Anything BUT whatever dumb ass 💩 WotC has recently done or is currently doing, literally ANYTHING

Quote from HelloImL >>

 Yeah, H.P. Lovecraft incorporated his many fears into his books, the ocean, the dark, and speaking of dark, african-americans. That's why his books are so racist. Moving on from that, yeah, HP Lovecraft is to be blamed for many cosmic horror tropes, but also without him, cosmic horror would likely not exist.

 
Hrm. I'd disagree with the last statement.

Someone would have written something (story wise) about the fear of squids and octopus, for sure, at some point. :D

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from HelloImL >>

 Yeah, H.P. Lovecraft incorporated his many fears into his books, the ocean, the dark, and speaking of dark, african-americans. That's why his books are so racist. Moving on from that, yeah, HP Lovecraft is to be blamed for many cosmic horror tropes, but also without him, cosmic horror would likely not exist.

 
Hrm. I'd disagree with the last statement.

Someone would have written something (story wise) about the fear of squids and octopus, for sure, at some point. :D

 Yeah, and there are older works that developed without his influence that would be considered cosmic horror. He had a huge influence on the genre and he made it popular, but he didn't invent it. 

A genre that can't create anything new after a hundred years is a sad genre. Thankfully there are newer conceptual/weird horror stories that aren't just "I dug up a scary tentacled giant and it ate my crew" ad nauseum.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

A genre that can't create anything new after a hundred years is a sad genre. Thankfully there are newer conceptual/weird horror stories that aren't just "I dug up a scary tentacled giant and it ate my crew" ad nauseum.

 Yeah. Phew. Thankfully D&D isn't just elves, dwarves, humans and dragons, for like the last 40 years, huh?

Hold on a second.....

lol

To be fair, every genre can be broken down to the basic level.

For example...

A genre that can't create anything new after a hundred years is a sad genre. Thankfully there are newer conceptual/fantasy stories that aren't just "some wizard, some elves, and some magic item with dragons in it" ad nauseum.

 
Or...

A genre that can't create anything new after a hundred years is a sad genre. Thankfully there are newer conceptual/scifi stories that aren't just "flew out in space and discovered a weird, angry alien species" ad nauseum.

 
You get the idea. :D

Cliches and tropes exist for a reason. Some genius like Tolkien or Lovecraft took something that already existed but wasn't super popular and then used it incredibly well. Everybody saw how good it was and tried to copy it resulting in overused story elements.

Then you have The Princess Bride and Terry Pratchett's books where overused cliches and tropes are taken and made fresh again.

For those of you looking for tips on how to write a D&D Campaign - this has some good info, especially for people just starting out their DM career, which I know a few folks in here are...

https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1671-how-to-write-a-d-d-campaign

Quote from IamSposta >>

QotD: If you could be any D&D race/species IRL, and it wouldn’t be a problem, what would you choose and why?

Oh gosh. I honestly kinda like being human but I'd probably say Elf just for the increased lifespan. Though that would kinda isolate me from human society so I really dunno. A lot of the species I like to play like Kobolds, Goblins and Yuan-Ti might not be held in super high regard IRL. And they aren't as cool as things like a Goliath, though those guys inherently have an urge to basically get themselves killed quickly in some versions of the lore.

So yeah, there are boatloads of cool options such as a lot of the sea dwelling species, but I''d probably say I'd most wanna be an Elf. As an Elf, I'd potentially adventure or live with humans or whatever but mostly hopefully not manage to let 700+ years of life pass without truly massively impacting anything important & chasing my elven dreams. Next, I'd say dwarves would be my second pick because they have a gargantuan life span and fit in better with human society. Sadly, they die way younger than elves.

My third choice'd be humans because I am - TOTALLY ;) - one of these guys already and kinda like continuing being one and not having to adapt to drastically different customs and stuff. Finally, fairies are cool since they can fly and I agree with TheFriendlyArchfey that being one would be awesome.

Ps. I know I'm a human it was a joke :(

Quote from EJODM18604 >>

QotD(ish): Which D&D monster is the awesome-est in your opinion, and why? 

Zero clue. I like Gelatinous Cubes and all oozes and the Animated Objects and so many more beasts. Literally, for years before I played the game I used to peruse my father's copy of the Monster Manual. I even love goblins as mobs (yes I've been playing too much MInecraft lol) so picking a favorite is literally impossible to me. I guess I'll just go with the big Gelatinous Cube and hope it doesn't swallow me next time as a show of gratitude for the choice. :)

PS. Sorry if I"m blabbering like an incoherent Gibbering Mouther or if my yapping is getting to you. I only got 6 hours of sleep and have sleep apnea so I'm probably not writing properly at the moment.

Gibbering Mouthers can be quite dangerous. Kind of like Intellect Devourers, they can bat higher than their CR would indicate.

Ever have D&D dreams? Like the sleeping kind?

I know for sure I had WoW dreams.

I’ve had dreams about some of the D&D campaigns I played in.

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

A genre that can't create anything new after a hundred years is a sad genre. Thankfully there are newer conceptual/weird horror stories that aren't just "I dug up a scary tentacled giant and it ate my crew" ad nauseum.

 Yeah. Phew. Thankfully D&D isn't just elves, dwarves, humans and dragons, for like the last 40 years, huh?

Hold on a second.....

lol

To be fair, every genre can be broken down to the basic level.

For example...

A genre that can't create anything new after a hundred years is a sad genre. Thankfully there are newer conceptual/fantasy stories that aren't just "some wizard, some elves, and some magic item with dragons in it" ad nauseum.

 
Or...

A genre that can't create anything new after a hundred years is a sad genre. Thankfully there are newer conceptual/scifi stories that aren't just "flew out in space and discovered a weird, angry alien species" ad nauseum.

 
You get the idea. :D

 
I mean you're making my point in a way. D&D remains fresh for most groups because it's not just replaying Fellowship of the Ring again and again for fifty years. Many beloved adventures have broken from this pattern. Think of how CoS incorporated horror, and Barrier Peaks introduced sci fi. Having read all of Lovecraft's stories, I can say first-hand that he gets very formulaic.

I'll re-state my point with respect to Lovecraft. First, write a list of your favorite cosmic horror stories. Now, strike off those that are over fifty years old. For me, very few remain.

I think we may be butting heads because I'm trying to distinguish using Lovecraftian tropes from reusing plots wholesale.

Quote from BoringBard >>

PS. Sorry if I"m blabbering like an incoherent Gibbering Mouther or if my yapping is getting to you. I only got 6 hours of sleep and have sleep apnea so I'm probably not writing properly at the moment.

Quote from Wysperra >>

Gibbering Mouthers can be quite dangerous. Kind of like Intellect Devourers, they can bat higher than their CR would indicate.

 Hey, did somebody say my name? /Jk

Ok, so, I am making this post to celebrate my 500th post (really its the 502 because I accidentally posted on Lords Rest Inn even though I was saving my 500 for this post. stupid brain) (on this account, my other has like 400 something so I technically hit 500 a bit ago but whatever, not the point)

I know it don't seem like much, but I thought I ought to share a milestone with the community that started it all.

and so, I close out the day (at least for me, its 8 where I am) with a

Quest Of The Day: share how DND and its community has impacted your life.

I started playing 7 years ago, and fell in love at first sight (is that the right word? read-through of the books? IDK). Even though it didn't always make me the most popular at school (I sometimes get a "oh, you play DND? thats so lame") It has stretched my creative muscles, frankly gave me most of my social skills, and helped me become a better writer and actor. So thats my story. I could wax poetic all night about the awesomness that is DND (and I bet most of you would wax with me), but I don't have that kind of time. Some people have to sleep.

I know this seems out of the blue but IDK. I'm feeling sentimental tonight for some inexplicable reason. IG I'm just thankful for the amazing community that is the Anything But The OGL Thread.

Edit: my internal dialogue right now: Oh god do they think I'm some sappy weirdo too invested in their online friends? I hope not

Quote from Raccoon_Master >>

Quest Of The Day: share how DND and its community has impacted your life.

 First off, happy 500 posts! Second,

In the time I've been on the forums, it's been great. Like you, it's helped develop my writing and social skills, and it's overall been a great thing for me. Unlike a lot of other social medias (not gonna name names), this is one of the few that actually sharpens your mind. As for DND itself, it's helped me make friendships (and allows for my friends to come together to do some sessions) and is one of my favorite games.

Nothing to feel nervous about. I like to believe that all of us are thankful for where D&D has brought us.

Many of us have had the same experience of social awkwardness or public scorn. Luckily I had a group of friends that shared the interest of gaming. D&D was my first dip into RPGs and it opened my world to other RPGs. I feel as if there was a flood of games that came out in the 80s, of which I played most of them. The 90s was the beginning of LARP thing which I did not get into. Overall I still have friends from that time and it's in a way because of D&D. If I didn't play D&D and everything else, I wouldn't have made such great friends.

I am uncertain about how gaming warped my personal growth =)

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

I think we may be butting heads because I'm trying to distinguish using Lovecraftian tropes from reusing plots wholesale.

 
Rest assured we're not bumping heads. I was being silly. I am not a fan of the whole space horror genre, myself. So I wasn't bothered. Again, just being silly with my comment. (Being the very old man that I am, few things bother me... lol)

Quote from Raccoon_Master >>

Quest Of The Day: share how DND and its community has impacted your life.

I know this seems out of the blue but IDK. I'm feeling sentimental tonight for some inexplicable reason. IG I'm just thankful for the amazing community that is the Anything But The OGL Thread.

Edit: my internal dialogue right now: Oh god do they think I'm some sappy weirdo too invested in their online friends? I hope not

 
Heh - the folks you can meet on a forum can indeed become real friends, and there's nothing to feel weird about it. The woman who would become my wife, I met through an online gaming community (many eons ago in the days of dial up modems!) On EverQuest, the guild I was in - we all met in Vegas every few years - and many of them became real friends. A number of my real friends I had all originally met on a BBS I ran (again, back in the day of dial up modems!), I met someone on World of Warcraft (who I've yet to meet in person) who is someone I consider a friend. On the Sierra forums (a gaming company called "Sierra On-Line" now defunct), there were several people I met - one of them ("Collector") - he and I have known each other for over 20 years (and never met) and I help admin his forums (after the Sierra forums went away). One of the people on that forum named "Jules" I met in New Orleans, and she and I are very close friends. So yeah, it's all good.

For me, I've really enjoyed the folks who post - no matter how frequent or infrequent. I see so many different personalities, but all of us with one shared passion. And how everyone just jells together, despite all these different quirks we each have.

One of the other things I've vastly enjoyed is when we do those random "create an adventure" type things, or the ... stories?... can they be called that?... that I've written using the people from this thread. Instances of creativity feed my soul.

Quote from SirTawmis >>

One of the other things I've vastly enjoyed is when we do those random "create an adventure" type things, or the ... stories?... can they be called that?... that I've written using the people from this thread. Instances of creativity feed my soul.

 Should we do another one soon? We've had some recent additions to the thread, so some haven't done one yet.

Also, recently I have had a campaign idea knocking around in my head, and wanted to see what you guys think considering it is a bit...uncoventional

(TLDR: party is level 20, has bossfight at bottom of dungeon, gets cursed to lose levels, and must escape before they become lvl 0 and die. If that sounds cool to you and you want to play in it {i would run it on PBP here on DBB) then don't read the spoiler)

Tell me what you think, and if you are interested in playing, say so

Quote from Raccoon_Master >>

Quote from SirTawmis >>

One of the other things I've vastly enjoyed is when we do those random "create an adventure" type things, or the ... stories?... can they be called that?... that I've written using the people from this thread. Instances of creativity feed my soul.

 Should we do another one soon? We've had some recent additions to the thread, so some haven't done one yet.

 Me! Me! I had an idea.  Basically, this one is creating a new creature for DND.

QUEST OF THE DAY

Answer these questions in the same format as the other story/adventure thingies. Now,  like the create a race/species one from earlier, no making the stats until the last (and technically first, as alignment has some statistical uses) question. With that out of the way, let's begin!

1. The creature's alignment. Is the creature evil, good, neutral, etc.

2. The creature's physical appearance. How does it appear when adventurers stumble upon it?

3. It's abilities. But since no stats for this question, say we have a creature that freezes people. Just say 'it freezes people' instead of 'all targets must make a blank saving throw or blah blah blah'.

4. It's behavior, mainly how it acts. Wanted to put abilities before behavior to do stuff like 'it uses (ability) to (blank).

5. A brief description of its lore. How was it created and brought into this world?

6. The name of the creature.

7. The interesting bit! Someone here makes a homebrew stat block for the monster made and posts it here, incorporating the abilities and stuff into said stat block in mechanical form.

Quote from TheMadGibber >>

QUEST OF THE DAY

Answer these questions in the same format as the other story/adventure thingies. Now,  like the create a race/species one from earlier, no making the stats until the last (and technically first, as alignment has some statistical uses) question. With that out of the way, let's begin!

1. The creature's alignment. Is the creature evil, good, neutral, etc.

 

The creature is Nuetral Good. Though it often waits to see which side is more likely to win and not engage - if it sees what it believes to be people of good intentions - it may attempt to help and sway things to their favor.

Next Set of Questions are:

2. The creature's physical appearance. How does it appear when adventurers stumble upon it?

3. It's abilities. But since no stats for this question, say we have a creature that freezes people. Just say 'it freezes people' instead of 'all targets must make a blank saving throw or blah blah blah'.

4. It's behavior, mainly how it acts. Wanted to put abilities before behavior to do stuff like 'it uses (ability) to (blank).

5. A brief description of its lore. How was it created and brought into this world?

6. The name of the creature.

7. The interesting bit! Someone here makes a homebrew stat block for the monster made and posts it here, incorporating the abilities and stuff into said stat block in mechanical form.

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from TheMadGibber >>

QUEST OF THE DAY

Answer these questions in the same format as the other story/adventure thingies. Now,  like the create a race/species one from earlier, no making the stats until the last (and technically first, as alignment has some statistical uses) question. With that out of the way, let's begin!

1. The creature's alignment. Is the creature evil, good, neutral, etc.

 

 

The creature is Nuetral Good. Though it often waits to see which side is more likely to win and not engage - if it sees what it believes to be people of good intentions - it may attempt to help and sway things to their favor.

Next Set of Questions are:

2. The creature's physical appearance. How does it appear when adventurers stumble upon it?

2. The creature appears as a spiderweb of glyphs on a surface - wall, ceiling or floor. Often times it tries to blend in with the environment - carpet pattern, wood grain, or such. It is difficult to detect when it is not moving.

The next set of questions are:

3. It's abilities. But since no stats for this question, say we have a creature that freezes people. Just say 'it freezes people' instead of 'all targets must make a blank saving throw or blah blah blah'.

4. It's behavior, mainly how it acts. Wanted to put abilities before behavior to do stuff like 'it uses (ability) to (blank).

5. A brief description of its lore. How was it created and brought into this world?

6. The name of the creature.

7. The interesting bit! Someone here makes a homebrew stat block for the monster made and posts it here, incorporating the abilities and stuff into said stat block in mechanical form.