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Read and Play A Lot

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Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

If you like what you’re reading, check out, Burn Bryte, an original science fantasy TTRPG I helped create for Roll20!

I want to write about something many designers, including myself, find important to becoming a pro in the industry: reading and playing lots of games. Roleplaying games in particular if that’s what you’re designing, but you should also read the rules for and play board games, video games, word and number puzzles, and more if you can. It’s important to note that you do not have to read and play a lot of games to be a designer, but it helps a BUNCH if you’re able to do so. Having the time to play and read a lot of games and the money to buy them is not a luxury everyone can afford, and it is much better to jump into design if you’re thinking about it than let these barriers hold you back. If you do have the resources to make reading and playing various games in your life happen, let’s talk about why you should do that and how you might be able to find the time.

I am a busy guy, but I find the time to read new RPG products and board game rules while using a workout machine like a treadmill or elliptical, while on public transportation, and during any other time one might read while multitasking. Similarly, I play new games, including board games and video games, when I am hanging out with friends or at a convention. Not every new game you read or play needs the time commitment of the campaign your weekly game group plays. Simple one-shots with a few friends using the free or cheaper starter set version or rules that never gets played again still has a lot of value for you as a design experience. There are lots of great reasons to read and play as many games as you can.

Better Idea of Design in General

When you experience a lot of games, you get a better of how and why design choices are made. It’s like any other experience. If you watch a lot of basketball, you understand why and when a team might choose to run particular plays, how a player might execute or exploit a specific rule, and all of the little nuances in the sport that a more casual observer may not get. The more games you get to know, the more you become like Neo in the Matrix movies, able to see the ideas and philosophies behind the mechanics of a game that so often get left out of rulebooks. Playing lots of different games sharpens your skills overall and makes you better at designing the game(s) you choose to work on.For instance, let’s say you’re designing a Dungeons & Dragons adventure that is a murder mystery. D&D isn’t designed to be a fully investigative game. It makes things difficult when the characters miss all the clues because they’re rolling poorly. But if you pull some elements from the GUMSHOE system into your adventure, you might have an easier time crafting a fun mystery because you decide when the players fail an ability check to find a clue, they still find something, just not everything they might have found. You may not have had that idea if you never read a GUMSHOE rulebook.

Develop Personal Design Taste

Playing a lot of different games helps you identify what you like and dislike. You’ll be better at making everything from combat encounters to puzzles to narrative-focused games if you spend time getting to know how other games work. You get an idea of the options available to you when you go to design, and you also learn what gaps are out there that you can fill. My blog always does much better numbers when I present an idea that fills in a gap I’ve noticed in a game’s design rather than reinvent a system ten other people already created. Find what you think is missing by reading and playing other games. Odds are other people think it is missing too!

Inspiration (aka Stealing)

There is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from another game! You might adapt the idea of Dungeon World’s fronts for use in Shadowrun. You might use an initiative system inspired by Shadow of the Demon Lord for an RPG about bunnies battling giant ants! Inspiration is a good thing. It has given us incredible, updated editions of our favorite games, and given rise to new masterpieces like Blades in the Dark, which we wouldn’t have without Apocalypse World. The more you read, the more you have to inspire you.

Know Your Options

If you read and play more games, you get an idea of what your options are when it comes time to design. Got an idea for an over-the-top action game? You could design a new system, or it might use FATE or Genesys as its engine with you building the rest of the game on top. Knowing what’s out there gives you tools you can take or reshape. This applies to even parts of a game you are working on. For instance, don’t want create safety tools from scratch for your gritty horror game, but feel like it needs something? Then why not borrow the card system from Burn Bryte (which were inspired by those found in other systems)!

Better Conversations

Knowing what’s out there also helps you better communicate with people in the RPG industry. You get to know the names of prominent creators, you can talk shop with more people in the industry, and you can engage in fun conversations on social media. Knowing your a variety of games truly helps expand your network of friends and professional contacts. Plus it is just fun to talk about games!

It’s Fun

Playing and reading about games is a lot of fun! That’s why we do this, right? If you’re a workaholic like me, you can lose sight of that sometimes. Saying to yourself, “I have to relax and read/play this game to make myself a better designer,” is true, healthy, and a great time. So get out there and start playing!

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, sign up for my mailing list, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Sea Lycanthropes: Wereshark, Wereoctopus, and Werecrab

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Art © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

My latest DMs Guild product, The Iron Titan, is now available!

I cannot stop sharing monsters I made on this blog! Last year on my Patreon page I released three new lycanthropes for use with Ghosts of Saltmarsh. It’s time for me to now share these creatures with everyone, so I’ve got a document with three new lycanthropes below. The werecrab, the wereoctopus, and the wereshark are sure to terrify and delight your players! Take a look and let me know what you think.

Sea LycanthropesDownload

If you enjoyed these lycanthropes and want some more, check out the weredolphin and wereorca.

And for more monsters, check out the Free Resources page of this site.

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Customizing D&D Races

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My latest DMs Guild product, The Iron Titan, is now available!

Before we dive in, I want to thank two people who gave me great feedback on this article. First Leona Maple consulted and did rules development for this idea. It would not be close to what it is without her contributions and advice. Check out Leona’s website! I also want to thank James J. Haeck, who gave me great advice that inspired the variant on these rules below. Find out more about James on his site!

I want to be upfront that I don’t think this system comes close to solving every issue of race in Dungeons & Dragons. That is an issue that requires a total rethink of the game, in other words an entirely a new game. Leona put it best when she said, “D&D itself is problematic and racialised, and it is 1000% baked into the very foundations in tiny ways, even aside from the racial bonuses.” This new system addresses some, and nowhere close to all, of the mechanical aspects of this issue.

The fact that D&D has ability score adjustments and many cultural traits tied to race is inherently racist. There’s also a fun factor to this new system, which is subjective. I want to play a dwarf wizard and not be inferior to other wizards just because I didn’t get a sweet, sweet Intelligence score bonus and an extra cantrip. I’ll admit, I have a little power gamer in me as well as actor, so even when I have a great character concept in mind, I hesitate to play it if it isn’t optimized. I also get a little jealous when my friends are more effective.

There are also story considerations. What if you want to play a character with one tiefling parent and one dragonborn parent? You could pick either tiefling or dragonborn and go with it, but wouldn’t it be more fun to put the two together? What if you’re a halfling raised underground by incredible masons and miners? Shouldn’t you have the Stonecunnig trait? What if you come from a place where a diverse population has existed for generations? You might have a bunch of different heritages and cool mix of genetic and cultural traits to go with it. What if I just want to play an elf bard with a Charisma bonus instead of Intelligence and some more skill proficiencies instead of weapon proficiencies?

With all this in mind, I started to think about the options I could give my players the next time we rolled up characters. What I’m putting forth in this post is my first crack at a way to offer more flexible ancestry for characters in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons.

This is definitely going to need some adjustment. Please feel free to leave feedback in the comments below, but here’s the thing: I know this is a contested subject. This post is about making a system help my players have more fun and be more comfortable at the table. I’m sharing it, because I think it might help other people. If you like the way fifth edition D&D character-building works now, there’s no need to get nasty about this single option I’m proposing.

Balancing the System

The system I’m proposing below is meant to be used as an option for character building. If my players want to build their characters according to the official rules, that is also fine with me. My hope is to provide a method for some players to customize their characters in fun ways while still maintaining the overall power balance among player characters. (This first crack may not accomplish that, but I got to start somewhere. Let’s see how close I got!)

This system cannot be used to recreate existing races. Many races are balanced by a lot of fiddly factors. For example, mountain dwarves getting +2 Strength is balanced by them also getting the Dwarven Armor Training trait (since classes that benefit most from +2 Strength already have the same armor proficiencies the trait provides). If I included all these considerations in my system, it would likely be very balanced but also way too complicated for most to use at the table. It’s already a little complicated and likely too unwieldy for people unfamiliar with fifth edition D&D. Lucky for me, many people are.

The final note about this is that this version of the system only uses the racial traits available in the Player’s Handbook. I may add traits from other books later, but at the moment I want to keep it simple.

Custom Races in D&D

To build a custom race in D&D, you first build a base race with some starting guidelines. Then you pick more traits to build onto the base.

Build a Base Race

You begin with the following traits:

Ability Score Increase. Two different ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

Size. Pick your size: Medium or Small.

Speed. If you are Small-sized, your base walking speed is 25 feet. If you are Medium-sized, pick one: Your base walking speed is 30 feet, or your base walking speed is 25 feet and not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

Language. You know Common and one other language of your choice.

Add More Traits

Now that you have your character’s base traits, you can spend points on any number of traits from the list below until you exhaust your total. If you are a Medium-sized character you have 10 points to spend. If you are a Small-sized character, you have 11 points to spend (because of your slower base walking speed, not directly because of your size). You can purchase each trait only once unless its description says otherwise. Each trait is defined below or in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook.

1-Point Traits

The following traits each cost 1 point:

  • Artificer’s Lore. See “Gnome Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Brave. See “Halfling Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Extra Language. You can speak, write, and understand a language of your choice. This trait can be taken multiple times. Each time you take it, you learn a new language.
  • Fey Ancestry. See “Elf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Nimbleness. This trait works the same as “Hafling Nimbleness” in “Halfling Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook. Only a Small-sized character can take this trait.
  • Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison.
  • Speak with Small Beasts. See “Gnome Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Stonecunning. See “Dwarf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with a set of tools of your choice. This trait can be taken multiple times. Each time you take it, you gain proficiency in a new set of tools.
  • Trance. See “Elf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Weapon Training. You gain proficiency with three weapons of your choice. This trait can be taken multiple times. Each time you take it, you gain proficiency in three new weapons.

2-Point Traits

The following traits each cost 2 points:

  • Darkvision. See “Dwarf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it. (Designer note: This would include minor illusion, so the forest gnome’s Natural Illusionist trait is covered by this trait.)
  • Faster Movement. Your walking speed increases 5 feet.
  • Mask of the Wild. See “Elf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Naturally Stealthy. See “Halfling Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information. Only a Small-sized creature can take this trait.
  • Powerful Critical. This trait is the same as “Savage Attacks” in “Half-Orc Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook.
  • Relentless Endurance. See “Half-Orc Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Skill Proficiency. You gain proficiency with a skill of your choice. This trait can be taken multiple times. Each time you take it, you gain proficiency in a new skill.
  • Superior Darkvision. When you gain this trait, you also gain the Sunlight Sensitivity trait. See “Elf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Tinker. See “Gnome Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Toughness. This trait is the same as “Dwarven Toughness” in “Dwarf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook.

3-Point Traits

The following traits each cost 3 points:

  • Armor Training. This trait works the same as “Dwarven Armor Training” in “Dwarf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook.
  • Breath Weapon. See “Dragonborn Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Damage Resistance. You gain resistance to one of the following damage types of your choice: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison.

4-Point Traits

The following traits each cost 4 points:

  • Ability Score Increase. Increase one ability score of your choice by 1, including an ability score you already increased with your initial traits. You can purchase this trait a second time, but when you do, you must apply the increase to a different ability score.
  • Cunning. This trait is the same as “Gnome Cunning” in “Gnome Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook.
  • Drow Magic. See “Elf Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Infernal Legacy. See “Tiefling Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.
  • Lucky. See “Halfling Traits” in chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook for more information.

8 Points for a Feat

If your DM allows feats in the game, you can spend 8 points to gain a feat.

Variant: Customizing Existing Races

The rules above can also be used to customize existing races. A character swap a published racial trait for another of the same or lower point value, as the long as the trait swapped in or out is not the Ability Score Increase trait.

A character can adjust the Ability Score Increase trait by swapping the ability scores increased for others. For example, instead of a dragonborn ranger gaining a Strength score increase of 2 and a Charisma score increase of 1, they could elect to gain a Dexterity score increase of 2 and a Wisdom score increase of 1. A character cannot gain an ability score increase of more than 2 for any given score. If a character gains a bonus to two or more different ability scores originally, each increase must still be applied to a different ability score. For example, a human character cannot use this variant rule to gain +2 Wisdom, +2 Constitution, and +1 Charisma. (Designer’s note: I know this second rule is a little more fiddly. Consider the tiefling’s normal +2 Charisma and +1 Intelligence do not optimize as well with any obvious single class builds the way a half-orc’s +2 Strength and +1 Constitution do. However, my game, like many, allows for multiclassing, which basically throws many of these fiddly arguments out the window… probably.)

How’s It Look?

So how did I do? Let me know in the comments below.

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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My Dad’s Monster Manual – Beholder

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You can order The Demonplague, my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure, right now!

A couple weeks back I tweeted this:

I got such a great response from the tweet, that I decided to ask my father if he would do it. Great news! He’s on board. Today I’m going to tell you what he thinks of the beholder in a little preview for My Dad’s Monster Manual.

Idea of My Dad’s Monster Manual

I know it seems like My Dad’s Monster Manual is an excuse to make some weird dad jokes (and on some level, it totally will be), but the idea behind the book is a little deeper. D&D is filled with art of original creatures that make even the most seasoned fantasy nerds unfamiliar with the game scratch their head and think “What is that?” Sure they likely recognize the art of dragons and vampires, but show a Lord of the Rings fanatic unfamiliar with D&D lore a beholder or a bulette and watch as they ponder the possibilities of the unkown.

One creature image could evoke three different stories if shown to three different people who knew nothing about the monster depicted. Suddenly you would have three new uses for your aboleth miniature and a zillion ideas for new adventures! Much of the art in the Monster Manual shows only the creature with nothing to compare for size, so you could end up with baseball-sized beholders (as my father described them). You could rewrite many creatures in the Monster Manual just by chatting with someone unfamiliar. I really wanted to explore this idea with one of the best storytellers I have ever known.

A Bit About My Dad

My father, while not a D&D aficionado like me, does enjoy fantasy. He’s the one who introduced me to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as a kid. This is the person who, along with my mother, sister, and brother, instilled a love of storytelling in me. Pop (as I call my dad) was always ready to give a fantastic made-up answer about what’s happening in an illustration or with a toy when I was a kid. He’s still great at it today with his grandchildren.

All this is to say, my dad is pretty great at making crap up. His answers about what a creature’s lore and abilities are deep, fun, and imaginative. There won’t be many creatures simply named “Bear Guy” or “Squid Face McGee” in My Dad’s Monster Manual.

It’s also important you know my dad’s background because he does know what some things in the Monster Manual are based on his experiences with genre fiction. Dragons, orcs, goblins, and a few other obvious creatures like mummies and vampires, are out based on the fact that he knows what those are. Similarly, if he happens to get a creature’s lore and abilities mostly correct, I’ll likely leave that on the cutting room floor too. Nobody needs a death dog simply renamed to be a killer canine.

So without further ado, I present to you my father’s version of a beholder.

The images I showed my father.

Cryon (Beholder)

Their locomotion is that they roll. They pull with their eye arms, and they roll.

-Lucian J. Introcaso

Cryons pull their round, lumpy bodies with their eyestalks into areas of cover to search for small prey like insects and rodents. The grapefruit-sized aberrations also like to hide in wait to see if passersby fall for their latest pranks.

The skin of a cryon might be black, blue, brown, green, pink, purple, or any combination of these colors. Male cryons, called cryptos, have four eyestalks, while females, called cryptions, have ten.

Asteroid Riders. The planet cryons inhabited was torn asunder by an unknown phenomenon, but the aberrations endured on the pieces of that celestial body that now float through space. When one of these meteorites crashes on a new world, the cryons roll out and claim the surrounding land as their territory.

Cryons make their homes in the craters where their meteorites landed and can survive in any environment provided they have enough prey. The only reason cryons move out of their craters is because they have no nearby food sources or another creature removes what’s left of their meteorite from the crater. The aberrations are naturally drawn to their meteorites and willing to risk their lives to get back this piece of their old planet.

Dense Pranksters. Nothing amuses a cryon like a good prank, though they lack intelligence, so what seems like a hilarious goof to them is often at best uninspired and at worst deadly for the tricked creature. The aberrations are not smart enough to perform elaborate pranks or set complex traps. A joke that is immature or simple can make a cryon roll with laughter for minutes. Jumping out of hiding to scare someone else, hiding excrement in a place where another creature might step in it, biting a creature that least suspects it, creating a hidden tripping or falling hazard, or leading another creature into the den of a more powerful predator are all classic examples of a cryon prank.

The little aberrations have a psionically infectious laugh. When a cryon laughs, it often causes nearby creatures, including other cryons, to collapse with giggles.

Cryons do not prank each other. They watch the area around their craters carefully for unsuspecting victims. Most cryons cannot take what they dish out and react violently to being the butt of another creature’s joke.

Little Carnivores. Cryons take true pleasure in hunting and eating food. Many hunt and eat as a pleasurable pastime, even if they have already consumed their fill. Their prey generally consists of birds, insects, and rodents, but if it is starving, a pack of cryons hunt any creature they can find no matter the size. There is one exception: cryons never willingly harm another cryon.

Loyal to Other Cryons. Cryons have an innate loyalty toward one another even if they have never met. The little creatures often hunt and pull pranks together in packs. Their communities have no leaders as cryons always get along with and respect one another. Woe to adventurers who capture or harm one of these aberrations as nearby cryons always retaliate with swift ferocity.

Space Survivor. Cryons do not need air to breathe and can survive in outer space without any special equipment.

Cryon

Tiny aberration, chaotic neutral

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)

Hit Points  4 (1d4 + 2)

Speed  30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
6 (-2) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 5 (-3) 12 (+1) 8 (-1)

Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6, Survival +3

Condition Immunities prone

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 13

Languages Deep Speech

Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)

Pack Tactics. The cryon has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the cryon’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

Actions

Multiattack. The cryon makes one eyestalk attack and one bite attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.

Eyestalk. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage.

Infectious Laugh. The cryon laughs wildly and wiggles its body in a hilarious manner. Each creature within 5 feet of the cryon that can see and hear it must succeed on a DC 9 Wisdom saving throw or fall into fits of laughter, falling prone and unable to stand up until the end of the cryon’s next turn.

What Do You Think?

So how did Pop do? Let me know in the comments below. If this is popular, there might be sequels in the works like My Niece’s Guide to Monsters and My Nephew’s Tome of Foes.

Help Me Playtest

Want to playtest the cryon and any other critters my father creates? Sign up here. If you playtest these monsters, you’ll get a free PDF of the product and your name in the credits.

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Weapons of Demon Lords: Heartcleaver and Butcher

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Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

You can order The Demonplague, my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure, right now!

I’ve got a DMs Guild product called Abyssal Incursion that ads mobile lairs for Yeenoghu and Baphomet to Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. It should be out sometime next week, but in the meantime, I wanted to share two artifacts from the product: Butcher, the three-headed flail of Yeenoghu, and Heartcleaver, the glaive of Baphomet!

Butcher

Weapon (flail), artifact (requires attunement)

Yeenoghu’s three-headed flail, Butcher, is built from the bones and flesh of a deity the Gnoll Lord murdered. Each rusty chain ends in a barbed head. The weapon screams with discordant laughter when swung.

When attuned, the weapon resizes to fit the wielder.

Hyena Appearance. While you are attuned to Butcher, your body changes so you look like a gnoll, though you still retain your size.

Magic Weapon. Butcher is a magic weapon that deals 1d12 piercing damage on a successful hit and has the reach property. Once per round when you make an attack with Butcher and hit, you can choose to create one of the following additional effects:

  • The attack deals an extra 2d12 bludgeoning damage.
  • The target must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed until the start of your next turn.
  • The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be affected by the confusion spell until the start of your next turn.

Random Properties. The flail has the following randomly determined properties (see “Artifact Properties” in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide):

  • 1 minor beneficial property
  • 1 major beneficial property
  • 1 minor detrimental property
  • 1 major detrimental property

Demonic Hunger. You can consume the corpse of a Small or Medium creature over the course of 5 minutes, during which time you can do nothing but feast on the creature’s dead flesh. At the end of this time, the corpse is destroyed, and you regain 1d10 hit points. You can also take 10 minutes to consume the corpse of a Large creature and regain 2d10 hit points, 1 hour to consume the corpse of a Huge creature to regain 4d10 hit points, or 8 hours to consume the corpse of a Gargantuan creature to regain 8d10 hit points.

Demonic Resistances. You gain resistance to cold, fire, and lightning damage.

Invisibility. You can use the flail to cast the invisibility spell without the need for any components. You cannot use the weapon to cast the spell again until you complete a short or long rest.

Languages. You can speak, write, and understand Abyssal and Gnoll.

Rampage. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with an attack from the flail, you can take a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make another attack with Butcher.

Swat Away. When you hit a creature with an attack made with the flail, you can use your bonus action to force the target make a Strength saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier. If the target fails, it is pushed 15 feet in a straight line away from you. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the target falls prone.

Destroying the Flail. If Yeenoghu is permanently killed, the flail crumbles into ash.

Heartcleaver

Weapon (glaive), artifact (requires attunement)

Baphomet’s great glaive, Heartcleaver, is feared throughout the Abyss. When attuned, the weapon resizes to fit the wielder.

Minotaur Horns. While you are attuned to Heartcleaver, you grow large horns as part of your new appearance if you do not already have them. These horns are magical melee weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Immediately after you hit a creature with a melee attack as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to attempt to shove that target with your horns. The target must be no more than one size larger than you and within 5 feet of you. Unless it succeeds on a Strength saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier, you push it up to 10 feet away from you.

Magic Weapon. Heartcleaver is a magic weapon that deals 2d10 slashing damage on a successful hit.

Random Properties. The glaive has the following randomly determined properties (see “Artifact Properties” in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide):

  • 1 minor beneficial property
  • 1 major beneficial property
  • 1 minor detrimental property
  • 1 major detrimental property

Charge. If you move at least 10 feet straight toward a target then hit with an attack with your horns on the same turn, the target takes an extra 3d10 piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 25 Strength saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier or be pushed up to 10 feet away and knocked prone. You cannot get to make use of this feature again until the start of your next turn.

Demonic Resistances. You gain resistance to cold, fire, and lightning damage.

Intimidating Presence. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill. If you are already proficient with this skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled for it.

Labyrinthine Recall. You can perfectly recall any path you have traveled, and are immune to the maze spell.

Languages. You can speak, write, and understand Abyssal.

Savage Hunter. You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to track other creatures.

Wall of Stone. You can use the glaive to cast the wall of stone spell without the need for any components. You cannot use the weapon to cast the spell again until you complete a short or long rest.

Destroying the Glaive. If Baphomet is permanently killed, the glaive disappears in a burst of flame.

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Infernal Dragon Template

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Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

You can order The Demonplague, my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure, right now!

With the release of Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus I wanted to share a template and story I’ve created for infernal dragons, which are chromatic dragons who live in Avernus and serve Tiamat. Take a look, and let me know what you think! You could also drop a few of these baddies into you Tyranny of Dragons campaigns!

Infernal Dragons

Infernal dragons are Tiamat’s guardians, enforcers, and assassins that serve her in Avernus.

Tiamat’s Devoted. Only chromatic dragons who are truly devout in their devotion to Tiamat are selected by the goddess for the honor of becoming infernal dragons. They serve their queen without question and embody her tenants of greed, pride, tyranny, and wrath. Tiamat trusts these dragons to guard her most valuable treasures and allies, kill her most powerful enemies, and manipulate those creatures who are useful to the chromatic queen.

Warped by Hell. Infernal dragons are pulled into Avernus after signing an infernal contracts to serve Tiamat. Tiamat opens a pit seemingly thousands of miles deep in the ground which leads to her palace in Avernus. This pit is warped by the essence of the Nine Hells and as the dragon falls through it, they are changed by the experience. The dragon’s body becomes leaner, its skin stretching over its bones, its horns lengthen, and huge spines grow from the creature’s back. The magic infuses the creature’s body, giving them powers related to the Nine Hells and Tiamat.

Back from the Dead. Tiamat typically selects living dragons for the honor of serving her as infernal dragons, but she has been known to bring a slain dragon’s soul back from the dead to warp them into one of her most devoted. The Chromatic Queen allows these dragons to return to the Material Plane and seek out those who vanquished them. Every dragon slayer who dies at the hand of an infernal dragon is a display of Tiamat’s power and vengeance.

Infernal Dragons Template

Only a true chromatic dragon can turn into an infernal dragon. When a dragon becomes an infernal dragon, it retains its statistics except as described below. The dragon might retain or lose any or all of its lair actions or inherit new ones, as the DM sees fit.

Type. The dragon’s type changes to fiend.

Damage Resistances. The dragon gains resistance to cold damage and bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren’t silvered, unless the dragon already has immunity to these damage types.

Damage Immunities. The dragon gains immunity to fire and poison damage.

Condition Immunities. The dragon gains immunity to the poisoned condition.

Devil’s Sight. Magical darkness doesn’t impede the dragon’s darkvision.

Magic Resistance. The dragon has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The dragon’s weapon attacks are magical.

Breath of Tiamat. When the dragon uses its breath weapon, it can change the damage type the breath weapon deals this turn to acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. All other aspects of the breath weapon (size, shape, damage dice, and saving throw ability and DC) remain the same.

Fanatical Presence. When the dragon uses its Frightful Presence, each creature of the dragon’s choice within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it makes attack rolls with advantage and can’t be frightened for 1 minute. Once a creature benefits from the dragon’s Fanatical Presence, the creature cannot benefit from this dragon’s Fanatical Presence for the next 24 hours.

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Mech Update 3.0

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Art by Jeshields

You can order The Demonplague, my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure, right now!

Over five years ago I posted my idea for fifth edition D&D mecha on this blog. Then I posted an update a year after that. Now that we have some vehicle rules in Ghosts of Salt Marsh and Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, I figured it was time for yet another update (four years later). This week I am showing off the war mechs. Next week it will be the labor mechs!

Mechs

Mechs are special suits of mechanically powered armor which completely surround a single driver. The following rules apply to mechs:

  • A mech can only hold one Medium or Small driver at a time.
  • All mechs have a damage threshold.
  • Getting into or out of a mech requires an action. You can only drive a mech while inside it.
  • While driving a mech, you can use your action to activate one of the mech’s action options.
  • While driving a mech, in lieu of moving yourself, you can move the mech its speed. You can also take the Dash action to move the mech instead of yourself.
  • Mech’s can climb, jump, and swim like creatures.
  • While inside of a mech you have three-quarters cover against attacks made outside the mech.
  • Mechs provoke opportunity attacks as normal. When a mech provokes an opportunity attack, the attack can target the mech or the creature inside.

Destroyer

The heavily armored destroyer is a bipedal tank. Its slow speed doesn’t hinder it in combat as much as other mechs, since it can attack a distance with a powerful miniature cannon arm. For those creatures which get too close, the destroyer has a backup defense – a mighty hammer arm.

Destroyer

Large vehicle (5,000 lb.)

Armor Class: 17

Hit Points: 150 (damage threshold 10)

Speed: 15 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 8 (-1) 20 (+5) 0 0 0

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, stunned, unconscious

Actions

Multiattack. The destroyer makes two attacks with its hammer, or one attack with its hammer and one with its cannon.

Cannon. Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, range 100/400 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (4d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

Hammer. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

Explosive Shot. Every destroyer carries a special explosive cannon ball. The ball can be shot 100 feet and explodes in a 20-foot-radius sphere on impact. Creatures in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Because of the sensitive way this ball must be carried, each Destroyer can only carry one explosive ball at a time.

Gladiator

The gladiator is one of the first mechs designed for combat. It stands tall, is quicker than most mechs, and has an impressively long trident arm. The mech suit sports a second arm capable of launching nets into throngs of enemies.

Gladiator

Large vehicle (3,000 lb.)

Armor Class: 16

Hit Points: 125 (damage threshold 10)

Speed: 20 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 0 0 0

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, stunned, unconscious

Actions

Multiattack. The gladiator makes two attacks with its trident, or one attack with its trident and uses its Net Launcher ability.

Trident. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d8 + 3) piercing damage.

Net Launcher. The gladiator launches a net 30 feet. The net covers a 15-foot-square area. Creatures in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or become restrained in the net. On its turn a creature use its action to make a DC 10 Strength to free itself or another trapped creature from the net. Dealing 5 slashing damage (AC 10) to the net also frees a creature.

Knight

The knight is fast, super armored, and ready to cut through anything with its powerful sword arm. Its heavy metal shield arm protects the mech and allies in battle.

Knight

Large vehicle (5,000 lb.)

Armor Class: 20

Hit Points: 200 (damage threshold 10)

Speed: 20 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 14 (+2) 20 (+5) 0 0 0

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, stunned, unconscious

Actions

Multiattack. The knight makes three melee attacks.

Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) slashing damage.

Shield. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage and the target is knocked prone.

Reactions

Shield Defense (Reaction). When a creature adjacent to the knight is targeted with an attack, the knight’s driver can use their reaction to impose disadvantage on that attack roll. The knight’s driver must declare the use of this ability before the result of the attack roll is announced.

Pyro

Sometimes it’s all about making your enemies fear you. That’s certainly what the pyro’s inventors had in mind. The mech moves through the battlefield, spouting flame out of one arm and hacking down enemies with the axe in its other.

Pyro

Large vehicle (4,000 lb.)

Armor Class: 17

Hit Points: 150 (damage threshold 10)

Speed: 15 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 8 (-1) 16 (+3) 0 0 0

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, stunned, unconscious

Actions

Multiattack. The pyro makes two attacks with its axe.

Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d10 + 4) slashing damage.

Fire Spray. The pyro shots a line of fire 100 feet long and 5 feet wide. Creatures in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 33 (6d10) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Flame Jet. The pyro shoots a 15-foot cone of fire. Creatures in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 33 (6d10) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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D&D Flanking and Inspiration Variants

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Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

You can order The Demonplague, my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure, right now!

Variant rules for Dungeons & Dragons! You love ’em. I love ’em. Let’s talk about two I am thinking of implementing at my table.

Flanking Variant

The Dungeon Master’s Guide already has optional rules for flanking in chapter 8. This version of flanking is very powerful in play and sometimes results in a bunch of miniatures doing a line dance as they all line up to battle each other. If characters can use flanking to gain advantage on every attack, it negates some of their other class features that allow them to gain advantage. Why use your bonus action to use Insightful Fighting as a inquisitive rogue (or take the Help action as anyone) when flanking can get there as part of your move action?

In third and fourth edition, flanking gave a numerical bonus to attack rolls. This made it typically less powerful than the power curve of fifth edition’s advantage mechanic and useful to use with other class features, since it often stacked with other bonuses, but it was also part of the never-ending bonus problem that slowed the game way down. Fifth edition improved combat speed and simplicity with advantage and disadvantage taking the place of most circumstantial bonuses and penalties from older editions.

Also, the flanking variant as written in the Dungeon Master’s Guide is hard to parse without a grid.

Nerdin' out to the max!
Chart provided by Andrew Timmes!

I want to use flanking in my games because it gives adds a fun layer of tactical teamwork for my players. While I often have combat on a grid, I don’t always, so I would like flanking to work with theater of the mind encounters. Also, I don’t want flanking to become the main game during combat because it is so powerful. With that in mind, here’s my variant rule for flanking.

When two allied creatures are within 5 feet of an enemy creature and one of the allied creatures makes a melee attack against that enemy, the other allied creature can use its reaction to grant advantage on the attack roll (before the roll is made).

This limits the amount of advantage being thrown around since a creature must use its reaction to grant it and because the advantage applies only to the one attack roll and not to all the attacks a creature makes against the target that turn. It adds a good gambling element. (Will you use your reaction to help your friend or save it for something else like a possible opportunity attack or casting counterspell?) The fact that there are no flanking positions in the rule also helps mitigate the line dance effect and makes the rule easier to use for theater of the mind combats.

Best of all this adds a neat roleplaying element to combat for those who prefer it. Players can describe their characters distracting enemies with feints, growls, wet-willies, and more as they use their reactions to help their friends (which is less likely to happen when flanking grants a static bonus).

What do you think? Sound off in the comments below!

Inspiration Variant

I really like the concept of inspiration in D&D, but I in practice many groups forget to use it. In theory it should work best when people use it all the time to gain the benefit as written.

If you have inspiration, you can expend it when you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Spending your inspiration gives you advantage on that roll.

However, many people use inspiration to reroll a failed attack, check, or save. With a reroll you only use inspiration when you fail. When it grants advantage, you use it before the roll and might be more likely to use it since you spend it before you know the result of a failure, but in order for this idea to take hold, you have to get it frequently, which is the other problem the inspiration. DMs often forget to give inspiration, so when they do have it, players either forget to use it (because it isn’t being mentioned often) or hoard it because it is rare, which creates a cycle of no one using inspiration. (Also inspiration and the bard class feature Bardic Inspiration have similar names and are slightly, but different, mechanics, which often confuses even veteran players when a bard is in the party, but that can’t be solved without renaming one of the mechanics, which would further confuse things at this point.)

Chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide has great advice and variants for inspiration and even touches on the one I am about to suggest. Like most inspiration rules the one I am proposing works best if you award inspiration as some sort of token the players can see and hand back to you when they spend it (e.g. poker chips, twenty-sided dice of a specific color, coins, stones, etc.).

Inspiration is a group resource. When a player earns inspiration as described in chapter 4 of the Player’s Handbook (or using the variant rules in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide), an inspiration point goes into an inspiration pot. (If using tokens to represent inspiration, keep this pile near the center of the table so all players take notice.) The inspiration pot can hold a maximum number of points equal to the number of player characters in the party, and cannot exceed this maximum. Any player character can expend a point of inspiration from the pot when they make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Spending an inspiration point gives advantage on that roll.

Players are encouraged to ask the DM to award inspiration for another player’s character’s actions or roleplaying and should encourage other players to spend inspiration points on their turn.

By making inspiration a group resource (and putting a pile of tokens in front of their faces instead of awarding them individually) it increases the chance that at least one person at the table is thinking about gaining or using inspiration at any given time. The more reserved roleplayers, who maybe do not earn inspiration as often as others, can still benefit and participate in this part of the game, and those actor types who you always want to give more than a single shot of inspiration can now earn more for the group. Increasing the teamwork value of inspiration makes it more visible, more valuable, and more likely to be used at the table.

What do you think of this variant? Sound off in the comments!

#VotePipyap

By the way I am headed to #VotePipyap! If you see me there, say hi!

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Getting Started Blogging

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Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

You can order The Demonplague, my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure, right now!

Much like podcasting, I get a lot of questions about how to get started blogging. I’ve been answering the question so often that I figured a post on the subject would be helpful.

Blogging has been super rewarding for me in more ways than one. I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of writing these posts, it generates a little income through Patreon, it showcases my work (and helps me get writing gigs), and it gives me an excuse to write regularly, which has vastly improved my skills over the last five years. Seriously. Go back and look at some old posts. Actually don’t!

Writing and maintaining a blog is a lot of work, no matter your chosen topic. Many people start then stop after a few posts because they didn’t realize the work involved. Let me share my wisdom to help!

Step 1. What’s Your Name and Idea?

Before you start blogging you are going to need a site to post your writing and that place needs a name. You should also know what you want to write about, be it reviews of tabletop RPGs, an original world you are creating, or the outdated use of boxed text in RPGs. It’s best if your blog name at least gives people an idea of what you’re writing about. (Don’t call your blog The Gnoll Hole if you never plan to write about gnolls.) Come up with a few name ideas, and research each. Someone might already have a website with the name you want, so it is good to have backups to avoid brand confusion and possible legal troubles.

Step 2. Find Your Host

Where will your blog live? Many people use sites like WordPress or Blogger that are specifically made for blogging and have a lot of features and templates for your various blog needs. They’re easy to use. You can often get started for free on these sites and later pay to get a custom URL and some more customizable features. I got my start with WordPress and still use many of its features (though I have since worked with Ryan Hennesy to make this custom, beautiful site).

You can also use sites like Squarespace or Wix to build more custom websites, which include blog pages. These sites often allow for more customization off-the-bat, but you’ll have to pay. This can be a significant investment for something you may not be sure is for you.

Step 3. Build Your Site

Once you have your host, you have to build your site. This could be as simple as selecting a theme or color scheme, or as advanced as creating (or commissioning) an original logo and building a website from scratch. If you’re just starting out blogging, I recommend going the simple route. You can always get fancy later!

Step 4. Write and Edit Several Posts

Before you officially launch your blog it’s a good idea to have several blog posts ready to publish. This will put you ahead of the game and stay on schedule when you get sick or life gets too busy. I recommend having at least four blog posts ready to go before you publish your first post.

I plan posts in outline form, then write, and then read them aloud as I edit. I also run a spell check after this. Even then typos get through sometimes. Don’t sweat it when they do, but go back and fix them ASAP when you (or a reader) catches them. It’s not a bad idea to have a friend look at the posts before you publish to give you feedback. Be sure to bake them cookies or something!

Step 5. Attach an Image to Each Post

Social media posts have more engagement when they have an image to go with them, and your blog will look better with some pictures. You can use Creative Commons to find some awesome images (or buy stock art on sites like DriveThruRPG). Be sure to read art licenses before you post pictures and properly credit the images on your site. You’ll save yourself time and grief if you do this, plus it’s the right thing to do!

Step 6. Make a Schedule

Now that you have a few blog posts under your belt, you have an understanding of how long it takes you to write a post. Creating a lot of content is great, but it’s more important for you to put out posts on a consistent basis that works for your schedule. Yes, a blog post every day can bring viewers to your site, but for many folks that schedule is unsustainable. Take it from me, once a week can be a struggle sometimes with work, family, travel, and friends. Some blogs post every other week or every month.

Whatever schedule you pick, make sure its right for you. My advice is start slow. You can always ramp it up later! You can also slow down if you need to, just make sure your readers know. (I did that when I went from posting twice a week to once.) Communication and consistency are key to building an audience for your blog.

Step 7. Launch and Promote

After you launch your first blog post it’s time to promote. Create Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts and get blasting. Some subreddits allow you to post your own content, but be sure to read each forum’s rules. Shout out your post on message boards, and encourage readers to spread the word. Ask people you know to share your blog.

Step 8. Stay Consistent

That first post is out! Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get a lot of views at first. You’re building a library of content for people to come read. Yes, some posts will have big hits when they launch… eventually. But the more content you have, the more people will come to your site to read, be it a post you wrote this morning or three years ago. Stay consistent so you keep putting out content regularly and your loyal readers know when to expect an update to your site.

Staying consistent also gives you a self-imposed deadline you know you have to hit. Mine is fast-approaching, so I better get to editing and publishing this post!

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Sample Story Paths from Burn Bryte

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You can preorder Burn Bryte right now!

Last week I wrote a blog post with the some updated mechanics of Burn Bryte, a new science fantasy RPG I created with Jim McClure, Kat Kuhl, and Darcy Ross for exclusive use on the Roll20 platform. A few months ago I wrote a post about Story Paths, the main character advancement mechanic of Burn Bryte. In this post I’ll get a bit more in depth with the mechanic and show off two sample Story Paths. There are forty Story Paths include in the core rules.

Side note: If you want hear Story Paths in action, listen to Kat’s Autonomic podcast. She’s running a game using the same system as Burn Bryte.

What Are Story Paths?

Story Paths are arcs of narrative growth your character experiences. The paths can concern anything from romance to mastering a skill to going on the run, and when all of them are laid together, they show your narrative as a hero .

How Story Paths Work for Players

Each Story Path has five events associated with it. Each time you complete a Story Path event, your character’s story advances along with their power and resources, usually by increasing the die size of a skill or gaining a new ability or argent (which is currency in Burn Bryte). Some events have more than one outcome, and each outcome has its own reward.

When you create a new character, that character is starting their first Story Path. Choose any path you like, and inform the GM of your choice.

You take Story Paths one at a time. Your current Story Path represents your character’s main narrative experience at that moment in the game but not to the exclusion of other stories. For instance, just because a character is on the Battle Story Path does not mean they cannot fall in love because they aren’t on the Love Story Path, just that their main focus is the fight they’re caught up in.

When it’s time to choose a new Story Path, think about how your new path might tie together with your previous one. For instance, a character who just completed the Rivalry Story Path may have let someone down by not defeating their rival. That character begins the Redemption Story Path after their failure. The character redeems themselves in the eyes of the person they let down then realizes their love for that person and begins the Love Story Path. It’s a good idea to not plan your Story Paths out but just take what feels right for your character whenever it is time to start a new one. Unless specified otherwise in a Story Path’s description, a character can take the same Story Path multiple times. Story Paths and their goals are open with possibilities, so you can experience the path in any way you want. Feel free to talk to your GM about changing goals from what is provided to better suit your story.

Sample Story Path Progression for One Character

Jim creates a kith’uk (an insectoid species in Burn Bryte) named Sylo Ranisfult. He decides the Contest Story Path is Sylo’s first and informs his GM of the choice.

During the first session of play Sylo learns about a spaceship race around the Ozobny system and enters, completing the “Challenge Accepted” event, the first of the path. After completing the event, Sylo earns the event’s reward. (“Increase the die size of one of your social skills by 1.”) He increases the die size of his Suavity skill from d4 to d6.

During a later session of play Sylo learns of a complication with the race’s rules. Only older models of spaceships called boomers are allowed to be used for the competition. Sylo finds a mechanic with a boomer who agrees to let the kith’uk borrow the spaceship in exchange for transporting the glean’s friend from the Ghost Belt to the Heartworlds. When Sylo brings the mechanic’s friend safely to the Heartworlds, the kith’uk completes the “Curveball” event and earns its reward. (“Increase the die size of one of your Mental skills by 1.”) Sylo’s Computers skill increases from d6 to d8.

Sylo spends downtime during the next session learning to operate the boomer. After Jim describes how Sylo practices with the ship, the GM deems the “Train” event is complete, and the kith’uk earns its reward. (“Increase the die size of any one of your skills that is related to the contest.”) The kith’uk plans to use Athletics to pilot the ship during the race and increases the skill’s die size from d8 to d10.

When the race finally happens, Sylo fails several skill rolls and comes in second place to an ulran (a species of crystalline humanoids) named Sevbok Syonakonoysin, completing the “Compete” event. Sylo earns the reward for losing the race, the Determined to Win special ability.

After the loss Sylo goes about repairing his reputation by publicly claiming Sevbok cheated and demanding a rematch. These actions complete the “My Reputation” event, and Sylo picks the Evolution kith’uk special ability as his reward. (“Select one special ability from your species.”)

With the Contest Story Path resolved Sylo must begin a new path. Jim chooses Rivalry for Sylo, telling the GM and adding that Sevbok might be the perfect rival for the kith’uk.

How Story Paths Work for the GM

Story Path events are meant to make preparing and running the game easier. The events give each player a chance to shine during a game, like a personal scene starring them in a book, film, or TV show. Work with your players to tie these Story Path events into the larger story of the campaign.

When planning your session, think about how you might introduce Story Path events. There are three categories of events:

  1. Player active events rely on the player to take the initiative to accomplish the event. As the GM, you simply need to afford the player character some time to do this (perhaps while traveling through space). The “Blueprint” Create Masterpiece Story Path event is an example of this kind of event. The player character must create a plan to make a work of art. You can prompt the character to take on player active events with questions like, “You have some free time while traveling to Ardone. Do you want to make a plan for that musical you’re writing? If so, what does your plan look like, and how do you create it?” Prompts are great, but don’t force the player to complete the Story Path event in that moment. They may want to take some time to think about how they accomplish the event, so if they aren’t ready to complete it, don’t force them to do so.
  2. GM active events rely on the GM to create the setting and NPCs involved in the Story Path event. You must prepare a scene in which the Story Path event takes place. You might need a map, NPCs, and more to complete the event. The “Fight for Your Life” On the Run Story Path event is an example of a GM active event because it involves GM-controlled enemies tracking down and battling the player character. The GM must be the one to decide when and how these enemies catch up to the player character.
  3. GM prompted events rely on the GM to create opportunities and hooks the characters can use to accomplish their Story Path events. These events often benefit from quick conversations with your players about what their characters hope to get out of such events. The “Teach Me” Mentor Story Path event is an example of a GM prompted event. The GM must create one or more potential students for the player character, but ultimately the decision of who to choose as a student is up to the player character. As the GM you should create several detail-light options for completing the event. Instead of fully fleshing out one student NPC who is a sure thing for the character taking the Mentor Story Path, you might create three potential students, each with a single-sentence of description. You can always flesh out the chosen student(s) as you play. Of course, asking your player what number and sort of students they’re interested in before the session can also help you prepare.

Tying Story Paths Together

When you prepare to tie Story Path events together, it helps to think of a mission that can encompass all of the characters’ upcoming events. Different adventure genres: battles, disasters, heists, mysteries, survival scenarios, and more make great backdrops that allow Story Path events to occur. The events should fit into the overall structure of an adventure (or the story of an entire campaign).

When you’re planning your session, ask yourself “Which category do the upcoming Story Path events fall into?” You should provide some downtime for player active events, have scenes ready for GM active events, and have a list of hooks ready for GM prompted events. The scenes and hooks you prepare should relate to your adventure’s overall story as well as the events.

Here’s an example of how you can tie the Story Path events of a team of player characters starting with the Battle, Create Masterpiece, Revenge, and Student Story Paths into the overall plot of the campaign. The mission is to investigate a distress signal from the Midbelt planet Schee, which is under attack by an evil cult called the Daylight. The GM prepares for the characters to fulfill their Story Path events in the following ways:

  • Jel’zak the ror-nan colony is taking the Battle Story Path, which has the 1st event, “Pick a Fight and Side.” This is a GM prompted event, since the GM must provide the conflict, but Jel’zak must ultimately decide which fight and side is theirs. The GM prepares an obvious conflict between the Daylight and the Schee farmers, but then also prepares two back ups in case Jel’zak isn’t interested in the first conflict. The second conflict involves a centuries-long violent feud between kith’uk and ulran farming families. The third involves two rival crews of pirates hiding in subterranean tunnels beneath the planets having a war of their own. If the Daylight conflict doesn’t interest Jel’zak, the GM can introduce the other two conflicts. If the Daylight conflict does interest Jel’zak, the others may not be introduced to the story.
  • Culo Bregtyl the kith’uk needs to complete his 1st event for the Revenge Story Path, “Hurt.” This is a GM active event because the GM needs to hurt Culo bad enough to prompt the kith’uk to take revenge. Since this is a dicey topic, the GM chats with Culo’s player about the kind of hurt Culo should experience, and the player expresses an interest in a more intense tale of revenge. The GM decides that Culo’s friend lives on Schee. The GM prepares a scene for Culo’s arrival on Schee where the kith’uk finds his friend gravely injured in bed after battling the Daylight, giving Culo a reason to seek vengeance.
  • Layawah Marcella the glean needs to complete her 1st event for the Student Story Path, “Find a Tutor or Institution.” This is a GM prompted event because the GM must create a few options for Layawah to choose as a tutor. During a quick conversation with Layawah’s player the GM learns the glean wants to study medicine from a master healer. The GM creates four quick NPCs who fit that description and puts them on Schee as adventurers and locals helping those injured by the Daylight.
  • Vu the zivoy’s 1st event for the Create Masterpiece Story Path is “Inspiration.” This is a player active event, since Vu must decide what inspires them to create art. The GM does not even need to provide much free time for this event, since it’s all about what inspires Vu. The GM simply makes a note to remember to ask, “Does this inspire your art? If so, how and what does it inspire?” whenever something dramatic or interesting happens to the zivoy.

Burn Bryte’s advancement is based around the idea that each player character will get to achieve one Story Path event per 2 hours of gameplay. However, the size of every group, each GM’s pacing, and the length of session varies for everyone. If you want to speed up or slow down this advancement, that is up to your gaming group and you.

If you deviate from the one Story Path event per 2 hours of gameplay guideline, it is recommended that you still advance all player characters at the same rate. If one achieves more Story Path events than the others, that character becomes significantly more powerful and could turn into the game’s star. Burn Bryte is game for ensemble stories.

Sample Story Paths

The following are sample Story Paths from Burn Bryte.

Contest

You prepare for and engage in a contest with the intent of winning. The challenge could be anything from an official starship race to a friendly bet. This Story Path represents a period of time where you focus on the contest and is for people who want to roleplay characters determined to win.

1st Event: Challenge Accepted

Completion: You complete this event after you learn about the contest and agree to partake. You might see an advertisement for an official contest, get challenged by a friend, or create a contest of your own to prove something.

Reward: Increase the die size of one of your Social skills by 1.

2nd Event: Curveball

Completion: You learn a curveball about the contest that could give you some trouble. This complication could be a tough-to-beat contestant, an unexpected contest rule, a breakdown of a favored piece of equipment, or similar obstacle. You complete this event when you develop a strategy for dealing with this hiccup.

Reward: Increase the die size of one of your Mental skills by 1.

3rd Event: Train

Completion:Do you practice in every free moment? Do you have a daily goal? Are you planning on not planning and winging it? After you train you should be ready for the contest. You complete this event when you plan and execute your training regimen.

Reward:Increase the die size of any one of your skills related to the contest.

4th Event: Compete

Completion: Did you give it your all? Was your hard work worth it? You complete this event when the contest is over. Win or lose, you participated.

Reward if you win: Select one special ability from your species.

Reward if you lose: Gain the Determined to Win special ability. Once per day when you fail a skill roll, you can make the failure a success instead. If you complete this Story Path a second or greater time and lose the contest again, select one special ability from your species.

5th Event: My Reputation

Completion: Win or lose, you now have a reputation based on your performance in your contest. You complete this event when you deal with that reputation in some way. If you win, do you greet adoring fans with gusto, or do you try to remain anonymous? If you lose, how do you handle the jeers, heckles, Complenet comments, and any potential bad press you get.

Reward: Select one Nova ability from your species.

Create Masterpiece

You are determined to create an amazing piece of art. It could be a painting, a song, software, a weapon, or any work of art that can emotionally move others. This is more than just another drawing or poem; it is your passion and soul poured into a single work. This Story Path represents time spent building a life-defining artistic achievement. This path is for a person who wants to roleplay a character dedicated to making the galaxy a more interesting place through creation.

1st Event: Inspiration

Completion: An experience inspires you to create your work of art. You could be moved by witnessing a natural event, a touching story, another piece of art, or a personal connection you have. Your participation in a battle, negotiation, or exploration could also be your inspiration. You complete this event when you have a clear-cut idea of what you want to create (e.g. a song about the Burn, a painting of a star, or a weapon for a friend who needs it).

Reward: Increase the die size of one of your Social skills by 1.

2nd Event: Blueprint

Completion: You complete this event after you create a plan for your work of art. This could be a simple sketch of a painting, a blueprint for a mechanical marvel, a list of ingredients for a recipe, or some other preparation.

Reward: Increase the die size of one of your Mental skills by 1.

3rd Event: Missing Ingredient

Completion: You complete this event after you find a missing ingredient required to make your creation the best it can be. This could be a tangible ingredient that’s not readily available, like a rare metal or paint, or some advice or final inspiration from a specific person, place, or thing.

Reward:Select one special ability from your species.

4th Event: Complete Masterpiece

Completion: Now that you have all the pieces you need for your masterpiece, you have to work on it. You complete this event after you place the finishing touches on your creation. You need to describe this work of art in detail to the GM, the senses evoked by the piece, and the hours you spend creating the masterpiece.

Reward: Increase the die size of your Computers, Empathy, Engineering, Knowledge, or Performance skill by 1.

5th Event: Present Masterpiece

Completion: Now that your masterpiece is complete, you must present it to a group of people. This could be a public showing of your art or a private display just for people you trust. Once the art is shown, someone could make an offer to buy it from you. You can take this offer, give the art away as a gift, or keep it for yourself.

Reward if you sell the art:Gain 20,000 argent.

Reward if you give away the art: Select one special ability from your species.

Reward if you keep the art: Gain the Work of Art special ability as long as you have your creation. The first time someone interacts with your art (usually by seeing, hearing, or tasting it), you reduce the complexity of Social skill rolls made to influence that person by 1 (to a minimum of 2) for the next 24 hours. If your art is destroyed or permanently lost, you can immediately select one special ability from your species.

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