Adventurer’s Journal: Preparing for your First Ever Game
This article was first broadcast in Episode Seventy Four on 29th May 2019. Ryu: Yeah, HR said they want to “have a word with” KayDee about how we can’t farm new employees for kidneys. Ostron: I’m sorry, what? Lennon: Doesn’t matter. Speaking of new employees, can you guys look over what I’ve got so far? Ryu: Sure Sitting down for your first ever session of D&D can be a daunting prospect for a lot of people. Assuming you looked through the basic rules or player’s handbook (which, hint, you should have done) you know there’s a lot of information and rules involved with this, and it’s very easy to get overwhelmed. First of all, breathe. It’s not that big of a deal. Even if there are other players who’ve got more experience than you, everyone will know you’re new at this and they’ll understand if you don’t have everything ready to go…
Heroes Rise, seventy-fourth entry: Salty Sea Dogs
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the seventy-fourth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Friday May 24th, and released Wednesday May 29th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Heroes Rise, seventy-third entry: Descent Into Madness
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the seventy-third entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday May 18th, and released Wednesday May 22nd over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Gnomish Workshop: Critical Bonuses
This article was first broadcast in Episode Seventy Three on 22nd May 2019. Lennon: Right, so I thought we covered critical hits? ROSTRO: I would classify the information previously discussed as a primer on the general category. If you direct your attention to the display crystals, we can proceed. Lennon: What if I close my eyes and start running? KDM: Then you’ll hit the door, dear, I’ve just locked it. Now come along… As we’ve discussed previously, if they aren’t modified it is easier to score a critical hit in 5e than in any of the previous editions of the game. However, the average damage from the critical hits is also at its lowest point in history. We suggested a few ways that the damage output could be modified, but there are other things that can be done with critical hits to enhance them further. Cautionary notation: reviewing discussed information shows the highest statistical occurrence…
Heroes Rise, seventy-second entry: Ghosts of Sneezemarsh
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the seventy-second entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday May 11th, and released Wednesday May 15th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Gnomish Workshop: How Do You Crit?
This article was first broadcast in Episode Seventy Two on 15th May 2019. ROSTRO: Your information on critical hits is alarmingly deficient. Please consult the output crystals and confer with my colleague. Lennon: I think I’d rather go meet with HR. KDM: Lennon, don’t make me use hold person. Critical hits are a primary goal of many players in combat, with good reason; the ability to roll twice as many dice when doing damage usually means the character’s hitting harder than usual. If you have a character such as a rogue making a sneak attack or a paladin using smite, the number of extra dice rolled can cause scrambling even among those with extensive polyhedral collections. The impact of critical hits is such that the basic ruleset provides few methods to improve chances of one occurring. The Fighter’s Champion path is the only overt, class-based ability that modifies the likelihood of a critical hit…
Heroes Rise, seventy-first entry: ’Tis the Season
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the seventy-first entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday April 27th, and released Wednesday May 1st over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Archives of Candlekeep: Spelljammer Part 2: An Overview
This article was first broadcast in Episode Seventy One on 1st May 2019. Ryu: Okay so now I’m morbidly curious. If Spelljammer’s lore was so crazy, how did that work with gameplay? Lennon: Awesomely, I’m sure. Ostron: Did Spelljammer pay off your mortgage or something? Lennon: So far it’s D&D in space, there are 7ft hippos with muskets and I get to throw Kender out of airlocks. I’m sold. Ostron: Well there weren’t actually airlocks, you know. Spelljammer is presented as a separate campaign setting that uses spaceships, space, and planets to substitute for horses, open plains, and cities. The original sourcebook explains the separation as willful apathy: people in the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance setting know that there are people cruising around in space, but they don’t really care. Similarly, the people in space really don’t worry about what’s going on in Waterdeep on a regular basis; everyone has their own problems…
Archives of Candlekeep: Spelljammer Part 1: the Lore
This article was first broadcast in Episode Seventy on 24th April 2019. Lennon: I don’t understand why you’re against it. Ostron: I’m not against it, I just don’t understand why you’re so in favor of it. I mean, what do you actually know about spelljammer? Lennon: It’s D&D…IN SPAAACE Ostron: Other than that. Lennon: Um…it’s got spaceships. Like many modern settings and elements of D&D, Spelljammer’s roots are in 2nd edition, and they owe their existence to a man named Jeff Grubb. As Keith Baker is to Eberron, Jeff Grubb is to Spelljammer, although he doesn’t have the laser focus on his setting Mr.Baker does. Grubb is the author of the first Manual of the Planes and created the forgotten Al-Qadim setting, and is credited as being part of the team that originated the Forgotten Realms itself. Later on, he was also contracted by Wizards to work on d20 Modern,…
Heroes Rise, seventieth entry: Flow-JIST-on, Flow-JIST-on
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the seventieth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday April 20th, and released Wednesday April 24th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.