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I don't know what I'm doing but I'm doing it all here.  Send me a 1-3 word prompt and I’ll make a magic item out of it! All Homebrew | Magic Items | Spells | Monsters | DM Tools &Tips

[mirthfulartist]

If you're interested at all in comics, D&D, or are just a fan of my work, please come check out Grimoire Comics on Instagram! We (a collection of school friends) are writing our first-ever collection this year, of four short stories inspired by D&D and other fantasy games. Although the release date isn't set in stone yet, we hope to sell our comic online and in-person at an upcoming comic festival. Please come follow us for more updates, work-in-progress pics, and our little meet-the-artist profiles.

[mirthfulbrewist]

Regarding the OGL

I have read the whole leaked proposed OGL in full, and I encourage you all to read it, too.

http://ogl.battlezoo.com/

I am not a lawyer, or even a law student, but in University as part of becoming an Illustrator, I took a mandatory course specifically regarding copyright law and writing/reading contracts from the perspective of a freelancer, i.e, what you can and can’t copyright, and how not to get screwed by a contract.

I am happy to answer any questions about this contract to the best of my (limited) knowledge. ...But really, you must read it yourself.

In my view, this is A BAD License agreement.The copyrights WoTC demands (from you) are too steep, and are irrevocable if you enter the new proposed contract. Even if you or they terminate the contract, they get to keep copyrights to the work you've already given them.

If this License agreement somehow makes it into law, I advise any prospective creators NOT to use it. You are giving away too much.

[mirthfulbrewist]

All Rights Reserved.

All original content created on this blog belongs to me and must not be “reposted” or otherwise published electronically of in print outside of this blog. Items, Characters, rules, stories, art, and other supplements created by me are meant for use in home games and aren’t to be published or used in other formats or media without express permission from myself, the copyright holder.

Works I have reblogged from other tumblr users and outside sources are subject to the terms of their respective creators and copyright holders.

[mirthfulbrewist]

Fun with firbolgs

[normal-horoscopes]

The Signs and Gates:

Aries: The space between two mountains in the distance. The sky looks different. You can hear the beating of colossal wings.

Taurus: The fault line. A cliff where there was a field two weeks prior. The soil concealed a plate of polished black stone.

Gemini: The sudden sense that the bathroom rug is covering a hole. Stepping on it would cause you to fall into the pit. You cant seem to take your eye off it.

Cancer: Now entering a town with a four digit population. The gas station is adorned with thousands of wind chimes. There is no wind.

Leo: An overgrown cemetery. Its significance is lost to time. Paupers and kings feeding the roots of young trees. 

Virgo: The sky outside is grey. The window is fogged up with rain. Light and shapes dance in the blurry patterns.

Libra: The space behind the desks at the public library. A tiny place of dust and lost pens, yet it seems so far away.

Scorpio: A statue holds a lantern over the path. Its features are rough and weathered. The lamp is still bright.

Ophiuchus: A log fallen over a river. It absolutely feels like a trap. 

Sagittarius: The staircase overlooking the ballroom. Colors feel brighter, hazier, as you move down.

Capricorn: The deepest room of an old aluminum refinery. The great steel heart. You feel bigger here somehow.

Aquarius: A colossal grey boulder now cracked open like an egg. It reveals the glittering geode inside. 

Pisces: An abandoned wolf den. 

[mirthfulbrewist]

Dungeon Starter Ideas

Last edited: 10/02/2021

A wise DM once said, “you’re only as original as the obscurity of the things you steal from.”

So here’s a few ideas I stole from my brother, books, TV, other DMs, and my own campaign notes! These descriptors can be purely atmospheric, or you can use the unique circumstances to complicate things for your players!

I’ve marked the ones I’ve actually played with a ♥, in case you want to hear some specifics of how it went. I’ll be updating this list, so keep your eyes open.

Locations:

♥ A translucent and fragile-looking spire made of ice, amber, glass, or crystal

The hollowed insides of an old, giant tree (dead or alive)

Above the beanstalk, up in the clouds

♥ A forgotten underground tunnel system connecting two cities

A ruined castle half-buried in snow/sand/earth/water

An abandoned mining pit

A Labyrinth, complete with a wandering monster, and a curse which breaks navigational magic

The forgotten corridor between dimensions where outsiders, stragglers, and ideas live

The Moon

The bones of an ancient, colossal creature

♥ A magic library, with living books and other hazards

♥ An abandoned Frankenstein lab, or construct factory

A high-security bank, prison, etc.

Twist:

♥ This dungeon seems to appear and disappear at different intervals and locations, meaning coming in (or leaving) is sometimes impossible

♥ Gravity works strangely here. You may find yourself upside-down to the rest of the world, standing on floating platforms that crumble and break in odd directions

♥ This is a pocket dimension with its own set of rules--perhaps literally using the rules of a different board game, arcade game, or rpg

♥ There is a spirit living here who represents the dungeon itself. It is ancient, enormous, eccentric, and with uncertain morality.

The place was built too small or too large for the party (Kobold made, Giant made, etc.)

♥ Magic is distorted here, and spells sometimes cause wild magic surges, or fail entirely

♥ This place has funhouse elements--slides, platforms, and silly, gamey rituals that must be overcome

These are hallowed/desecrated grounds, and as such the land has some effect on holy/unholy magic

♥ This is a malleable mirror/dream world, built by someone’s psyche

Party members swap bodies when they enter. Enjoy your new character sheet!

Inhabitants:

Local beasties have moved in and built nests

♥ A gang or cult has made this their base

The original host is long dead, but half-broken sentries still patrol...

Mimics everywhere

This place was built and guarded specifically to keep THAT THING contained...i.e. monster types with specific abilities and resistances

♥ There are prisoners who must be evacuated, and monsters which are best left alone...but which are which?

♥ Haunted by ghosts

Mostly/entirely abandoned, but prickling with traps and hazards

Note: There’s no reason you can’t mash a bunch from each list together. Have your ruined castle be on the moon. Have your magical library be a shifting labyrinth. Have your mine be harvesting mana from the bones of a long-dead magical creature. It doesn’t even need to make sense--maybe these catacombs were built like a funhouse by a lich with a strange sense of humour. Get weird with it!

My brother’s wonderful holiday one-shot got me inspired to add a little confusion and whimsy into my world, and so I pass my inspiration on to you. Have fun!

[mirthfulbrewist]

[ethantherenegade]

21 Asks for D&D Characters (and OCs)

1. What influenced or inspired the creation of this character? 2. What is your character’s relationship with their family? Family is a word which here refers to biological relatives, close companions, and/or the individual(s) who raised them. 3. Who is the closest person to them? 4. What were the conditions surrounding their formative years? 5. What creature would they like to have as a pet? 6. Do they have any bad habits? 7. Is there anyone they’d die for? Kill for? 8. Who was their first love? 9. How would this character react to someone confessing their love for them? 10. How old is this character? 11. Are they normally peaceful or aggressive? 12. How does this character handle stress? 13. Does your character consider themselves lucky? 14. What is their favorite holiday? 15. What is the best gift they could receive? 16. If they could instantly kill one person in the world without consequence, who would it be? 17. If they were in possession of a trio of wishes, what would their three wishes be? 18. What is their favorite spell or method of attack? 19. What are their guilty pleasures? 20. What is something this character is or could be addicted to? 21. Have you actually played this character yet?

[mirthfulbrewist]

My three active characters:

PAR.4184 (Parthenope Model Warforged Musical Companion), Lore Bard.

Solomon, Mastermind Rogue.

Holly Thornwhistle and Asmodeus, Chroneurgy Wizard and frog familiar.

[dare-to-dm]

Ideas for non-combat encounters/events

For when you want some variety for your tabletop RPG.  These events will also give your players a chance to use character skills they don’t often have opportunities for.

Natural Disaster - Have the town the PCs are in catch on fire and see what they do!  Do they cut their losses and run?  Do they heroically try to save trapped townspeople?  What do they do about the aftermath?  Natural disasters are an interesting challenge because there can be lots of danger and drama without necessarily having a villain.  It may also get your PCs to use skills they don’t commonly have a chance to.  You could also try floods, earthquakes, raging storms while at sea, etc.

Powerful Fortress - Put one of your party’s goals in a location where they won’t be able to prevail through combat alone (Example: a fortress where they are vastly outnumbered).  Your players will have to rely on either stealth or guile (or both) to accomplish their goal.  The pacing of such events can be frustrating to some players, but few sessions are as rewarding as a creatively executed heist or infiltration.

Dangerous Crossing - Give them a dangerous physical obstacle to overcome.  A canyon, or a raging river, or quicksand or an old battleground littered with traps and mines.

Festival - Have the PCs encounter a festival or tournament!  With lots of contests! This could be a good opportunity for them to build their fame and fortune (especially if you allow gambling).  Some of my favorite sessions have involved festivals.

Entertainment - Put the PCs in a situation where they have to entertain someone.  What do they come up with?

Letter - Have one of the PCs receive a letter, either from an NPC they’ve dealt with before or from someone involved with their backstory.  This is a good way to make the consequences of their actions seem more real.  You can also use it to introduce new plotlines/sidequests.

Crafting Challenge - Put the PCs in a situation where they need to craft something in order to accomplish their goal.  Maybe they need to make something in order to fix a mechanism?  Or in order to satisfy some local gift-giving custom?  Or they need a forgery?  Maybe as part of an exchange for something else they need?

Lost and Found - Have your PCs discover someone or something that is clearly lost.  Maybe they find an infant in the wilderness.  Or a key with a strange inscription, or some kind of talisman.  Throw in a clue or two to present your players with a tantalizing mystery.  

Inhospitable Wilderness - Have the PCs go somewhere it’s an effort just to survive.  A barren desert, a treacherous swamp with poison gasses, a forest so dense the ground never sees the sun, or even the bottom of the ocean.  Test their endurance and survival skills!

Dinner Party - Have the PCs be summoned to a formal event!  Test them on the battlegrounds of social grace and etiquette!  Even better if it’s in a dangerous environment or an alien culture.

Thief - Have something important stolen from the PCs.  See how they handle it.

Needle in a Haystack - Give the PCs something very difficult to find.  Like a single specific housecat in a sprawling metropolis, or a legendary weapon of which there are many fakes/copies.  

Really, if you need any more inspiration, look at your player’s character sheets and see if they’ve invested any points in a skill they haven’t gotten to use much.  Then invent a challenge they could feasibly use that skill for.  If you can’t think of a situation that could be helped by an Appraise, Craft: Calligraphy or Handle Animal check, you need to practice your own creative problem solving skills!

[a-dms-side-quest-deactivated202]

Out of curiosity, how do my fellow DMs prepare their campaigns? 

Do you open up a word doc at type out your story hook and make little bullet points from there? 

Do you wing it completely? 

What’s your notes system like? 

I’m simply looking for new ways to plan for my d&d games! 

[mirthfulrealist]

I’m sure there’s already a billion notes talking about it, but I use OneNote, and I think it’s pretty great!

You can set up these big file tabs along the top, and then fill each file with pages and subpages. You can link to other pages/files for quick reference just by typing a page name [[like this]] into the text box. The pages don’t have all the capabilities of Word documents, but organizing images and statblocks and such is a lot easier than it would be with word processors, and everything autosaves. I learnt about it here from Icarus Games. I’ve never used the “To Do” tag feature but it seems handy.

I use the big colour-coded file tabs for key locations and events, plus a couple tabs for non-location-based ideas like a list of random names, potential encounters, homebrew ideas, etc. 

Within each location tab I’ll give a little exposition of the location and then write down any relevant information like story beats and who/what the players might encounter there. There are also pages for sub-locations, like key buildings within a city, where I record specific characters and relevant statblocks. I keep myself updated by writing a “story so far” on my first tab, (the “home base” location,) and by updating relevant pages when new information pops up.

I’m a nervous first-time GM and I don’t have a great memory in the heat of the moment, so this is an excellent resource for me. Every idea has a place and is easy to find without having to wade through old word docs and notes in my phone/notebooks.

(Oh, another tip, keep a specific notebook for D&D and nothing else. Digging through old sketchbooks to try and find That One Cool Idea I Had is THE WORST.)

[mirthfulbrewist]

Important addition: OneNote 2013 is free and doesn’t expire.

I use the offline version, but if you’re so inclined you can also sync it to all your devices through the clooooud.

[mirthfulbrewist]

There’s got to be a spell somewhere that bridges the gap between Blink (3), and Etherealness (7).

[grimoireofdunamancy]

Corrosion

3rd Level (transmutation)

Casting Time: 1 action Range: Self Components: V, S, M (Pinch of rust or a vial of acid) Duration: 1 minute Class(es): Artificer, Druid, Warlock, Wizard

Green rust covers your arms. When you cast this spell, choose one of the following options, the effects of which last for the duration of the spell. While the spell lasts, you can end one option as a bonus action to gain the benefits of a different one.

Destructive Rust. You touch a non-magical, ferrous metal object. Causing it to rust and weaken. Tiny objects like Iron locks, keys and door hinges break immediately upon touch. Small or larger iron objects, such as an anvil or vault door, automatically take 3d10 acid damage. All hits to an object weakened in this way are critical hits.

Corrode Weapon. Make a melee spell attack against a target wielding a non-magical metal weapon. On a hit, you deal 3d10 acid damage to the target. After dealing damage, their weapon takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to damage rolls. If its penalty drops to -5, the weapon is destroyed.

Acidic Touch. Make a melee spell attack against a target. You have advantage on the attack roll if the target is wearing armor made of metal. On a hit, you grapple the target. While grappled, you can use a bonus action to deal 3d10 acid damage. If you are grappling a target that is wearing metal armor, you reduce their AC by 2.

*requires feedback about the usefulness of the options. Should some of these options be their own spell? Are they powerful enough the way they are or should an option change? I had trickster rouges in mind when making this spell. It’s quite powerful for them.

[mirthfulbrewist]

I love me some spells that let you imitate monster abilities.

[mirthfulbrewist]

Bloodrite Amulet

Bloodrite Amulet

Wondrous Item, Rare.

A gold amulet which resembles a hand. A long red gemstone sits across the palm, imitating a bloody gash.

Wearing this amulet allows the wearer to expend HP in exchange for a spellslot as a bonus action.

Each spellslot costs 10 HP per spell level. You cannot use this feature if it would take you below 0 HP. You can use this feature to gain a maximum of 5 levels of spells per day, and the amulet recharges 1d4+1 slots each dawn.

image source

[mirthfulbrewist]

Socially awkward, catphobia (PC please!)

Chausette is a black-and-white Tabaxi Artificer who was terribly excited to begin adventuring and exploring the wider world, but her first interactions with the more humanoid people of the cities left her feeling...well...

It started when her Wizard companion kept summoning what looked like smaller, dumber versions of herself. She thought she could ignore it, but then the Druid joined them, then the Ranger...

She left that group when the Druid tried to scratch her behind the ears. Now she’s taken to going hooded most of the time to avoid any more....strange interactions. She tends to prefer the company of other Tabaxi, and small humanoids like Gnomes, though she spent most of her life surrounded by (and studying) the warforged, who she deems much more civilised and easier to talk to. Lv 3 Artillerist Artificer

Class Skills: Investigation, Perception

Background: Archeologist (History, Survival) Languages: Common, Machine-speak

Feat: Magic Initiate (Sorcerer)

[grimoireofdunamancy]

@mirthfulbrewist

Noticed that you made a list of D&D blogs. I’m a homebrew spell blog that focuses on dunamancy and other useful spells. I have a ton of spells ready to be playtested.

[mirthfulbrewist]

Added you!

[mirthfulbrewist]

Cardian Deck

Wondrous item, Uncommon.

A pack of Intricately illustrated cards that stylistically resemble tarot. The backs are decorated with white and pink spiral motifs, and each card portrays a different creature.

Roll a d12 to determine which card you draw. You must draw randomly, and the deck can only be drawn from once per day. The spell effects last the full duration, and any other summons last for 24 hours or until they are reduced to 0 hitpoints.

Summons a Pseudodragon

Casts Infestation of Wasps (Poison damage)

Casts Infestation of Ladybugs (Radiant damage)

Casts Find Familiar (Owl)

Casts Find Familiar (Cat)

Casts Find Familiar  (Any)

Casts Find Steed

(7a) Summons The Luggage (Alt: Fey Spirit)

Casts Conjure Animals (list)

Casts Spirit Guardians

Casts Summon Lesser Demons

Casts Conjure Minor Elementals

[mirthfulbrewist]

You shouldn't expect your players to have fully realized backstories before they've gotten acquainted with your setting through gameplay.

Yes, they should have some idea of where they come from or what they want out of life, but without sufficient context of your world and the tone/playstyle of your game, they might be missing out on much more interesting or dramatic opportunities. Give them room to grow and really sink their roots into your world.