Aether Skies: Mapping the Uncharted Regions Beyond the Trade Routes
The known skies of Aether Skies are dangerous enough. Airships navigate aether currents, merchant guilds control trade routes, sky pirates hunt vulnerable vessels, and enormous creatures move through the clouds. Ancient ruins drift through forgotten regions, and every skywreck tells the story of someone who pushed...
The Holy Grail: D&D’s Ultimate Legendary Artifact
In our last installment of Legendary Artifacts Reimagined, we explored the Philosopher's Stone, the legendary alchemical substance capable of transforming matter, creating gold, and potentially granting the secret of eternal life. The Philosopher's Stone asked a dangerous question: What would you change if you could change anything? Now...
Villain Playbook: The Fallen Paladin — Creating a Memorable D&D Villain
There are plenty of ways to make a memorable villain in D&D. Last time we explored the concept of the Benevolent Tyrant as a Villain Playbook. But today we are going to go in another direction. Give them an army. Give them a powerful artifact....
Mercenary Companies: The Soldiers for Hire of Under the Dome
Last week, we explored the military organizations of Under the Dome and how the scattered nature of civilization has changed the way people think about warfare. With the Domes separated by dangerous wilderness and Chaos Storms, massive armies marching against one another are rare. Instead,...
The Witcher Makes D&D Monsters Interesting
One of the easiest things to forget when running D&D is that monsters are supposed to live in the world. We tend to think of them as encounters. The party enters a cave, discovers a monster, rolls initiative, and somebody eventually gets eaten, stabbed, blasted, or...
Aether Skies: Skywrecks Every Adventuring Party Wants to Explore
The skies of Aether Skies are filled with airships, floating islands, strange creatures, ancient civilizations, and places that have never been mapped. But where there are ships, there are also wrecks. Somewhere beneath the clouds, a broken airship tumbles through the endless sky. Perhaps its crew...
The Philosopher’s Stone: D&D’s Most Dangerous Alchemical Secret
In our last installment of Legendary Artifacts Reimagined, we explored the Mirror of Narcissus, a legendary relic capable of showing someone the person they could become. The Mirror wasn't dangerous because it lied. It was dangerous because it told the truth—or at least showed one...
Villain Playbook: The Benevolent Tyrant — Creating a Memorable D&D Villain
Last time in our Villain Playbook series, we went all the way to the end of the world with The World Ender, a villain who doesn't want a kingdom, riches, revenge, or even power. They simply want existence itself to come to an end. This week,...
Military Organizations: Fighting a War That Rarely Happens in Under the Dome
In a world where the Domes are scattered across the landscape, traditional warfare has become almost obsolete. Last week we wrote about religion without gods, now lets take this in another direction. That doesn't mean armies disappeared. Far from it. Every major city maintains soldiers, guards, scouts, pilots,...
What The Descent Teaches Dungeon Masters About Claustrophobic Adventures
There are plenty of horror movies that teach Dungeon Masters how to run scary monsters. The Descent teaches something much more useful. How to make the entire environment the monster. The creatures living beneath the earth are terrifying, but they aren't what makes The Descent so effective. The...
The Mirror of Narcissus: D&D’s Most Dangerous Reflection
In our last installment of Legendary Artifacts Reimagined, we explored the Cintamani, the legendary wish-fulfilling jewel capable of giving people exactly what they desire. The Cintamani presented adventurers with one of the most dangerous questions imaginable: if you could have anything in the world, what...
BattleZoo Eldamon Review: What If Pokémon Was Part of Your D&D Game?
I'll admit something right up front. For someone who has spent decades surrounded by tabletop RPGs, fantasy creatures, monsters, and all things nerdy, I somehow managed to largely avoid Pokémon. Sure, I knew what Pokémon were. I knew Pikachu. I knew there were hundreds of them. Then...
Religious Orders: What Do You Believe In When There Are No Gods? Under the Dome
For the people living beneath the Domes, the Chaos is real. The Domes are real. Grind is real. The ancient ruins scattered throughout the world are real. The spirits whispered about in the forests may be real. The ancestors who appear in dreams might be real. Gods? That is where things become...
What Mission: Impossible Teaches Dungeon Masters About Multi-Layered Heists
Last week we delved into Mad Max: Fury Road and how that can be just one mega Skill Challenge. And since skill challenges can be dramatic in heists, why not segue into a great source for heist inspiration? There is a particular moment that seems...
Aether Skies: Harvesting Magical Resources from Sky Beasts
Last week, we explored Aether Skies: Predators of the Aether Currents, introducing creatures such as the terrifying Aether Demon Shark and the mysterious Aether Manta. Those creatures demonstrated that the skies aren't simply empty space between destinations. They are living ecosystems filled with predators, prey...
