random spew @kenzfirefly - Tumblr Blog

Dread to try dming

So after looking around and being a... coward who is afraid of dming for my mostly long time players (of 3.5) I found this game called dread. No one had played it but they all seemed interested so we played dread. We played as ourselves and it was really fun. They want a second game (follow up to follow some trails I left hanging) and are interested in me dming but want me to move to them as they live 2 and a half hours away.

lazzmap

I re-designed the map order worksheets during my time at WOTC as manager of cartography. Mainly it was just to make the worksheets completely digital and accessible for anyone who was to design maps for our game worlds. These are the final versions which were being used up till 2003 at WOTC. The list of map symbols goes back to the dawn of role playing game maps and TSR. Dave Sutherland and Dennis Kauth were the two people who really started all of the organized nature of making map orders easier to produce for the TSR RPG R&D design department.

Dennis Kauth was originally from an engineering background, so he even made sure that all of the symbols had a corresponding number in case of the situation where someone was not able to draw things out in a competent manner, they could just simply write a number on the map reference and circle it, thus making “it” the object or feature from the master key. The mapping standards is one of the first things Dave & Dennis showed me when I started work in the mapping department at TSR in the early 90s.

In those days the whole thing was a large packet of stuff in a folder, including several different sized blank map pages, the symbols list and a blank fold-up poster map sheet printed with a hex grid for the old ‘gazetteer” style maps and a few examples of how to draw a proper map reference. For the most part everyone in R&D used these map standards to create their map references, however there were always a few that would come in on cocktail napkins and such but it was really worth it to have a standard for the map orders. Fun little bit of history, Good times and Good gaming!

noblecrumpet-dorkvision

Narrating Combat in D&D

Combat descriptions are always difficult to come up with on the fly. Here is a guide with some tips and tricks to make your combat more interesting and dramatic!

image credit: Michael Komarck

Hit Points

When a creature or player gets hit by an attack, think about the situation surrounding the attack. Has the creature already taken damage? Figure out how much damage is being dealt before describing the attack. Is it a lot of damage or a little? How tough is the defender? is it merely a pinprick to them or a grievous wound? No matter how you slice it, hits always come back to one thing: Hit Points.

So something important that you should know about Hit Points: just because you subtracted “Hit Points” and they took “damage” doesn’t necessarily mean you actually drew blood. Most people always default to “you stab them in the face/chest/neck.” Well that’s a pretty gruesome and very lethal hit. Most creatures would probably just flat-out die from that. This isn’t a Tom & Jerry cartoon where creatures squash and stretch to absorb the damage.

To help ease into a creature’s eventual demise over a large span of Hit Points, try describing nonlethal ways that creatures and players “take damage.“ Have each attack wear down the creature. Only draw blood when a player lands multiple blows or rolled a high attack or damage roll (basically when the player feels good about their attack) or when they fall below half hit points. That’s why we use the term "bloodied,” after all! Here are some examples of some pre-bloodied attacks:

Your deft swordplay is wearing out the defender as they struggle to parry your strikes!

The creature is backed into a corner, its options for defenses running thin!

Their weapon is buffeted by your blows and knocked away. Now’s your chance!

The horseman is knocked from their mount, leaving them battered and bruised as they roll back to their feet!

Your ambush forces the orc to deflect your dagger with their bare hand to save itself. It yowls in pain!

Your mace clobbers the knight upside its head, dazing them as a metallic sound reverberates through their helmet! Backpedal in confusion.

The wizard wrinkles their brow as they deflect your attack with a hasty shield, this one weaker than the last. Their concentration seems to be failing!

Once a creature is bloodied, then you can start with the more lethal attacks. Save the head, neck, chest, and femoral artery hits for when the creature is about to die. But by all means, stab them in the kidneys, flay some muscle from their arm, chop off one of their antennae or extra limbs. Don’t be afraid to impart status debuffs for certain hits (even if the attack wasn’t necessarily a crit). For instance, if they take a leg wound they might have slightly reduced speed as they limp around the battlefield. Perhaps you cut off their hand or shot out an eye, rendering the part useless until they receive magical healing. Here are a list of almost-lethal places where I like to describe hits that works for most humanoids:

Hit Table (1d10):

1: Eyes: blind them for 1 round if just one eye, or permanently if both.

2: Ears: deafen them for 1 round if just one ear, or permanently if both.

3: Hand/Fingers: deny them the use of that hand. If they wield a two-handed weapon, they do so with disadvantage.

4: Arms: if just a wound, give them -1 to attacks with that arm. If the limb is chopped off, obviously they can’t use it.

5: Legs: half their speed. Reduce their speed to 5 ft. if the limb is chopped clean off.

6: Belly: reduce their speed by 5 ft. and give them the Poisoned condition.

7: Lower Back: no major negative impact, but they shouldn’t lift any heavy objects for 6-8 weeks.

8: Side Torso: no major negative impact, but they should definitely have that looked at for internal damage.

9: Shoulder: no major negative impact. Make sure they wear a sling so it heals properly.

0: Butt: hilarity ensues. They can’t sit down without immense pain.

Misses

Yes, it’s really fun to hit with an attack and roll high damage dice, but people oftentimes will remember a great missed attack just as fondly. In fact, a DM that doesn’t describe a miss could risk making that player feel left out or frustrated if they miss often. So make the misses memorable and dramatic.

Keep in mind what sort of weapon they were using when they missed, or what sort of things in the environment maybe got hit instead. Heck, maybe a miss might help their situation if they break something that puts them on the advantage! Maybe they hit a support beam instead of the gnoll. You have them roll for damage, and it’s a huge amount! The support beam snaps and rocks from the old mine start to cave in a 20 ft. radius! Have everyone roll DEX saves!

Something like that works especially well on a critical failure. Always describe a critical failure in a special way, maybe imposing a debuff on the person who missed or changing the situation somehow. A comical gaffe is always welcome here, as well.

Critical Miss Ideas:

Attacker strikes a nearby object instead

Attacker’s weapon becomes damaged or broken (unless it’s a magical item)

Attacker’s weapon becomes stuck or disabled for their next turn (maybe a sword stuck in a log or a jammed crossbow)

Defender knocks the weapons from the attacker’s grasp

Attacker accidentally strikes themselves for half the normal damage

Defender rolls out of the way, repositioning themselves behind the attacker.

Personality

Accentuate the creature’s personality by characterizing HOW they perform certain actions. A duelist might stab precisely for your thigh, but an ogre might swing a club clumsily. This can lead to comical gaffes, like the duelist yelling “ha-HA! …oh?” as their sword slips past you and they fall on their face, despite you just calling their strike precise. The ogre can easily miss their swing and because of the clumsiness you described causing them to follow through and spin around, getting dizzy and confused for a turn.

Consider how the creature is reacting to their current Hit Point status. Do they clutch at their wound? Do they punch their wound and roar at their attacker? Are they unphased by their wound like an undead? Are they on the ground writhing in pain?

Diving into the character of an enemy will help you guide both their combat decisions and how you narrate the action. Here are some common fighting personality tropes:

Cocky: A cocky creature is fearless, but to an extent where they may make mistakes. They will also likely taunt their enemies.

Clumsy: Big, dumb creatures or drunken brawlers will not pay any heed to their surroundings, maybe even be easier to fall prone or fall for combat tricks.

Stoic: A stoic creature is likely able to notice everything in combat as they approach the battle logically and without emotion. Think highly-trained warriors like knights or samurai.

Fearful: A fearful attacker is actively trying to get away from or avoid combat.

Fearless: A fearless creature is what you typically see of a heroic attacker.

Gleeful: A gleeful attacker delights in violence and will do whatever they can to cause pain.

Angry: An angry attacker will fight recklessly without regard to their surroundings.

Hungry: A hungry creature is looking for a meal. If they get seriously hurt, they will likely just leave to find easier prey.

Confused: A confused creature will be on the defensive. It wasn’t planning on fighting today.

Environment

Use the environment to guide combat. Even if your players aren’t clever enough to utilize the environment, that doesn’t exclude the enemies! And hey, if players witness what the enemies are doing, maybe they will learn to follow suit or just be inspired to fight more creatively. I actually had an NPC fighting alongside the players one time. They went into a cave with some bugbears around a smoldering campfire. He first kicked some of the embers up into one of the bugbears’ eyes, blinding them for a turn. Then he kicked a bugbear over a log and face-first into the fire. The other players were simply on autoattack mode, but were thankful for the debuffs provided by the creative use of environment.

I can’t really provide a complete list for this, as there are nigh-infinite combinations of generic objects that can be used to gain an upper-hand, but here is a link to one of my older posts about using environmental factors in combat!

For more content on narrating spellcasting in combat, check out this post!

elvhxns

Baby Dungeon Master

Hello World of D&D. My name is Kenz. I am a starting Dungeon Master. I have been playing D&D off and on for a few years with a group of a rotating 15 people. Many of the players have taken a turn DMing and most players are understanding of newer DM’s trying their hand. I have always like reading and writing stories and have crafted a D&D campaign idea and want to play it but there are a few things holding me back from trying. First the veteran players of D&D in the group are intimidating. The entire group mainly plays 3.5 which has a lot of information and as I am relatively new to the game I am not sure which books would be best and most of the Vet players have insane builds that I just don’t understand. The second as they have taken turns being DM’s they have everything memorized. It is mind blowing how much they can keep in their heads and I am afraid to make a fool out of myself. One of the Temp Dm’s is so inclusive and confusing and intense that when he DM’s it doesn’t last long as it is too confusing for some of the players and overwhelming and complicated for the other players. HE also makes characters this way as a player. He always is spot lighting and directing. He makes builds that are ridiculously over powered and makes it so other players are honestly not even needed and end up trailing behind him. I am afraid of getting railroaded by him, by his character, and just by his thought process.

The problem is the game we are playing is winding down. The current DM is struggling and it is time to step up and some of the others want me to step up and take the game… So I guess I will write on here for advice and laugh at mistakes I may be making as a baby DM

#d&d #dm #babydm

bixbiboom

This is absolutely incredible!

ilovemywifemorgan-deactivated20

cause of death: too shy to call ambulance

thyme-n-space

Didn’t want to inconvenience anyone

fandommember

Someone else might have needed it more

pervocracy

This happens. :(

Bear in mind that ambulance companies aren’t diverting EMTs away from a heart attack or traumatic amputation to answer your call. They’re much more likely to be diverting EMTs from:

Sitting in an ambulance station or a random parking lot playing Words With Friends and/or developing elaborate company-wide romantic intrigues

Sitting in a hospital EMS room doing giant stacks of paperwork no one will ever read while trying to make dinner entirely out of saltines and condiments

Routine transports of people who have to travel by stretcher, who maybe are not happy to be late, but are hardly going to die from it

Transports which are technically emergencies, but are stuff like vomiting or a sprained ankle where the urgency factor is more like “yeah, you should get that seen” than like “STAT CODE RED CODE BLUE CODE POLKA DOT STAT STAT STAT.”

So if you think you might need an ambulance, call one. You are not going to single-handedly take down the EMS system by daring to use it.

space-fey

I’m reblogging it but I would be that person wondering “Do I need this enough” until I died.

thebibliosphere

I have legitimately done this. Please, take care of yourselves.

caffeinewitchcraft

Furthermore, guys, we have dispatch. Dispatch makes sure that we’re all where we need to be, so you’re not taking an ambulance away from someone who “needs it more.”

Let dispatch worry if an ambulance needs to be somewhere else. You just worry about taking care of yourself.

fixyourwritinghabits

Time Out

Hey y'all. Sit down, take a deep breath, and remind yourself of this:

Writing is hard.

Writing is hard, yo. You are doing something that a great number of people would never even consider, and you’re doing it because you want to. Because you have something to say. And it’s hard, it’s so damn hard, but it’s worth it, because you’re doing it.

And hey, maybe it’s not your best work. Maybe you’re still struggling, a lot. But writing is hard, and the fact that you’re doing it at all says volumes.

remy-writes5

I will never believe that Sirius/Remus isn’t canon.

She literally made them the stars and the moon.

Don’t touch me.

satanicblowjobs

Proving a point to my boyfriend.

PLEASE REBLOG if you (male or female) believe it is perfectly okay and natural for a guy of any age to cry

alpha-blu

I’ve never hit reblog faster or harder.

actinganimagus

Bruh, we all cry.

asktheboywholived

You Heard Me

(( OOC: Based on THIS text post. ))

*Remus and Sirius chat quietly together in the library as a wild James approaches*

kenzfirefly

Awe yes james.

asktheboywholived

I'm super excited to see evermore on Saturday are you all ready

(( OOC: I HaVe NoT SLepT iN tWo MonThS. ))

kenzfirefly

That doesn't mean ready TT

ixrose

#chris evans #in where he is actually steve rogers

urulokid

#when is chris evans not steve rogers though

stravaganza

an-other-people-deactivated2013

#when casting is perfect I begin to wonder about Marvel #do they secretly grow these people on farms #let them loose on the world for a while to establish lives #and then cast them as the role they were grown for

booksandwildthings

I have

no idea

what you’re

talking about

skeletoncl0set

i do believe this is my fifth time reblogging this

ilovewintersoldiersandsebastian

apart form sebastian though he goes from this to this

lastitalianwitcholdblog

seb’s the weird cousin

lovemarvel-trash

@justaweirdthoughtstuff

smthsmthurmum

This is amazing oml

i-is-surrounded-by-idjits

Seb’s the fanboy they grew to connect with the audience

itsanerdlife

@snowyseba This explains everything!

marveldcmistress

I’ve only seen this post in screenshots on pinterest. I love it.

themcuhasruinedme

I think you missed the other fanboy…

ellysiacat

Love this

sexylibrarian1

Everybody says Seb isn’t like Bucky… but he IS. He’s Bucky without a mask on. Bucky’s always wearing some sort of mask. Even around Steve. Seb is what Bucky would be like if he’d had the chance to just ~be~.

that-sokovian-bastard

UH THIS

mmmaff-blog

Um we’re forgetting someone…

linaofthemyscira

ITS FINALLY ON MY DASH YESSS

perpetuallyvex

Not to forget our “Wizard”:

formerprincewille

Aldjaksnana

patient-wave

I’ve found it. I’ve found the perfect post.

im-fangirl-trash-okay-deactivat

it’s on my dash jdnckdmd

laufyeson

these dorks lmaoo

waywardwilled

I love everyone omg they’re all so amazing???

coffee-swimmer

YES

ryangosking

Don’t forget

eraemx

Chris looks so hot in that first gif set

jrubalcaba

Omg I found THE original post! Holy shit I’ve only ever seen screenshots of this!

sheridans-dynamos

This post pops up on my dash every few months and I will never not reblog it.

lokis-helmet

This is too good to not reblog

the-marvel-what-deactivated2020

Everybody see this, this is the quality trash I came to Tumblr in the first place.

daily-marvel-dose

Also

adjectivebear

This post is ALMOST perfect, but we’re forgetting someone:

asexual-bitch

ADSHSJJAKHEH

joeljoelwarr

YES

moon-and-the-dog-star

I’LL BE REBLOGGING THIS TILL THANOS SNAPES ME OFF THIS GODDAMN PLANET

dandinspo

Adventure seed compilation #1-5

dandinspo

Adventure Seed Idea Original links:

ASI#1 https://dandinspo.tumblr.com/post/173338539605/adventure-seed-idea-1

ASI#2 https://dandinspo.tumblr.com/post/173549385694/adventure-seed-idea-2

ASI#3 https://dandinspo.tumblr.com/post/173563438635/adventure-seed-idea-3

ASI#4 https://dandinspo.tumblr.com/post/173615071664/adventure-seed-idea-4

ASI#5 https://dandinspo.tumblr.com/post/173768784345/adventure-seed-5

I am a disabled and queer Nerd. If you like what I am doing here and want to help me afford my medical bills consider buying me a coffee on my Ko-fi account. http://ko-fi.com/mcgough

likeawildthing

forever bitter b/c the moment motherfucking drama queen sirius black chose to find his Chill™ was that precise second when his desperate, distraught, despondent godson asked him to explain thoroughly and in detail how exactly it was that his mother and father got together because his mother OBVIOUSLY hated his father.

Alternative ‘nah, she didn’t’ canon-plausible Sirius reactions:

grabbing Floo Harry by the shoulders and saying, “harry, your mum loved your dad as much as i loved my motorbike.”

listing places he caught them snogging

giving an overly detailed three hour oral history of their romance

or a three minute oral history in musical form

harry, has anyone had the talk with you? do you know what sexual tension is? (remus: sit down, sirius.)

reciting from memory the half written sonnet james had started for lily for seventh year valentine’s day, which he made the fatal mistake of chucking in the bin for sirius to find instead of burning it to erase all evidence

forcing remus to be lily and doing a dramatic reenactment of james proposing