The Gith
This article was first broadcast in Episode Ten on 7th February 2018. Lennon: Are you crazy!? Ostron: Will you calm down and listen! Ryu: Why is everyone yelling in here!? Lennon: He has a silver sword Ostron: It’s a sword that LOOKS silver, it’s not one of THOSE silver swords. Do I look like an idiot? Lennon: Well you work on this show, don’t you? Ryu: What am I missing here? Ostron: I’m guessing a lot of history about the Githyanki Whenever psionics comes up in D&D, three races are always brought up with it: the Mindflayers, Githyanki, and Githzerai. We’re going to discuss the latter two. Fortunately the history of these peoples hasn’t changed very much from their first appearance in D&D, although some details are downplayed in more recent editions. Back before most non-immortal races in D&D, the Illithids or mindflayers had an empire spanning multiple…
Heroes Rise, ninth-and-a-half entry: Party Wipe
Welcome, brave adventurers to the ninth-and-a-half entry into the Heroes Rise chronicle. This episode was recorded at various points in 2017 & 2018, and made available for download on Wednesday, 31st January 2018 at heroesrisepodcast.com
Heroes Rise, ninth entry: Raerae’s First Adventure
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 3: Advanced Weather
This article was first broadcast in Episode Nine on 20th January 2018. Raerae: Huh, so this is what it looks like back here Lennon: You mean you’ve never been backstage? Raerae: Well I’m not usually on stage to go behind it Ostron: Good point Raerae: Oooh, is this where Ryu keeps that hat? Ostron: Well, not quite, this is where we always go after the news for a Short Rest Raerae: Gotchya. So, what do you do when you take a Short Rest? Lennon: Oh, mainly we try and keep Ryu out of the Gnomish Workshop. Although the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking about the weather… So continuing on, you’ve caused a party wipe with a gentle summer shower, you’ve got your players looking for deeper meanings in every change of wind direction, surely this is all the weather you need in a D&D game, right? As you…
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…