Heroes Rise, eighth entry: Recorded in 1d6 takes
Welcome, brave adventurers to the eighth entry into the Heroes Rise chronicle. This episode was recorded on Saturday, 11th January 2018, and made available for download on Wednesday, 17th January 2018 at heroesrisepodcast.com
Weather in D&D Part 2: Weather as a Story Element
This article was first broadcast in Episode Eight on 17th January 2018. Ryu: Ok, I’ve fixed the spell, try the lights again Lennon: *click* Ahh, that’s bett–gah! *a crack of thunder, the sound of rain* Ostron: Hmm. That’s… ominous… although now I can barely see the script Ryu: Let me just cast the Light spell… Ostron: Much better! Last time, we discussed using weather as an encounter. While this is one way to incorporate weather into a campaign, if your party members are all equipped with slickers +2 vs hailstones, forcewall umbrellas, and galoshes of dry socks, you might have overused the tactic just a smidge. On the other hand, now that your players are paying attention to it, you can begin to expand the role that weather plays in your adventures beyond just weather encounters. Since D&D is a storytelling game, it’s appropriate to look at how weather is…
Heroes Rise, seventh entry: Palatable Kender
Welcome, brave adventurers to the seventh entry into the Heroes Rise chronicle. This episode was recorded on Saturday, 6th January 2018, and made available for download on Wednesday, 10th January 2018 at heroesrisepodcast.com
Weather in D&D Part 1: Weather as an Encounter
This article was first broadcast in Episode Seven on 10th January 2018. Ostron: It’s raining bears and frogs out there Lennon: Okay, the expression is cats and dogs and plate armor isn’t good in rain- Ostron: I’m going to stop you right there – look out the window. Weather: everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it. To be fair, most people can’t do anything about it…unless they’re the DM, in which case they can make it rain frogs for weeks because someone wanted frog’s legs for dinner. But aside from petty revenge and/or cheap laughs, it’s hard to know when or why to include weather in the game. In modern times, it’s largely demoted to be the bane of the commuter, but in earlier eras the prosperity of sailors, merchants, farmers, soldiers, and more depended heavily on the weather being cooperative. Since travel above-ground leaves the party…
Heroes Rise, sixth entry: We Know What You’re Thinking
Welcome, brave adventurers to the sixth entry into the Heroes Rise chronicle. This episode was recorded on Saturday, 30th December 2017, and made available for download on Wednesday, 3rd January 2017 at heroesrisepodcast.com
Royal Titles
This article was first broadcast in Episode Six on 3rd January 2018. Lennon: Why does the break room wall have dry erase lines everywhere with some pictures of Duke Ellington, Elvis, and Christopher Lee from Star Wars? Ostron: Oh, yeah, we wanted to add some stuff to our campaigns and have it be authentic. Royalty! Kings, Princes, Dukes. I mean an evil baron- Ryu: Or Baroness! Ostron: -right trying to take over the kingdom is classic! But we wanted it to be authentic and we’re not used to the whole royalty, lines of succession thing. Lennon: Ryu, Ostron, I’m British. We’ve got this. Here’s your note sheet, here’s your note sheet…now, everyone follow along. We’ll have your Kings and Princes sorted out in no time. What’s in a Name? When adding nobility and royal titles to D&D, the most common pattern is to have nobility named based on the…
The Twelve Days of Bonuses, Part 2
This article was first broadcast in Episode Five on 27th December, 2017. Ostron: Yeah, somebody’s been stealing lunches, so she’s taken to keeping it the vault. Lennon: …the vault? Killer DM: Yes, you know, down the hall to the left, through the trap-filled corridor, over the pits filled with rabid vorpal weasels, in the mimic-filled chamber. Where you left your belovéd Killer DM hat, for “safe keeping”. So, continuing from last week, we’ll be looking at six more bonuses you can consider giving to your players… or applying to your own dice. We’ll look at the bonus, where it’s used, and look at the benefits and disadvantages of each one. So, without further ado… The 7th bonus is “Maximize”. Simply put, take whatever the maximum number your dice could potentially roll and that’s your result. In 5th edition, it’s used to determine starting hit points. Another place it’s used is…
Heroes Rise, fifth entry: A Deck of Merry Things
Welcome, brave adventurers to the fifth entry into the Heroes Rise chronicle. This episode was recorded on Saturday, 23rd December 2017, and made available for download on Wednesday, 27th December 2017 at heroesrisepodcast.com
The Twelve Days of Bonuses, Part 1
This article was first broadcast in Episode Four on 20th December, 2017. Lennon: Hey Ryu, what’ve you got there? Ryu: Oh this? It’s just a magic item I found in the Gnomish Workshop Lennon: Looks like a santa hat. Hmm, let’s see the item card: Hat of the Killer DM. When equipping this hat, make a constitution saving throw (DC15). On a failed save, the wearer becomes the Killer DM for the remainder of the segment. You may repeat the saving throw once per round. This sounds cursed. Ryu: I’m gonna put it on Lennon: That doesn’t seem wise—ok, you did it anyway. Ok, make a constitution saving throw… a 3. Really? Killer DM: Mwuahhahahaaa! Where is Ostron? He is late. For our first bonus, we’ll look at one of the most common, the flat bonus: simply take your roll, and add a number to it, such as 1d8+2.…
Heroes Rise, fourth entry: Of Cursed Hats and Maxed Stats
Welcome, brave adventurers, to the fourth entry into the Heroes Rise chronicle. This episode was recorded on Saturday, 16th December 2017, and made available for download on Wednesday, 20th December 2017 at heroesrisepodcast.com