Heroes Rise, fifty-sixth entry: Rules? More a set of guidelines!
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the fifty-sixth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday January 5th 2019, and released Wednesday January 9th 2019 over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
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…
Heroes Rise, fifty-fifth: Jack and James from The Bodhana Group
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the fifty-fifth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday December 29th 2018, and released Wednesday January 2nd 2019 over at heroesrisepodcast.com.
Heroes Rise, fifty-fourth entry: Twas The Night After Christmas
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the fifty-fourth entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday December 22nd 2018, and released Wednesday December 26th 2018 over at heroesrisepodcast.com
Wisdom of the Masters: The KDM’s Christmas Gifts
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Four on 26th December 2018. Killer DM: Oh there you are Lennon. So nice to see you again. I can’t help noticing it’s Christmas Lennon: Yes Kay- Killer DM: Go ahead. Try using that name Lennon: -Killer DM. I just can’t begin to tell you how good it is to see you. It’s your first anniversary isn’t it? Killer DM: It is, but you know what it’s not? Lennon: What? Killer DM: Thanksgiving. Do you remember anything about Thanksgiving? Lennon: Um..no? Because I’m British? Ostron: Still can’t get the power cells to recharge right, I wonder…oh. Hi Killer DM. I guess I should have anticipated this. Killer DM: Yes. You should have. You should have also invited me around for Thanksgiving LIKE. I. ASKED! Lennon: Well I was at a family barbecue… Ostron: Yeah, and I… had… a … generic excuse… Killer DM: No, No, don’t worry. I’m letting bygones be bygones for now. I’ve come…
Heroes Rise, fifty-third entry: Fighting the Illegitimate Bastards
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the fifty-third entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday December 15th 2018, and released Wednesday December 19th 2018 over at heroesrisepodcast.com
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…
A Short Rest: Gnomish Workshop: Challenge Ratings… We need a bigger analyzer!
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fifty-Two on 12th December 2018. Ryu: Oh no he’s down! Ostron! Lennon: Did the KDM do this? Ryu: Hey! I haven’t worn the hat for…a while now and besides he doesn’t look hurt. He’s sort of more in a trance I think? What’s this thing he’s lying next to? Lennon: Well it’s…wow. It’s taking up a lot more room than I thought at first glance. Oh there’s a label! “Realized Oikumenatal Solution To Removing Obfuscation” ROSTRO: You may refer to me as ROSTRO Ryu & Lennon: GAAAAH! Ryu: What did you do to Ostron? ROSTRO: Nothing. Technically, he did something to me. Lennon: …and what was that? ROSTRO: My activation required additional cognitive energy, therefore he astrally projected himself into my mechanisms. Ryu: How is that even possible? ROSTRO: My internal workings are in practice a small artificial plane formed from mathematical probability. Lennon: That sounds…terrifying ROSTRO: Ostron determined it was necessary for the research project he was…
Heroes Rise, fifty-second entry: A PAX on both your houses
Welcome, brave adventurers… to the fifty-second entry into our chronicle, recorded on Saturday December 8th 2018, and released Wednesday December 12th 2018 over at heroesrisepodcast.com