Looking at a radical change of alignment in D&D. Does it matter? In magical worlds things are ‘good’ or ‘evil’ because they feed and grow off of specific kinds of magical, spiritual energies. This is made fairly clear in Lord of the Rings and made brutally obvious in Star Wars. Terry Pratchett also explains in his […]
A 'common' hedge wizard - within the Rules As Written. TL;DR: using feats to build lesser casters as well as 'simple' enchanters of common & uncommon magic items. About half a century ago Gary Gygax said heroic classes were about 1% of the general populace. Of these heroes, casters were rare. Getting the help of […]
Handling 'life-long' contracts in-game. The other day my player character asked: 'what does my patron want?' - i had to admit, it was a good question. This triggered a cascade of yet other very valuable queries: What 'payment' does it / he / she get in return for giving a mortal heroic superpowers? How often […]
The point of heroic fantasy gaming is to have or do stuff you cannot do in ‘real’ life - this includes being rich. Would you like to be rich for a while? Really? What would you buy? Well my friend, D&D is your chance! You already figured out you can ‘pimp out’ your character. Good […]
The Little Plant That Could The Adorable & Faithful Awakened Shrub & Humble Beginnings These shrubs may be more clever than most - but they have the land speed of a gnome, no ability stat above 11 (average of 8!), and only one language (yes, it does talk) - there is little to say about […]
"Mirror mirror, on the wall - who shall live and who shall fall?" Greek mythology is not always kind. If you look up the story behind Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale and what Poseidon does to them in a sacred temple - and then what their goddess does to them as a 'reward' - you should be upset. […]
Working With Alignments In A Game-Story It is almost impossible to imagine a story without some kind of unifying objective. In most stories this is easily accomplished with a Big Bad Evil Guy (BBEG). Even if your Big Bad isn't a person &/or creature, one still demands a replacement Thoroughly Nasty Thingy as the main […]
"How So / So What / What's Next?" - Three Steps To A Complete Villain... Plus One More How So?: 'Where are they from / what's their origin?' Is gives your Story's Arc / Arch-Villain. Who is the focus (usually they start out or end up 'bad')? What are the building blocks, axioms, facts, structures […]
What To Do When Your Non-Players Know Too Much Say your players cast Zone of Truth and now everyone in this 15' radius is compelled to tell the truth. Sure someone might make a few charisma saving throws but eventually they will fail - if drunk they are often considered intoxicated or suffering the poisoned […]
Dragons live for ages - just what are they up to when not sleeping? Regardless of age, kind or type of dragon they need a lairs - hopefully with treasure. Putting money into large, hidden spaces is just what they do. That 'home' may be abandoned caves, out of the way castles or great subterranean […]
