My current home game was actually the idea of one of my players, as they wanted to play in a campaign based on LOTR. Instead of doing that, I made a world map that was just an amalgamation of different franchises me and my players enjoy, and it has been a lot of fun. We jokingly call the game world "The world of Plagiarism". The party consists of a Pokemon trainer, John Constantine, Meta Knight, Giorno Giovanna, and Mega Man. It's great and has had a lot of funny moments.
I enjoy adding that kind of stuff - my own homebrew is chalk full of references to things I've loved.
In one of the campaigns I am running two players are playing Monks - and I never had any players who had played Monks so I hadn't developed much in the ways of lore for Monks. So I basically took Japan's map - reshaped them and moved the islands around and reskinned Japan as the Kingdom the Monks come from. The players wrote up an Oath for "The Grey Order" which has references to Star Wars (Grey Jedi). So when I wrote up some of the things that happened at the school/Monastery that they're from - I put in a lot of references to Street Fighter. But I altered the spelling of the names - like Rhiyu (Ryu), Dhan (Dan), Khen (Ken), etc.
And currently characters from Darkstalkers are appearing. For example in one campaign they were in a pyramid - and fought an ancient mummy (a reference to Anakaris), there was a succubus the party helped (reference to Morrigan Aensland), another campaign they helped a triton (reference to Rikuo) who battled Sahuagin, there's a werewolf trailing that same party (reference to Jon Talban), etc etc.
There was even a temple they found, that was surfaced after a major earthquake - and it was a temple to a time where dinosaurs were worshipped (and showed pictures to references of Primal Rage and alluded to an existing island full of dinosaurs that still exist).
So I find it fun to do that kind of silly stuff.
So do I. I have a lot of fun in that campaign. Currently, the party is heading towards Hyrule to look for allies in an ongoing issue. I don't want to get too far into the story of my campaign, but it is a lot of fun.
I am soon going to start a spelljammer campaign where the players patron is a being sorta like the collector in marvel. I'm using the mechanics from the game Stellaris to form the "space" and the players with have various mission to star systems. Some capturing animals, or research religions or cultures. I'm even thinking of having certain star systems controlled by a motley group of creatures all suffering from an illness like the reavers in Serenity. I steal ideas from just about everything i watch or read. Even if i buy 3rd party products i usually find them either too strong or too weak so i use what i need and ignore the rest.
I'm running an OOTA campaign here on the forums, and participating in someone else's game here, plus playing in another text game on discord.
How is your Out of the Abyss game going? I find that one, to over all, be very dark and depressing. I was in one game (the DM was very, very, very new to DMing) - and she ran it very, very, very by the book. And threw things at the party all the time. That game did not see itself to the end - when my wife and my character were recaptured (after the escape at the start) - I told the players (not the characters, so Out of Character) - I said, "You have no obligation to save our characters. We all literally met only as prisoners. There's no way your characters should feel the need to rescue. You should have self preservation kicking in." And I explained that my wife and I would roll new characters. However, my wife bowed out (she has a number of health issues, and the oppressing feeling of how Out of the Abyss feels was not going well with her, when she wanted to play D&D as an escape). I re-rerolled a new character (a goblin, which I absolutely enjoyed playing - because I played him a little crazy - he had a gem he swore was a magical compass - it wasn't - but I'd often say how he'd place the gem on the floor - then roll a D4 and select that direction 1=North, 2=East, 3=South, 4=West type thing). But like I said that game, even the other players were like, "Yeah, not what I was looking for." So they dropped - and the DM had all of us (minus my wife and another player) - play some other module where some kind of frost sickness is going on (I can't remember what it was called - was a short module) which we managed to finish. But then that game went away. One of the players from there and myself, with that same DM started a new game - and we're going through Curse of Strahd. (So you know... another dark and depressing game!) :D The other Out of the Abyss game was with a more experienced DM - and it was still dark and depressing. But once my character got permanent madness - I really had fun with it. I got a madness where I was constantly hearing bad ideas in my head. So there was a time (DM homebrewed a troll who demanded payment) - the Druid offered goodberries and I had my character say, "Why satisfy yourself with 100 goodberries? You could have the Druid and have goodberries for life." (And no one knew I had the madness) So it was great. Everyone was like, "Wait? What?" And later I asked the DM if I could flavor it as a form of demonic possession (considering the theme of Out of the Abyss) and he was cool with it - so my Dwarf Fighter dipped 1 level into Warlock - and I flavored it that whenever I used Eldritch Blast - my character would black out when the "demon" was in control. So at times, I'd be like, "Which one of ye blasted wizards killed that beast! It was mine!" (when it was actually my eldritch blast that did it). Then my character got romantically involved with Eldith who ... Well, you know (well maybe the DM customized it... but something happens). And my character kept seeing her spirit. So it was a lot of fun playing a crazy character. Added some lightheartedness to the over all oppressing darkness. I have shared this before but... MS Paint with Out of the Abyss! From that game...
So far the campaign is going okay, but we tend to not take things toooooo seriously. But it definitely is a dark campaign, and very long so you really have to have the fortitude to want to see it all the way through. I think the ending is neat and fun but it does take a while to get there. One suggestion is to just start your next try halfway through.
The game I'm about to run is set in the Feywild but I made it very much like a fairytale kingdom - a safe city in the heart of the kingdom with lots of kind people, but if you venture out into the wilderness, then the bewitching magic of the Feywild's forests will slowly take over you. As for the game I'm playing in, it's starting next week. We're all excited to begin and the DM has given us this blurb:
"This adventure takes place in a land of magic, wonder, and heroes, where gods come to rest. This kingdom, called Grogmair, is controlled mainly by gods, hence the dozens of temples and monasteries scattered around. The people of Grogmair typically worship good-aligned deities. However, in the nooks and crannies, you will find crazed cults worshipping evil or sometimes even nonexistent gods. These cults each have individual names but together they form the Strybung. If these cults get too powerful, the world will be flung into a state of war and ruin. There have been uprisings every millennium or so, and it seems the gods of evil are planning to strike again."
I'm playing a gnome sorcerer in that campaign. Gnomes for the win. I don't know why I like them...I just have this weird obsession with gnomes and halflings.
Hello! I've DM'd very sporadically over the last several years whenever I could rally a decently-sized group. I've got an Icespire game where the group keeps promising each other we'll get back to it eventually as my only actual current thing, but am looking into running some oneshots on Roll20. (I started out trying to find a game to play in and got bored of looking around. Probably going to start with some of the more short-form published content like some of Candlekeep Mysteries or some of the oneshots included in some setting guide books, and then move into homebrew.)
I've only played 5e and only at low levels, but I think I like it. The difficulty of setting, well, difficulty is the most glaring problem (mostly I get the sense that the game is balanced for difficulty through attrition, but doesn't lend itself to doing so many fights in a row that that actually comes into play).
I have the very original and not at all cliched opinion of being partial to Tieflings. Like, I've seen them mocked as being the edgy player's species of choice and that doesn't surprise me, but I mostly like the... juxtaposition of a more upbeat and straightforwardly heroic Tiefling. Plus the Nine Hells are probably the most interesting of the planes to have that kind of connection to. (Also, they look cool.) All that said, I picked up Rising from the Last War recently and as I get into Eberron stuff, Changelings are really growing on me too. There are a ton of roleplay and plot opportunities in being a shapeshifter. Also, especially as a DM, I live for weird/convoluted player plans and shapeshifting is ideal for that. Also also, I think I just like "ling"s.
In classes, I really like Rogues and Paladins, and least lore or concept-wise (minimal playing experience). And Warlocks. And Bards. And- (Another reason to DM; choosing just one thing is hard.)
My favorite monster... Liches? There are a lot of cool lich villains, anyway. Also, the mechanics seem pretty awkward*, but I like Hydras in concept.
*Like... if you deal a certain amount of damage, you have no choice but to cut off a head; it just falls off. Obviously, that's necessary because if the players had a choice they'd never cut one off, but it feels a bit controlling. Maybe it'd be cool if they had vulnerability to physical attacks declared by the attacker to be targeted at the heads, with the tradeoff of the Hydra getting new attacks-per-turn when the heads grow back? Though on the other hand, I do feel like more "boss" type monsters should have a general way of getting more powerful as they take damage. It's a good way of making a fight unpredictable or feel like it's not a foregone conclusion at a certain point.
And hard to sort because they're statted as both playable and monsters, but I like Hobgoblins, Kobolds, and Yuan-Ti too. Hobgoblins being framed as this more organized force than other Goblinoids, I always feel like they should be more important to most settings than they are to suit that. Kobolds are just fun. Yuan-Ti partially because I like snakes and partially because they seem like the Purebloods in particular could be really fun to use as a conspiracy-thriller-style threat.
Hello! I've DM'd very sporadically over the last several years whenever I could rally a decently-sized group. I've got an Icespire game where the group keeps promising each other we'll get back to it eventually as my only actual current thing, but am looking into running some oneshots on Roll20. (I started out trying to find a game to play in and got bored of looking around. Probably going to start with some of the more short-form published content like some of Candlekeep Mysteries or some of the oneshots included in some setting guide books, and then move into homebrew.)
I have the very original and not at all cliched opinion of being partial to Tieflings. Like, I've seen them mocked as being the edgy player's species of choice and that doesn't surprise me, but I mostly like the... juxtaposition of a more upbeat and straightforwardly heroic Tiefling.
Heh - if you're looking for One Shots and have Icespire - check out The Secret of Havenfall Manor on DMsGuild - by yours truly! It's made to be a "one off" for that specific campaign book. (It's in my signature!)
And as for heroic Tieflings... I agree. So I have a character I've played name Talarys Hopebringer - and he's a Paladin, following a good deity. (In the current campaign I have him in which is Curse of Strahd - his origin is he was abandoned and raised by gypsies to go put an end to a "great evil" read: Strahd).
I had another Tiefling who was a Rogue Swashbucker, blue skinned, and very much modelled after Nightcrawler from Uncanny X-Men comics.
I like swashbucklers a lot. I have a harengon swashbuckler named Beren Birdwhistle who uses the fancy footwork feature a lot. Combine that with the harengon's rabbit hop feature and you basically have an untouchable infinitely-dodging bunny dude.
I don't want to really get involved with all the problems regarding WotC but that doesn't stop us from playing and talking about D&D, which we can all agree is a great game.
So let's just chat. D&D in general. How's your campaign going? Have you been a DM before? What's your favourite race species and class? What are your overall opinions on the game?
Any talk of the OGL and other related topics will not be tolerated. I think we can all agree on that.
I'll start by answering my own questions:
A lot of my D&D friends are on holiday, so we're not currently in any ongoing campaigns. However, I am about to be a player in a campaign in a few weeks, and I'm also about to DM for a group of beginners a few weeks after that.
I've played for about 2 years, and I've been a DM for half a year. I prefer DMing to playing (only slightly though).
My favourite species is either Gnome or Halfling and my favourite class is Sorcerer.
D&D is not perfect, but I still love it. It's a fun thing that I love gathering around to play with my friends..................PLEASE FIX CHALLENGE RATING IN 6E
I'd like to get to know you all better, and we can just talk about this game.
This is sorely needed lol
My D&D game’s going great. We just played last night (I’m a player this time). I’ve been playing for about 2 years. I’ve been a DM once and I really liked it. My fave character classes are mages (especially wizards), but I like clerics and druids too. I don’t really have a favorite species. And yes, we def need a place where we can just hang out and talk about D&D.
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I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
This is sorely needed lol My D&D game’s going great. We just played last night (I’m a player this time). I’ve been playing for about 2 years. I’ve been a DM once and I really liked it. My fave character classes are mages (especially wizards), but I like clerics and druids too. I don’t really have a favorite species. And yes, we def need a place where we can just hang out and talk about D&D.
This is sorely needed lol My D&D game’s going great. We just played last night (I’m a player this time). I’ve been playing for about 2 years. I’ve been a DM once and I really liked it. My fave character classes are mages (especially wizards), but I like clerics and druids too. I don’t really have a favorite species. And yes, we def need a place where we can just hang out and talk about D&D.
Hooray! More folks in the thread!
So tell us more about the game you played in!
We’re playing Shadow of the Dragon Queen and I’m playing a kender wizard. I don’t wanna give away any spoilers in case people haven’t played it yet but it’s a really cool adventure.
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I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
We’re playing Shadow of the Dragon Queen and I’m playing a kender wizard. I don’t wanna give away any spoilers in case people haven’t played it yet but it’s a really cool adventure.
The fact that you're playing a Kender Wizard has me insanely interested! :D
I, myself am in a live game (people are still deciding on characters) - I am letting the rest of the folks pick what they want first, since I am the new kid on the block (well, new... but we spent like two years doing Storm King's Thunder which we just wrapped up) - but all the players (except me) know one another since like High School (I just happen to know the DM from work). But I have a Kender Rogue in the pocket (the go-to for Kender) and a Human Wizard (White Robe) - just waiting for the last person to decide. If they want to play a Kender (anything), I will switch to the Human Wizard. If they want to play some form of Wizard, I will do the Kender Rogue.
So far the party is: Human Fighter (Knight of Solamnia), Minotaur Fighter (Battlemaster), ? Bard (Lore), Dark Elf Artificer (Alchemist), the person who hasn't decided, and myself (one of the two characters). I am looking forward to it because I am a huge fan of the Dragonlance books.
We’re playing Shadow of the Dragon Queen and I’m playing a kender wizard. I don’t wanna give away any spoilers in case people haven’t played it yet but it’s a really cool adventure.
The fact that you're playing a Kender Wizard has me insanely interested! :D
I, myself am in a live game (people are still deciding on characters) - I am letting the rest of the folks pick what they want first, since I am the new kid on the block (well, new... but we spent like two years doing Storm King's Thunder which we just wrapped up) - but all the players (except me) know one another since like High School (I just happen to know the DM from work). But I have a Kender Rogue in the pocket (the go-to for Kender) and a Human Wizard (White Robe) - just waiting for the last person to decide. If they want to play a Kender (anything), I will switch to the Human Wizard. If they want to play some form of Wizard, I will do the Kender Rogue.
So far the party is: Human Fighter (Knight of Solamnia), Minotaur Fighter (Battlemaster), ? Bard (Lore), Dark Elf Artificer (Alchemist), the person who hasn't decided, and myself (one of the two characters). I am looking forward to it because I am a huge fan of the Dragonlance books.
Sounds awesome! Is the dark elf artificer a dark elf like Dalamar or an actual drow?
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I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
Sounds awesome! Is the dark elf artificer a dark elf like Dalamar or an actual drow?
The DM is allowing "Drow" (despite that not being a thing in Dragonlance).
I posted this in another thread - but I will copy and pasta - how I wrote up a way for "Drow-like" elves to exist (sans the Spider fetish).
I'd explained in Dragonlance there are no "Drow" Elves, really - "Dark Elves" are normal elves, who are branded as such, because of some crime they may have done. And I went on to talk about how Dalamar was an example of that (although now he's insanely respected). But - I reached out to the DM and asked if he'd be cool with me challenging myself to explain how "Drow-like" elves might have existed in Dragonlance... but were virtually unknown. He said he was cool with it - and so I wrote something up (note - the player wanting to play the Dark Elf never saw this and came up with another origin that ties to the Cataclysm) - but anyway here's what I wrote - and I think it would explain how Drow-like elves (without the whole spider-fetish) might have existed (and I should not she wanted to be an Artificer Alchemist)...
Things to note: Durth in Dwarven means "Strange" and I just added "-Thax" since a long of dwarven Kingdoms had that, so I assume it'd mean something close to "Strange Kingdom"... https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Dwarven_Language The other lore (Crematia and the giving Dragon Stones) is part of the normal Dragonlance lore. https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Thorin The rest wrote itself as I sat down and let my imagination run wild. ________________
Meyver Lhee has only heard stories of the proud Silvanesti – the Elven Kingdom, hailed as the most beautiful kingdom. However, during the start of the Third Dragon War, her mother was among many others who fled Silvanesti seeking shelter from the war that was brewing. After all, during the Second Dragon War, Silvanesti had been attacked by the dark forces, which included: the bakali, ogres and Chromatic Dragons.
With the forests unsafe, the Silvanesti sought refuge among the Dwarves of Thorin (Hiel-Thax) for their part in handing over the Dragon Stones to Crematia, the ferocious red dragon which had led to the attack on Silvanesti. However, the Dwarves wanted to hide their shame and did not want the Elves walking among them as a constant reminder of their cowardice. The Dwarves offered a section of their kingdom, much further down and long abandoned in favor of their new kingdom, where the lava flowed, allowing for their smithing to be done more efficiently. The abandoned kingdom offered to the elves was known as Durth-Thax.
With no natural light, the Elves adapted by learning the ecology of Durth-Thax and life beneath the mountains, where most of the light was by small pools of bubbling lava or the odd vegetation – such as the fantastic purple mushrooms the Dwarves had called marman fungus. The Elves of Durth-Thax learned to become expert alchemists, mixing the various vegetation to create healing potions as well as other useful potions because while life in Silvanesti had been walled, and relatively safe; Durth-Thax was full of various dangers that none of the Elves were accustomed to. The occasional dwarf that came down to Durth-Thax to check on the elves and trade with them and warning them of the various dangers that lingered beneath the mountains. The Dwarves had often asked if the elves had wanted to return to Silvanesti and leave Durth-Thax, while some did; the majority had remained. They’d discovered that being free of the walled city brought danger and risk into their lives; but they were truly, perhaps for the first time, in hundreds of years, feeling alive and free.
As the Elves of Durth-Thax adapted to life beneath the mountain an interesting side effect began to take place. Similar to how all the stone in Durth-Thax and most of Heil-Thax was a dark, black stone, so did the elves discover that their own flesh tone began to adapt; whether this was evolution to allow them to more easily hide in shadow, or if it had been because of an unseen chemical that was reacting to the genetic make-up of the Elves, who were not native to Durth-Thax and had no tolerance for whatever was drifting in the air, remains unknown.
Meyver Lhee was born in Durth-Thax, this had been the only life she’d ever known, and like all of her family before her, she was extremely skilled alchemist. However, the stories she’d heard about where her family had come from – Silvanesti had often called to her when she slept. More so, when the dwarves of late, whom visited and traded with the Elves of Durth-Thax, that they’d heard rumors of a war brewing in the outside world… the world beyond the mountain… and something in Meyver Lhee called to her to venture forth… take what she knew of potions and see what the world outside looked like…
Sounds awesome! Is the dark elf artificer a dark elf like Dalamar or an actual drow?
The DM is allowing "Drow" (despite that not being a thing in Dragonlance).
I posted this in another thread - but I will copy and pasta - how I wrote up a way for "Drow-like" elves to exist (sans the Spider fetish).
I'd explained in Dragonlance there are no "Drow" Elves, really - "Dark Elves" are normal elves, who are branded as such, because of some crime they may have done. And I went on to talk about how Dalamar was an example of that (although now he's insanely respected). But - I reached out to the DM and asked if he'd be cool with me challenging myself to explain how "Drow-like" elves might have existed in Dragonlance... but were virtually unknown. He said he was cool with it - and so I wrote something up (note - the player wanting to play the Dark Elf never saw this and came up with another origin that ties to the Cataclysm) - but anyway here's what I wrote - and I think it would explain how Drow-like elves (without the whole spider-fetish) might have existed (and I should not she wanted to be an Artificer Alchemist)...
Things to note: Durth in Dwarven means "Strange" and I just added "-Thax" since a long of dwarven Kingdoms had that, so I assume it'd mean something close to "Strange Kingdom"... https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Dwarven_Language The other lore (Crematia and the giving Dragon Stones) is part of the normal Dragonlance lore. https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Thorin The rest wrote itself as I sat down and let my imagination run wild. ________________
Meyver Lhee has only heard stories of the proud Silvanesti – the Elven Kingdom, hailed as the most beautiful kingdom. However, during the start of the Third Dragon War, her mother was among many others who fled Silvanesti seeking shelter from the war that was brewing. After all, during the Second Dragon War, Silvanesti had been attacked by the dark forces, which included: the bakali, ogres and Chromatic Dragons.
With the forests unsafe, the Silvanesti sought refuge among the Dwarves of Thorin (Hiel-Thax) for their part in handing over the Dragon Stones to Crematia, the ferocious red dragon which had led to the attack on Silvanesti. However, the Dwarves wanted to hide their shame and did not want the Elves walking among them as a constant reminder of their cowardice. The Dwarves offered a section of their kingdom, much further down and long abandoned in favor of their new kingdom, where the lava flowed, allowing for their smithing to be done more efficiently. The abandoned kingdom offered to the elves was known as Durth-Thax.
With no natural light, the Elves adapted by learning the ecology of Durth-Thax and life beneath the mountains, where most of the light was by small pools of bubbling lava or the odd vegetation – such as the fantastic purple mushrooms the Dwarves had called marman fungus. The Elves of Durth-Thax learned to become expert alchemists, mixing the various vegetation to create healing potions as well as other useful potions because while life in Silvanesti had been walled, and relatively safe; Durth-Thax was full of various dangers that none of the Elves were accustomed to. The occasional dwarf that came down to Durth-Thax to check on the elves and trade with them and warning them of the various dangers that lingered beneath the mountains. The Dwarves had often asked if the elves had wanted to return to Silvanesti and leave Durth-Thax, while some did; the majority had remained. They’d discovered that being free of the walled city brought danger and risk into their lives; but they were truly, perhaps for the first time, in hundreds of years, feeling alive and free.
As the Elves of Durth-Thax adapted to life beneath the mountain an interesting side effect began to take place. Similar to how all the stone in Durth-Thax and most of Heil-Thax was a dark, black stone, so did the elves discover that their own flesh tone began to adapt; whether this was evolution to allow them to more easily hide in shadow, or if it had been because of an unseen chemical that was reacting to the genetic make-up of the Elves, who were not native to Durth-Thax and had no tolerance for whatever was drifting in the air, remains unknown.
Meyver Lhee was born in Durth-Thax, this had been the only life she’d ever known, and like all of her family before her, she was extremely skilled alchemist. However, the stories she’d heard about where her family had come from – Silvanesti had often called to her when she slept. More so, when the dwarves of late, whom visited and traded with the Elves of Durth-Thax, that they’d heard rumors of a war brewing in the outside world… the world beyond the mountain… and something in Meyver Lhee called to her to venture forth… take what she knew of potions and see what the world outside looked like…
This is really cool! I never really liked the whole spider thing for drow anyway so this would work perfectly if I ever run Dragonlance (I’m just a player rn). Do you mind if I use it?
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I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
This is really cool! I never really liked the whole spider thing for drow anyway so this would work perfectly if I ever run Dragonlance (I’m just a player rn). Do you mind if I use it?
I'd be honored if you did!
If something I created is useful, I'd love to see it used. Especially since the player for the campaign I am playing in, decided to tie how the Drow she is a part of were shunted into Krynn due to a magical energies created by the Cataclysm.
So I'd love to have this used by someone. If you do, I'd love to hear how it goes!
This is really cool! I never really liked the whole spider thing for drow anyway so this would work perfectly if I ever run Dragonlance (I’m just a player rn). Do you mind if I use it?
I'd be honored if you did!
If something I created is useful, I'd love to see it used. Especially since the player for the campaign I am playing in, decided to tie how the Drow she is a part of were shunted into Krynn due to a magical energies created by the Cataclysm.
So I'd love to have this used by someone. If you do, I'd love to hear how it goes!
Definitely. Thanks so much.
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I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
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So do I. I have a lot of fun in that campaign. Currently, the party is heading towards Hyrule to look for allies in an ongoing issue. I don't want to get too far into the story of my campaign, but it is a lot of fun.
I am soon going to start a spelljammer campaign where the players patron is a being sorta like the collector in marvel. I'm using the mechanics from the game Stellaris to form the "space" and the players with have various mission to star systems. Some capturing animals, or research religions or cultures. I'm even thinking of having certain star systems controlled by a motley group of creatures all suffering from an illness like the reavers in Serenity. I steal ideas from just about everything i watch or read. Even if i buy 3rd party products i usually find them either too strong or too weak so i use what i need and ignore the rest.
How is your Out of the Abyss game going? I find that one, to over all, be very dark and depressing.
I was in one game (the DM was very, very, very new to DMing) - and she ran it very, very, very by the book. And threw things at the party all the time. That game did not see itself to the end - when my wife and my character were recaptured (after the escape at the start) - I told the players (not the characters, so Out of Character) - I said, "You have no obligation to save our characters. We all literally met only as prisoners. There's no way your characters should feel the need to rescue. You should have self preservation kicking in." And I explained that my wife and I would roll new characters. However, my wife bowed out (she has a number of health issues, and the oppressing feeling of how Out of the Abyss feels was not going well with her, when she wanted to play D&D as an escape). I re-rerolled a new character (a goblin, which I absolutely enjoyed playing - because I played him a little crazy - he had a gem he swore was a magical compass - it wasn't - but I'd often say how he'd place the gem on the floor - then roll a D4 and select that direction 1=North, 2=East, 3=South, 4=West type thing). But like I said that game, even the other players were like, "Yeah, not what I was looking for." So they dropped - and the DM had all of us (minus my wife and another player) - play some other module where some kind of frost sickness is going on (I can't remember what it was called - was a short module) which we managed to finish. But then that game went away. One of the players from there and myself, with that same DM started a new game - and we're going through Curse of Strahd. (So you know... another dark and depressing game!) :D
The other Out of the Abyss game was with a more experienced DM - and it was still dark and depressing. But once my character got permanent madness - I really had fun with it. I got a madness where I was constantly hearing bad ideas in my head. So there was a time (DM homebrewed a troll who demanded payment) - the Druid offered goodberries and I had my character say, "Why satisfy yourself with 100 goodberries? You could have the Druid and have goodberries for life." (And no one knew I had the madness) So it was great. Everyone was like, "Wait? What?" And later I asked the DM if I could flavor it as a form of demonic possession (considering the theme of Out of the Abyss) and he was cool with it - so my Dwarf Fighter dipped 1 level into Warlock - and I flavored it that whenever I used Eldritch Blast - my character would black out when the "demon" was in control. So at times, I'd be like, "Which one of ye blasted wizards killed that beast! It was mine!" (when it was actually my eldritch blast that did it). Then my character got romantically involved with Eldith who ... Well, you know (well maybe the DM customized it... but something happens). And my character kept seeing her spirit. So it was a lot of fun playing a crazy character. Added some lightheartedness to the over all oppressing darkness. I have shared this before but... MS Paint with Out of the Abyss! From that game...
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
That sounds so chaotic fun 🤩
So far the campaign is going okay, but we tend to not take things toooooo seriously. But it definitely is a dark campaign, and very long so you really have to have the fortitude to want to see it all the way through. I think the ending is neat and fun but it does take a while to get there. One suggestion is to just start your next try halfway through.
The game I'm about to run is set in the Feywild but I made it very much like a fairytale kingdom - a safe city in the heart of the kingdom with lots of kind people, but if you venture out into the wilderness, then the bewitching magic of the Feywild's forests will slowly take over you. As for the game I'm playing in, it's starting next week. We're all excited to begin and the DM has given us this blurb:
"This adventure takes place in a land of magic, wonder, and heroes, where gods come to rest. This kingdom, called Grogmair, is controlled mainly by gods, hence the dozens of temples and monasteries scattered around. The people of Grogmair typically worship good-aligned deities. However, in the nooks and crannies, you will find crazed cults worshipping evil or sometimes even nonexistent gods. These cults each have individual names but together they form the Strybung. If these cults get too powerful, the world will be flung into a state of war and ruin. There have been uprisings every millennium or so, and it seems the gods of evil are planning to strike again."
I'm playing a gnome sorcerer in that campaign. Gnomes for the win. I don't know why I like them...I just have this weird obsession with gnomes and halflings.
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
Hello! I've DM'd very sporadically over the last several years whenever I could rally a decently-sized group. I've got an Icespire game where the group keeps promising each other we'll get back to it eventually as my only actual current thing, but am looking into running some oneshots on Roll20. (I started out trying to find a game to play in and got bored of looking around. Probably going to start with some of the more short-form published content like some of Candlekeep Mysteries or some of the oneshots included in some setting guide books, and then move into homebrew.)
I've only played 5e and only at low levels, but I think I like it. The difficulty of setting, well, difficulty is the most glaring problem (mostly I get the sense that the game is balanced for difficulty through attrition, but doesn't lend itself to doing so many fights in a row that that actually comes into play).
I have the very original and not at all cliched opinion of being partial to Tieflings. Like, I've seen them mocked as being the edgy player's species of choice and that doesn't surprise me, but I mostly like the... juxtaposition of a more upbeat and straightforwardly heroic Tiefling. Plus the Nine Hells are probably the most interesting of the planes to have that kind of connection to. (Also, they look cool.) All that said, I picked up Rising from the Last War recently and as I get into Eberron stuff, Changelings are really growing on me too. There are a ton of roleplay and plot opportunities in being a shapeshifter. Also, especially as a DM, I live for weird/convoluted player plans and shapeshifting is ideal for that.
Also also, I think I just like "ling"s.In classes, I really like Rogues and Paladins, and least lore or concept-wise (minimal playing experience). And Warlocks. And Bards. And-
(Another reason to DM; choosing just one thing is hard.)My favorite monster... Liches? There are a lot of cool lich villains, anyway. Also, the mechanics seem pretty awkward*, but I like Hydras in concept.
*Like... if you deal a certain amount of damage, you have no choice but to cut off a head; it just falls off. Obviously, that's necessary because if the players had a choice they'd never cut one off, but it feels a bit controlling. Maybe it'd be cool if they had vulnerability to physical attacks declared by the attacker to be targeted at the heads, with the tradeoff of the Hydra getting new attacks-per-turn when the heads grow back? Though on the other hand, I do feel like more "boss" type monsters should have a general way of getting more powerful as they take damage. It's a good way of making a fight unpredictable or feel like it's not a foregone conclusion at a certain point.
And hard to sort because they're statted as both playable and monsters, but I like Hobgoblins, Kobolds, and Yuan-Ti too. Hobgoblins being framed as this more organized force than other Goblinoids, I always feel like they should be more important to most settings than they are to suit that. Kobolds are just fun. Yuan-Ti partially because I like snakes and partially because they seem like the Purebloods in particular could be really fun to use as a conspiracy-thriller-style threat.
Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral
Heh - if you're looking for One Shots and have Icespire - check out The Secret of Havenfall Manor on DMsGuild - by yours truly! It's made to be a "one off" for that specific campaign book. (It's in my signature!)
And as for heroic Tieflings... I agree. So I have a character I've played name Talarys Hopebringer - and he's a Paladin, following a good deity. (In the current campaign I have him in which is Curse of Strahd - his origin is he was abandoned and raised by gypsies to go put an end to a "great evil" read: Strahd).
I had another Tiefling who was a Rogue Swashbucker, blue skinned, and very much modelled after Nightcrawler from Uncanny X-Men comics.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
I like swashbucklers a lot. I have a harengon swashbuckler named Beren Birdwhistle who uses the fancy footwork feature a lot. Combine that with the harengon's rabbit hop feature and you basically have an untouchable infinitely-dodging bunny dude.
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
This is sorely needed lol
My D&D game’s going great. We just played last night (I’m a player this time). I’ve been playing for about 2 years. I’ve been a DM once and I really liked it. My fave character classes are mages (especially wizards), but I like clerics and druids too. I don’t really have a favorite species. And yes, we def need a place where we can just hang out and talk about D&D.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
Hooray! More folks in the thread!
So tell us more about the game you played in!
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
We’re playing Shadow of the Dragon Queen and I’m playing a kender wizard. I don’t wanna give away any spoilers in case people haven’t played it yet but it’s a really cool adventure.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
The fact that you're playing a Kender Wizard has me insanely interested! :D
I, myself am in a live game (people are still deciding on characters) - I am letting the rest of the folks pick what they want first, since I am the new kid on the block (well, new... but we spent like two years doing Storm King's Thunder which we just wrapped up) - but all the players (except me) know one another since like High School (I just happen to know the DM from work). But I have a Kender Rogue in the pocket (the go-to for Kender) and a Human Wizard (White Robe) - just waiting for the last person to decide. If they want to play a Kender (anything), I will switch to the Human Wizard. If they want to play some form of Wizard, I will do the Kender Rogue.
So far the party is: Human Fighter (Knight of Solamnia), Minotaur Fighter (Battlemaster), ? Bard (Lore), Dark Elf Artificer (Alchemist), the person who hasn't decided, and myself (one of the two characters). I am looking forward to it because I am a huge fan of the Dragonlance books.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Sounds awesome! Is the dark elf artificer a dark elf like Dalamar or an actual drow?
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
The DM is allowing "Drow" (despite that not being a thing in Dragonlance).
I posted this in another thread - but I will copy and pasta - how I wrote up a way for "Drow-like" elves to exist (sans the Spider fetish).
I'd explained in Dragonlance there are no "Drow" Elves, really - "Dark Elves" are normal elves, who are branded as such, because of some crime they may have done. And I went on to talk about how Dalamar was an example of that (although now he's insanely respected). But - I reached out to the DM and asked if he'd be cool with me challenging myself to explain how "Drow-like" elves might have existed in Dragonlance... but were virtually unknown. He said he was cool with it - and so I wrote something up (note - the player wanting to play the Dark Elf never saw this and came up with another origin that ties to the Cataclysm) - but anyway here's what I wrote - and I think it would explain how Drow-like elves (without the whole spider-fetish) might have existed (and I should not she wanted to be an Artificer Alchemist)...
Things to note: Durth in Dwarven means "Strange" and I just added "-Thax" since a long of dwarven Kingdoms had that, so I assume it'd mean something close to "Strange Kingdom"... https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Dwarven_Language
The other lore (Crematia and the giving Dragon Stones) is part of the normal Dragonlance lore. https://dragonlance.fandom.com/wiki/Thorin
The rest wrote itself as I sat down and let my imagination run wild.
________________
Meyver Lhee has only heard stories of the proud Silvanesti – the Elven Kingdom, hailed as the most beautiful kingdom. However, during the start of the Third Dragon War, her mother was among many others who fled Silvanesti seeking shelter from the war that was brewing. After all, during the Second Dragon War, Silvanesti had been attacked by the dark forces, which included: the bakali, ogres and Chromatic Dragons.
With the forests unsafe, the Silvanesti sought refuge among the Dwarves of Thorin (Hiel-Thax) for their part in handing over the Dragon Stones to Crematia, the ferocious red dragon which had led to the attack on Silvanesti. However, the Dwarves wanted to hide their shame and did not want the Elves walking among them as a constant reminder of their cowardice. The Dwarves offered a section of their kingdom, much further down and long abandoned in favor of their new kingdom, where the lava flowed, allowing for their smithing to be done more efficiently. The abandoned kingdom offered to the elves was known as Durth-Thax.
With no natural light, the Elves adapted by learning the ecology of Durth-Thax and life beneath the mountains, where most of the light was by small pools of bubbling lava or the odd vegetation – such as the fantastic purple mushrooms the Dwarves had called marman fungus. The Elves of Durth-Thax learned to become expert alchemists, mixing the various vegetation to create healing potions as well as other useful potions because while life in Silvanesti had been walled, and relatively safe; Durth-Thax was full of various dangers that none of the Elves were accustomed to. The occasional dwarf that came down to Durth-Thax to check on the elves and trade with them and warning them of the various dangers that lingered beneath the mountains. The Dwarves had often asked if the elves had wanted to return to Silvanesti and leave Durth-Thax, while some did; the majority had remained. They’d discovered that being free of the walled city brought danger and risk into their lives; but they were truly, perhaps for the first time, in hundreds of years, feeling alive and free.
As the Elves of Durth-Thax adapted to life beneath the mountain an interesting side effect began to take place. Similar to how all the stone in Durth-Thax and most of Heil-Thax was a dark, black stone, so did the elves discover that their own flesh tone began to adapt; whether this was evolution to allow them to more easily hide in shadow, or if it had been because of an unseen chemical that was reacting to the genetic make-up of the Elves, who were not native to Durth-Thax and had no tolerance for whatever was drifting in the air, remains unknown.
Meyver Lhee was born in Durth-Thax, this had been the only life she’d ever known, and like all of her family before her, she was extremely skilled alchemist. However, the stories she’d heard about where her family had come from – Silvanesti had often called to her when she slept. More so, when the dwarves of late, whom visited and traded with the Elves of Durth-Thax, that they’d heard rumors of a war brewing in the outside world… the world beyond the mountain… and something in Meyver Lhee called to her to venture forth… take what she knew of potions and see what the world outside looked like…
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
This is really cool! I never really liked the whole spider thing for drow anyway so this would work perfectly if I ever run Dragonlance (I’m just a player rn). Do you mind if I use it?
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
I'd be honored if you did!
If something I created is useful, I'd love to see it used. Especially since the player for the campaign I am playing in, decided to tie how the Drow she is a part of were shunted into Krynn due to a magical energies created by the Cataclysm.
So I'd love to have this used by someone. If you do, I'd love to hear how it goes!
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Definitely. Thanks so much.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).