A little while back, I posted a collection of magic spears (and a magic helmet), and a reader requested a similar collection for maces. Another reader requested that I cover magic bows, and that’s also on my to-do list. Some of these weapons I treat as specifically needing to be […]
There’s a widespread acknowledgement, I believe, that the initiative rules found in D&D, and indeed in most games, are not great and even detract from the game, but they are the least-worst option available. In this post I’m going to talk a bit about the problems with the current model […]
This blog almost never intersects with politics or moment-to-moment pop culture, but today… today I make an exception, out of anger and a nigh-hysteric desire to make something to laugh about. Therefore, in honor of a most excellent Twitter response to a most bizarre and now-deleted tweet. You know what, […]
My friend Sean Holland is hosting this month’s RPG Blog Carnival, and his topic is Occult Mysteries and Magic. This topic is, of course, near and dear to my heart in gaming, so I hasten to join in. Now magic in D&D doesn’t have a long history of being all […]
In a recent G+ post, Jared Rascher noted the general lack of cool magic spears in 5e and asked after a DM’s Guild or OGL product that might amend this. What happened instead was that we talked for awhile about spears from real-world legends. I had a lot of time, […]
The Aurikesh campaign is set in an early-colonial period, and revolution of various kinds (political, technological, cosmic) is a central theme. Several existing backgrounds touch on ideas of overthrowing the established order and expressions of zeal – the Acolyte, the Criminal, the Folk Hero, and the Hermit all come to […]
I completely gave the Sunless Citadel a miss during its first release, back in the early days of 3.0. As most readers undoubtedly recall, there was far more than enough D&D material to spend money, even before the OGL content glut. It has been lightly retooled for 5e in Tales […]
Two and a half years ago, I posted a sorcerous origin called the Royal sorcerer, based on ideas around the divine right to rule, handed down as a bloodline. It has proven fairly popular with readers, and more so with the PCs in my campaign. As I’ve worked more in […]
When I first saw monster stat blocks in the D&D Next playtest, and again upon the release of the Monster Manual, I was surprised at how much of a return to 2e-and-earlier form they resembled. They have some of the formal action presentation of 4e’s creature blocks, but they’re much […]
Okay, fine, I post the Tidal sorcerer, WotC comes back with the Sea sorcerer. Other than the holy avenger, though, we still haven’t seen many magic items designed to fit closely with the major character themes that show up in one or more classes. In this post, I’m offering four […]
