I don’t think any essentials are missing. I took castle Netynar (sp?) from the cult of the dragon modules and tried converting it to a group (5) bastion and it pretty well had everything you would want. Places to train troops, to make mundane /common/uncommon armaments, holy water, potions, scrolls, relics, items. The PC’s of that campaign had ended up owning the castle, the roadhouse and a share of the mountain retreat. Using those as well you also got a trophy room, pub, gambling hall and theater. For 5 L13 PCs. I’m sure someone will find some nteresting but not essential possibilities that were left out. But I think all the essentials and a reasonable selection of x trash were included.

Hey, don't know if any of you ever do any wilderness adventuring or like to have handy dandy stat cards available when you do that list all the DC's for various activities by biome, but...

... if you do...

... and you like free ...

Well, I have a pack of over 35 biome cards for you that list a metric ton of stuff for you to use while running wilderness stuff.

a sample, of the 6 by 6 inch standard (so it can be printed on a single sheet of paper with space for notes).

Right here, in a PDF, you can get all of them, plus a wind table (based on a real one), and more.

I have several opinions on that, but they stem from a general difference on theory of what fear does, and how it operates.

First, I have different kinds of fears:

UNCANNY Fears of the things that exist that defy all expectations, that cause trauma simply by seeing them.
MACABRE Fears to do with something happening to one’s body.
MONSTROUS Fears of certain kinds of monsters.
PHOBIAS Any of the phobias that people experience in their lives, rarely for rational reasons.
INEFFABLE Fears of those things that one cannot understand with a rational or sane mind.

Then I have reactions to fear:

Response Description Effect
Fawn Appease or placate the fearful thing | Pleads, begs, promises.
Fight Aggression, bravado, charging | Puffs up, threatens.
Flight Avoidance, Aversion | Runs away.
Flop Fainting, collapsing, | Faints.
Freeze Freezing up, paralyzed, numb | Stuck in place, stammering.
Forge Stoic, slowed down, resistant to action | Shock, stunned.

Beings react to different fears in different ways, and there's no telling how someone will react to a given circumstance. I apply the responses to any fearful incident, including intimidating people.

When folks are creating characters, I have them pick two kinds of fears (and they can get specific if they want), and then how they respond to those fears.

I had been hoping for a more evolved fear response mechanic -- but that's what we got given, so I just keep using a random table for how people respond to fear -- players roll whn confronted with Fear effects:

Roll Response
1 - 4 Fawn
5 - 8 Fight
9 - 12 Flight
13 - 16 Flop
17 - 19 Freeze
20 Forge

Because I use Sanity, the roll has a save with a variable DC for it based on the circumstances, and they only roll if they fail. The effects are determined by the situation in terms of duration, but I do have certai locations where things feel off, and people can take psychic damage just from being there (but that's a different discussion because psyche is a score as well).

Question, have you all taken a creature/character from a piece of media you enjoy and created an NPC or monster stat block for them. 

My current project is creating a stat block for Catnap from the indie horror game Poppy Playtime that I have renamed the Meowsma. Its an aberration that breathes out different types of gases that causes different types of effects like fear inducing hallucinations, paralysis, and a sleep effect. They can also teleport within their own gas cloud and can enter dreams to mess with people. 

Quote from Coronet0 >>

Question, have you all taken a creature/character from a piece of media you enjoy and created an NPC or monster stat block for them. 

My current project is creating a stat block for Catnap from the indie horror game Poppy Playtime that I have renamed the Meowsma. Its an aberration that breathes out different types of gases that causes different types of effects like fear inducing hallucinations, paralysis, and a sleep effect. They can also teleport within their own gas cloud and can enter dreams to mess with people. 

 AM, and I almost did one for Midora from Toriko before I realized how ludicrous the power level would be.

Quote from Coronet0 >>

Question, have you all taken a creature/character from a piece of media you enjoy and created an NPC or monster stat block for them. 

My current project is creating a stat block for Catnap from the indie horror game Poppy Playtime that I have renamed the Meowsma. Its an aberration that breathes out different types of gases that causes different types of effects like fear inducing hallucinations, paralysis, and a sleep effect. They can also teleport within their own gas cloud and can enter dreams to mess with people. 

 
yes.

aside from Purple people eaters, I have created stat blocks for assorted famous people, original monsters based on folklore, legend, myth, and fable (Cactus cats, jackalopes, Isnashi), almost all my players, Bridezilla, and more.

Honestly, i sorta forget how many, because its just kinda something I do automatically. I have a stat block for the L&O:SVU leads. And Jethro Gibbs. And The grinch.

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Quote from Coronet0 >>

Question, have you all taken a creature/character from a piece of media you enjoy and created an NPC or monster stat block for them. 

My current project is creating a stat block for Catnap from the indie horror game Poppy Playtime that I have renamed the Meowsma. Its an aberration that breathes out different types of gases that causes different types of effects like fear inducing hallucinations, paralysis, and a sleep effect. They can also teleport within their own gas cloud and can enter dreams to mess with people. 

 
yes.

aside from Purple people eaters, I have created stat blocks for assorted famous people, original monsters based on folklore, legend, myth, and fable (Cactus cats, jackalopes, Isnashi), almost all my players, Bridezilla, and more.

Honestly, i sorta forget how many, because its just kinda something I do automatically. I have a stat block for the L&O:SVU leads. And Jethro Gibbs. And The grinch.

 BAYMAX?

i have not done a Baymax, but a healing construct may be in my very near future now.

Quote from Coronet0 >>

Question, have you all taken a creature/character from a piece of media you enjoy and created an NPC or monster stat block for them. 

My current project is creating a stat block for Catnap from the indie horror game Poppy Playtime that I have renamed the Meowsma. Its an aberration that breathes out different types of gases that causes different types of effects like fear inducing hallucinations, paralysis, and a sleep effect. They can also teleport within their own gas cloud and can enter dreams to mess with people. 

 All the time. I made the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. I also make tons of monsters based on mythology, legends, and folklore. 

Happy thanksgiving to all.

Be thankful and mindful and have a great time.

Happy thanksgiving to you Ae and to everyone else on here.

I just got my proof copy of the Codexalia Wyrldica in the mail.

650 pages. Big ass book. Pre-orders on Amazon for Kindle and Print paperback.

now I get to do the other three continents and space.

i originally thought the print version might not be worth it. But holding it and doing spot check through it has been, um, changing that perspective.

OOOOOOOOOO...

That's exciting!

now my sig points to the right places, lol.

Looks like I need to join the ranks of folks who try to make some coin from this, so my big ole book has a preorder link (and the paperback will go live on January 7th, so the 10 dollar ebook version is what's up now) and the rest of the downloads for real books moved to my patreon. The little systems and such are still up on the main blog, but that's going to be retooled this month from the ground up for both my players and this whole thing.

I know a lot of folks have an issue with AI art, but, well, I can't get Disney/Pixar 3D type stuff otherwise (and the one artist I have found I could commission isn't free until July of next year, lol), and especially not of the kind I am doing. And while I could likely rig up a model or two, it would be one or two, and I need a lot more than that. So, haters gonna hate and I will make my silly little videos.

Patreon will be where I put my monsters and the spells, though -- gotta give the subscribers something only for them. And maybe the two classes I held back. This is new to me, so gonna wing it.

Quote from Coronet0 >>

Question, have you all taken a creature/character from a piece of media you enjoy and created an NPC or monster stat block for them. 

My current project is creating a stat block for Catnap from the indie horror game Poppy Playtime that I have renamed the Meowsma. Its an aberration that breathes out different types of gases that causes different types of effects like fear inducing hallucinations, paralysis, and a sleep effect. They can also teleport within their own gas cloud and can enter dreams to mess with people. 

 Yes, I made two Brood from the pages of Uncanny X-Men (specifically UXM 154, 155, 162-167).

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

So I'm on a bit of a LotR kick right now, and I'm trying to think of how the great rings would operate in D&D. The properties of the rings, even the one, are pretty vague so I've been starting with some of the properties that they are explicitly stated to have in the works.

For the one:

• Grants the ability to read and utterly dominate the minds of wearers of the lesser rings (or at least the seven and nine)
• Grants invisibility at will and the ability to see ethereal creatures (the "unseen world")
• Grants the ability to make yourself appear more fearsome than you are
• Grantes the ability to understand (and maybe speak?) the black speech of Mordor
• Relays your location to Sauron and the ring wraiths, with more precision the closer you are
• Corrupts the mind of the bearer, with more deleterious effects the closer you are to Mordor, and the more you wear the ring (seems only true when Sauron has taken form)
• Extends the life-span of the bearer indefinitely
• Otherwise augments the existing talents and flaws of the bearer in proportion (the more powerful the bearer, the greater the augmentation)

For the three:

• The bearer can turn their ring invisible at will, though other ring-bearers are immune
• Preserves a region's natural beauty and grants unpecified powers within the region (concealment?)
• Protects the wearer from the passage of time (although all bearers of the three were already immortal, so...)
• Possibly helps the bearer heal others
• Possibly gives the bearer powers over the related element of the specific ring
• Possibly grants the bearer low-level foresight
• Possibly corrupt the bearer when Sauron possesses the one
• Helps the bearer inspire followers

The seven and the nine (It's not clear whether these sets of rings were distinct)

• Enhances the bearer's ability to command others
• Extends the life-span of the bearer (indefinitely?)
• Corrupts the mind of the bearer when Sauron possesses the one, ultimately leading to the bearer becoming a wraith (though dwarves seem immune to this)
• Otherwise augments the existing talents and flaws of the bearer in proportion (the more powerful the bearer, the greater the augmentation)

All of the lesser rings lose their power when the one ring is destroyed.

Anything I'm missing?

It think the hardest part of giving the rings statistics is the corruption aspect. Still working on how that's going to shake out mechanically.

The Lord of the Rings 5e has a system called "Shadow Points" based on the "Calling" (Class) you select. I would say that the DM and the player would need to have a good understanding of what the character wants and desires - and the usage of the One Ring, when wearing it, is like the devil's deal - where it makes it seem like it can come true, it just takes a terrible thing to make it happen, but that terrible thing will be worth it in the end (according to the corruption). 

I would see this as Intelligence Savings Throws, at a high DC (and increasing the DC the more it is used). Failing the DC causes "Corruption" - and after so many Corruption, the player loses control of the character as it surrenders to the Shadow and the Enemy (Sauron). Similar to the Lycanthropy general rules, of when a character becomes a werewolf or a vampire, they technically (should) lose control of their character.

QotD

What is your favorite biological warmachine?

example: The trolls in LOTR were biological siege engines.

Quote from Wysperra >>

QotD

What is your favorite biological warmachine?

example: The trolls in LOTR were biological siege engines.

 While the entire Tyranid race could be considered biological weapons, I particularly like the Bio-Titans from Warhammer 40k.

 Also a small reminder that this is only part of the scouting fleets.

Quote from Wysperra >>

QotD

What is your favorite biological warmachine?

example: The trolls in LOTR were biological siege engines.

 Probably the oliphants. 

But I do like the trolls in the Wingfeather Saga. They were used similarly to the trolls in LotR but they were actually tricked into serving Gnag the Nameless and really were contemplative souls who loved poetry. 

DUNE sandworms. They have held my imagination since forever.