Gritty Realism

Short rest = 8 hours

Long rest = 7 days

Ever since I read the passage on Gritty Realism in the Dungeon Master’s Guide I’ve wanted to try this. Imagine a game where going to sleep doesn’t heal every wound. Imagine a game where getting hit by an ogre with a greatclub matters. I think it’d be pretty cool. My players, on the other hand, had different opinions.

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The Travels of Alistair

Ten years passed. Alistair lost count of the souls he’d sent to rest eternal. Like his youth spent chased through the wilderness, it was all blurring together. No matter where he followed the ill winds, nor how many cultists of Entropis he reaped, Alistair was no closer to finding the source of the ethereal storm.

It was like chasing a hurricane. Whenever he seemed to get close, the winds would change direction. Sometimes they’d disperse as if nothing were there. Yet every day the souls of the departed rose from their graves to cross over, only to be buffeted about and ensconced in a never ending typhoon.

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The Secret NPC: Ephenia, Cursed Druidess

Here’s an NPC I thought up last year. The idea came to me as a question. What if a Warlock used Voice of the Chain Master to portray themselves as their familiar? It was my first quest in 5e where I introduced her as a witch living on a lonely island. She presented herself to the heroes as the pseudodragon, but was actually nearby and invisible. Originally, I thought it’d be interesting to have the pseudodragon occasionally turn up while the heroes were sailing around (this is the Pirates of the Aegean campaign), all the while the NPC was actually a member of the crew who went by the name of Swabs. This is what the players know about her from the campaign website:

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City Squares V: Haven's City File

Today I’m going to share with you my city file of Haven. This is what I referred to during my players’ time there. I’ll be using the format I’ve described previously (1. District, I. Location, A. Contacts, i. Information, a. Leads). As of now the heroes have left the port city with no plans to return. Just in case my player’s do check this out, I’m going to leave the portions of the city they didn’t investigate whited out so highlight for spoilers. Feel free to drop Haven in your game and tweak it to fit your campaign.

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Cooperative Worldbuilding

Last night hit the local gaming store with my buddies from the Pirates of the Aegean campaign - Kintaro, Journey, and OrkbossJo. My group got in a game of Elder Signs, and then Vampire: Prince of the City. Wouldn’t recommend the first; love the second. Also, ran into Wargamer Fritz who was trying out the Spanish Civil War game with Prima Lucem. I didn’t quite pay attention to the mechanics of that one, but the setting is incredibly interesting. It took place in the 30s right before WWII, and really embodied the ambiguity of the times that we today so often miss, because our point of view of WWII is that of hindsight. At the end of the night, in preparation for Kintaro’s upcoming campaign, we tried out something interesting inspired from the Dresden Files RPG.

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Games within Games

Previously, I’ve talked about using 4x video games (like Sid Meiers Civilization IV or Civilization V) as the world map. Currently, I’ve been doing some research for my next PDF which touches on this topic, and it got me thinking about interfacing Dungeons and Dragons with other game systems. As part of my research I played The Quiet Year. It was fantastic.

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The World of Erebus

If you’ve read my blog, then you know I’m a fan of Fall from Heaven II. It’s the best dark fantasy setting you’ve never heard of! The setting’s foundation is based on the Princess Rule: princesses do not find their prince charmings and there are no happily ever afters. In this world, angels fall from heaven while the God of Hope is presently planning the slaughter and damnation of every man, woman, and child. Hence, dark fantasy.

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