When looking for some inspiration for something purely original, be it a character, an item, or even an entire world, where do y'all go for inspiration? This could include books, authors, shows, movies, comics, or anything else that feeds the artistic parts of your wonderful brains.
especially
Some of my favorites that I always seem to go back to are the book series The Ranger's Apprentice, Lord of the Rings (duh)(both the movies and the books), most of Stephen King's work (especially The Eyes of The Dragon), and of course any old campaign or world that is scarcely used any more.
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Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
In my homebrew campaigns I typically look to my player's actions, backgrounds, and personalities from the previous game to prep for the next game. I'll try to weave a story that they feel they've helped develop based on each session, and the stories typically end up being world-ending (like a Final Fantasy game). So far this approach (having my inspiration being based off of previous sessions) have led to some amazing stories and the players end up more attached to their characters than ever. It's nice to give them that experience.
Currently I'm using the campaign books and finding ways to apply them to my world through simple changes like some location names and overall difficulty. for the most part I use world events, missions, and micro campaigns to add to the world's story and lead to the book campaigns. For example for something like Curse of Stahd I'm going to have my players wake up in the middle of Barovia with most if not all of their gear gone so they have to find it in chunks (because Strahd is an A-Hole who wants to mess with them and let them think they can get the upper hand before he kills them for more power). I'm also going to be adding more monsters to the encounters some of which are from the Tome of Beasts by Kobald Press.
Currently I'm using the campaign books and finding ways to apply them to my world through simple changes like some location names and overall difficulty. for the most part I use world events, missions, and micro campaigns to add to the world's story and lead to the book campaigns. For example for something like Curse of Stahd I'm going to have my players wake up in the middle of Barovia with most if not all of their gear gone so they have to find it in chunks (because Strahd is an A-Hole who wants to mess with them and let them think they can get the upper hand before he kills them for more power). I'm also going to be adding more monsters to the encounters some of which are from the Tome of Beasts by Kobald Press.
I like the idea of putting them into the same setting and building your own adventures around it, but I am looking for some physical, non-D&D related inspiration for an original world I am in the process of creating.
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Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
There is a lot of great stuff in the lovecraft mythos and his friends works, also there are some interesting stuff in the Wheel of Time books. I'm not super well versed on the Wheel of Time, but for Lovecraft I've been toying with the basic ideas and applying it to items.
One Example Being: Anchors of the Deep Ones (bludgeoning and piercing damage) (an airship based Item)- (A)oddly shaped large metal box(es) with large eldritch runes carved into them and a metal rod pressed into it vertically; out of a portal opposite of the rod flows a large chain of infinite length; with a large triangular spike on the outside of either side of each link. The chains could easily be used as a makeshift ladder for those willing to try to climb along it. At the end of the chain (outside the portal on the side of the box) is attached a massive anchor; twisted in a strange form resembling a mass of tentacles, pseudopods, fangs, and claws; it is oddly symmetrical... Although these anchors are named after the deep ones where they can be found in the temples and ancient residents, it is largely agreed upon that these are actually ancient whip or flail like weapons used by great old ones to battle. This is due to the discovery that the indecipherable magical rune are used to only power and possibly in part program the ancient technology. It is also believed that the great old ones own energy could also be used to power the strange device.
If you were to drop it on something I guess it could be considered a magic weapon. it could be like a +3 like 10d12 damage or something. it might take like 1 round to reel it in per 100ft or so. Maybe it gets an extra damage die as the altitude of the drop increases every 100ft or so to a max of 5 extra dice. maybe like a dc 18+ arcana or int check to learn to operate the device by touching the rod or chain and or through mental command.
There is a lot of great stuff in the lovecraft mythos and his friends works, also there are some interesting stuff in the Wheel of Time books. I'm not super well versed on the Wheel of Time, but for Lovecraft I've been toying with the basic ideas and applying it to items.
I love the idea dude! i haven;t read any Lovecraft yet, but he is now on my list for sure. I have heard a lot of good things about him and his works and I look forward to implementing them into the adventures in store for my future.
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Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
To create magic items I made random effect generator for myself. Obviously this is a pretty time consuming, but basically it shoots out an item then a randoMm number of effects attributed to it. This allows me to come up with some fun items with minor tweaks. For example it might give me a wooden spoon that does 2d4 lightning damage or a short bow that makes all beasts within 60ft hostile to you.
As for plot points, I usually just take stuff from books or manga I read and then just tweak it for the world I created. If there isn't an area on my map that said event can fit in, I just add to the map! I also usually randomize the type of location. I found that randomizing stuff helps me feel less biased towards certain things and adds much more diversity to my campaign.
To create magic items I made random effect generator for myself. Obviously this is a pretty time consuming, but basically it shoots out an item then a randoMm number of effects attributed to it. This allows me to come up with some fun items with minor tweaks. For example it might give me a wooden spoon that does 2d4 lightning damage or a short bow that makes all beasts within 60ft hostile to you.
As for plot points, I usually just take stuff from books or manga I read and then just tweak it for the world I created. If there isn't an area on my map that said event can fit in, I just add to the map! I also usually randomize the type of location. I found that randomizing stuff helps me feel less biased towards certain things and adds much more diversity to my campaign.
Would you mind sharing the random magic item generator? It sounds like a great idea, but as you said time consuming.
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Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
the link will shoot you to the generator. it will roll on a bunch of tables giving from 1-3 different enchants per either item or weapon including negative effects or even stuff such as sentient weapons. the effects will be listed from top to bottom, and the item will be at the bottom.
the link will shoot you to the generator. it will roll on a bunch of tables giving from 1-3 different enchants per either item or weapon including negative effects or even stuff such as sentient weapons. the effects will be listed from top to bottom, and the item will be at the bottom.
Thanks dude!
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Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
For something a little more silly, I would probably look at the Discworld books. Some cool ideas for magic items (I want my own luggage sooooo bad) and interesting thoughts on how magic works.
I like to use old fairytales and classical mythology, or any old classic tale (book, movie, even tv show), and give it a d&d spin. Taking a couple of "what if" situations and seeing where they might logically lead is fun too.
Also don't be afraid to make more or less useless items or magic items. There it an npc in my world that made a magic bookmark; when asked what is does he told the party that "it keeps me from loosing my place". later on when that party returned and one of the dates on the bookmark was dimly glowing red. when asked why the npc responded "well my taxes are due, but you already knew that. Like I said it keeps me from loosing my place". joke items like this are a great way of adding to the world and maybe even used as plot points. Also stupid items are just fun; think as some of them as custom trinkets.
Another thing I've been getting inspiration from recently is Power Rangers. Twitch.tv has been streaming every season of Power Rangers all week up to this Sunday and I have had it on in the background. I have been getting alot of good ideas for items based on the abilities of the bad guy/monster in whatever episode I'm watching.
For example, one of the monsters drained the life force from people causing them to age. This led me to a think of a ring that caused the wearer to age to the next age bracket. So if they were a teenager they would become an adult in their 20s, and so on. The aging would be permanent but they would also get some type of bonus based on their new age bracket. So if they went from a middle age man to an elderly one they would gain +2 wisdom and -1 strength.
Here is another Item of mine; this is used typically in cities and large towns. Manacles of Counter Spell/ Despell. Wizards can now fear real jail time LOL.
I have found a ton of inspiration from books. They seem to be the heart of everything I create.
Tolkien - I don’t think I need a reason here.
Terry Brooks - Just awesome inspiring characters you can relate to.
Robert E. Howard - Don’t think Conan needs explaining either.
Douglas Adams - because I sick of reminding my adventures to bring a towel and that the answer to all riddles is 42.
Isaac Asimov - For just good old fashion story telling. I find lots of inspiration from the magical Sci Fi realms that fit really well into a fantasy setting.
Kurt Vonnegut - I’m old and and sometimes his views on society make for really interesting kingdoms.
Anne McCaffrey - Hello… Dragons!
Michael Moorcock - Elric! Nuff said.
H.G. Wells - I’m old remember…..
David Eddings - Just a great series (The first one) filled with all kinds of goodness for DM’s to mash up.
Piers Anthony - I was on the fence with this one, but thought I would include him because I did a take on his “Split Infinity” series once. Also the The Xanth Series has lots of stuff to draw from.
Arthur C. Clarke - I’ve taken stuff from most of his works and warped into my our selfish uses.
Dan Simmons - I’m totally included this because I’m 100% guilty of creating the Sherk (SP) for D&D.
Terry Pratchett - I think that I have a book of NPC’s that bare something of a character in anyone one of his books. Guilty!
Larry Niven - Because my very first world I designed was a Ring World. It was awesome and the players thought it was original… they needed to read more.
Jules Verne - I can not express how this changed all my descriptions for people traveling underground. Not to mention what they could encounter. I used this before Drow became a thing.
Terry Goodkind - Strictly for story arcs.
There are many authors that have jumped on the D&D wagon and have written a number of D&D adventure novels. I have read them but for some reason found good stories in most but they lacked that creative inspiration spark to run off and make something epic from them.
Travel is important. See different places and take photos. I do a lot of hiking the mountains so things like dwarf citadels are fun to place and imagine when I'm walking along.
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JT "You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
I read a lot. I've seen a lot of obscure movies. I overtly use scenes, dialogue, and themes from things that I think my players haven't seen. I will also take inspiration from things that aren't strictly fantasy: I've repurposed scenes from star trek, star wars, babylon 5, the magnificent seven, true grit, apocalypse now, and many others to fit into my game. I'm of the opinion that anything can be part of DnD.
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When looking for some inspiration for something purely original, be it a character, an item, or even an entire world, where do y'all go for inspiration? This could include books, authors, shows, movies, comics, or anything else that feeds the artistic parts of your wonderful brains.
especially
Some of my favorites that I always seem to go back to are the book series The Ranger's Apprentice, Lord of the Rings (duh)(both the movies and the books), most of Stephen King's work (especially The Eyes of The Dragon), and of course any old campaign or world that is scarcely used any more.
Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
In my homebrew campaigns I typically look to my player's actions, backgrounds, and personalities from the previous game to prep for the next game. I'll try to weave a story that they feel they've helped develop based on each session, and the stories typically end up being world-ending (like a Final Fantasy game). So far this approach (having my inspiration being based off of previous sessions) have led to some amazing stories and the players end up more attached to their characters than ever. It's nice to give them that experience.
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Currently I'm using the campaign books and finding ways to apply them to my world through simple changes like some location names and overall difficulty. for the most part I use world events, missions, and micro campaigns to add to the world's story and lead to the book campaigns. For example for something like Curse of Stahd I'm going to have my players wake up in the middle of Barovia with most if not all of their gear gone so they have to find it in chunks (because Strahd is an A-Hole who wants to mess with them and let them think they can get the upper hand before he kills them for more power). I'm also going to be adding more monsters to the encounters some of which are from the Tome of Beasts by Kobald Press.
Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
There is a lot of great stuff in the lovecraft mythos and his friends works, also there are some interesting stuff in the Wheel of Time books. I'm not super well versed on the Wheel of Time, but for Lovecraft I've been toying with the basic ideas and applying it to items.
One Example Being: Anchors of the Deep Ones (bludgeoning and piercing damage) (an airship based Item)- (A)oddly shaped large metal box(es) with large eldritch runes carved into them and a metal rod pressed into it vertically; out of a portal opposite of the rod flows a large chain of infinite length; with a large triangular spike on the outside of either side of each link. The chains could easily be used as a makeshift ladder for those willing to try to climb along it. At the end of the chain (outside the portal on the side of the box) is attached a massive anchor; twisted in a strange form resembling a mass of tentacles, pseudopods, fangs, and claws; it is oddly symmetrical... Although these anchors are named after the deep ones where they can be found in the temples and ancient residents, it is largely agreed upon that these are actually ancient whip or flail like weapons used by great old ones to battle. This is due to the discovery that the indecipherable magical rune are used to only power and possibly in part program the ancient technology. It is also believed that the great old ones own energy could also be used to power the strange device.
If you were to drop it on something I guess it could be considered a magic weapon. it could be like a +3 like 10d12 damage or something. it might take like 1 round to reel it in per 100ft or so. Maybe it gets an extra damage die as the altitude of the drop increases every 100ft or so to a max of 5 extra dice. maybe like a dc 18+ arcana or int check to learn to operate the device by touching the rod or chain and or through mental command.
Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
Now that I think about it the board game house on haunted hill has some interesting items that could be altered to fit 5e in some way.
To create magic items I made random effect generator for myself. Obviously this is a pretty time consuming, but basically it shoots out an item then a randoMm number of effects attributed to it. This allows me to come up with some fun items with minor tweaks. For example it might give me a wooden spoon that does 2d4 lightning damage or a short bow that makes all beasts within 60ft hostile to you.
As for plot points, I usually just take stuff from books or manga I read and then just tweak it for the world I created. If there isn't an area on my map that said event can fit in, I just add to the map! I also usually randomize the type of location. I found that randomizing stuff helps me feel less biased towards certain things and adds much more diversity to my campaign.
Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
yeah sure, it is just something I decided to do in my spare time so it isn't really professional quality though.
http://tools.libove.org/generators/t/1490/
the link will shoot you to the generator. it will roll on a bunch of tables giving from 1-3 different enchants per either item or weapon including negative effects or even stuff such as sentient weapons. the effects will be listed from top to bottom, and the item will be at the bottom.
Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
For something a little more silly, I would probably look at the Discworld books. Some cool ideas for magic items (I want my own luggage sooooo bad) and interesting thoughts on how magic works.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
I like to use old fairytales and classical mythology, or any old classic tale (book, movie, even tv show), and give it a d&d spin. Taking a couple of "what if" situations and seeing where they might logically lead is fun too.
geek dad with 3 geek kids
Also don't be afraid to make more or less useless items or magic items. There it an npc in my world that made a magic bookmark; when asked what is does he told the party that "it keeps me from loosing my place". later on when that party returned and one of the dates on the bookmark was dimly glowing red. when asked why the npc responded "well my taxes are due, but you already knew that. Like I said it keeps me from loosing my place". joke items like this are a great way of adding to the world and maybe even used as plot points. Also stupid items are just fun; think as some of them as custom trinkets.
Another thing I've been getting inspiration from recently is Power Rangers. Twitch.tv has been streaming every season of Power Rangers all week up to this Sunday and I have had it on in the background. I have been getting alot of good ideas for items based on the abilities of the bad guy/monster in whatever episode I'm watching.
For example, one of the monsters drained the life force from people causing them to age. This led me to a think of a ring that caused the wearer to age to the next age bracket. So if they were a teenager they would become an adult in their 20s, and so on. The aging would be permanent but they would also get some type of bonus based on their new age bracket. So if they went from a middle age man to an elderly one they would gain +2 wisdom and -1 strength.
Here is another Item of mine; this is used typically in cities and large towns. Manacles of Counter Spell/ Despell. Wizards can now fear real jail time LOL.
I have found a ton of inspiration from books. They seem to be the heart of everything I create.
Tolkien - I don’t think I need a reason here.
Terry Brooks - Just awesome inspiring characters you can relate to.
Robert E. Howard - Don’t think Conan needs explaining either.
Douglas Adams - because I sick of reminding my adventures to bring a towel and that the answer to all riddles is 42.
Isaac Asimov - For just good old fashion story telling. I find lots of inspiration from the magical Sci Fi realms that fit really well into a fantasy setting.
Kurt Vonnegut - I’m old and and sometimes his views on society make for really interesting kingdoms.
Anne McCaffrey - Hello… Dragons!
Michael Moorcock - Elric! Nuff said.
H.G. Wells - I’m old remember…..
David Eddings - Just a great series (The first one) filled with all kinds of goodness for DM’s to mash up.
Piers Anthony - I was on the fence with this one, but thought I would include him because I did a take on his “Split Infinity” series once. Also the The Xanth Series has lots of stuff to draw from.
Arthur C. Clarke - I’ve taken stuff from most of his works and warped into my our selfish uses.
Dan Simmons - I’m totally included this because I’m 100% guilty of creating the Sherk (SP) for D&D.
Terry Pratchett - I think that I have a book of NPC’s that bare something of a character in anyone one of his books. Guilty!
Larry Niven - Because my very first world I designed was a Ring World. It was awesome and the players thought it was original… they needed to read more.
Jules Verne - I can not express how this changed all my descriptions for people traveling underground. Not to mention what they could encounter. I used this before Drow became a thing.
Terry Goodkind - Strictly for story arcs.
There are many authors that have jumped on the D&D wagon and have written a number of D&D adventure novels. I have read them but for some reason found good stories in most but they lacked that creative inspiration spark to run off and make something epic from them.
Travel is important. See different places and take photos. I do a lot of hiking the mountains so things like dwarf citadels are fun to place and imagine when I'm walking along.
JT " You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
I read a lot. I've seen a lot of obscure movies. I overtly use scenes, dialogue, and themes from things that I think my players haven't seen. I will also take inspiration from things that aren't strictly fantasy: I've repurposed scenes from star trek, star wars, babylon 5, the magnificent seven, true grit, apocalypse now, and many others to fit into my game. I'm of the opinion that anything can be part of DnD.