Archives of Candlekeep: Planar Tour: Feywild
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Five on 29th January 2020. Lennon: Oh dear gods why? Killer DM: Ryu’s faerie dragon’s gone back to the feywild for a bit. Ostron: And she didn’t want to go with it? Killer DM: Oh goodness no. Every time she goes there I get into a fight. Lennon: I thought most feywild creatures were a little less aggressive than that? Killer DM: First of all, are you kidding? Second, I didn’t say Ryu got into a fight; I get into a fight. Lennon: Don’t tell me you have outstanding geases or something. Ostron: I thought you dealt in flaming horses. You’re doing birds now? Lennon: What? Oh, wait are you kidding? Do I know more about the Feywild than you do? Ostron: Maybe for the moment…Libby! Libby: Book! Ostron: Thanks. Okay, what do I need to know? From a game perspective, the Feywild is one of those unique jewels of D&D where it was created in…
Archives of Candlekeep: Planar Tour: Shadowfell
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Four on 22nd January 2020. Lennon (storytelling): It was a dark and stormy night Ryu: I’m not hearing a storm Lennon (storytelling sarcastically): Because someone is slacking off Ostron: At this point I’ve already used four spell slots just on ambiance. Magical darkness, mist cloud, control weather, wind gust, now you want lightning on command? Lennon: … well I’ve gotta set the mood right Ryu: Wouldn’t it be easier to just meet in the Shadowfell at this point? Lennon: Well…actually I don’t know, would it? Ostron: In terms of planar locations it’s one of the easier ones to find. Among the various planar dimensions that crop up regularly in D&D, the Shadowfell is relatively new. It only officially came into existence during 4th edition, and unlike many things conceived during that time, the Shadowfell has stuck around largely intact, at least so far. It wasn’t a wholly new creation, however. Many aspects…
Unearthed Mundana: Painting Your Miniatures – Introduction to Colour Theory
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Three on 15th January 2020. Ryu: I’m sorry, you want me to what? Lennon: Break me into the workshop. Ryu: And these buckets of paint are for? Lennon: It’s helping you too, actually. Ryu: Oh no, you are not dragging me into whatever insanity this is. Lennon: No, look; I know you’re always complaining about how ROSTRO is imposing and disturbing so I figured a quick paint job… Ryu: My issues with ROSTRO are not about how it looks. I mean, okay, that doesn’t help, but neither will painting sunflowers on it. Ostron: Hey guys, are we painting something? Lennon: What? No…yes! actually yes! Miniatures. We hear you do that, right? Ostron: Oh, yeah, all the time. A very popular pastime along with playing DnD is creating a physical avatar for a player character or to represent the hordes of foes the players will face. While it is possible to purchase or make paper…
Wisdom of the Masters: Resistance, Vulnerability and Monsters
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Two on 1st January 2020. Ryu (coughing): Why is there suddenly smoke everywhere? Ostron! What did you do in the workshop? Ostron (muffled): This wasn’t me; I was trying to find a way to charge ROSTRO’s power cells faster and then heard all the coughing. Ryu (still coughing): What is that thing on your face? And can you clear this out? Ostron (muffled): One gust of wind coming up. Wind blowing Ryu (deep breath): Much better. (sarcastically): Oh look. We have one unconscious Lennon lying on the floor with a bunch of open potion bottles and a cauldron. Why am I not surprised? Ostron (pop): Because your memory is still mostly intact. Ryu: What do you mean mostly? Ostron: Never mind. Lennon. Lennon! Lennon: What? It’s not my birthday, you can’t make me! Ryu: Okay…um…ignoring that for the moment, what were you doing? Lennon: Oh…I was trying to figure out how resistances and vulnerabilities might work…
Gnomish Workshop: Level 1 Characters Will Die
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred One on 25th December 2019. Lennon: Um, Ryu? I was given this…paper by one of the Research Beholders. Resurrection Insurance for New Adventurers? Ryu: I am going to be swimming in gold, Lennon. ROSTRO: Given the required temperature to maintain gold in a liquid form, it would be inadvisable- Ryu: Oh shut up! It was a metaphor you overbuilt abacus. Lennon: And that’s why I couldn’t find Ostron earlier. So what exactly is going on? Ryu: So KayDee suggested I try to get to know ROSTRO because you know how we don’t see eye to eye on it. We got to talking about first level adventurers and the facts around them and that’s when I came up with this. Lennon: Okay, but…an insurance scam? How much have you been wearing the hat? Ryu: This is not a scam, Lennon; this is a real need. ROSTRO, can you fill him in? ROSTRO: With your…
Unearthed Mundana: I Can’t Believe it’s not Thieves’ Cant
This article was first broadcast in Episode Ninety Nine on 4th December 2019. Ostron: Hey, there you two are! So I’ve been going over the script for How To Paint Your Miniatures and … Lennon: No time for that this week! Ryu’s going to teach us Thieves’ Cant Ryu: I am?! I, err, mean, I am! Lennon: Yep! You’ve already handed me these sheets of paper… so… here, one each… You said to read from the top, right? Ryu: Right! That is exactly what I said. Lennon: Ok, here we go! There are many languages in D&D, such as Common, Elvish and Dwarven, but very few dialects, much less alternative ways of speaking. In fact, aside from the Githyanki and Githzerai who both speak a dialect of the common Gith language, and the various elementals each speaking their own dialect of Primordial, non-standard ways of speaking rarely crop up. There is one exception,…
Wisdom of the Masters: The Tone of your Campaign
This article was first broadcast in Episode Ninety Eight on 27th November 2019. Mikey: Okay what about this one … Lennon: No, that’s still not quite right Mikey: This one? Lennon: Close… but it doesn’t quite capture the essence of “Asmodeus is trying to destroy the world”, you know? Ryu: Mikey? Is that you? What are you two cooking up this time? Lennon: I’m trying to work with Mikey to find the exact sound that describes my campaign, like you said. Ryu: And once again your grasp of the English language amazes me. We’re talking about the *emotional* tone of the game, not sound. Ostron: Although music can help with that a bit. Mikey: Right, I’m done here. Lennon: But…fine, so what did you two want to talk about? Every time you run a campaign, or even a one-shot, discussing with the table what the tone for the game is, is a very important topic. Players may have a number of different expectations…
Gnomish Workshop: Adventurers are the 1%
This article was first broadcast in Episode Ninety Seven on 20th November 2019. Lennon: And here I was so holding out hope that my day wasn’t going completely downhill. Killer DM: Awww does someone need a hug? Lennon: I will pay you money if you never ever say that again. ROSTRO: Probability analysis suggests you possess insufficient physical currency to facilitate that transaction. Lennon: Yeah, because I’m pretty sure Ryu stole it! Killer DM: Don’t look at me, she was doing that long before my favorite accessory settled upon her brow. ROSTRO: Your current predicament would quite easily be remedied by engaging in a quest or adventuring excursion. Lennon: Really? Killer DM: Oh yes darling there’s gold practically littering the ground out there. Gold has been the primary currency of fantasy settings almost as long as they’ve been around. In D&D, most of the items that can be purchased are priced based on gold, and the greedy ingrates who control the characters…
Wisdom of the Masters: PvP in D&D
This article was first broadcast in Episode Ninety Six on 13th November 2019. Killer DM: Mmmmm that felt almost too good. Lennon: I don’t think I want to know Killer DM: Of course you do, Lennon; we both know you’re constantly living vicariously through me and loving every minute of it. Lennon: I’m really not. Killer DM: Well keep lying to yourself then, but I just managed to get a TPK without any work at all. Ostron: Well, you are a big fan of the random rock fall. Killer DM: Oh no, it’s even better than that; the party killed each other! PvP combat in fifth edition is so easy and it’s great! Lennon: That’s…one perspective At some point, either through studying the rules, being the victim of a dominate person spell, or just noting how area effect spells work, players will invariably notice they’re fully capable of injuring their teammates in the same way they can with all the various…
Wisdom of the Masters: Crafting Confusion
This article was first broadcast in Episode Ninety Five on 6th November 2019. Lennon: So, what do you think would happen if I tried to make some modifications to ROSTRO? Ryu: I think KayDee would probably harvest all your organs and then stuff you into it. You know how she is about that thing. Lennon: As with most subjects where she’s involved, I try not to think about it. Ryu: Why do you want to fiddle around with that monstrosity anyway? Lennon: I was hoping to figure out a better way to get magic items made. The regular process is just…ugh. Ryu: I would have thought Ostron looked into that with all the time he spends in the workshop. Hey Ostron? Ostron: Yeah? Ryu: Making magic items? Ostron: Ugggh Ryu: Wow, okay, I didn’t realize this was that much of a thing. Lennon: Oh let me tell you … While it isn’t a staple of many tabletop RPG systems, players and DMs more familiar…