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Roleplaying Games

Introducing Chartopia

So, you’re a Dungeon Master who’s planned an entire evening of activity for your players. You know theychartopia goblins 5th edition    have a quest to go on but to mix things up a bit, you give them an encounter on their travels. A simple skirmish with half a dozen scavenger goblins ought to keep things entertaining. Kill some goblins, get the loot they’d scavenged for themselves, a simple, satisfying encounter…

…only the party didn’t kill the goblins as you’d intended. Not only did they avoid fighting them, they entered a parley with them, bought the loot from them (to re-sell at a profit) and hired the goblins to sell them any other goods they might scavenge. An interesting twist, to be certain, but now you have to come up with six goblin names on the fly to serve as recurring non-player characters.

Now, there’s a few options here. You can just rely on your own imagination, but not everyone is good at coming up with character names, much less six names in an instant. Maybe you have a name generator table that you rely on, but you need to find the book in your stack, find the right page, make multiple dice rolls and collate your information. All the while, your players grow impatient!chartopia goblins 5th edition

Enter Chartopia.

Chartopia is a web-based application designed so that you always have flexibility, inspiration and creativity on-hand during the running of any RPG, despite the unexpected twists your players may make. It provides convenient access to a massive library of random tables to satisfy the needs of any dungeon master, game master or players, all in the palm of your hand. There’s no longer any need to sift through a stack of rule books to find the perfect table.

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by Scott Beccard
December 10, 2016
3
Out of the Box D&D Encounters

“Phoba’s Bet” – Out of The Box #32 D&D Encounters

Introduction: The following encounter takes on two challenges. First, it addresses an issue that has been monster medusa out of the box   brought up around multiple tables where a DM seeks to have some sort of  bounty hunter or assassin. Perhaps this is to address some offense the player characters have created against a king, noble, wizard to guildmaster. Perhaps it’s to address some action that the player characters have done in a city where vital laws were broken.
  Second, it looks at the unique issue of adding player character class levels to a monster.. The DMG touches on this, but really leaves it up to the individual DM to make the final call on how the CR of the monster is affected. This starts on p. 273 of the DMG, and stretches all the way to 283 before it addresses “Monsters with classes”…and yet, as you refer back to those 10 pages. In the end, they call it a case by case.
  I think the secret here is asking yourself “What do I want this monster to do?”, and then build for that purpose. To that end, the purpose is to be able to capture player characters in a dramatic fashion, and return them to the “employer” (be it king, criminal boss, or angry mob) alive…or at least relatively.
  Environment: Anywhere. That’s the point. But the example below will be in the wilderness.
Suggested level: 5-7
 Description: To properly set this encounter up, one needs to put the players in the right frame of mind.monster medusa out of the box Players can become very complacent when they do not have random encounters at night for a few nights. Go out of your way to make things very peaceful and calm if you want to. Make fake encounter rolls that don’t count and gloss over them as if you’re unconcerned. This will give you a great feel for who they put on watch and when. Consider this time that the bounty hunter is spending observing the party at a distance. She might even be “handling” those who might be thinking of attacking her valuable bounty. One can’t collect on a fee if one’s targets have been killed by Ogres. 😉
  Next, it’s good to think of whom you have selected for the role of Bounty Hunter. In this case, I present to you the one and only Phoba. Phoba was an experienced Rogue, who tricked, seduced, lied, and manipulated her way across the continent. However, she stole from the wrong temple and was transformed into a Medusa. Making the most of her curse, she takes bounty after bounty in the hopes of earning enough to find a cure for her condition – and she doesn’t care whom goes down to cure that effect.
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by Mike Gould
December 9, 2016
0
Dungeons & Dragons

New DM Handbook: My Philosophy on Mechanics

Introduction

Integral to this series is my initial philosophy on how to run my D&D games.  In all honesty, I have no handbook philosophy machanics idea how to run a game without breaking it.  For a vast majority of it, I’m not going to stray very far from the books, but I also recognize that 5E isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t fulfill all of my needs.  As an example, I intend on being somewhat flexible with the Backgrounds, as is necessary, but really only if none of the preexisting ones don’t fit the character concept.  Beyond that, my DM cornerstone is going to be if it’s logical.

Does it make sense?

My foremost directive when applying any decision or rule is if, as I just said, it’s logical based on game mechanics, my lore, and whether it makes sense.  As an example, according to the rules, the Ranger Beast Master must use an action to give their Beast Companion (different than a pet) a command whenever they want them to perform an action.  That follows the rules of how a Beast Master works, but it doesn’t make any sense.  If every round is six seconds long, that means that the Beast Master makes a command, the Beast Companion follows the order, then sits back down without any command to stay. handbook philosophy machanics handbook philosophy machanics

When was the last time an attack dog stopped attacking before the target is dead or down without a command to do so?  Common sense would dictate that the Beast Companion would continue their last order until their target is dead or a new order is given.  Without any kind of real-world experience, the balance in my mind is that the PC has to manage the Ranger and the Companion.  If they’re not careful, they could be put in a situation that one or both are at risk to die.  A smart DM would maneuver them to force them to choose between their Ranger and their Companion.  That makes the most sense to me.

Logical Settings

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by Joshua Brickley
December 3, 2016
0
Out of the Box D&D Encounters

“Fire for Effect” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #30

out of the box encounters hobgoblin  Introduction: One trope in D&D that needs work is the concept of the encounter as a “one thing shows up and does one other thing.” There should be no reason why, unless otherwise specified, that multiple monsters of similar alignments and motivations would not work together.
Similarly, if these creatures work together more than once, they should have some sense of how each other works as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Grouping like-minded individuals might turn what would be a typical encounter into something a little less predictable.
  The following is one such encounter where two monsters, tactically minded and ruthless in combat, work together to create a small fighting force that would be dangerous to deal with, especially in a confined setting where collateral damage is something to consider.
As an example of this, I am presenting two races that fit the bill – Fire Giants and Hobgoblins. Both love war, are tactically sound, and would likely work in concert to achieve a goal. Both share the Lawful Evil alignment, so you can expect them to behave in similar fashions and seek similar solutions to the same problems.
  In the correct environment to add complications, and you have a problem that needs to be solved – quickly! The introduction of this encounter might well be used as a doorway to start an adventure, so this could be the start of something larger.
Environment: Urban/Small Town
Suggested level:  10
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by Mike Gould
November 25, 2016
1
D&D sorcerer
Dungeons & Dragons

D&Dize – Dr. Strange Sorcerer Supreme

MONK: Way of the Four Elements

I chose monk because of the martial training that he’d need to use to understand how to unlock his chakra’s and the like. Also, some of the abilities that that he has are magic’s that come from within him, hence the use of “ki”. Remember in the Marvel Superheroes RPG where magic was divided into:

  • (P) Personal = magic that is without incantation, somatic, or material components, but taxes that user. Ki works well for this.
  • (U) Universal = Power that comes from using the residual magic’s around the area. They require free use of hands and speech and possibly a component. I like Wizard for this.
  • (D) Dimensional = These abilities require the entreating of a cosmic entity who is “composed” of magic, who can use “all” magic as personal magic because, unlike us, they are inherently composed of magic. Anytime Dr. Strange would call on the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth or the Flames of the Faltine, or the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, and so on, these would be Dimensional spells and they take just a little longer to cast but they are tremendously powerful and they require a full incantation AND the use of somatic gesture AND good-standing with the entity being called upon. I like Warlock for this.Dr. Strange Dormammu monk

Level 18 as a monk is insane, I know, especially for a guy who doesn’t often engage in hand-to-hand. I rectified this by making his strength and dex low so that, no matter how much damage he can do with his hands, he has a low chance of hitting. Even if he does hit and do all that damage, fine, it’s magical damage anyway at that level of monk, so it can be passed off as a “contact spell”.

I like 18 for his Monk level because all the benefits that you get from Monk at 18th level, he actually has. In the comics, he battled Mistress Death and is immune to all earthly disease and poisons and he is now extremely long-lived. Just as his mentor, the Ancient One (who lived for 500 years), Strange can be killed, but he will age at a very retarded rate and cannot be affected by aging spells. He can dispel magic’s, magically speak any known language, and the Deflect Missiles ability can be explained by one of his eldritch shields. Lastly, for Monk, is the level 18 ability to attain the astral form without spell components. Yeah, that’s him.

WIZARD: Abjuration

I really like Wizard for his Universal spells because they fit perfectly. It’s based on his intelligence and if it’s a high or low magical realm then his spells will be affected accordingly. More than this, Dr. Strange is quite powerful, but whether he outclasses his opponent or is outclassed, like his earlier battles with Baron Mordo or with entities like Dormammu, he usually wins by out-thinking his opponent. He is always able to give himself the time to defeat an opponent by holding them of with his defensive spells until he finds the perfect spell to take out his opponent non-lethally. This is why I chose Abjuration for

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by Professor Bill
November 17, 2016
1
Out of the Box D&D Encounters

“Council of Three”- Out of The Box D&D Encounters # 28

Introduction:

out of the box encounters basilisk

SONY DSC

  This is yet another dungeon-based encounter. It uses spells instead of monsters for it’s basis, and provides a minor puzzle. Depending on how this goes, the players could receive a boon, a trap, or even a future adventure. To be fair, since everything in this encounter is completely based upon player choice, they are truly in control of how good or bad this goes. This will be player agency in action.
  An encounter like this might give a DM who might be running a lot of combat-based encounters a chance to switch things up a bit. Mind you, if they set off the trap in this encounter, they might get the sort of combat they might be looking for.
Environment: Dungeon
Suggested level: Any
  As the characters enter this chamber, they will be struck by it’s ancient and ritualistic feel. Ancient carved reliefs decorate all of the walls, and depict several scenes. (I see them in an ancient Mayan or Aztec style, but feel free to use whatever fits your campaign). When you enter this chamber, you enter a long and rectangular room. Your entrance is in the center of a 20’ wall, and the room extends out from this entrance to a distance of 40’. A raised stepped platform occupies the furthest 10’ of the room. Upon this platform is a stone plinth with what looks like three heads upon it.
  Should the players choose to examine the carved reliefs on the walls, allow them a relatively easy Investigation (DC: 10) to discover the following:
  The left wall depicts scenes of ancient figures in tribal garments. They are kneeling with hands raised upward. Rays of light or energy beam down from above upon them.
  The right wall shows figures in tribal garb cowering before an oversized figure wearing an elaborate feather head dress and wielding a massive saw-toothed blade. A halo of blades hovers above the head of the oversized figure.
  The far wall behind the plinth shows a depiction where tribal figures worship some sort of small sphere.
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by Mike Gould
November 11, 2016
1
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