who is their boss, but who is subordinate to an external tribe of bandits, and under orders to ambush travellers for their supplies. They also have a handful of guard wolves.

Design: The entrance of the cave is designed to give a clear view of the opening, but with a blind corner lightly guarded by two inattentive goblin archers. The players are exposed, and can alert them by crossing the stream. This is an easy an easy encounter, but one which teaches an early lesson about caution.

The inside of the cave is dark without a light source or darkvision, but the party can follow the wall along the stream. This is the main path up through the tunnel, but alerting the goblin on the bridge will cause others to flood the tunnels from the two pools at the top.

I like that the goblins use their environment to channel the party down an expected path, which is reasonably well-guarded. The room to the right of the entrance contains chained guard wolves, and is meant to be a dead end. The party can climb through a narrow passage (used as a garbage chute) up through to the boss room, or some collapsed rocks to the left of the stream into the living quarters but from the goblins' perspective, the natural trajectory provides adequate defence and the rest is unfortunate damage to the cave that leads directly to heavily populated areas. It makes sense, and does a good job of making the goblins seem intelligent. They're a small group, but they're doing their best, and their encampment is reasonable.

The upper levels consists of a living quarters to the west for half a dozen goblins, including the second-in-command that can be influenced to overthrow the bugbear leader, and a hostage that can be an ally and convey plot hooks latr. To the east, the pool room and bugbear's room, who has with him a wolf and four goblins in that general area.

Overall, for an introductory adventure, I like that many things work in the party's favour to mitigate difficulty, without being contrived or making the Cragmaw goblins seem inept. The wolves are kept at the entrance, and may warn you off, especially from poking around too thoroughly in that room and climbing through the narrow passage, but are chained, limiting their danger. Of course the goblins keep them at hand near the entrance, and don't let them roam freely, they're wild animals! The "garbage chute" is great, because you can imagine them throwing scraps down to the wolves. The few guards posted outside are hidden, more meant to be a warning. They don't want to have an obvious presence and give away their location. The flooded passage is a great trap, but if it is sprung, can hit any goblins or wolves in the passage, too, levelling the playing field. The internal politics of the goblins and bugbear can be used to turn numbers in your favour. There's a fire pit near the boss that can be used to damage them. This dungeon is simple, but well designed and rewards an attentive approach while not overwhelming player with vast options for exploration on their first outing.

Treasure: The potential spoils for this cave consist of a few small valuable trinkets and gold, some standard healing potions, and the supplies stolen from other, some of which can be turned in for a reward at a nearby town. No legendary items or anything like that, the real reward is a reason to be directed to a populated hub, and a small payout.

#game design #rpg #rpg design #dungeon design #dungeons #dungeons and dragons #dnd5e #lost mine of phandelver #dungeon map

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audiofictionuk · 2 months

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New Fiction Podcasts - 11th February

Worlds Collide - A Dungeons & Dragons 5e Podcast Audio RPG Embark on an otherworldly journey with 'Worlds Collide,' a gripping narrative podcast that delves into the convergence of multiple worlds and the fate of a fading magic. When diverse characters from distinct realms are summoned by the gods into an enigmatic new world, they must band together to unearth the cause behind the vanishing magical essence. Follow the compelling saga as each character, plucked from their homelands, navigates the unfamiliar terrain, leveraging their unique skills and personalities. With time ticking and the magic waning, the characters face a race against the unknown force that threatens to plunge this world into darkness. As these unlikely allies explore, confront challenges, and grapple with internal conflicts, listeners will be drawn into their quests for truth, forging powerful alliances amidst discord and mistrust. Unravel the mystery alongside them, discovering ancient prophecies, hidden truths, and the ultimate revelation about the dwindling magic. Join us bi-weekly as 'Worlds Collide' takes you through a riveting odyssey of magic, friendship, betrayal, and redemption. Each episode unravels layers of this immersive fantasy world; Will the heroes discover the source of the fading magic and the interconnected destinies of these extraordinary characters? Tune in and immerse yourself in this thrilling live-play 5e podcast, where the stability of the realms is tested, and the power of unity becomes a beacon of hope in a world on the brink of losing its enchantment. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240207-02 RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/492545/rss

The Passage Audio Drama THE PASSAGE takes you on a ride into the land of the dead, traveling with the Ferryman as he collects America’s most illustrious spirits and delivers them to the hereafter. The price of their passage? Their story. Built on a foundation of historical relevance and structured by a kind of dream logic, THE PASSAGE is an immersive audio experience that invites listeners to explore the collective American psyche from the perspective of its most legendary figures. Here we are guided by the Ferryman of souls– with a voice that sounds like it’s been siphoned from a lake of bourbon and fire, and resonating with the depth and gravitas of Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, The Walking Dead). The Passage is penned by a brilliant and diverse pool of writers and performed by an unforgettable cast, each episode of this anthology promises a new tale of American odyssey, from madness and monsters to conviction and courage. Each passenger tells their own extraordinary and often terrifying tale to influence the Ferryman’s final destination— be it a comfortable place of eternal light, a haunted purgatory of regret, or one of the nine rings of hell. These are the tales that shaped the soul of the nation. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240207-03 RSS: https://www.omnycontent.com/d/playlist/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/23c95ad4-71fc-499d-bb7e-b0dc0122c03c/e4bbf9d9-c91f-4890-b7fb-b0dc0124251d/podcast.rss

Todd: Big Boy Detective Audio Drama Todd may only be eight and a half years old, but he’s convinced he’s a hardboiled, straight-shooting, Big Boy Detective! With the help of his friends and his witty sidekick, Leo the Stuffed Lion, Todd solves everything from simple backyard enigmas to huge and fantastical mysteries. The ‘Todd: Big Boy Detective’ series was born from a love of old style Detective Radio Dramas and a desire to bring that fun to families in a way that's both fun for kids and witty enough for adults! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240207-04 RSS: https://bigboydetective.com/feed/podcast/todd-big-boy-detective/

Petrolith Audio RPG A D&D Real-Play podcast featuring an eclectic group including a goblin alchemist, a tiefling paladin, an undead beast tamer with her companions, a goliath bard, a dragonborn monk, and a kenku artificer. Join them as they navigate the treacherous world of pirates, mercenaries, corrupt governments, and a crazy cult that worships a 12 year old kid for some reason! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240109-05 RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/659cae8ff4a05a0016eb8eee

Ask Your Father Audio Drama Lem, a human, and Mikey, an A.I., are piloting the first ever faster than light speed ship when they find themselves twice as far as they meant to go, and without any fuel for a return flight. The two of them communicate with Earth using tiny faster-than-light-speed drives, which carry information for Mikey and questions for Lem from his kids. As they work together to solve the problem, they forge a friendship that could change the course of human history, all while trying to answer the question “how did this happen?” And more importantly… “Why?” https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240208-02 RSS: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/FAFO7586484272

The Whirlwind Chronicles Audio RPG Equipped with an ancient wizard’s life’s work, a renegade party of adventurers explore unknown realms to discover the universe’s secrets and complete his encyclopedic tome. Welcome in! This actual play podcast tells the story of Juniper, Calgo, Edna, and Wallace. With no preparation, our players determine where these explorers will go next by spontaneously rolling for the genre, hook, and most importantly, the game master of the week. Expect chaos as our group of players wholly improvise a new adventure every episode. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240205-02 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2311223.rss

Gather 'Round the Trashfires Audio Book Bek Andrew Evans, a TTRPG and LARP writer, recounts stories from the table. The main focus is on his years-long Deviant: the Renegades chronicle and his cohort's (mis)adventures. His delivery style has been described as similar to classic Twilight Zone narration. A group of young adult strangers find they’re victims of the same secret project on the water system that gave them both fantastic powers and horrifying consequences. What’s worse, the hospital they ended up in isn’t what it seems, either. They must band together to protect themselves and their loved ones, seek vengeance, and expose those responsible. And maybe, hopefully, learn to live with each other along the way. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240210-01 RSS: https://feeds.redcircle.com/59e19bc6-91d4-4cdc-9684-8759f87afaba

The Defense Audio Drama A new audio drama about a support group of women with a unique set of powers. Recorded live, with an audience at Jalopy Theatre in Brooklyn. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240208-04 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f0967cd8/podcast/rss

The Porch Roof Classic Audio Book A retro baseball podcast-novel in 15 or so episodes about summer dreams, anxiety, and Wiffle ball. In 1970, way before social media existed, when imitating Willie Mays or Tony Conigliaro’s batting swing was a day’s big challenge, fourteen-year-old Joey Tosh endures a bullying attack on the final day of junior high school. With the help of his close friends and a fearless bohemian girl he meets at overnight camp, Joey learns how to cope with nemesis Danny Blight, and by the end of summer, a duel-to-the-death backyard ball game will hopefully settle all Marsh Meadow business. Come for the awkwardness, stay for the one-handed home runs! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240209-01 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2248510.rss

#audio fiction #fiction podcast

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