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…
Healing Without Healing
This article was first broadcast in Episode Fourteen on 7th March 2018. Lennon: Ok, so I’ve been thinking about our Ixalan adventure… well, mis-adventure… and I think I’ve gotten to the bottom of it. We need a cleric. Ryu: No we don’t Ostron: Right — a paladin would probably be better. They can absorb more damage. Ryu: Wrong again Lennon: Ok, well what do you suggest? Ryu: Well, I find that depends on how you look at it. The easiest way to guarantee blind panic in most players is to drain the group’s healer of spell slots or hit points. Some players refuse to engage in a fight or even a campaign unless there is a dedicated healer ready to go when things get violent. However, having someone ready with Healing Word isn’t the only way to mitigate damage in combat. Now, you might be asking why we’re talking…
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…
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.…