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noblecrumpet-dorkvision · 4 years

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Overland Travel as a Dungeon

With D&D being canceled last night due to Roll20 issues, I’ve had time to do extra prepwork! I’m trying something new to take the tedium out of overland travel by making it more like a dungeon with “rooms” depending on the choices the players make (the labels are GM-only for my own reference)

I’m also making Long Rests during travel more difficult (so I don’t have to challenge them with deadly encounters at every step): Each long rest, players will need to choose between regaining their hit points, regaining half their max hit dice, or regaining their spell slots/long-rest-recharging features. In other words, three long rests will end up equaling 1 true long rest. They can choose the same thing multiple times in a row.

All encounters are established ahead of time, but which ones they encounter are based on their decisions. My rules for designing the encounters:

75% of encounters must progress the story (7/9 advance the plot here)

Each must be foreshadowed in the players’ options. They should know the extent of dangers of their choices.

50% should be non-combat (traps, RP, skill challenge, etc)

Here are the encounters the players face while in the swamp:

Inclement Weather

A torrential rainstorm begins to rage. (these ones are non-plot encounters)

Seek cover and wait it out: The tree the players rest beneath loosens from a rush of water and falls over, burying and suffocating those that fail the save. Three successful Athletics checks frees them.

Keep moving carefully: A spinosaurus hunts the players using the rain to cover its approach.

Night Terrors

There are no encounters during the day but the players will need to make survival checks to stay on the newly-flooded path. At night, our warlock-turned-wizard has dreams relating to their shadowy ex-patron, who desperately wants control of her back but an amulet is keeping the patron at bay. When she awakens, one of her allies was mind-controlled into stealing the amulet and throwing it into the muck. After the charm fades, shadow stags attack once the warlock is vulnerable (I took large Giant Elks and combined them with undead Shadows, and had their dash create a trail of magic darkness).

Flooded Path

The road passes through a valley that got flooded by the rain.

Cross the Water: The players spot a crocodile in the water. It ignores them for now but it seems the water might be dangerous. They will also need to figure out how they are doing it (boat, swimming?) and make checks. Lizardfolk and a giant crocodile relating to the players’ past can be encountered here. They are hunting and will attack initially, but the players might be able to end combat early if they persuade them.

Find a Way Around: There is a forest filled with strange green mist, similar to a corrupted plant-hydra they saw earlier. They will need to make survival checks and regret not letting the ranger from last session help them. A hag has been corrupting the land near here, and they will get attacked by 3x owlbears with a 5′ poison aura and corrosive claws.

Old Themryl

Depending on which ways the players went, they can access different parts of an old kingdom or try to find the main road again (but, nearing the exit of the swamps, the players might want to lay low for story reasons). The other story stuff in this fork is hard to explain lacking context so I will just explain the encounters.

Investigate skulls on pikes: The players can find Themryl Gardens, a cemetery desecrated by skulls on pikes with glowing eyes. It is currently being raided by a blackguard with 3 skeleton servants. He is trying to break into a mausoleum but his skeletons are too weak. If disturbed, he summons two Flameskulls from the pikes nearby to attack.

Inside the mausoleum is a Spectator guardian. A glyph of warding trap is on a sarcophagus, which also has a secret compartment with story stuff and treasure. the corpse within is also story-related and leads to Old Themryl Keep for the other half of the info.

Find the Road: The players meet a bard belonging to their destination’s innkeepers’ guild. He seeks Old Themryl and will pay handsomely to be led there to gain inspiration for his songs. Players can ignore him if they choose, but at least they will learn about the plot dungeons if they wish to return.

Investigate the bodies: Players find bodies riddled with arrow wounds (but no arrows), crawling away from a thicket before they died. In the thicket is the half-sunken ruins of Old Themryl Keep. It is protected by Sword Wraiths (but with stats for longbows) on the battlements.

Inside, there is a simple statue puzzle and mysterious ghostly antics. The puzzle opens the next chamber.

Next room is a hallway with two normal sword wraiths. One door in the hall is caved in. Another door will open but buries the door opener in muck (trap). Last door leads to a grand hall.

Grand hall is knee-deep in water with rubble islands and a throne peeking above surface. Sword Wraith Commander is here, and summon other sword wraiths. The commander deals bonus lightning instead of necrotic and has a lair action on round 20 where he electrifies the water for a high amount of damage. Players can avoid by the islands or throne, but the minions may push them in. If put to rest, story stuff happens.

Last room has a noble’s treasure and a handmaid’s journal that dispenses plot, and leads to the cemetery for the other half of the info.

Downed Caravan

The players come by a caravan trying to fix their wheels/axle and trying to treat wounded members. One would think they were attacked by bandits, but in reality it was a patrol of corrupt soldiers demanding tax from these merchants from an enemy kingdom from New Themryl (the PCs destination). If the players help the group, they are offered a way into an enemy kingdom with shelter, and rewarded with some of their goods. If not, well... the PCs don’t gain anything. They’re just assholes.

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And then the players arrive at their destination!

There were multiple paths, options to backtrack and explore, RP elements, mini-dungeons, skill checks, puzzles, traps, and big monsters... just like any dungeon! Feel free to steal any of this and especially the concept of “travel as dungeon” because I think it’s going to be more fun. But we will find out on our next session of the Dorkvision stream! (Sundays 9PM-12 eastern and wednesdays 7-10PM - https://www.twitch.tv/noblecrumpet)

#dungeons and dragons #DnD #homebrew #overland travel #hex crawl #encounter #random encounter

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negative-cone · 5 years

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here have a city map i made with Hex Kit. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/227154/Hex-Kit--3-Tile-Sets-Collection

#dnd #d&d 5e #pathfinder #adventure #critical #wizard #fighter #roll #role #role play #roleplaying #ttrpg #rpg #map #theif #old school game #hex #hex crawl #hex kit #d&d #5e

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mugasofer · 3 years

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Thinking about the worldbuilding and power-scaling in Worm.

I think a big part of why Worm has developed such an intense fanfic community - disproportionate to its popularity, even - is that the world makes for a perfect sandbox.

Winslow High in Brockton Bay in America in Earth Bet in the Entities' multiverse, each layer defined both by the layers above it (in ways both visible and invisible) and by the fascinating cast of that layer. You can drop pretty much any character in, no matter how weak or how powerful, and know they'll slot into one of those power levels and encounter an interesting cast of characters there.

All of Wildbow's stories follow heroes who grow in power and competence and deal with increasingly powerful parts of their world, but Worm is the most pure and blatant in its escalation spiral. We follow Taylor from struggling desperately against the street-level characters that define her hometown and the bullies in her school, all the way to struggling desperately against the hidden gods that define her multiverse. This means that, as a natural consequence of the story structure, we get to experience this fractal world that is interesting at every level.

Obviously, the Wormverse isn't alone in having characters of different power levels. It has this feature because it's copying traditional superhero worlds, which also have characters ranging from the mundane to the cosmic. But they don't have quite the same fractal structure; rather, you have isolated bubbles of characters around each main character and keyed to their power level. Metropolis is full of Superman-level planetary threats and Gotham is full of Batman-level street-level threats; Daredevil's New York is full of human Daredevil-level ninjas and Spider-Man's New York is full of Spiderman-level animal-themed supervillains and the Fantastic Four's New York is full of Fantastic Four level high-concept scifi threats. Crossovers between these series happen, but they are - and feel like - crossovers. Batman may stop Darkseid eating the multiverse one week in the JLA comic but he'll struggle just as hard against the Mad Hatter next week in his own comic. Outside of very occasional events like Civil War, there's little sense that that there's a global stage where things happen that affect the entire setting the way we get with the PRT and Cauldron, nor is there a sense that characters can graduate to that stage given enough power; the JLA and Avengers include a mish-mash of heroes at all power levels based more on popularity than logic, and lots of individual heroes do stuff that's supposedly impacting the entire country/planet/universe/multiverse in their own books without it showing up in anyone else's.

One might compare this to an old-school sandbox game of DnD. The players start off attached to a small town "base", or crawling between hexes dealing with disconnected local threats. But as they get more powerful, they start picking up quests from kings and powerful wizards to defeat threats to entire kingdoms or journey across the globe to retrieve powerful artefacts; they've graduated from a map of the local villages and caves and forest to a map of the world with kingdoms marked on it. They can go back to those little villiages marked on the hex-grid and find that, by saving or overthrowing the kingdom they were in, they've affected what used to be their whole world (although most of it will still be there.) In time, they grow so powerful that the entire world no longer really has any threats that can realistically challenge them, so the DM breaks out the books that detail specific gods and arch-demons and other cosmic beings; they've graduated from a mere map of the planet they were on to a planar cosmology of the multiverse and its rulers. Their actions now affect the entire setting; the patrons of entire religions they previously encountered can live or die as a result of their adventures, the very forces that underpin the universe might shift.

Put Superman into the world of, say, Avatar the Last Airbender, and he completely breaks the setting. Put the Last Airbender cast in DC Comics, and they can work OK as street-level heroes, but you need to be more specific because it's really a bunch of disconnected settings; they could have an interesting story in Gotham, not so much in Metropolis fighting Brainiac. Put either of them in a D&D setting, and they both work; Superman as an epic-level hero vulnerable to magic, the Avatar cast as middling-level characters each with their own unique brand of magic. Put either in Worm, and they both work; Superman is playing with the Triumvirate, Scion, Endbringers and the like; while Team Avatar would fit in nicely in Brockton Bay alongside Taylor (or any of the other cities we've seen described, like Chicago or New York or the setting of Ward, or indeed a fan-made city with original heroes, but Brockton Bay is the most richly detailed).

Now you might be wondering, where's all the D&D fanfic, then? Doesn't this completely undercut my whole hypothesis? But of course, D&D fanfic makes up most of the fantasy genre.

#worldbuilding #fanfic meta #worm #parahumans #gaming #rambling #long #by me

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hydralisk98 · 2 years

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Things to focus onto?

Braindump: { Halloween, libre software, life long learning, aesthetic creative assets, cartoons, fighting back Wilsonism, vintage soft grunge techs, 1910s, law of attraction & assomption, subliminals, autism, affirmations, Unix porn aesthetics, TempleOS, moodboards, wholesome, Portal 2, Helluva Boss, 0x10c, Servitor, INTP(-T), history, customization, handwriting, Jucika, slidesona and slideshows, civilization games, Pflaummen, Maskoch, Maskutchew, 16^12, conlangs, Black Bear, Her Camera, Klara, transfeminity, magick, witch, FreeCiv, exploration, pawnsonas, software toys, far far away future, dying universe, degenerate era future, Quake, Lisp, Tribbles, DECmate, PDP-8/E, dark pastel aesthetics, B&W, 35mm, wooden amber, Commodore, Sherman Fairchild, OUYA aesthetics, Hooven shoes, Reich, AutisticAngora, hydralisk98, trans pride, LGBTQ+, meme, CSS3 coding, HTML5 coding, C programming, retro tiny programs, Uxn, Gyo, Konrad Zuse, time travel, shapeshifting, opinions, Discord subliminal community, YouTube subliminal community, positivity, Ea-Nasir, ANSI, PETSCII, paper tape, paper cylinder worlds, collages, assembly programming, Oswald the lucky rabbit, vintage media, videostore, public library, dice, math rocks, mundane fantasy, Angora (world), Magritte, Tolkien, Vivziepop, Furudeki, content curations, compilation, video editing, vector art, photo edits, index card catalogs, zines, hardware modding, logic gates, multimedia, soft grunge, dark aesthetics yet empowering positive moods, apocalypse, documentaries, CRT, Sifteo, SEGA Dreamcast, SEGA Dreamcast VMU, Zepeto, Instagram, Tumblr, Mastodon, DuckDuckGo, Wikipedia, Deviantart, Toyhou.se, Librewolf, Brave, Build2 game engine, Quake 1, ASCII, UTF-8, textmode, text art, typewriter, selectric, word processor, analog tech, living computer history museum, custom dumbphone, libre mindset, dnd, pathfinder, talespinner EU the free TTRPG system, GURPS, dungeon crawl, hex crawl, knowledge explorer, alternate history, alternative software, DIY stationnery, font making, typeface craft, dark aesthetic ladies, angelcore, webcore, monotone icons, GUI theme pack, web design, custom cursor, custom sound effects, real life photography, relaxation, affirmations, mindset detox, flat retro yet layered style, animated agents, dark colors but bright themes, Windows 3.11, NeXTSTEP, SPARC workstations, BASIC programming, Unix philosophy, Parmenides, Philosophy, studies, study, *-blr, magazines, MIDI music, creative writing, poetry, Turing machine, Lambda calculus, game modding, Neocities, Geocities archived web pages, Fish shell, Bash shell, Zsh shell, cool-retro-term, Cathode, new iMac Yellow/Mint 24", logic operators, parentheses everywhere, Python programming, C++ programming, F# programming, CTSS (OS), ITS (OS), Multics (OS), Atari-style graphic design, Ural soviet computer, bitwise operations, tiny to the core minimalism... };

Hexes Selectric:

Focus: Knowledge exploration with aesthetic slideshows

Aesthetics: Soft grunge with yet dark-ish components (Versatile theme packs with my color scheme)

#maskoch

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transmascdogboy · 3 years

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I’m a mutual but I am anxious so anonhfjsjjssjkf who are your partners or what are they like?? I’ve seen you mention them a few times!! :D

OOKKAAY CRACKS KNUCKLES

bella is bi and evil,, shes a little ipad baby /hj,,, she rly likes the caretaker and fan projects !! she fucking LOVES spongebob and she has some cool fish n stuff . she's so cringe /pos

joey/sanct is so. weeps. kind and evil and just. barks at it. that thing likes dnd, jjba, emo stuff,, and it got me into slipknot :3 we were in english class together in 8th grade and it was the funniest shit ever *pets it like kity*

jojo is just a funny little hex bug,,, bug likes dnd, jjba, entomology, and the decemberists,, we've also played stardew valley before n it was so epic,, he's just a little guy *lets him crawl on my hand and holds him up to bella*

#i can also tag them if u wanna see their blogs!!!!#ask #partners #my beloveds...

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mammonspeanut · 4 years

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Safe in an angel’s arms (Simeon x Reader

Idk I just felt like writing something about Simeon. Not as good as some previous things but I do like it myself.

You awake to loud knocking at your door, as per usual it is Mammon who is calling for you to get dressed before you’re late to RAD. Shifting in bed you roll over, trying to be as quiet as possible in hopes that he would leave soon. You haven’t been feeling your best the last few days, which wasn’t anything new to you since you’ve been used to having this feeling from time to time. As you laid in silence you thanked Lucifer for putting a hex on your door so no-one would be able to enter without your permission. None of the boys liked the fact that Lucifer did it but to save your sanity you just had to ask for that favor. Closing your eyes after you heard Mammon walk away you could feel yourself slip into a deep slumber.

After waking and falling back to sleep a few more times you knew you had lost all sense of time, not that you had a feeling for it since arriving here anyways but, you had slowly been adapting to it and were at least during the daytime awake. You let your hand creep around in bed as the sound of Lucifer’s voice resonated in your head: “You know it isn’t healthy for humans to sleep in bed with your phone. You should at least put it on the nightstand.” You sighed as you finally wrapped your fingers around the cold surface of your phone under your pillow, maybe someday you’ll do it but for now, it wasn’t going to be an option. Even lesser of an option was you ever turning off dnd you thought as you pulled out your blinking phone from underneath.

Unlocking the phone you noticed you had quite a few messages from the boys, no-one, except Mammon, had sent an overwhelming amount of texts but summed up there still were way too many that you could bother yourself with reading. Glancing at the time as you pulled the covers closer to your chin, you were surprised to find out that you had pretty much slept all day. Laying there you didn’t feel tired enough to sleep but you also weren’t willing to stay awake. So you decided on trying to let sleep envelope you once again as you rolled over closing your eyes. After laying in silence for a while you suddenly began to think about Simeon. Deep down you knew there was no reason to do so but you still craved his touch and his warm, deep and soothing voice. You imagined what it would feel like to lay in his warm embrace as he quietly slept behind you, tugging you closer to feel your body against his. With your eyes still, close you let your fingers crawl under your sheets in search of your phone once again.

After forcing yourself out of bed to take a shower and brush your teeth you returned to your room to slip into something comfortable. Noticing your phone blinking you unlocked it :

Simeon are you still awake?

Indeed I am dear. Is there anything I can do for you?

Can I come over?

At this time of the night? I don’t think you should be walking the streets of devildome alone this late.

… true

Though I wouldn’t mind having you over. I do really miss you.

I miss you too… can you pick me up?

Sure, I’ll be there soon.

Thanks.

I’m outside.

After slipping into a fresh pair of clothing you grabbed your phone, toothbrush, and charger. Knowing Simeon would never let you stay the night without your meds you turned around to grab them as well. As you slowly crept towards the front door you prayed silently that none of the floorboards would creak loud enough for Lucifer to leave his room. After carefully opening the door you were greeted by the cool night air. Turning around Simeon flashed you one of his warm smiles before embracing you while holding you close to him, he noticed something was different so he held you a bit longer as usual.

“Ready to leave?”, he asked after gently rubbing your back. You nodded in response before slowly closing the door behind you. After releasing you from his hug you noticed that he had left the house only wearing a random T-Shirt and a pair of sweatpants. It was a rare sight since he only left the house looking the best but seeing him dress this casually gave you the impression as if he was just a human like you. After walking for a while Simeon softly grabbed your hand without saying a word, you looked up at him but he just looked straight forward as if nothing had happened. At times could feel him gently squeeze your hand when you got spooked by a sound, reassuring you that he was there and protecting you. All you could concentrate on was the way your heart fluttered in your chest as you both walked down the streets hand in hand.

Upon entering Purgatory hall Simeon brought you right to his room. Although you had been in Purgatory hall quite often, sometimes a little too often, you’d reside in either Luke’s or Solomon’s room. Against what you imagined Simeon had his own room which was fairly empty. “I bet you thought I was sharing my room with Luke.”, Simeon stated breaking the silence as you took in your impression of his room. “To be honest, yes I mean there are two beds after all. But then again I’m pretty sure you’re happy to be alone every now and then.”, you replied as Simeon turned on his water cooker. With his back turned to you as he took out two cups from the cupboard you could hear the smile in his voice as he explained: “I do enjoy Luke’s presence a lot, especially since his views have been shifting greatly but, it doesn’t change the fact that I am far older than him and do need my privacy. Plus I wouldn’t be able to bring you over in the middle of the night if I was to share my room with someone.” Forgetting that Simeon wasn’t facing you, you nodded as you listened to the water cooker click and the clinking of spoons into two cups. “I suppose you are right.”, you said right before Simeon turned around: “Tea?”, he asked while handing you a cup, recognizing the art on the cup you couldn’t help but smile because you yourself had exactly the same one at home. Smiling you took the cup and followed Simeon over to his bed. “Come here.”, Simeon said inviting you to sit next to him on the bed.

You spent most of the night talking about whatever popped into your minds, Simeon would tell you about the life in the celestial realm as you explained certain phrases he’d ask you about. After you emptied your tea you cuddled up next to him laying your head on his shoulder as you drooped one leg over one of his while he placed his chin on top of your head, wrapping one of his arms around your shoulder. You could feel one of his hands gently pet your head as he finally asked: “Why did you want to come over?” After a moment of silence and thinking about what lie you could tell him you decided to just be honest for the first time: “I didn’t want to be alone.” He let out a soft understanding hum before continuing to speak:“ Why would you be alone After all you are in the house with seven of the most high ranking demons, who also seem to pester you more than needed.” “I don’t know, I just feel so sad and I don’t know why. Though I am shutting them out I also feel like I can’t go to them because of their status. I mean come on how much pitty can the avatar of pride have for a mortal like me.”, You explain as you shifted in his arms, uneasy from speaking about how you feel for the first time

Another understanding hum followed after you uttered your words “That’s a really good and legit question indeed. ”, Simeon agreed as both of you were engulfed in silence once again. “Aren’t you going to pester me with questions like why I am sad and what not or bombard me with comments like "just smile �� or "it’s not that bad?”, you asked confused after looking up at him. A soft smile spread on his face as he brushed your hair out of your face “Oh no, though I do feel your emotions right now and know that you feel confused and lost about your deep sadness. I figure if you knew what was wrong or felt secure enough you would open up at your own time and tell me.”

“Can I move in with you?”, You suddenly asked as you held back your tears and buried your face into Simeon’s chest. You could feel his body vibrate as he chuckled: “Though I would love that. I don’t think the brothers would be happy about it. ” “I don’t care.”, you mumbled into his chest trying not to laugh at your own stubbornness as Simeon let out a chuckle:“ Very brave of you to not care but I’d rather not have my feathers plucked.” You laid your head back onto his chest and look at the door. “I’ve missed being alone with you to talk or just spend our time together in silence.”, you mentioned as you mindlessly drew circles on Simeon’s chest. “I have missed it as well.”, he whispered before kissing the top of your head.

After laying with him in silence for a while, listening to Simeon’s heartbeat you suddenly felt his soft lips against your forehead. The unsure gesture suddenly filled you with a sense of calmness and love as a warmth spread throughout your body. You sighed, releasing all tension you had in your body as Simeon pulled you in closer. The overwhelming feeling of security made you tear up so you buried your face into his chest before he softly put his fingers under your chin and tipping it upwards so he could look into your eyes as your lips ever so slightly parted. He slowly leaned in, stopping mere inches from your mouth as he whispered: “I know I shouldn’t do this but I’ve always wondered what your lips tasted like. ”

#obey me simeon #idk what this is #obey me #my fiction #obey me fanfic

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bodieh · 4 years

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Did you miss me? Sorry for the slow posting lately, exciting return post though; there's a new location-pack up on my Patreon. It's a bit of a hex-crawl which is the first one i've designed.⁠ .⁠ Anyway, go check it out, or just enjoy the art snippets i'll post from it, as well as some other new stuff :).⁠ .⁠ patreon.com/slowquest⁠ .⁠ #dungeonsanddragons #fantasyart #illustration #d20 #dnd #fantasy #criticalrole #rpg #roleplaying #ttrpg #fantasyart #games #gameart #commissions — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2Qei1vA

#Instagram #IFTTT

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kollapsar · 2 years

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Simple as it may be, it could be a coat befitting an admiral.

Slammed this out in a few hours as a personal break piece because this NPC owns my heart.

#dnd: hex crawl #my art stuff: blorbo flavor #half-orc #dnd #dungeons and dragons #i'm so tired today and i was too weak to resist when blorbo thoughts took the wheel #npc: moo

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sweetcatmintea · 5 years

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The Hidden Markets

Flash Fiction Friday (Saturday edition)! I decided to try writing for a dnd character I’ve been making (despite having never played and no idea how to play ;u; I can dream right) to try to get more of a feel for her. I hope you enjoy going on a romp with Pepper! Feedback is appreciated ^u^

Big thanks to @cawolters for organising FFF and to @pheita for hosting!

Prompt: Mermaid Lights

Words: 1184

Characters: Pepper

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To start an adventure, you must first be equipped to handle the hurdles ahead. That was the wisdom spurring Pepper forward as she hopped through the perfect smooth circle in the centre of the quartz barrier. An uninteresting lump of rock in a vast red desert to the dismissive eye, a satisfyingly formed smoky cube to the interested. To here, the entrance to the fae community she called home. Pawed feet hit cool sand with barely a whisper. If she wanted to avoid the hot, hot, hot, glare of the midday sun, it was only practical to start in the early morning, chasing the fleeing frozen night. She stretched her arms over her head, waking sleepy muscles with a pop. Eager as she was to start, she delayed, savouring the bubbly anticipation. Another step forward. One step closer to the grand adventure of her dreams. A step to the friends, the allies, and the enemies waiting ahead. To the fun and, of course, glorious trinkets and treasures.

Appreciation done, she was off. There was a fair way between her home and the hidden market but sensibility didn’t reach her. Her pace matched her eagerness. Caution to the wind, she darted over rolling dunes, around forests of cacti and thorned yellow flowers, and across craggy paths. Sprinting for sprinting’s sake, she was halfway there by the sun completed its ascent, forcing a retreat. Despite the regulation efforts of her large mouse-like ears, she was still a mere mortal to the sun’s glorious indifference. Pepper perched herself in the cool shade of an abandoned den jutting from a cliff face. The delay was frustrating (and completely expected) at best, but she was foolhardy, not an idiot. She’d have to wait to move again. At least she had lunch. Munching on chunks of baked sweet potato, she watched shadows grow, crawling over sands. Occasionally, a bird call would echo through the stillness, breaking the monotony of it all. It was peaceful. It was beautiful. It was also boring. Pepper had places to be.

Finally, a jackalope lopped in front of her. It was safe to move again. The rabbit eyed her lazily as she shoved her belongings back into her warn leather satchel. He probably didn’t see her as much of a threat, being almost as tall as she was. Rude. She could take him. But not now. She had a market to get to.

A hidden market isn’t as hard to find as you might think. Like most puzzles, it’s pretty easy to figure out retrospective of the answer. All Pepper had to do was pin a mirage in place and jump in. Somehow, the novelty of the fall and stark contrast of daylight and cave depths never seemed to wear off. She loved the markets.

The dim bloomed gradually with coloured stones as Pepper’s eyes adjusted. There wasn’t much illumination but there was enough to guide the way. Clatter and ruckus of merchants and patrons bounced up the walls of the chambers. If she listened carefully, she could just make out the hiss of shifting sands above. The ground was worn smooth by centuries of traffic. Soon enough, the tunnel opened into a massive cavern, bustling and noisy as deals were thrown left right and centre. Fabric stalls littered the mouth, trailing up the walls and poking out of every viable cave. Colour as far as the eye could see. Incense and dried spices peppered the air while fellow bards moulded clamour into music. Unable to hold back an excited wiggle, Pepper hopped from foot to foot, dancing on her toes. Her long tail nearly toppled other visitors as she weaved between their legs. She had to remember not to let it thrash like that. Darting ahead again, she skittered up the walkway to the higher markets, following it deep into the heart of the cave.

The space was massive. Not by design, but necessity. Behind a fabric laid table, surrounded by his wares, a mermaid reclined. His tail, more snake than fish, curled around him with delicate veils of fins toying with light cast from his creations. Long and graceful as he was tall and imposing, desert mermaids were titans in their own right. His hand alone dwarfed the tiny Pepper. She stood proud, greeting him with a voice far bolder than one unaccustomed to feeling small.

“Hail and well met!” She squeaked, “I’m here for a lantern!” Mer made lights were works of art. Living below the sand left them without a need for light but a creator’s soul and admiration for the world above made them skilled craftsmen.

“Hail and well met Little Mouse. What do you have to offer me?” He smiled down at her, resting his chin on his palm like a sculpture bought to life. Turquoise nestled around his arms in slivers of gold woven so fine they put spiders to shame. The problem with mermaids was not that they were unbuyable but that they had valuables in excess.

“I am Pepper, the Soon to be Renown bard! Would you accept my services in exchange for a lantern?”

“I do not need a song Pepper the Bard. There is music all around us.”

“You’re in luck then! I am not a singing bard. I am a story teller.”

His copper green eyes sparkled with mischief. “A deal; if your story can make me laugh, you may have this lantern.”

The doubt never reached Pepper’s face, a confident grin in its place. She would prove that she had the skills to do this. She told of an elf mistaking a jackrabbit for a bugbear, having only seen his reflection in a coin and fleeing before he could approach.

Nothing.

She told of an old wizard accidentally hexing his chair to run away when a guest tried to sit on it.

Not even a chuckle.

She didn’t come here to leave empty handed! But she was also running out of ideas. There was one more, but it was far from good.

“This one will get you, prepare to farewell your lantern! What do you call it when a grandmother gets up to mischief?”

He arched a brow. “I don’t know. What do you call it?”

She threw her hands out. “She-Nana-gans!”

Silence. Both parties eyed each other, Pepper still holding her hand in the air, grinning awkwardly, the mermaid with an almost shocked expression.

Until he snorted. “That’s really bad.” Chuckles made his voice jump. “I’ve never heard a worse joke!” Nevertheless, he didn’t stop laughing, overtaken by the absurdity. It really was a terrible joke.

When he regained himself, he accepted defeat with grace, plucking a staff from beside him. Gently, aware of his size, he dropped it into Pepper’s still outstretched hands. She was too shocked to remember to retract them. It had a good weight to it. Carved agate winding down in a rough spiral. A hanging lantern rocked from the top, filled with water and holding several opal-like pastel stones. No doubt crafted from his own shed scales.

“You win Pepper the Bard. The lantern is yours.”

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Tag list

@inkovert, @snobbysnekboi, @kainablue, and @i-rove-rock-n-roll

#Flash Fiction Friday #fff25 #mermaid #short story #original story #desert mermaid #Pepper the Bard #writing #writblr

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rpgsandbox · 6 years

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A handful of current kickstarters

Blades & Blasters: 5e DnD Alien Invasion Rulebook & Bestiary

An alien invasion supplement for your 5th edition campaign!

This project began in early 2017 when I thought to myself in passing, “How cool would it be to design a campaign about an alien invasion in a medieval fantasy setting?” The answer, of course, is: “Very cool.” It wasn’t until several months later that I began putting serious thought into the idea.

A certain popular game master’s book lists some rules and statistics about alien weapons and technology but I knew immediately that the limited information given would not be enough to build a campaign.

I developed lists of weapons, vehicles, technologies, and of course, a rich selection of alien creatures. With these new items came the need for a new set of rules. Together, all of these new additions the core 5th edition rules make up the Blades & Blasters: Bestiary & Rulebook.

Nothing in this book will override the core 5e rules that we’ve all become so familiar with. My goal was not to reinvent the wheel or create a new RPG. I wanted to build something that could easily fit into existing games and campaign settings.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Mon, October 1 2018 11:05 PM BST

Dungeon Discoveries - Card Decks for any TTRPG

Creative cards to help GMs conjure up immersive world-building details on the spot. Generate thousands of system neutral results.

Coming up with imaginative details on the spot is never easy. Whether you are a seasoned dungeon master, or just started with roleplaying, Dungeon Discoveries card decks help you conjure up inspirational world-building details with the flip of a card.

Each themed, 50-card set generates thousands of system neutral results, ranging from cryptic, mundane, to funny. Draw a card and match up any entry from the top and bottom half. Draw multiple cards to create awesome combinations. You can even mix sets and GO CRAZY :)

Works with any RPG System (no rules text, no dice rolling)

Insane replay value with near infinite combinations.

Thousands of possible results per 50-card deck.

Are your players veering off the beaten path? Searching in places you didn't plan? Looking for a mysterious new quest hook? Dungeon Discoveries decks provide an endless stream of ideas: When you are planning your next game, or on the spot during game night. Never again will you have to say... "You find nothing"...

You are free to combine entries from the top and bottom half, giving you many fun options per card. Each fifty card set contains 400 "seeds". When you combine two or more cards the amount of options escalates quickly, and smart people have told us that a single 50-card deck of Dungeon Discoveries gives you tens of thousands of results. Granted, not every single combination will make sense, some will even be (un)intentionally funny - which could be a good thing :-)

Kickstarter campaign ends: Sun, October 21 2018 2:36 PM BST

Website: Lore Smyth

The Sassoon Files

Cthulhu Mythos RPG scenarios and campaign set in 1920's Shanghai.

Horror in the Pearl of the East! The Sassoon Files will be a set of scenarios and campaign resources for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition and GUMSHOE role-playing games (RPGs) set in historical 1920s Shanghai; an international city of intrigue, espionage, style and violence.

Victor Sassoon, a preeminent bon vivant, has found himself trading correspondence with Doctor Henry Armitage. They share a common goal and a common modus operandi. Victor fights to keep his empire safe, but he also fights for a Shanghai free from Mythos influence. Victor has gathered around him professors, detectives, muscles, guns, criminals and other problem solvers to mount a defense against a rising tide. Victor is your hook.

The trail leads to...

a strange gate opened by an ancient Daoist ritual, and an alien spirit called forth from the Polaris solar system.

a Shanghai triad operated by someone claiming to be the deceased Empress Dowager Cixi.

a scam at the horse track, a heartbroken triad gangster, and the Bloated Woman.

a lost city of golden sands, a field of black lotus, and a place suspended in time and space.

The Sassoon Files will be released as a PDF and a printed book, approximately 150 - 200 pages long. It will be modular in design; each of the included scenarios may be played as a "one-off" session or as part of a larger campaign set in 1920's Shanghai. The scenarios will be tied together by common locations, characters, threats and themes. The history of the Paris of the East is rich; with the help of the Sassoon Files, you will be able to dig deep into the vein of Old Shanghai.

The Sassoon Files will include the history of Shanghai and some of the primary factions that competed for influence and power: the Communists and Nationalists who played a game of deadly cat and mouse; the Jewish tycoon who provided succor to refugees; the Triad societies who competed to provide vice for the city's residents; the Japanese who were moving closer to invasion. The Sassoon Files will also explore the secret history of the Mythos, and the local factions who sought to exploit that which could not be fully comprehended.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Fri, October 19 2018 3:01 PM BST

Website: Sons of the Singularity

3 New Sidequest Decks: After the TPK; Modern; & Lovecraftian

More Sidequest Decks! Each card is a system neutral mini-adventure. One side is the main map, the other is the adventure outline.

Sidequest Decks are system agnostic tabletop RPG accessories. They are perfect for when your players unexpectedly take a casual comment for a story hook, for stocking a hex crawl or serving as the basis of a larger adventure. You may even chain several together for an entire campaign!

Each card has a map on one side and a mini-adventure outline on the other side. The outline starts with a short description for the GM. (Skim these to find an adventure that fits the circumstances.) Choose between a couple of story hooks to get the adventure started. Next several encounter ideas move the game along. Finally each card wraps up with one or two follow-up adventure ideas.

We've made several of these decks over the past few years, and now we're planning three more:

After the Total Party Kill

The party didn't survive the final showdown--or worse, they didn't even get that far. Sure you can make up new characters and the original characters' "cousins" can show up or you can even start completely over. But thumb through these cards and you'll find adventure ideas to keep the campaign going. For example, have the PCs fight their way out of Hell. Or perhaps they are ghost-like and can continue their quest as ghosts hoping to return to their bodies. This deck will have over 50 ideas!

Lovecraftian/Paranormal

This deck of 50+ cards will be chock full of adventures that you'll swear were lifted from H. P. Lovecraft's mind--because they were! He left behind over 200 story ideas that we've read to create some of these cards. Some adventures will have an X-Files and even Ghostbusters influence as well.

Modern (Criminals, Spies, & Superheroes)

Whether your campaign is focused on criminals, spies, or superheroes, this deck's adventures will have plenty of ideas you can use. Turn a spy organization into a criminal operation or vice versa to switch an adventure between those genres. Or give the foes super-powers to make the adventure fit a superhero setting. This deck will also have 50+ cards where each card is an adventure.

Sample PDF with two cards from each deck.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Wed, October 17 2018 4:00 AM BST

Website: Inkwell Ideas

#RPG #kickstarter #Dungeons and Dragons #Call of Cthulhu

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foppish-crow · 2 years

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How to create a fantasy name (I am not sober and sleep/food deprived, it's easier to find stuff on tumblr than in my actual notes):

For monsters just use a gory word, any word used to reffer to an animal, and a location that sounds vaguely European. "bloody hound of Steincrust", "Arsmounth's faceless serpent", "New York's ugliest dude".

Than you need the guy who takes care of him, I am very much agienst subtlety so you need a word that reffers to their profession, the method they get rid of the monster, and something identifiable about our little guy (their name is find but boring). "Astora's most vengeful knight" is good enough but "Locksmithimg Locksmith who Locksmiths" is the stuff GRRM jack's off to.

And you need a Kojima character. A Kojima character is a character with little personality to the point where the fans are more responsible for making him a real character, must have very heavy handed gay subtext which is where the Kojima part comes in. You also need a Kojima name, there are many ways of doing it: take something you like and just remove a word and add one Kojima used to name one of his characters, needs gay subtext eg "king gizzard and the lizard wizard" -> "King big man and the deepthroat wizard". These two will be helpful guides for our Locksmith. You could also just make it sound like an AI anutogenerated FurAfinity account name, "mother bear" "slimy eel" "lustful owl" etc. This is the barbarian friend that will assist out hero on his quest and a childhood friend.

You mustn't forget the character the author put there for wish fulfilment. The difference between this one and the previous one is that not one will care enough about this character go give them a personality, both the fantom and the author. This one is very simple as all you have to do is stop caring in the slightest. Use the real name of your crush from years ago over whom you still haven't gotten over: "Kurtt Kobain", you could also just type random letters that just kind of feel like a fantasy name: "Amethyeth Quesliv". She (this character has a 95% percent of being a women for SOME mysterious reason) will also need to have a title, like previously just make shit up: High Priestesses Kurtt.

Shit I forgot about the plot, but that's usually the easiest part. You need to remember the only 5 scenes that exist in fantasy: "boring men ponder", "battle and magic stuff I always skip", "tavern", "retelling what you remember from the hex-crawl that was the last week's DnD session", "things you made up about the world on the spot and will try to pretend like they were a part of your cohesive world from the moment you sat down to write your novel 12 years ago". There is also the mood your scene will have: "boring", "gay", "whimsical but failing at it", "look how actually heterosexual I am... *does mood 2*", and that's it, there is nothing more.

But you need structure to put it in, I hear of a three act structure so I'll try that (I cannot read so I'll just have to guess how to do it). Act 1: introduce your characters, only one gay scene is allowed here, and you need something to start the story after about 200 pages of the characters fucking about. Act 2: characters try and fail, they should also basically give up but in a way where you can very easily just undo it in 15 minutes of writing, magic stuff goes here. Act 3: this is where the battle scenes are, you should also kill off any characters you based off your friends here, they'll will surly appreciate it after the 12 years of me not talking to them writing this book. Act 4: syke bitch there are still 100 pages left, this is where you put all the world building and happy ending you can think of because the agency needs the book to not end with an orgy >:(

Now you take out some dice and assign 2-5 scenes per act, and roll some more to assign some moods to the scenes.

You have a story and characters, but you forgot about writing stuff. You need to know how to write 3 things: exposition, battle scenes, and character interaction. Exposition is easy: just keep pressing g the middle button on your phone's keyboard and than do the only editing you will ever to of your book

Eg. "Old Town and the lizard of the dark night at the Royal Palace of Manchester Steincrust are now looking for anyone with the thinnest skills of all kinds. They have boobs. They have been very active with their Witchery series of videos but they have not seen any results yet. "

And bam, one word had to be edited but besides that you have a paragraph in 2 minutes people will skip rather than a paragraph in 2 hours people will skip.

Battle scenes work by the "Yes and" rule, keep yes-and-ing the shit out of your prose, yes I do teach at the yale institute of literature, no you can't come to my lectures. This is the part where you let out all your childhood games of pretend be the only thing you can even remember for your inspiration, that's bad because you should also rip off anime.

Character interaction is the only thing that requires effort, assuming you are not going to copy and paste stuff from FanFiction.net agien. You could also look up "fantom jokes" and fill in the blacks, eg:

"Locksmith: I think a ghost of an owl might have possessed one of us!

Deepthroat wizard: Who?

*everyone looks at Deepthroat in shock*"

But you can do that only so many times before you can't justify using the same joke for the 6th time. In these cases just point out a common fantasy trope in a vague attempted at being introspective about your work.

And now you can write 95% of you book, the only thing left is the acceptance speech for your Nobel in literature, I'll leave that one up to you as you should have now have enough experience to do it yourself.

Syke bithc this wasn't written by me at all and was infact copied from the English textbook that Jorkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien studied before he wrote the bibble.

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