@gonzohistory had a great idea in one of his last few podcase episodes: a game of Lexicon where the players create a fantasy bestiary as a handout for players.
That sounds like something I might want to try. You could integrate this with a game of #dnd or so, where players get some extra xp or something for bestiary entries.
Das Bundle enthält fast 30 Titel für $20, die vollständig den Flutopfern in Brasilien zugute kommen (via #ACNUR). Drin sind Titel für verschiedene Systeme; für #DnD sind Sachen von M.T. Black, @slyflourish und anderen dabei
Ein weiterer Bildband zu #DnD. Dieser legt den Fokus auf die Welten in denen gespielt wird
"Featuring artwork pulled from 50 years of sourcebooks and adventures, each chapter of this illustrated guide takes a close look at one of the many worlds, planes, and settings in the D&D multiverse — from the beloved plane of Mystara, to the perilous Shadowfell, to Spelljammer’s boundless Astral Sea"
For the first time I’m going to be playing a character in my world. One of my players in the last two campaigns is going to DM and together we set up the one-sheet so as to not change too much lore. One of the ideas I came up with early, was by playing in the Age of Myths, because any lore changes can just be referenced as legend when we play in the current era.
The Road to the Uncoupling
Your story begins in a prosperous world of togetherness and mutual can-do spirit. Before the battle for the heart of Kirtin on the Lake (KotL) or the sacking of Kirtin in the Sky (KotS), before the Proctors spread death and misery in Sas Rurulit, and before the unprecedented events of the Awakening and the finding of Lorebooks, there was The Uncoupling. The apocalypse that destroyed the weave of magic for the Kin and Kon, leaving Ken and the 5 coloured dragons of the Chromatic Convocation in complete possession of magik.
Players are part of a select group that were born with innate magical ability (you’ve been everflow touched) that is prized even in this magic-rich world. Possibly you inherited your trait from a bloodline trait or ancestral ties to deeper magik of the Everflow. It has shaped your early years, possibly enrolled at a young age by family in the scholarly studies to become part of the magik ruling core of society or you hid your talent and nurtured it on your own.
However, recently there have been rumblings, rumors about a shadow organization unhappy with the status quo, who seek to eliminate the existing ruling council and rule not by consensus but by force. You’ve each been selected by the bronze Dragonborn Artok, tasked with this mission by his patron, the adult Bronze Dragon (Othimbane) who sits on the council, to identify and either infiltrate or forcefully break these fools of their notions and ensure that no other plots are forthcoming.
This campaign takes at least three millennia before the Born Generation and the return of magic to the Lands of the Everflow.
Gain information about “The Shadows”, a secretive organization bent on wiping out the Ruling Council of Aur.
Artok has the rough information about several potential members that could lead you to a hideout or meeting place.
Infiltrate or brute force your way into the group.
Identify other members and find potential leads about who is the power behind “The Shadows”.
Keep (human council) and (gnome council) members apprised of your investigation.
Possibly assist the council with additional tasks at your discretion.
Factions (NPC names to come soon)
The Ruling Council of Aur (RCoA) – A group of 9 members, three of each Ken, Kin, and Kon, and 4 dragons, two each of metallic and chromatic.
The RCoA is the “federational government” of Aur, with different cultures/regions governing in their own way and answering to the RCoA.
Kin: Human (F), Goliath (they), Halfling (M)
Ken: Elf (F), Elf (M), Dwarf (M)
Kon: Goblin (M), Bugbear (They), Hobgoblin (They)
Dragons:
Elder Metallic (Silver) – Tanargnyvur
Adult Metallic (Bronze) – Othimbane
Elder Chromatic (White) – Dwargauth
Adult Chromatic (Blue) – Nymaryxon
In occurrence with the rise of The Dragon moon (the fourth moon of the Aurian system), the dragons withdraw from the council for a year (draakmoeten) and meet at an undisclosed location with the world dragon (a deep time dragon) named Andarawus Del-mos.
The Metallic Dragons
The Chromatic Dragons
The Shining Order of Dreki – Holy dragonborn order who serve the Draconic races as paladins, clerics, and religious personages located across the world. Some that choose a more individual path travel and assist as Priests and Mortuary persons in smaller towns and villages.
Necromantic magic is thought to primarily flow through the draconic race).
The Shadows – A heretofore unknown organization/cult/religion(?) focused on the overthrow of the RCoA, and to rule through force and oppression rather than through consensus.
Campaign Facets
2nd & 3rd tier drop in/out campaign play, starting at 5th level
All PCs start at lv.5 with the added feat “Everflow Touched”, adding a +1 to spell attack modifier and adding one free 1st level spells (from any school expect necromancy, unless your PC is dragonborn) to your spell list which can be cast once per long rest.
Material components will not be needed.
at lv. 9 this will increase to +2 and an additional spell (2nd lv.) can be learned.
Rules used are core 2014 WotC D&D, plus most player facing options from WotC
Check with the DM about using setting-specific feats, subclasses and spells
Allowed races are Kin (human, halfling, goliath), Kon (goblin, hobgoblin, bugbear), Ken (elf, dwarf, non-rock gnomes) and dragonborn/kobold as shining order of Dreki
Divine magic is thought to come from the forces of nature and the philosophies, there is no active pantheon of faith, beyond those who worship the dragons.
Potential for multiple pathways to quest completion
Player driven story creation in a sandbox setting
Wide regional/worldwide settings with airship and/or teleportation travel
Actions may become legend
Milestone leveling – several sessions per level gain; saves time when we all don’t have to track XP
Optimizers around 5e #DnD say that a +1 is about a ~5% increase in success, but that assumes that the range of results is 1-20.
As we know the range of results in the game actually stretches from about 1-40 and the range of difficulties is 5 to 35. Neither of those would be a range of 1 to 20.
So all the arguments about optimization are about a ~2-3% gain.
@bedirthan If you need an 19 or higher to succeed, a +1 bonus actually translates to a 25% increase in your chances. The percentage is always higher than 5%.
Would you be interested in reading my advice on running a D&D game for kids?
I’ve been running kids D&D weekly for almost two years now and when I started I searched around for advice and found it was either about removing combat entirely or pure unstructured murder.
We go for a middle ground of creative storytelling and light murder.
Knowledge of the rules helps, of course, there are some specific things you have to take into account when working with kids that aren’t mentioned much #DnD
Ganz prinzipiell: warum sollte mensch ein System aus diesem Jahrtausend spielen, welches das Spielgefühl der 1970er Jahre vermittelt, anstatt ein System aus den 1970er Jahren?
Ich mag bspw. #DCC und #Shadowdark sehr gerne, aber das ist eine der Fragen die ich mir durch meine Beschäftigung mit #ODnD aka #0e und #SwordsAndWizardry schon stelle.
@tintenteufel In my case (were I interested in regression to the '70s) it would be because the old rules were written and communicated badly. We've learned a lot about game design since then, meaning systems can be more coherent and easy to follow, and standards of writing have improved, meaning actually understanding the rules is easier.
So you can have easier rules, better-communicated, that bring back the desired feel.
"#DnD combat quantifies the bodily integrity of all its participants through “hit points,” with the roleplaying conversation unable to proceed beyond combat itself until the enemies’ hit points are reduced to zero"
Die Sichtweise, dass Kampf ein Störfaktor ist, der das Rollenspiel aufhält und abgeräumt werden muss, bevor es weiter gehen kann, gefällt mir. Den Gedanken beim Encounterdesign zu berücksichtigen, könnte helfen Kampf spannender zu gestalten
Die Künstlerin ist Wylie Beckert. Von ihr stammt auch das alternative Titelbild von Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Alternative Titel sind eigentlich lokalen Läden vorbehalten, aber auch online zu bekommen. Bisher wird ausschließlich die englische Version der Bücher mit "Alt Cover" produziert.
Not to start a war, but the Shadowdark Facebook group I saw a link to a YouTube claiming Shadowdark “won” the OGL war.
First, you can never “win” open gaming. You can temporarily become dominant. If anyone has, it’s Paizo who often gets as much or more shelf space as D&D.
Second, while Shadowdark uses the 5e CC-BY SRD, but it contributes nothing to open gaming itself. It’s got a 3rd party license, and it’s fine enough, but that isn’t open gaming.
@deinol Oh, absolutely. I just like to remind people that gaming, in the end, lies with the gamers, not with the corporate machinery (whether cottage- or industrial-corporate).
We seem to forget that all too often to our detriment.
