Adventurer’s Journal: Elemental Wizards
This article was first broadcast in Episode Thirty-One on 11th July 2018. Ostron: Lennon? Did you take my dictionary out of the gnomish workshop? Lennon: I did, and then the research beholders took it. Ryu: Weren’t you working on elemental wizards? Ohhh you meant to grab a spellbook and ended up with the dictionary instead didn’t you? Lennon: No!…well yes, but this actually helped more. I mean, like the research beholders pointed out, finding the spells to use is easy, but the really important bit is what you call the resulting mage. Ryu: Okay, leaving aside the fact that you’re taking advice from beholders, is something wrong with “wizard”? Or “sorcerer”? Lennon: Phah. Boring! Come on, look at this. Most fantasy settings that have magic users always group them into types. Sometimes it’s as simple as “good” and “bad” a’la the Wizard of Oz, but other sources apply a deep and complex hierarchy to magic users,…
Adventurer’s Journal: Efficient Use of Infernal Influence
This article was first broadcast in Episode Thirty on 27th June 2018. Killer DM: Is it “die” when there’s more than one? Or is it “dice”? One die, two dice? I always forget. Anyway, 15 people are dead. Lennon: I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, but tell me why did Ryu decide to put the Killer DM hat on? Killer DM: Well, Ryu knew you were talking about Devils and I’ve always done some of my best work with them, so I…convinced her I should be involved Lennon: Okay, well…we’re actually talking about the Tiefling subraces and how players might most effectively use their stats, so I think you might have misheard. Killer DM: I’m sorry, you’re…helping players? Ostron: Oh come on, have a seat, try this out. Who knows? You might enjoy it Killer DM: Fine. Let’s get on with it then. Before I change my mind… Lennon: In addition to all terrifying-…
Listen, Good People
This article was first broadcast in Episode Twenty-Three on 9th May 2018. Ryu: Okay, no more weddings. Lennon: I didn’t realize you were ordained. Ryu: No, I mean I added an arranged marriage plot to my campaign and my characters started fighting about how the “good” aligned characters would react. Ostron: That can get tricky. Ryu: I didn’t even know how to rule it myself. I just play my characters, I usually don’t think too much about alignment. Well, unless I’m wearing the hat… Lennon: No Hat! Ostron: It’s okay, don’t need the hat. I’ve got a quick primer on being good here. Depending on the crowd of players at the table, the announcement that someone is playing a “good” aligned character can cause as much groaning and consternation as someone saying they want to play an evil one. This is usually because the other players assume the good character will be a legalistic pacifist who constantly…
You Are What You Eat (or Drink)
This article was first broadcast in Episode Twenty-Two on 2nd May 2018. Boldan the Dragonslayer strode into the tavern; known throughout the land for his many heroic deeds, he had no shortage of tables offered to him. The tavern owner hurried over and asked, “Good master, whatever we can offer is yours! What would wish to dine on tonight?” Graciously nodding to his host, he replied, “Uh, I don’t know. Food, I guess? I should probably drink something too…” D&D is a game about heroes, villains, adventure, monsters, and magic. There can be so much epicness happening in a game it’s easy to forget that your characters are still people too. They eat, they drink, they sleep, they put their pants on one leg at a time…well, except for old Artalax and his trousers of efficiency +2 of course. Even though many players can tell you exactly what bonuses to…
Divine Soul vs Life Cleric
Sometimes, the party’s success depends on getting the most bang for your divine buck in healing prowess, but should you be reaching for a Life domain Cleric or a Divine Soul? Guest blogger Gath Memvar does the math to see which class is the champion of heals!
Switching Characters
This article was first broadcast in Episode Seventeen on 28th March 2018. Ostron: One of my players used the sending stone, they want to change characters AGAIN. It’s something like the fourth time and I have no idea what to do here. Lennon: What are they now? Ostron: Gnome Cleric Lennon: And they’re switching to… Ostron: Goliath Barbarian Ryu: That’s…um…that’s quite a jump. Lennon: Might not be insurmountable though. He’re some pointers. Even the most carefully crafted character can eventually become more of a burden than a companion. Most players have experienced the conflict of approaching a D&D session and realizing that they’d rather not play the character whose sheet they’re looking at. Unless you have some assurance that the current campaign is wrapping up in another few sessions, this situation can be a recipe for conflict and confusion. Fortunately, we’re here to help. First of all, before…
Are You Evil?
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifteen on 14th March 2018. Lennon: Really? You just GAVE her the hat? Ostron: Look, it’s not like The Killer DM causes chaos or anything. She’s Lawful Evil, that’s manageable. Killer DM: Do I hear the sounds of overconfidence? Lennon: Not from me Ostron: We were just saying you’re a good source of information for players that want to play evil characters Killer DM: Oh my goodness yes. There are soooo many posers out there that think they’re SO evil and still go to puddles when there are a bunch of kittens around. Pull up a chair, people. At some point in many a D&D player’s mind, they say “I think I want to be evil.” The thought could have come from a number of places; maybe there was a really charismatic villain in a book or show you want…
Skill Ineptitude: It’s Good to Be Bad (At Something)
This article was first broadcast in Episode Thirteen on 28th February 2018. “The battle had been hard-fought, but the necromancer’s tower now lay in ruins. On the morrow they would return to the queen to inform her the threat to her nation was ended, but tonight, they rested. Brother Elmont knew his companions had fared worse than he, and prepared their simple evening meal without being asked. It had taken the party twelve hours to win through and cast down the necromancer. …it took the party another three days to recover from the food poisoning afterwards, divine punishment for forgetting exactly why Brother Elmont was not allowed near the cooking gear.” You see, the D&D world is filled with experts. Aside from mastery of the skills connected to their class, there are cooks who can prepare feasts, athletes that can swim great distances, survivalists that can be blindfolded, spun…
Party Composition
This article was first broadcast in Episode Twelve on 21st February 2018. Lennon: That was close! Ryu: Next time we go to Ixalan, we should probably balance our party better. Ostron: Now we’re safe backstage, let’s take a Short Rest… But I do think it’s worth talking about party balance! Conventional wisdom says that the most effective parties have the holy trinity: damage dealer (frequently called the DPS by video-game aficionados), Tank, and Healer/support. The fourth person is ideally a character who can soak up some damage while dealing a modest amount themselves, usually called the Off-tank. If you’ve got 5 people, that fifth person should be acting as some sort of controller to either buff their allies, apply penalties to the enemies, or both. It’s only when you acquire a sixth party member that the purists are comfortable saying there are no restrictions or requirements on what…
Getting familiar with Familiars
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two on 6th December, 2017. “You did well in your scouting, Sir Fluffykins, though I could have used less detail about that mouse’s nest you found,” Aristobulus grinned at his familiar. “Meow,” replied Sir Fluffykins wittily, because he was a cat and only had 3 intelligence. 5e’s Find Familiar is a useful spell, allowing a spellcaster to summon a magical animal companion to assist them in their adventuring, as well as letting the character partake in a fine storytelling and magical tradition going back millennia. However, while many literary familiars are intelligent and capable of speech, 5e’s familiars are limited to the intelligence of the shape they take, which is to say animal intelligence. While this isn’t terribly limiting as far as game mechanics go, it makes it more difficult for the player to express the interplay between master and familiar. Aladdin’s Jafar…