Monthly Archives: July 2015

The Wererat Den Part II

/ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / 0 comments

Happy Gen Con, everyone!

Before I get to today’s blog post, if you’re at Gen Con so am I! If you listen to the Round Table or The Tome Show‘s D&D V&G podcast then you’ll also know my good friend and Gen Con bud, Rudy Basso. We’ll be tweeting pictures of ourselves so follow us there to say hey or come hang with us on tomorrow (Friday) at 8:30PM when we’ll be at Tavern on South. It’s a block from the convention center and we’ll be joined by Tome Show hosts and regulars like Jeff Greiner and Mike Shea and more. Maybe even Tracy Hurley will be there, which would be awesome because she is awesome.

Ok! Onto today’s post.

Meet the Lycans

If you’ve been following the blog for at least a week or so you know that I recently wrote about my love of tiny dungeons. Now I’m building a tiny dungeon one post at a time on this blog. Check out the first post in The Wererat Den series to get the background, synopsis, and hooks for the adventure along with a table of random forest encounters characters might experience on their way to the dungeon.

Before we get to the meat of the dungeon I’d like to show off the new wereboars, wererats, and werewolves that player characters will face during the small crawl.

Wereboar, Halfling Berserker

Small humanoid (halfling, shapechanger), neutral evil

Armor Class 14 in humanoid form (hide), 13 in boar form (natural), 15 in hybrid form (hide and natural)

Hit Points 78 (12d6 + 36)

Speed 25 ft. (40 ft. in boar form)

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

17 (+3)

14 (+2)

17 (+3)

9 (-1)

11 (+0)

9 (-1)

Skills Perception +1

Damage Resistances poison

Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered

Senses passive Perception 11

Languages Common and Halfling (can’t speak in boar form)

Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Polymorph. The wereboar can use its action to  polymorph into a boar-humanoid hybrid or into a boar, or back into its true form which is humanoid. Its statistics, other than its AC and speed, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

Brave. The wereboar has advantage on all saving throws against being frightened.

Charge (Boar or Hybrid Form Only). If the wereboar moves at least 15 feet straight towards a target and then hits it with its tusks on the same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Lucky. When the wereboar rolls a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, it can reroll the die and must use the new roll.

Reckless. At the start of its turn, the wereboar can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.

Relentless (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). If the wereboar takes 14 damage or less that would reduce it to 0 hit points, it is reduced to 1 hit point instead.

Stout Resilience. The wereboar has advantage on saving throws against poison.

Actions

Multiattack (Halfling or Hybrid Form Only). The wereboar makes two attacks, only one of which can be with its tusks.

Warhammer (Halfling or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Tusks (Boar or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with wereboar lycanthropy.

Wererat, Elf

Medium humanoid (elf, shapechanger), lawful evil

Armor Class 12

Hit Points 33 (6d8 + 6)

Speed 35 ft. (30 ft. in rat form)

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

10 (+0)

15 (+2)

12 (+1)

11 (+0)

11 (+0)

8 (-1)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +4

Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages Common and Elvish (can’t speak in rat form)

Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Polymorph. The wererat can use its action to  polymorph into a rat-humanoid hybrid or into a giant rat, or back into its true form which is humanoid. Its statistics, other than its size and speed, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

Fey Ancestry. The wererat has advantage on saving throws against being charmed and magic cannot put it to sleep.

Keen Smell. The wererat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Mask of the Wild. The wererat can attempt to hide even when it is only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.

Actions

Multiattack (Elf or Hybrid Form Only). The wererat makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.

Bite (Rat or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with wererat lycanthropy.

Rapier (Elf or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.

Longbow (Elf or Hybrid Form Only). Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.

Wererat, Elf Mage

Medium humanoid (elf, shapechanger), lawful evil

Armor Class 12 (15 with mage armor)

Hit Points 55 (10d8 + 10)

Speed 30 ft.

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

10 (+0)

15 (+2)

12 (+1)

17 (+3)

12 (+1)

11 (+0)

Saving Throws Int +6, Wis +4

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +4

Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages Common, Dwarvish, Elvish, Gnomish, and Halfling (can’t speak in rat form)

Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)

Polymorph. The wererat can use its action to  polymorph into a rat-humanoid hybrid or into a giant rat, or back into its true form which is humanoid. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

Fey Ancestry. The wererat has advantage on saving throws against being charmed and magic cannot put it to sleep.

Keen Smell. The wererat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Spellcasting (Elf and Hybrid Form Only). The mage is a 9th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). The mage has the following wizard spell prepared:

Cantrips (at will): acid splash, fire bolt, light, mage hand, prestidigitation

1st level (4 slots): detect magic, mage armor, magic missile, shield

2nd level (3 slots): misty step, suggestion

3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, fireball, lightning bolt

4th level (3 slots): blight, greater invisibility

5th level (1 slot): cone of cold

Actions

Multiattack (Elf or Hybrid Form Only). The wererat makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.

Bite (Rat or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with wererat lycanthropy.

Dagger (Elf or Hybrid Form Only). Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.

Wererat, Halfling

Small humanoid (halfling, shapechanger), lawful evil

Armor Class 12

Hit Points 33 (6d8 + 6)

Speed 25 ft. (30 ft. in rat form)

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

10 (+0)

15 (+2)

12 (+1)

11 (+0)

11 (+0)

8 (-1)

Skills Perception +2, Stealth +4

Damage Resistances poison

Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered

Senses darkvision 60 ft. (rat form only), passive Perception 12

Languages Common and Halfling (can’t speak in rat form)

Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Polymorph. The wererat can use its action to  polymorph into a rat-humanoid hybrid or into a giant rat, or back into its true form which is humanoid. Its statistics, other than its speed, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

Brave. The wererat has advantage on all saving throws against being frightened.

Keen Smell. The wererat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Lucky. When the wererat rolls a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, it can reroll the die and must use the new roll.

Stout Resilience. The wererat has advantage on saving throws against poison.

Actions

Multiattack (Halfling or Hybrid Form Only). The wererat makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.

Bite (Rat or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with wererat lycanthropy.

Shortsword (Halfling or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.

Shortbow (Halfling or Hybrid Form Only). Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.

Werewolf, Elf

Medium humanoid (elf, shapechanger), chaotic evil

Armor Class 12, 13 (natural armor) in wolf or hybrid form

Hit Points 58 (9d8 + 18)

Speed 35 ft. (40 ft. in wolf form)

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

15 (+2)

15 (+2)

14 (+2)

10 (+0)

11 (+0)

10 (+0)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +4

Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered

Senses darkvision 60 ft. (elf and hybrid form only), passive Perception 14

Languages Common and Elvish (can’t speak in wolf form)

Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Polymorph. The werewolf can use its action to  polymorph into a wolf-humanoid hybrid or into a wolf, or back into its true form which is humanoid. Its statistics, other than its AC, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

Fey Ancestry. The werewolf has advantage on saving throws against being charmed and magic cannot put it to sleep.

Keen Hearing and Smell. The werewolf has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Mask of the Wild. The werewolf can attempt to hide even when it is only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.

Actions

Multiattack (Elf or Hybrid Form Only). The werewolf makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite.

Bite (Wolf or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with werewolf lycanthropy.

Claws (Hybrid Form Only).  Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) slashing damage.

Greatsword (Elf or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage.

Longbow (Elf or Hybrid Form Only). Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.

PDFs

It’d be cool if you had all these lycanthropes in a PDF to take with you to your game. Well I’m a pretty cool guy so I made it happen! Click on the links below to grab just the monsters in this post or grab them with every other fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons monster I’ve created.

All Monsters

Lycanthropes

Of course if you don’t want to grab these now, you can head on over to the Free Game Resources section of the site anytime where they will live forever alongside plenty of other resources for your game like monsters, D&D fifth edition rules modules, backgrounds, spells, magic items, and more.

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

The Wererat Den

/ , , , , , , , , , , , , , / 3 comments

Last Thursday I posted a piece about tiny dungeons and I promised you an example of one of these bad boys. I’ll have the dungeon on Tuesday next week. Right now I’m going to show off some hooks, and random encounters for the area surrounding the dungeon and on Thursday I want to show off some of the new monsters I’ve designed for the dungeon.

The Wererat Den is a short fifth edition adventure for a party of four to six fifth level characters. This adventure takes place in the campaign setting of Exploration Age, but can easily be adapted for any setting you choose.

Adventure Background

In the elf and halfling dominated republic of Taliana, a band of terrorist lycanthropes known as the Brotherhood of the Moon have a covert cell hiding at the Dromadas Inn, a roadside establishment halfway between Waynana and Pricillia in The Great Wood on the East Bank of the Vumba River.

The lycanthropes haven’t always run the Dromadas Inn but they recently infected the establishment’s proprietor and staff. Their plan is simple. Infect any who stop to rest at the inn with lycanthropy and then let those unfortunate souls carry the disease to their final destination.

The leader of the lycanthrope gang is a elf wererat mage, Alcaeus Branthom. Alcaeus is working his way up the ranks of the brotherhood and hopes his triumph at Dromadas will catch the eye of the organization’s leaders. The mage is never without his halfling wereboar bodyguards, Reconda and Elvani Iustabar, the howling sisters.

Recently a group of halfling and elf adolescents were making their way along the road from Pricillia to Waynana. These children are the sons and daughters of some of Taliana’s wealthiest and most influential merchant families. They were headed to Waynana to learn more about Taliana’s bustling lumber economy and enjoy the nightlife the party city has to offer. Along the way the group stopped at the Dromadas Inn.

The lycanthropes seized the opportunity, killed or infected the adults and guards within the group and imprisoned the children in the inn’s basement. Now Alcaeus is torn. He is unsure if he should infect the adolescent children or use their imprisonment to blackmail their powerful parents into becoming lycanthropes. He is using the Brotherhood of the Moon’s complicated channels to ask leadership about what he should do with the children and is currently waiting for a response.

Screen Shot 2015-07-26 at 6.01.00 AM

The pink star shows the location of the Dromadas Inn. Each hex = 50 miles. This map was made using Hexographer.

Brotherhood of the Moon

The Brotherhood of the Moon are a band of lycanthropes who believe lycanthropy is the next stage of humanoid evolution. These lycanthropes view their curse as a gift and constantly scheme to inflict lycanthropy upon others. They have a long history of operating within Taliana in Exploration Age, but the Brotherhood of the Moon can easily be brought into any campaign setting.

Adventure Synopsis

Using one of the hooks from the Hooks section of this adventure or by some other scheme you cook up, the characters arrive at the Dromadas Inn. They have a chance to interact with the incognito members of the Brotherhood of the Moon who try to asses if the PCs might willingly join the operation or if they’ll need to be forcibly infected. The characters can then work their way through the inn either by force, stealth, or bluff. They eventually learn the children of some of Taliana’s influential merchants and political figures are being kept as prisoners in the basement of the Dromadas Inn and must decide what to do about it.

Waynana

The characters begin the adventure in Waynana.

Waynana (City Population 50,000) Waynana is one of three sister cities, the other two being Pricillia and Fraya. The lumberjacks living in The Great Wood bring their hauls to Waynana so they can be transported to Pricillia and Fraya for travel. Waynana is a testament to Talianan woodworking skill. Beautiful log and wood carved buildings line the streets, giving the city an inviting and rustic feel.

Waynana parties harder than any other city in Taliana. The lumberjacks love to blow off some steam and often get into rowdy drinking contests with one another. Bar fights are a common occurrence in the taverns and seem to occur just for the fun of the participants at times. Waynana is home to several breweries, distilleries, and vineyards that are all proud to have the elves and halflings who call the place home imbibe their products.

For all its partying Waynana is a bit short on law enforcement and the citizens know it. It’s not that the city doesn’t have the coin, it’s that the city council has trouble convincing folk to sign up. They always have a backlog of cases and solicit adventurers to investigate crimes for a reward.

Hooks

The following adventure hooks can be used to get your players to the Dromadas Inn.

Save the Children

Dreas Mercor, the proprietor of the hugely successful Mercor Lumber Company in Waynana, contacts the adventurers because he has heard of their past deeds. The purple-clad, mustached halfling is a nervously fidgeting as he tells the characters that he has been waiting for a wagon train of friends’ adolescent children to come from Pricillia as he is supposed to be their caretaker during their stay. The wagons were supposed to arrive five days ago and he hasn’t gotten any word since hear they had left Pricillia. He’s sure everything’s fine, they were traveling along the road after all, but Dreas would like some people he can trust to look into it. He offers to pay the adventurers 200 gp each plus the cost of food and lodging expenses to search along the road to Pricillia for the children and escort them to Waynana safely.

Attack of the Lycanthropes

The beleaguered Waynana police force has recently noticed a pattern of increased lycanthrope attacks. Over the past few months several travelers coming by way of Pricillia into the city have suddenly transformed and violently attacked the citizens of Waynana. Police investigator Mira Ventulos approaches the characters based on their reputation for past deeds or the characters see a posting advertising the job directing them to Mira. She offers the characters 100 gp each plus the cost of food and lodging expenses to search along the road to Pricillia for any signs of lycanthrope activity and to report back when they learn. She offers them an additional 10 gp each for every lycanthrope they slay.

A Stay at the Dromadas Inn

If the characters are journeying along the road to Waynana to Pricillia for any reason they might stay in the Dromadas Inn. If they stay here the characters are attacked by wererats in their room at night.

The Road to the Dromadas Inn

The road from Waynana to the Dromadas Inn is contained within The Great Wood. Within these woods halfling and elven lumberjacks roam, cutting lumber for the cities of Taliana and exporting boards and wood across Canus. Of course the woods have hungry beasts and vicious monsters who might see a few adventurers as an easier target than a troop of lumberjacks.

Fast Travel

Taliana’s roads are lined with magic speedy cobblestones installed by The Arcane College. These roads allow for fast travel between towns and cities when using special swifty boots, swifty horseshoes, and swifty wheels. The speed of the traveler is tripled when using these items along the special roads. Travel along these roads is safe, thanks to the swift speed. If PCs are traveling quickly along the road at tripled speed, there is no need to roll for random encounters, until they stop to rest. Prices for the swfity gear is below.

Gear Price Notes
Swifty boots 50 gp Pair of two
Swifty horseshoes 200 gp Set of four
Swifty animal shoes 400 gp Customized for mount of choice
Swifty wheels 500 gp Set of four
Random Encounters

While traveling in The Great Wood the characters may encounter all sorts of people and monsters. Roll a d20 three times for each day the PCs are traveling in the forest, once for morning, once for afternoon, and once for night. On a roll of 18-20 a random encounter occurs.

Use the table to determine what type of encounter occurs. For encounters marked with an asterisk use the descriptions provided after the tables.

d12 + d8 Encounter
2 1 fleeing wererat victim*
3 2 basilisks
4 1d4 giant boars
5 1 green hag and 1d4+2 giant poisonous snakes
6 1d4+2 dire wolves
7 1 shambling mound
8 1 troll
9 1d4 wererats*
10 1 bandit captain and 2d6 bandits
11 lumber merchant caravan*
12 1d4 orogs
13 2 owlbears
14 4 druids*
15 1d4 + 2 giant spiders
16 1d8 + 7 wolves
17 1 hill giant
18 1d4 ettercaps
19 1 banshee
20 1 unicorn*
Fleeing Wererat Victim

On the road the characters run into a disheveled, starving elf woman named Betra Closo. She is half mad, raving about being in the Dromadas Inn when she woke up to a strange creature gnawing on her shoulder. She pushed the creature away and fled the inn, but is afraid that whatever the thing was that bit her is still after her. If the characters approach her she is cautious but trusts them out of necessity.

Betra is infected with wererat lyncathropy, but doesn’t know it yet. If she stays with the adventurers, during the next full moon she transforms into the hybrid form of a wererat and attacks the adventurers.

Wererats

This band of four wererats were infected at the Dromadas Inn and now stalk the road for potential prey. If they are overwhelmed they try to flee back to the inn, but if captured and interrogated, only a successful DC 20 Charisma (Intimidation) gets them to reveal the location of their base. The wererats fear the wrath of Alcaeus and in most cases would rather die than give up their brethren.

Lumber Merchant Caravan

The characters pass a caravan of lumber merchants resting along the road. If they stop to talk with the merchants, the characters learn the merchants are looking forward to reaching the famous Dromadas Inn on the Vumba River because it is famous for its suckling wild boar and soft feather beds.

Druids

The characters pass a group of druids meditating near the road. These druids are friendly and if the characters seem to be respectful they offer them a chance to meditate and commune with nature with them. Any character who spends an hour meditating gains Inspiration.

Unicorn

A unicorn passes by the road and touches a random good-aligned character with its horn gently. That character gains the Charm of Beast Speech.  The unicorn then runs off into the forest.

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Round Table 79 – Variant Rules, Errata, and June Survey

/ , , , , , , , , , , , , , / 0 comments

A new episode of my podcast, The Round Table, is up on The Tome Show’s website.

I sit down with Liz Theis, Sam Dillon, and  to talk about the Unearthed Arcana article featuring variant rules for fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons, the first round of fifth edition D&D errata, and the June D&D survey. This podcast was recorded on July 2, 2015.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, it helps a boat load!
Links:
The Tome Show on Facebook
The Tome Show on Twitch
Tavern on South
rpgmusings.com
Play on Target Podcast

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Hold Me Closer Tiny Dungeon

, / , , , , , , , , , , / 15 comments

One of my favorite books for fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons was a little number called Dungeon Delve. The book was simply 30 three-room dungeons complete with traps, encounters, a few story hooks, and advice for continuing the story or further fleshing out the dungeon. It was basically a tome of a single, four-hour, one-shot adventures for every character level in the game (each of which could be turned into something more if so desired).

Fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons plays a lot faster than fourth, particularly where combat is concerned, which is a good thing. I regularly play D&D on Monday evenings but the sessions are only about three hours long. On average it seems the combat encounters I plan take 30 to 40 minutes. I know that seems a little long but because of our limited time I usually plan only hard encounters to force the players to use up some of their resources and feel a sense of challenge. That means smaller dungeons in fifth edition are perfect for my game because they pack in enough action and my players still get to interact with NPCs and get in some exploration.

I know there’s a lot of other adults out there who have similarly tight schedules, so I’m going to share with you how I craft tiny dungeons for my games.

Why Tiny Dungeons are Great

One of the best things about tiny dungeons is they’re designed to be completed in one session or less. If your group doesn’t meet weekly, completing a longer dungeon can be daunting. When too much real world time passes between sessions in a single dungeon, players can lose track of the story and the point of being in the dungeon in the first place. They forget why they’re holding a key and which door they were saving it for. If the last session didn’t end with an extended rest, they might forget how many resources they’ve spent. So for my biweekly games huge dungeons aren’t the best. Tiny dungeons, by design, are perfect for games that meet on a less-than-weekly basis.

Another win for tiny dungeons at my table is that my players don’t really enjoy long dungeon crawls (and maybe yours don’t either). They like to get engaged in the story and interact with the cultures and societies of the world. Most dungeons are a lot of exploration and combat, with only a little interaction here and there. They get bored if I lock them in a dungeon for multiple sessions so our play style is suited by tiny dungeons, since they can be explored in a three-hour session. Maybe they’ll suit your play style too.

Finally, tiny dungeons are great for us Dungeon Masters! Making a big, sprawling dungeon crawl is really good fun, but there are occasions where I have less time to prepare than I like. Designing a tiny dungeon is quick and easy. These little nuggets pack a lot of punch and allow for some really creative thinking as you’ll see in the next section of this blog post.

Designing Tiny Dungeons

Here are some guidelines for creating a tiny dungeon. Remember the guidelines are just that. They’re meant to help you out when designing. Feel free to break the mould! That’s what D&D is all about. The guidelines are the ones I use specifically for designing dungeons for my typical three-hour sessions, so if you have sessions which are longer or shorter adjust accordingly.

Tiny dungeons…

  1. … consist of three to five rooms. Sticking to this guideline keeps the size of your dungeon manageable and quick to explore, but also big enough to present multiple combat encounters and interesting exploration challenges. Some of the rooms can be enormous if that helps make sense. For instance the soldiers of a bugbear warlord might hide in a ruined temple submerged in a swamp. The complex holds many bugbears, but most of them sleep, eat, and live in the temple’s spacious grand cathedral. Just as many bugbears as might be in a sprawling cave complex, but in this case they’re all in one room.
  2. … contain no more than three combat encounters. If you’re trying to get through a dungeon in a three-hour session and still want some time for the PCs to interact with NPCs back at the ranch, you won’t have time for more than three combat encounters. Depending on how much time your PCs are spending in town, on the road to the dungeon, etc. you might be able to get away with one more combat encounter if the dungeon is right next door and they’re headed there as soon as the session starts. If the PCs are going to spend more time in town, and maybe get caught up in a combat encounter on the road, consider capping the in-dungeon combat encounters at three or possibly bumping it down to two.
  3. … contain combat encounters of a hard or greater difficulty. Since you’re limited on time, to give your PCs a challenge, crank up the difficulty on those combat encounters. Get your PCs to use up some of those resources and bring ’em to the brink of death because that’s dang good drama! Seriously, don’t be afraid to turn up the heat since the combat encounters are limited. When you’re experience budget is bigger, you can dream bigger. Go nuts! Give that orc chieftain the wyvern mount she deserves!

What Can Be A Tiny Dungeon?

Any complex with a few rooms can be a tiny dungeon. Get creative when you’re thinking about yours! Here’s some examples of a tiny dungeon.

  • A necromancer’s five-story tower, wherein each floor is an entire room.
  • A small, fortified outpost of violent separatist wood elves hidden high atop the trees.
  • An underground bunker full of goblin cultists convinced the end of days is coming.
  • A genie’s extra-dimensional pleasure den hidden in a small demiplane.
  • A small tavern run serving as a front for a wererat criminal enterprise.

Next Week…

How about I give you a look at a tiny dungeon? Maybe one that lives on the Free Game Resources section of this site as downloadable PDF? Sounds good!

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Bonus Action 009 – Spellcasting Part 2

/ , , , , , , , , / 0 comments

A new episode of my podcast, Bonus Action, is up on The Tome Show’s website.

In this episode we discuss the difference in spellcasting rules between classes. This is a follow-up episode to Bonus Action 007 – Spellcasting Basics, so if you haven’t listened to that one in a while, take a few minutes to go back and give yourself a refresher course on spells and terms in 5th edition D&D.

Sam’s Blog

If you like what you’re reading please follow me on Twitter, check out my other podcasts, The Round Table and Gamer to Gamer, tell your friends, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Oh Crap Flashbacks

/ , , , , , , , / 5 comments

Last Monday night my players were getting ready to teleport their characters over to the ice continent of Glacius when I realized I had made an error. In the session before they had been in the settlement of Dosas chatting it up at the bar. I really wanted them to get to a particular point in the story before stopping the game for the evening so I quickly montaged them through their stay at Dosas and got them back on the road to the aberrant ruin of Uvalor-Merrith which held the portal which brought them to Glacius.

Just one problem – they were about to head into Glacius, a freezing arctic continent and make a 900-mile journey across the tundra without any rations or cold weather gear. If I hadn’t sped them through town they might have thought of buying some gear for the journey ahead. It was time for an Oh Crap Flashback.

World Map of Canus

World Map of Canus

What Is an Oh Crap Flashback?

There are times when us less-than-Perkins Dungeon Masters make mistakes and we wish we could rewind the clock to better prepare the PCs for a challenge they are about to face (or in some cases currently facing). Rather than let the PCs suffer for my mistakes I take a moment and flashback in order to give them the tools they need to face the challenge properly. It might sound cheesy, but it’s an okay thing to do from time to time (and is way more fun than a TPK).

It’s our prerogative as DMs to move PCs thought time and space. Dungeons and Dragons is a storytelling game after all and aren’t flashbacks a storytelling convention? If you use this move to help out your players after you make a mistake, no one will balk. On the contrary I think you’ll find your group is more grateful, having more fun, and less frustrated than they would be had you not provided the flashback opportunity.

In the example above I told my players, “Hey, I should have given you more time in Dosas to outfit yourselves for the journey ahead. Let’s do a quick flashback so you guys can hit up the market and buy some stuff.” Crisis averted.

When to Oh Crap Flashback

So when is it right to Oh Crap Flashback? Let me be clear about this. Oh Crap Flashbacks are meant to give PCs a fair shake but not meant to turn your game on easy mode. For instance if I had given my players plenty of time in town, outlined the quest for them, and hinted that they might want supplies for their long journey and instead they ignored it all and just got on the road, we probably wouldn’t have had an Oh Crap Flashback. Oh Crap Flashbacks are meant to cover your own mistakes when they could make the game less fun and not meant to cover the mistakes of players (though you could choose to use it differently for your game.)

Below are some examples and guidelines of when I Oh Crap Flashback, but ultimately it’s up to you as the DM when to use them.

I Forgot to Allow the PCs Time To Gear Up or Get Information

Like in the example I gave above, sometimes the schedule gets the best of me. I push forward without looking at my notes because someone has a hard out or I’m excited to get to something else I have planned. It’s rare, but even a seasoned DM like me can miss something in the quest notes and forget to introduce a NPC or provide a crucial piece of information. This happens to me more often when I’m running something published and have to refer to dense blocks of text as opposed to my own notes.

Sometimes I have a non-flashback way to correct this mistake if I realize it early enough. For example the PCs could meet a fur merchant on the road with the information or supplies they need. Oh Crap Flashbacks are for times we don’t realize the mistake before it’s too late. The PCs are about to open the secret door and I forgot to give them its key or a crucial clue to help them solve its opening riddle. “Oh crap…” I say. It’s time to flashback.

I Thought of a New Story Point or Challenge Between Sessions and the PCs Need New Information to Face It

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I plop my PCs into a story or dungeon that I haven’t finished designing. This is part lazy, but also part intentional. As players make their way through the dungeon or story different factors may come up that make me want to adjust for next session. (The dungeon might be too easy or hard, the story could be too cliché, a player says something which triggers a new idea, the PCs go down a tunnel I thought they’d ignore, etc.) Anyway that’s another topic for another blog post!

If I’m tweaking things from session to session, there’s a small chance things might change enough for me to need an Oh Crap Flashback. This is the best case scenario for Oh Crap Flashbacks because I usually see the need for one as I’m preparing the game which means I can plan the flashback. In cases like these I usually kick the session off with the flashback to set the tone, remind players of what exactly they’re trying to accomplish, and provide the information or items they need to face the new challenges I added on their journey. Despite the Oh Crap-ness of it all, it seems like I’m a genius storyteller who had it planned all along.

A Player Made an Honest Mistake

If the PCs didn’t prepare or missed a piece of information I provided along the way, that’s not on me. That being said there are times people miss things for good reason. Players leave the table to use the bathroom, grab a bite, or take a personal call. They gotta do what they gotta do. So I’m not going to punish a player who was in the bathroom when the town’s soothsayer told the PCs not to drink from the raven’s head fountain. Later that player’s character jumps in the darn thing which is full of secret acid. What I am going to do is say, “Right before you leap into the pool you remember the words of Cannara the Crone, ‘Don’t touch the waters of the raven’s head fountain!’ Do you still want to jump?” I might even take a more casual route and say, “Oh before you do that just FYI – you were in the bathroom when the soothsayer warned against jumping in the fountain. You still jumping?”

So there you have it! Oh Crap Flashbacks. Let me know how (or if) you cover similar mistakes in the comments below.

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Round Table 78 – EN5ider and Champions of the Elements

/ , , , , , , , , , , , , / 0 comments

A new episode of my podcast, The Round Table, is up on The Tome Show’s website.
In this special Round Table James Introcaso sits down with the editor of EN World EN5ider Magazine to talk about this great online publication which creates content for fifth edition. Then it’s an interview with author, editor, and designer Susan J. Morris to discuss her latest D&D for kids adventure Monster Slayers: Champions of the Elements. This podcast was recorded in June 2015.
Please rate and review us on iTunes, it helps a boat load!
Links:
The Tome Show on Facebook
The Tome Show on Twitch
Tavern on South
susanjmorris.com
Notes from a DM
Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod
EN5ider “Give Chase”
EN5ider “Get Sick”
EN5ider “King and Country I”
EN5ider “King and Country II”
EN5ider “Player Pets”
EN5ider “The Business of Emotion”
Submit for EN5ider
Trailseeker

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Gamer to Gamer – Ed Greenwood

/ , , , , , , , , , , / 0 comments

A new episode of my podcast, Gamer to Gamer, is up on The Tome Show’s website.
I sit down with living legend Ed Greenwood. Ed’s the creator of the Forgotten Realms, a novelist, librarian, and game designer. We talk about Ed’s past, present, and future in gaming. You won’t believe what he has coming down the pike! This podcast was recorded on July 7, 2015.
Please rate and review us on iTunes, it helps a boat load!
Links:
The Tome Show on Facebook
The Tome Show on Twitch
The EdVerse
Office of Ed Greenwood

If you like what you’re reading please follow me on Twitter, check out my other podcasts, The Round Table and Bonus Action, tell your friends, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Big Purchases

/ , , , , , , , , , , / 8 comments

Know what I love? Giving gold to my PCs. It’s a great way to give rewards beyond experience points. The trouble with fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons is that the players don’t have a lot of obvious ways to spend gold in large amounts. At a certain point the PCs may have more gold than they know what to do with once they’ve purchased their resurrection diamonds and suits of plate armor. After that gaining gold can become a bookkeeping exercise as players run out of the obvious, especially since buying magic items isn’t an option in many fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons games.

Well in this post I’m going to give you a whole bunch of stuff players can spend their gold pieces on. Stuff that’s useful for players and has a benefit beyond swimming in a pool of gold a la Scrooge McDuck.

Disclaimer

Before we begin let me state simply that I know not all these options are right for every game. I wouldn’t include all of these in my own game, but you might allow something I wouldn’t so I’m throwing all the options I can think of out there.

Buildings

Who doesn’t want to buy a castle? Well in Dungeons and Dragons, you can! The Dungeon Master’s Guide has rules for building your own castles, keeps, temples, and other strongholds during downtime on page 128. What if your players don’t want to wait and have a mountain of gold burning a hole in their pockets? Let them buy something that’s already been built!

Using the list in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, here’s a list for how much it will cost to buy specific buildings in my game.

Stronghold Costs
Stronghold Cost
Abbey 100,000 gp
Guildhall, town or city 10,000 gp
Keep or small estate 100,000 gp
Noble estate with manor 50,000 gp
Outpost or fort 30,000 gp
Palace or large castle 1,000,000 gp
Temple 100,000 gp
Tower, fortified 30,000 gp
Trading post 10,000 gp

Vehicles

Maybe your adventurers don’t want the house, but they might need a car, boat, or airship. The Dungeon Master’s Guide and Player’s Handbook have tons of pricing information on everything from carts to airships.

There’s plenty of mounts PCs can buy to get them from one place to the next. Checkout the Beasts PDF in the Free Game Resources section of this site for exotic mounts which ignore various types of difficult terrain. With so many wonderful mounts to choose from characters might invest in a whole stable full.

Of course if you really want the players to spend their money maybe you make truly exotic equipment available to them like a dragonborn submarine, ornithopter, or maybe you want to allow your players to buy elemental-powered land carts, boats, and airships like the ones in Eberron. We don’t have prices for those (yet!) but here’s my best guess for 5e!

Vehicle Costs
Vehicle Cost Speed
Elemental airship 100,000 gp 20 mph
Elemental galleon 150,000 gp 5 mph
Elemental land cart 10,000 gp 15 mph

Outfit Buildings/Vehicles

Of course if they’ve already got the house and car, they might want to trick them out with a state of the art home security system! Maybe you’ll let your players buy traps or siege weapons. Who doesn’t want to put a crushing room in a fortress or drive around in an elemental land cart with a ballista mounted on the roof? Here’s my best guess at what it would cost for traps and siege weapons. Note that many of these traps and siege weapons are found in the Free Game Resources section of this site.

Trap Costs
Traps Cost
Abyssal Gate 5,000 gp
Acidic Fall 500 gp
Collapsing Roof 100 gp
Crushing Room 3,000 gp
Electrified Floor 5,000 gp
Explosive Object 1,000 gp
Falling Net 100 gp
Fire-Breathing Statue 5,000 gp
Flame Jets 2,000 gp
Grasping Arms 5,000 gp
Hungry Insects 500 gp
Log Slammer 1,000 gp
Malicious Harpsichord 5,000 gp
Mists of Madness 5,000 gp
Object of Deception 1,000 gp
Pendulum Scythe 2,000 gp
Pit, Hidden 150 gp
Pit, Locking 200 gp
Pit, Simple 100 gp
Pit, Spiked 150 gp
Poison Darts 300 gp
Poison Mister 500 gp
Poison Needle 200 gp
Rolling Sphere 2,000 gp
Room Filling With Water 3,000 gp
Spectral Tendrils 5,000 gp
Sphere of Annihilation 50,000 gp
Spinning Saw Blades 2,000 gp
Widening Pit 5,000 gp
Withering Tapestry 5,000 gp
Zealous Altar 5,000 gp
Siege Weapon Costs
Siege Weapon Cost
Arcane Cannon 50,000 gp
Acid canister 250 gp
Fire canister 250 gp
Force canister 250 gp
Frost canister 250 gp
Lightning canister 250 gp
Ballista 2,000 gp
Bolt 25 gp
Cannon 5,000 gp
Canister shot 50 gp
Cannon ball 50 gp
Chain shot 25 gp
Shell 50 gp
Cauldron, suspended 200 gp
Oil (1 cauldron full) 20 gp
Dwarven Drill 15,000 gp
Mangonel 3,000 gp
Mangonel flaming barrel 50 gp
Mangonel stone 20 gp
Ram 2,000 gp
Siege Tower 1,000 gp
Trebuchet 4,000 gp
Trebuchet flaming barrel 100 gp
Trebuchet stone 30 gp

Make ‘Em Fly

Know what’s cool? Airships. Know what’s cooler? Flying castles. If you’ve got the world for it, why not allow the PCs to trick out their stronghold by letting it fly? It’s certainly not right for every campaign, but think about it. If you’re campaign takes the PCs all over the map, why would they buy a fortress… unless they could bring the fortress with them! To make a building fly I charge my PCs twice the building’s cost. So it would take 2,000,000 gp to make a castle fly or 3,000,000 gp total to buy a flying castle outright.

Magic Items

Many fifth edition campaigns do not allow PCs to buy magic items, but if you want to allow them to buy magic items during their downtime, there’s rules for that in the Free Game Resources section of this site. These rules don’t allow a player to walk in and buy a magic item right off the shelf of a store so it limits players and ultimately keeps things random an in the hands of the DM.

Of course if you don’t want to allow your PCs to buy magic swords, armor, and bioarcane items, there’s always single use magic items like potions, scrolls, and the like. I always allow my players to stock up while they’re in town to spend some of their well-earned gold. Here’s the prices I use.

Potion Costs
Potion Rarity Cost
Common 50 gp
Uncommon 100 gp
Rare 500 gp
Very rare 5,000 gp
Legendary 50,000 gp
Scroll Costs
Spell Scroll Level Cost*
Cantrip 25 gp
1st 50 gp
2nd 100 gp
3rd 250 gp
4th 500 gp
5th 2,500 gp
6th 5,000 gp
7th 15,000 gp
8th 30,000 gp
9th 50,000 gp

*Plus the cost of any material components used in casting the spell.

Setting-Specific Technology

If you have something specific in your setting that your players buy that costs a pretty penny. Exploration Age has firearms and bombs you could sell to your PCs. Maybe even some of Exploration Age’s finest mechs are available for sale. Here’s a quick list for you of how much mechs would cost in my game if I made them available for sale.

Mech Cost
Destroyer 75,000 gp
Gladiator 50,000 gp
Knight 100,000 gp
Lifter 10,000 gp
Lumberjack 20,000 gp
Miner 35,000 gp
Pyro 75,000 gp

Mundane Magic

In some worlds teapots walk across the table and pour themselves, cabinets keep food cold and fresh, and clockwork spiders carry notes from one room in a house to another. If your world is high magic, your PCs might pay for fun and cool little mundane items like these which make their lives easier.

Henchmen and Upkeep

If the PCs are going to have airships and castles, they might need servants, guards, skilled laborers and more to get things off the ground. The Player’s Handbook has some good rules for hirelings which can add up over time.

You might also decide the players need to spend a certain amount of gold maintaining and repairing their prized possessions. Mike Shea of slyflourish.com recently had his PCs acquire a magic flying castle, but in order to keep it flying they have to feed it gold or magic item. Vehicles get damaged in battles and castle walls might fall during a dragon attack. Make sure your PCs are paying for those repairs.

Donations

When the PCs have lots of gold it might be in their best interest to give it away. Their gold could turn them into lobbyists with political influence if they give donations to the right government, church, or guild. Know who else loves gold? Dragons. Imagine if one of those owed the PCs a favor…

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

The Real Swords of Findalay

/ , , , , , , , , , , , / 1 comment

This month’s RPG Blog Carnival theme is “Weapons of Legend” chosen by Scot Newbury over at Of Dice and Dragons. Who doesn’t love this theme? Definitely check out Of Dice and Dragons at the end of the month to see all of the carnival offerings from this month piled together.

Here on World Builder Blog the Free Game Resources section of this site is brimming with all sorts of glorious weapon options for your fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons game. There’s firearms, bombs, siege weapons, mechs, mounts, magic weapons (including firearms and bombs), new conjuration spells, and artifact weapons for you to arm your PCs with. What am I missing? That’s right, intelligent magic items. Well the wait is over. Prepare to meet four new magic swords straight out of the upcoming Exploration Age Campaign Guide. These are the swords used by Canus’ international peacekeeping quartet, The Swords of Findalay. Read on!

Who Are The Swords of Findalay?

So if you’re new to the blog and don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of reading older posts about Canus, Findalay is a continent comprised of four countries. Aeranore, a kingdom of humans and gnomes, Taliana, a democratic republic of elves and halflings, Bragonay, an empire of dwarves and their warforged slaves, and Marrial, a true democracy of dragonborn. All of these four countries have warred on and off for thousands of years and so they established a group of peacekeepers known as The Swords of Findalay to police the governments of the continent. Each country sends one hero to serve a ten-year term as a Sword. New Swords are granted special intelligent magic weapons when taking on their mantle presented to them by the outgoing Swords.

The Blades of Findalay

Weapon (longsword), legendary (requires attunement)

Each of The Blades of Findalay was forged by a master smith of its namesake country. The blades of these longswords are large, brightly colored gemstones. While the swords share some similar properties, each blade is imbued with its own unique personality, look, and a defining magical attribute.

Each of The Blades of Findalay is a magic longsword which grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it and can be used as a spellcasting focus. When used as a spellcasting focus the item grants a +1 bonus to spell attack rolls and spell save DCs of your spells. When all four of the blades are within 500 feet of each other the bonuses to attack rolls, damage rolls, and spell save DCs rises to +3.

As a bonus action while holding on of The Blades of Findalay you can cause the weapon to shed bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light in another 30 feet after that. It takes another bonus action to extinguish the light.

The Blade of Aeranore

The blue sapphire Blade of Aeranore sings “Aeranore the Bold,” the country’s national anthem, when being swung in battle. It’s gold hilt features the flag of Aeranore on its pomel and the phrase “Power in Knowledge” is carved on its cross-guard in Gnomish.

Flight. While attuned to the Blade of Aeranore you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You can use the sword to fly for up to 1 hour, all at once or in several shorter flights, each one using a minimum of 1 minute from the duration. If you are flying when the duration expires, you descend at a rate of 30 feet per round until you land. The sword regains its hour of flying after you complete a long rest.

Sentience. The Blade of Aeranore is a sentient weapon of neutral alignment, with an Intelligence of 14, a Wisdom of 10, and a Charisma of 18. It has hearing and darkvision out to 120 feet.

The weapon can communicate telepathically with its wielder and it can also speak, read, and understand Common and Gnomish.

Personality. The Blade of Aeranore is unrelentingly patriotic, but not overtly nationalistic. It has a love for Aeranore, but it respects the other nations of Findalay. It critiques the other nation’s more harshly, but will grudgingly admit when push comes to shove that Aeranore is not perfect.

The Blade of Aeranore loves good strategy and is always nervous if its wielder acts without a plan whether in battle or diplomacy. The sword will always give its own thoughts and opinions about a plan even if its opinion is not invited. It cannot resist giving advice for the sword feels it is better to over-prepare than to have things go awry.

The Blade of Aeranore desires peace amongst the kingdom and believes knowledge is more important than strength. It is always searching for new tomes to read particularly those which deal with Aeranore’s history. The sword has a vested interest in learning about the other Findalayan countries as well since the right cultural fact or historical reference can turn a diplomatic encounter from unfavorable to favorable.

The Blade of Bragonay

The serrated, ruby Blade of Bragonay revels in combat and laughs wildly when it is surrounded by the red mist of blood. Its adamantine hilt is encrusted with small diamonds and glowing red Dwarvish runes which spell out the word, “Power.”

Thrower. The Blade of Bragonay has the thrown property with a normal range of 30 feet and a long range of 90 feet. Immediately after a ranged attack is made with the weapon it appears back in your hand.

Sentience. The Blade of Bragonay is a sentient weapon of neutral alignment, with an Intelligence of 10, a Wisdom of 14, and a Charisma of 18. It has hearing and darkvision out to 120 feet.

The weapon can communicate telepathically with its wielder and it can also speak, read, and understand Common and Dwarvish.

Personality. The Blade of Bragonay speaks only when necessary and usually in short, gruff sentences. The weapon has little patience for hi-jinx and tomfoolery that aren’t in celebration of a job well done, especially if there’s still a task which needs doing. That being said, the weapon has a soft spot for dwarves and dwarvish culture and is extremely protective of its wielder. If ever its wielder is personally attacked with words or steel, the sword comes screaming in to defend. It laughs at all of its wielder’s jokes and praises the smallest achievements like a fool in love.

While The Blade of Bragonay supports the mission for peace in Findalay it does love a good battle, particularly with monsters who have no tie to any of Findalay’s governments. The weapon encourages its wielder to kill first and ask questions never when a band of marauding giants or evil dragon threaten the land. The wielder of the sword finds the weapon publicly pushes for the harshest punishments for nations which violate the Treaty of Findalay including its namesake country.

There are those who believe The Blade of Bragonay to secretly send visions of Bragonay’s future world domination to its wielder. While these visions have never been proven, it would explain why Bragonay’s last Sword murdered the others at the behest of the nation’s empress.

The Blade of Marrial

The fine emerald Blade of Marrial chants prayers to The Sky Dragon as it swings through enemy ranks. The silver hilt of the blade is emblazoned with images of all manner of sea creatures as an homage to the nation of islands.

Amphibious. While attuned to The Blade of Marrial you have a swimming speed of 60 feet and can breathe underwater.

Sentience. The Blade of Marrial is a sentient weapon of neutral alignment, with an Intelligence of 12, a Wisdom of 12, and a Charisma of 18. It has hearing and darkvision out to 120 feet.

The weapon can communicate telepathically with its wielder and it can also speak, read, and understand Common and Draconic.

Personality. True to its democratic creators, The Blade of Marrial supports solutions which make the majority happy. It is easily the best negotiator of all The Blades of Findalay because it is the most-even tempered and patient. The sword listens to all opinions and facts before giving its own well-reasoned stance.

The Blade of Marrial makes it a point to not show any favoritism toward its wielder or its country. In fact the sword goes so far as to force a new wielder to earn its trust before beginning to impart telepathic thoughts to it. In battle the sword preaches mercy believing sparing a life to be the stronger option (when such an option is available).

The Blade of Marrial has a particular hatred of slavery. It is grudgingly accepting of Bragonay’s enslavement of the warforged because it has to be, but refuses to speak in the presence of any who support the enslavement other races, such as diplomats from Parian.

The Blade of Taliana

The wicked alexandrite Blade of Taliana offers bawdy curses in Elvish and Halfling as it cuts down enemies. The onyx hilt of the sword is studded with small emeralds and emblazoned with images of elf and halfling heroes of legend.

Invisibility. As an action you can cast invisibility on yourself while attuned to The Blade of Taliana. You can use this ability three times and then must complete a long rest before you can cast the spell in this way again.

Sentience. The Blade of Marrial is a sentient weapon of neutral alignment, with an Intelligence of 16, a Wisdom of 8, and a Charisma of 18. It has hearing and darkvision out to 120 feet.

The weapon can communicate telepathically with its wielder and it can also speak, read, and understand Common, Elvish, and Halfling.

Personality. The Blade of Taliana is the least formal and appropriate of all The Blades of Findalay. It is quick with a jest and must be silenced in diplomatic situations as often as it must be called upon for jokes to ease tension. It japes in good fun at the expense of its wielder and offends in poor taste at the expense of others.

The Blade of Taliana bores easily, so it’s a good thing it finds diplomatic situations fascinating. While on the road or deep in a dungeon, it implores its wielder to find some mischief to get into so they might have a story to tell. Likewise the sword pushes the wielder to take risks in its personal life not for glory or riches, but for the fun of it. It is no surprise that the sword loves pranks.

When things truly seem hopeless or without proper course, that is when The Blade of Taliana truly shines. For all its rudeness the weapon cares for all The Swords of Findalay and their mission and often gives rallying speeches to bolster its allies. Above all The Blade of Taliana does not want to see Findalay fall into another war on its watch and acts which could put the continent on such a course offend the sword to its very soul more than any bawdy tale told at a fancy dinner party.

PDF

You know what this calls for? A free PDF of everything above so you can easily add The Blades of Findalay to your game. While I’m at it, I’ll give the weapons to you in their own PDF and in a second PDF along with the other 80+ magic items I’ve created for Exploration Age. You can grab it in the link below or you can head on over to the Free Game Resources section of the site where it will live forever alongside plenty of other resources for your game like monsters, D&D fifth edition rules modules, backgrounds, spells, magic items, and more.

The Blades of Findalay

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcasts on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Load More