Unearthed Mundana: New Books
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Eighty Five on 13th October 2021. Wizards of the Coast released their 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons in the year 2000. Many people believe the release was an effort by Wizards to put their stamp on the brand after they acquired TSR in 1997. As such, 3rd edition was a rather extreme overhaul of D&D at a mechanics level. Many people are familiar with the fact that 3rd edition introduced the so-called d20 system, which Wizards then distributed through the Open Gaming License. In short, the d20 system meant nearly every decision or action made as part of the game was decided based on the roll of a 20-sided die. Previously in 2nd edition, while d20s were still used in some rolls, you had percentile dice and others involved in decisions just as often. Switching over from a multi-die…
Heroes Rise, one hundred eighty-fourth entry: Spelljammer, The Next Generation
Welcome, brave adventurers … to the one hundred eighty-fourth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, October 2nd, and released Wednesday, October 6th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Unearthed Mundana: Ahoy the House
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Eighty Four on 6th October 2021. Ryu (with maternal authority): Lennon! Lennon: …yes? Ryu: I know you’re not trying to pickpocket from me, are you? Lennon (sighing): I… I thought I was getting better at this. Ryu: As you keep reminding everyone, your Charisma score went up when you became a Warlock. I think your Dexterity is still what? Twelve? Lennon: …ten. Ryu: Okay, yeah, so why did you think you were going to steal my coin purse? It’s next to the hat, by the way, so good luck if you happen to grab that by mistake. Lennon: Why do you have the- okay one thing at a time. Firstly, that coin purse was mine in the first place; secondly in the Feywild they like to steal things. Well, some of the beings there do, the rest of them have…different greetings. Ostron: Wait, they steal things as a greeting? Lennon: Yeah, I don’t…
Heroes Rise, one hundred eighty-third entry: Reimagined Dragons
Welcome, brave adventurers … to the one hundred eighty-third entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, September 25th, and released Wednesday, September 29th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Archives of Candlekeep: I’m So Pretty
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Eighty Three on 29th September 2021. Lennon: Ryu, come on, we already talked about this. Ryu: When? Ostron: Back when we covered all the dragons, or did a summary anyway. We explicitly called out the gem dragons. Ryu: We talked about them for a grand total of maybe two minutes! Do you know how criminally short that is? Ostron: Still, we did talk about them. Ryu (disappointed): All right, well, I told KayDee that you guys wouldn’t be able to go over her notes on how to skin various creatures to preserve their hides because I was going to talk about dragons, but if we’re not going to do that… (a pause) Lennon: …You’re bluffing. Ryu: Try me. Ostron: I owe Gath too many favors…and a lot of diamonds. Lennon: Fine. R (squeeing): So as everyone knows, you can’t have Dungeons and Dragons without dragons, and you can’t have dragons without having more dragons.…
Gnomish Workshop: People Building
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Eighty Two on 22nd September 2021. (Sound of grinding gears) Ryu: What is he doing in there? Lennon: Maybe he’s upgrading ROSTRO? ROSTRO: If you are interested, my processing faculties were largely taken up with an analysis of persona synthesis and optimal configuration techniques of same. Ryu: If we don’t take an interest, is Ostron going to wake up? ROSTRO: Probability suggests it is not a likely outcome. Lennon: Ugh, fine, what are you on about this time? (The screen powers on) When creating new characters for a campaign or a one-shot, a frequent point that gives both players and DMs pause is the issue of ability scores. There is often a lot of thinking and wrangling about what statistics to put scores in, but before people can even get there everyone has to decide what scores are being used in the first place. Now for a lot…
Heroes Rise, one hundred eighty-second entry: Naked Wizards Go Down Well At The Table
Welcome, brave adventurers … to the one hundred eighty-first entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, September 11th, and released Wednesday, September 15th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Heroes Rise, one hundred eighty-first entry: Jeff and the Fun Guys
Welcome, brave adventurers … to the one hundred eighty-first entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, September 11th, and released Wednesday, September 15th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Archives of Candlekeep: Hags of the Feywild
This article was first broadcast in Episode One Hundred Eighty One on 15 September 2021. Ostron: Ryu? I thought you were headed into town for some snacks? Did you take the nightmare? Ryu: Definitely not. I don’t care how much KayDee insists he’s a big softie. No I met a nice woman on the road who fell in a ditch and needed help. She had a bunch of apples with her and gave me a bunch, so I didn’t need to go all the way to town. See here’s one- (loud horrific screeching explosion) Ryu (angrily): Lennon! What are you doing? Lennon: Saving your life! Old woman that fell in a ditch, needs help from a nice young girl, offers fruit? Did she give you anything else? Weird necklace, funny smelling potion, random baby? Ostron: Okay, Lennon, clearly you’re excited about something but the rest of us are a bit lost. Lennon: Ryu just described classic Hag…
Heroes Rise, one hundred eightieth entry: Dicing with Ryu Flu
Welcome, brave adventurers … to the one hundred eightieth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday, September 4th, and released Wednesday, September 8th over at heroesrisepodcast.com.