Wisdom of the Masters: Longer Resting
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Eight on 23rd January 2019. Ryu: Ugggh do we seriously only get an hour to rest? Lennon: What do you think “Short Rest” means? Ryu: I don’t know, can’t it just…be longer? I’m tired. Ostron: Actually, it can. Lennon: Okay, no, you’re not casting your wibbly-wobbly time magic again. Last time I thought we had a three hour conversation with you about the difference between 1d20 and 2d10, but when I looked at my watch less than 5 minutes had passed Ostron: Okay, first of all, that was just a regular conversation, it did only last 5 minutes. Secondly, I’m a wizard, I know my schools, and if that were to happen it would be illusion magic, not time magic; and thirdly, this method doesn’t require magic at all. It’s just an optional way of adventuring. If you look in the Dungeon Master’s guide on page 267, there’s an optional…
A Short Rest: Wisdom of the Masters: Superheroes
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Six on 9th January 2019. Ryu: Ugh, again with this. I swear these players are one session away from dealing with Kay-Dee full time Lennon: Players giving you lip? Ryu: Not…exactly, but they keep diving into situations without thinking, nearly die, and then complain about it afterward. Ostron: Now, this might be an atypical response, but why don’t you let them? Ryu: Because it’s not working? Ostron: Well yes, but it can work; you just have to pull out some extra rules. Ostron: As we’ve mentioned previously, the Dungeon Master’s Guide has a lot of optional rules in it that can slightly or drastically alter the feel and mechanics of a game you’re running. Kay-Dee *Thunderclap* Ryu: Yeah, she’s kind of…sensitive about who uses that name Ostron: Okay well the KDM already told us about some ways to make games potentially more challenging, we’ve covered adding madness and sanity as features, now…
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: 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…
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…
A Short Rest: Wisdom from the Masters: Background Races
This article was first broadcast in Episode Thirty-Seven on 22nd August 2018. [squeaky contraption going by] Ostron: Lennon, what are you doing… and what on earth are you wearing?! Lennon: Oh, yeah, I couldn’t get my indoor trainer down here so I rigged my road bike up to this thing I found in the Gnomish Workshop as a kinda static trainer so I could warm up. And I’m wearing lycras. Ostron: Do I want to know why? Lennon: Seriously? For aerodynamics — I’m not going to ride a road-bike in baggies… You said we were racing? Ostron: Okay first of all, I said we were discussing races, not racing, and I meant the OTHER races. You know, half-orc, goblin, elves? Lennon: Ooooooh! [dinosaur roar] Ryu: Wooooooah there! Lennon: WHAT IN THE NINE HELL — Ryu… Are you riding a dinosaur?! Ryu: Yep! I’ve been in Chult recently, and Ostron said we were off to the races, so I brought…
Massive Battles
This article was first broadcast in Episode Twenty-Six on 30th May 2018. Lennon: Ok, so two plus two is four, minus one that’s three Ryu: What on earth are you doing? Other than quick maths? Lennon: I’m doing a dry run of a thing for a game. See, I may have painted myself into a corner a bit… or rather into a wide open-field that’s about to be filled with 25,000 creatures on 3 sides, each vying for control of the county RaeRae: And, let me guess, you’re trying to figure out the damage received during a single round of combat? Lennon: Combat? I’ve not even gotten as far as rolling initiative! Ryu: Well, we’ve got a couple of ways that may help you. Many epic fantasy stories, particularly ones portrayed on the big or small screen, have something in particular that causes people to slot them in the “epic” category: massive battles. Massive battles are…
Alternate Rewards
This article was first broadcast in Episode Twenty on 18th April 2018. Ryu: So yeah, that last time the Killer DM killed Ostron pretty much wiped us out. The Cleric upped his rates Lennon: I told Ostron we’d have some gold for him because of the whole kidney thing Ryu: Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered. Not all characters are played in the same way. That’s sort of a given unless the same person is controlling all of them, but we’re mostly talking about how characters deal with their bank accounts. While some characters will be able to stockpile money, looking for the chance to make a big purchase that will advance their character’s capabilities or status, others find themselves continually starved for coin. Wizards spend money to add spells to their spellbooks or craft scrolls, clerics buy powdered silver for the creation of holy water, and…
Custom Creature Creation
Greetings, brave adventurers! You’ve stumbled upon one of our guest blogs! If you’ve been burning to put quill to parchment over an idea, be sure to send it in to us, sendingstone@heroesrisepodcast.com and your ideas could be featured here! “Hah, it’s just a kobold!” Halvor laughed, “And to think we were worried!” “As well you should be,” noted the kobold before incinerating him with a fiery exhalation. One of the core aspects of D&D is monsters. From goblins to orcs, undead to celestials, and wild beasts to dinosaurs, D&D has a long history of wonderful and fantastic creatures for players to encounter, fight, or negotiate with. One of the best aspects of a homebrew campaign is creating creatures that are specifically built for your story, or making something unique that will really challenge the players. While published campaigns are more structured, it can be fun to tweak an existing creature…