Archives of Candlekeep: Lord Soth (aka Strahd Lite)
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Twenty Six on 5th October 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Lord Soth, in Dragonlance, fills in much the same niche as Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings or The Mountain from Game of Thrones; he is a secondary antagonist in most of his appearances, almost always working at the behest of someone else, and their backstory is…fraught. Soth’s first appearance in real life chronology was in the War of the Lance trilogy (The original three). He lived through that conflict (sort of…we’ll get to that in a bit), and became another significant pain for the heroes in the so-called “twins trilogy” that focuses on Raistlin and Caramon…and the short one whose name starts with a “T”.…
Adventurer’s Journal: Tactical Falling
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Twenty Four on 7th September 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Falling in D&D is something that’s often overlooked. For it to do a significant amount of damage the fall has to be from a rather high starting point, and unfortunately a lot of scenarios don’t have a great deal of verticality to them. Part of that is often practical; if you play in a game that uses minis on a tabletop or if you’re playing in a Virtual environment that’s top down rather than isometric, conveying height can be difficult. Also, many locations follow the Star Wars school of architecture and interior design; either there are small drops or minor changes in the landscape that are…
Archives of Candlekeep: Fire, Water, Earth and Air – Genasi
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Twenty Three on 31st August 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Genasi are one of the more esoteric playable races in D&D, which is saying something given that giant frog and tortoise people are options. Like a number of the more unusual racial options in D&D, the genasi came about once planar travel, and Planescape in particular, became a major fixture of D&D. Possibly due to the gender makeup of TSR in the late 80s and early 90s, it was apparently assumed that if people were able to find exotic beings from other planes, one of the first orders of business would be to…how shall I put this…test biological compatibility. In 2nd edition, if a human got…
Archives of Candlekeep: Orcus the So Very Undead
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Twenty One on 10th August 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Demogorgon has gotten a lot of press lately and regularly promotes himself as the Prince of Demons and the strongest, baddest demon in the Abyss. But if you ask the being on the street it’s actually much more likely they’ll have heard of one of his main rivals. Orcus is opposite to Demogorgon in a lot of ways, both in the real world and in lore. He’s also a fascinating character to track through the history of the game because his star, or at least his skull-topped wand, has waxed and waned in popularity a lot through the years. Like Demogorgon, Orcus has the distinction of…
Unearthed Mundana: The Satanic Panic
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Twenty on 3rd August 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. A much as people whine about psionics or think that 4th edition was a tragic error on many levels, one of the largest impacts on D&D’s publication and future actually had very little to do with the mechanics of the game. Most people who either grew up in the 80s, played D&D, or watched some of the various media that touched on it, such as Season 4 of Stranger Things, are aware of a general event called the Satanic Panic. It was a moral movement and media phenomenon spanning the 80s and it had an irrevocable effect on the game and people’s perceptions of it. However if…
Archives of Candlekeep: The Duality of Demogorgon
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Nineteen on 27th July 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Where the Nine Hells have the archdukes of The Hells, if you sail down the River Styx you’ll find a similar but different situation at the other end. That’s assuming you make it, of course; the River Styx is terrible and there are murderous demons on every side and sometimes floating by on other boats. Have we mentioned going to the underworld is a bad idea? Anyway, when you get to the Abyss you will find a much looser hierarchy, but there are several beings that fill much the same role as the archdukes. Those are the demon lords. Now practically speaking there is no demon lord…
Gnomish Workshop: Analysing the Attack
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Seventeen on 13th July 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. At face value, an attack in D&D would seem to be very simple; there is a creature and another creature they either don’t get along with or would very much like to eat. Sometimes it’s both, like with gnolls. Fortunately, and somewhat unusually, the rules for D&D 5e are also fairly simple, at least to start. When describing combat in the Player’s Handbook, it states: ” if you’re making an attack roll, you’re making an attack.” That means that any spell requiring a roll to hit, rather than the target making a save, counts as an attack. Well things get messy pretty quickly. …
Archives of Candlekeep: Giant Lore, Part 2
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Sixteen on 29th June 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. As we’ve mentioned before, giants have been around in D&D since the very beginning. The original premise of D&D was to do tabletop wargaming but add basic fantasy elements. Since no one was coming up with beholders and mindflayers yet, Gary Gygax and others had to work with what was available in mainstream myth and fantasy. Anyone alive at the time or who’s looked into the publications of the sixties and seventies can tell you that fantasy had a few basic things without fail. On one side you had wizards, guys with swords, and very, *very* problematically depicted women. On the other side you had dragons, small…
Archives of Candlekeep: The Original BBEG
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Fourteen on 15th June 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Vecna is one of the big names in D&D, along with Mordenkainen, Ellminster, and Strahd von Zarovich. However, the actual history of the legend is not what most people would think if they only have a passing knowledge of D&D. How long Vecna has been part of D&D lore is a matter of perspective. The history and definition of Vecna as an individual was actually very sparse until 2nd edition. That said, the very prominent Hand and Eye of Vecna artifacts have been present since original D&D. The artifacts first appeared in the third supplement for original D&D, entitled “Eldritch Wizardry”. However, the only lore around them…
Unearthed Mundana: Giant Lore (Part 1)
This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred Thirteen on 8th June 2022. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Giants have been around in D&D since the very beginning. A major reason for that has to do with the origins of the game. It’s oversimplifying a bit, but Gary Gygax’s original intent wasn’t to create a whole new system with sweeping lore and intricate settings; he just wanted to be able to have his tabletop armies fight Orcs and trolls instead of just other human armies, and he didn’t want to wait five years for Warhammer to come out. Starting with that premise, Gygax didn’t start inventing a whole bunch of unique fantasy creatures to throw up against his and his friend’s armies. They just took the…