Wisdom of the Masters: Madness and Insanity
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Five on 2nd January 2019. Lennon: Hi…Ryu? Ryu: Hi. Did you think I’d left? Lennon: No, but…given the subject matter I thought for sure the Killer DM would show up. Ryu: Oh, yeah, she knew about it but she said *ahem* Killer DM: If I want my players to lose their minds and start crying in a corner I hardly need game mechanics to help. Ostron: That…impression of her you do is getting uncanny. Lennon: Anyway, Madness, right Players’ mental state is not usually something D&D focuses on. There are a number of spells that can directly affect it, like Confusion or Crown of Madness that describe spell effects altering creatures’ mental states. Various adventures also have deranged or mentally altered NPCs for the characters to interact with, but very rarely does anything deal with the mental health of the characters. Unless players actively try to roleplay it, most of the…
Wisdom of the Masters: The KDM’s Christmas Gifts
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Four on 26th December 2018. Killer DM: Oh there you are Lennon. So nice to see you again. I can’t help noticing it’s Christmas Lennon: Yes Kay- Killer DM: Go ahead. Try using that name Lennon: -Killer DM. I just can’t begin to tell you how good it is to see you. It’s your first anniversary isn’t it? Killer DM: It is, but you know what it’s not? Lennon: What? Killer DM: Thanksgiving. Do you remember anything about Thanksgiving? Lennon: Um..no? Because I’m British? Ostron: Still can’t get the power cells to recharge right, I wonder…oh. Hi Killer DM. I guess I should have anticipated this. Killer DM: Yes. You should have. You should have also invited me around for Thanksgiving LIKE. I. ASKED! Lennon: Well I was at a family barbecue… Ostron: Yeah, and I… had… a … generic excuse… Killer DM: No, No, don’t worry. I’m letting bygones be bygones for now. I’ve come…
Wisdom of the Masters: Decking your Campaign
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Three on 19th December 2018. Ryu: Wow Lennon, that’s…a lot of cards Lennon: Yeah, Ostron said we were talking about using decks in D&D campaigns so I’m checking my creature count in my Green/White aggro deck. Ryu: Okay, so I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to explain to you why pre-made decks are boring and drafts are the way to go, so why do you have Magic cards out at all? Ostron: Lennon did you…oh…right. Here Ryu, this is what we’re *actually* talking about today. *papers shuffling* Ryu: Ohhh. Decks in games right. Okay, once again you’re missing the target here, Lennon, but full points for effort as you’d say back home. Lennon: Really? I thought with Ravnica and all that… Ostron: Yeah, we’re talking about more traditional nontraditional decks. The item Deck of Many things is something almost all regular D&D players are familiar with, and it’s been around…
A Short Rest: Gnomish Workshop: Challenge Ratings… We need a bigger analyzer!
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Two on 12th December 2018. Ryu: Oh no he’s down! Ostron! Lennon: Did the KDM do this? Ryu: Hey! I haven’t worn the hat for…a while now and besides he doesn’t look hurt. He’s sort of more in a trance I think? What’s this thing he’s lying next to? Lennon: Well it’s…wow. It’s taking up a lot more room than I thought at first glance. Oh there’s a label! “Realized Oikumenatal Solution To Removing Obfuscation” ROSTRO: You may refer to me as ROSTRO Ryu & Lennon: GAAAAH! Ryu: What did you do to Ostron? ROSTRO: Nothing. Technically, he did something to me. Lennon: …and what was that? ROSTRO: My activation required additional cognitive energy, therefore he astrally projected himself into my mechanisms. Ryu: How is that even possible? ROSTRO: My internal workings are in practice a small artificial plane formed from mathematical probability. Lennon: That sounds…terrifying ROSTRO: Ostron determined it was necessary for the research project he was…
A Short Rest: Archives of Candlekeep: 4th Edition, the Rebellious Child
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-One on 5th December 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honor of Art and Arcana, the book released October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. In June 2008, Wizards of the Coast released the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. When 4th edition is brought up among D&D fans, what typically happens is many of them will engage in a fierce denouncement or defense of the system, while those unfamiliar with or unaware of the edition sit to the side in bafflement, wondering…
Archives of Candlekeep: Edition 3.5: The Golden Child
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty on 28th November 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honor of Art and Arcana, the book released October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. As established in our last article, while everyone liked 3.0 as an edition and were in love with the d20 system, there were glaring issues almost everyone identified with the 3.0 gameplay rules. Problems with Rangers, Bards, Sorcerers, and Druids were well-known, and the 3.0 psionics rules had already established “psionics are broken” as a virtual law in D&D…
Archives of Candlekeep: 3rd Edition: The Friendly, Embarrassing Child
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Nine on 14th November 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honor of Art and Arcana, the book released October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. When D&D came under the control of Wizards of the Coast, they pulled support for the “Basic” line of D&D products. This left a lot of players frustrated. Advanced D&D 2nd edition’s rules gave a lot more options but also greatly increased the complexity of play. While many of 2nd edition’s fans were comfortable with the system, the wide…
A Short Rest: Archives of Candlekeep: 2nd Edition; the temperate, responsible
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Eight on 7th November 2018. The fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is arguably one of the most popular iterations of the rules, but it’s taken some time to get to where we are today. In honour of Art and Arcana, the book released October 23rd that showcases all the artwork and tells the evolving story of D&D over the years, we decided to take a look back at this hobby of ours ourselves and see where it started, and how it’s evolved over time. By the late 1980s, D&D had become even larger but had also attracted some negative attention. News sources and rumor had associated two teen suicides with playing D&D, and one of the mothers had started a group that actively campaigned and warned against the game, citing the references to demons, magic, assassinations, playing as monsters, and sexual elements…
Wisdom of the Masters: Population: Evil
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Seven on 31st October 2018. Killer DM: Ahh good, that was an annoying long wait. Ostron: Have to wait a while for Ryu to fail her saves? Killer DM: And there I was thinking you didn’t have a sense of humor… Oh, you’re serious? You think she still tries to make the saves? You dear thing. Lennon: Um…right, so when we left off last week, you mentioned you had more to say about evil campaigns? Killer DM: Oh my yes. So last time we talked about the pre-campaign discussion where you make sure your players aren’t going to cop out on you and decide they don’t actually want to be evil, and what the campaign looks like when it’s in flight. But what about the setup? Despite the fact that you *can* be evil, D&D’s basic rules and creatures aren’t designed that way, so you have to do a little…
Wisdom of the Masters: Campaigning for Evil
This article was first broadcast in Episode Forty-Six on 24th October 2018. Lennon: Really? Again? Ostron: We’re talking about running evil campaigns, who’s at the top of *YOUR* subject matter expert list for that? Lennon: Whatever, they’re your kidneys Killer DM: It’s so nice that you all invite me around for the holidays. It almost makes me forget that you didn’t do that last Halloween. Lennon: In our defense, we hadn’t actually started broadcasting yet. Killer DM: I just hear excuses but I suppose I might let it pass if we’re talking about something fun. Ostron: Running an evil campaign Killer DM: Oh Ostron! I knew there was hope for you. Now, let’s talk about unfair encounters and completely invisible traps. Lennon: No, no, not quite. We’re not talking about running a campaign and being evil to the players, we’re talking about the players being evil and going through a campaign like that. Killer DM: Hmmm. Obviously not quite as fun…