#dnd meta

[dailyadventureprompts]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's SO weird that d&d has lasted as long as it has without developing a formalized stratagy for prepping/running adventures. It's WILD that for 50+ years DMs have just been expected to try and fail their way to something resembling competency, and the best we as a fandom have dveloped terms of widely understood narrative/game structure is the five room dungeon.

I understand part of the draw of d&d is "here's a framework of rules to tell the stories you want" but the framework doesn't seem to extend very far past mediating skill checks or adjudicating combat encounters (and even then, the system's advice for when to do those skillchecks or how to organize those combat encounters is patchy at best).

"Just wing it" is not an effective way to build a storytelling medium OR a game system.

This is all to say that after two decades of beaitng my head against the wall (and widining my TTRPG playing to systems that actually know what the fuck they're doing) I'm FINALLY getting close to building out an adventure format that allows for a workable structure without being a strict railroad. Expect a writeup in the next couple of weeks as I fine tune some stuff.

[dnd-divine-waltz]

Utility Magic: Increase Fertility

Increase Fertility

2nd level transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (a carved totem of a baby worth at least 10 gold)

Duration: 1 day

You touch a willing humanoid, granting it an increase in fertility until the following day; while conceptus from intercourse during that time is not completely certain (90% chance), it is much higher from the results of this spell (and will be nearly certain if both partners are enchanted with this spell, 99% chance), so long as both partners are normally capable of conception (eunuchs, post-menopausal, and the like will not benefit from this spell).

The carving is consumed during the course of the casting. In many societies, there are great superstitions surrounding the precise details of the carving, with many giving strong credence to beliefs that the precise materials used will lend itself to a particular end for the child (i.e. pearl eyes for the carving are believed by some to guarantee that the child will have superior eyesight, while other cultures believe that it will predispose the child to a life at sea, or the use of mahogany or oak or bone will have other effects). While many wizards who study this have found no such link, that does not prevent the fussing from friends, family, and other interested parties (more than one royal has had a diplomatic crisis resulting from their selection of materials for the spell material for a potential heir).

This spell can be cast at higher levels for greater effect; at 4th level, it allows males of ovipositioning races (aarakocra, dragonborn, gith, etc) to impregnate females of in vivo races (most other humanoids), with the resulting children being of one race or the other. At 5th level, it allows for in vivo males to impregnate females of ovipositioning races, resulting in the laying of an egg as per normal, but with the resulting children being of one race or the other (meaning that, yes, it is possible for a dragonborn woman to have a human baby born from an egg).

Dragons shapeshifted into humanoid form have no need of this spell, as their innate magic will overcome such piddling barriers as being of entirely different species and creature types.

Spell Lists: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Wizard

~~~~~~

Development Notes: Another piece of utility magic that came about from pondering "Okay, what are the sorts of things that people historically went to faith healers, herbalists, and the like for, and which we use extensively when science was able to provide?" And the answer is: control over our own fertility. Of course, once I started writing it out and thinking of the little carved baby statue that gets used as a consumable component, I realized that I'd hit upon an incredible vein of worldbuilding potential. Just imagine the traditions, folklore, superstitions, and more that would come from that little statuette's construction; you'd have crafters whose entire careers would be spent making them. They would be wedding gifts; parents would "hint" about wanting grandkids. Books would be written on the various intricacies of their construction; the fact that, mechanically and looking from outside of the setting, we know that these have no effect would not matter to societies within that setting. It would be popular on levels we associate with astrology and the like IRL.

And that sort of rich vein of cultural folklore and such can have such an effect on the vividness of a fantasy setting, at least in my opinion.

[passionesolja]

The Sith Purebloods from Star Wars EU/Legends were literally space tieflings. I can’t believe Disney decanonized them smh

[yael-art-den]

I'm the number 1 defender of Human Fighters in no small part because I find very compelling to be a "dude with a sword" in a world where magic is real and can fuck you up, BUT MOSTLY because it forces you to create a solid character concept first, without depending on flashy races or complex visual designs.

I've seen a lot of concepts that are just "Tiefling With The Most Unusual Horn Configuration" with a premise that becomes trite and overdone two sessions in, because the core of the character was "Look how original my dude is" and not an actually interesting character to play. There is something better than innovation, and that is effectiveness.

[habitanteccentric]

I’m no expert at DMing, I can fully admit to that, but I’ve been doing it for over a year by now, and something that I realize can potentially be an easy thing for novice DMs to accidentally do is make their sessions have no time to breathe or give moments for characters to just hang out and bond with each other. I say this as someone who has done this in the past and this being a skill I’m still trying to get better at.

I think it’s a common desire for plenty of DMs to want to get the fun close knit group dynamics that you see in podcasts and actual play games and maybe even groups you were in if you played any games as a player. The issue though is that if you put too much focus on trying to make a story happen or have each session be filled with a bunch of interesting and crazy things, there won’t be much time for your characters to just relax and get to know each other better. Sure it can happen within those story or action heavy sessions, but that usually is only after a group is given time to know each other and figure out the other characters and build a dynamic off of that.

That’s one of the reason why things like shopping or downtime sessions can be so valuable, since that’s when your characters are able to let their guard down and enjoy each other’s company and maybe even open up a little. Heck, these sessions can also be a great time to endear your characters to NPCs and locations they find themselves in, because their’s no quest or conflict at the current moment, so they can just soak in the interesting locals and fun people around them without worrying about having to do something important. If you want to make your characters care about what they’re doing and the people they’re with, you actually need to give them time to do that.

[gracefulfallen]

ok, but the idea that veth may not actually know luc's age is so genuinely funny to me from a sociological standpoint? because like... yes it was sam trolling. yes sam was being funny/probably forgot/wanted luc to be a teenager despite the fact that he should canonically be 11 or 12. but, also - imagine what this means from a societal perspective!

if you are a ruler in a large empire, you need to know your population demographics. are your birth rates in decline? is your workforce going to keep up with demands of your economy? is there something killing specific age groups at a higher rate than normal? do you have enough young people to fill out your military? enough farmers to feed you?

so you get a census bureau to keep track of all that. but this shit! it is chaotic! this is difficult! it is not as simple as births vs deaths!

first, you have different races with different lifespans and ages of maturity. so, do you set a single age of majority across your realm? what does that mean for orcs, who are adults at 14 and die at 70? how does that same age work for elves, who within elven culture are children until they are 100? do you have different ages of majority for different races?? when can someone legally drink? or enlist? or buy property? or get married??

if that's not complicated enough, there's different realms where time flows differently. so if a kid goes to the feywild (as veth says she took luc), they can come back a whole year (or two, or three, or ten) older than they should be. now they have a useless birth certificate, and the census has to be updated! legally, they're 11. physically, mentally, emotionally they're 19. they've lived 19 years. so... do we adjust the birth certificate? issue an addendum? he should be a legal adult now, and he wants to get married to this wood nymph he met & brought back with him, but everything on paper shows him as 11 and not old enough to get married.

our poor census official is pulling out their hair now.

then! THEN! you have magic! so your census taker is sitting there, and suddenly they get a messenger. "not sure how to handle this - there was a resurrection!" should be simple enough - there's a reason we don't formalize death certificates until the 11th day. "no. see, he was dead 95 years."

well! shit! do you count this as a birth? there's probably a special census category specifically for this, right? but all of his property was inherited by his descendants - some of who have died themselves. his home was sold after his death, and the new tenants are legal owners of it.

i just think the life of a bureaucrat in dnd must be equally fascinating and miserable.

[balanceoflightanddark]

I feel like most think Chromatic Dragons are evil because they worship Tiamat instead of Bahumat, Tiamat is a goddess of Chaos which most people generally associate with acts of evil but chaos generally isn't evil it just is. While Bahumat the metallic god of Order is generally seen as good there are times when too much Order is stifling

Well to start, if I were to write Tiamat or Bahamut for whatever reason, I'd wouldn't try to stray too far from their moralities. I mean it's right there in their titles: Tiamat, Queen of the Evil Dragons and Bahamut, King of the Good Dragons. It's practically written in their DNA and concept. So trying to portray Tiamat as some woobie or Bahamut as being secretly evil would defeat the entire purpose of the characters.

I wouldn't even say that Tiamat is a Goddess of Chaos in a traditional sense. Chaos usually means the potential for change and the hope for a better future. Tiamat on the other hand seems to lean more to the "evil" in "chaotic evil". As in she's fully willing to commit to atrocities in order to further her goals. And indulge in her own whims and impulses instead of tearing down an oppressive order. Hell, for a Goddess of Chaos, she keeps a tight leash on her servants and has very problems with dominating them when they get too uppity. Aren't the Blue Dragons (Lawful Evil) amongst her most dedicated followers?

As a whole, I don't think Tiamat represents Chaos as a force for change. But rather as a force for shortsighted impulses and domination. She's the one who would dominate and use her domination as an excuse to indulge in her vices. Think a dragon version of a Skeksis and you get the drill.

Conversely, Bahamut is a bit closer to the "good" in "lawful good". His sphere of influence centers around justice, doing good deeds, and promoting acts of charity. He's not even focused on establishing some kind of societal order or regime since he rarely gets involved with mortals on a societal level. Usually, Bahamut only acts to right some kind of wrong or bring justice (which tends to be against his sister and her followers). In that way, he's more of a knight-errant than a king.

If Tiamat represents domination and living out one's impulses for the self, Bahamut focuses on helping others and holding the self to a higher standard. In that regard, the "lawful" is less societal and more living to a code of honor or strong morality. And their relationship is less "chaos vs order" and more "depravity vs nobility".

So with all this in mind, how would I handle Chromatics as a whole if it's less a societal standard and more a moral standard? Well to start, I sincerely doubt the Chromatics have too much love for Tiamat. Again, she keeps a tight leash on them and expects things like accepting consorts from them or reaping whatever portion of their hoards they have collected. And I did read that some Chromatics will try to keep portions of their hoard secret to keep out of Tiamat's hands. From this, I believe that their devotion to Tiamat is less out of reverence and loyalty and more wanting to stay on her good side. Thus, the idea of leaving her has to be a thought a lot of the Chromatics have.

Thing is, Tiamat is freakishly powerful and I doubt she'd want any of her children to get any ideas of rebelling. Even if somehow a Chromatic could break away from Tiamat and survive, they were still raised with the toxic mindset that their "mother" instilled in them. So it would be a pretty painful changing process if all they know how to be are vicious monsters. Add to that how many mortals rightfully think Chromatics are violent monsters, and you have a stacked deck.

Again, I do believe it is possible. It just won't be easy. If I were to write this sort of story, I would possibly have a young Chromatic who strikes out on their own from their parents who instilled that toxic mindset. Old enough to be self-sufficient, but young enough to still be mentally vulnerable and a bit awkward in terms of actually being vile. Basically enough of a threat to gain adventurers' notice, but not enough of a threat to have a massive bounty on their heads. From then, you could either see them begin to question themselves on what they're doing wrong. Not sure how Bahamut might see such a dragon though. On the one hand, forgiveness and mercy are part of his sphere. On the other, I did read that he was also pretty merciless when it comes to Chromatics (I mean, he's been in conflict with Tiamat and her brood for so long that it's hard to blame him). So it could go either way.

That's how I'd write the dynamic between Tiamat and Bahamut along with the Chromatics. Let me know what you guys think or if I'm missing something.

[thedegu]

reason 108302834: my 3.5 game makes me insane. My PC Ale and @halfandhalfling's PC Sash are platonic soulmates, in every sense of the word. like full-on find-you-in-any-universe soulmates.

now im not going to get into all of the details because I'd be here all day but the TLDR: is that ale, is looking for some magic relics, and one of them is Sash's heart. OOC, I'm 90% sure she'd be fine if she had her heart removed, BUT ale is never going to take that risk. not if they have a choice.

i know they won't in the end.

Now, Sash does have a S/O, but everyone knows it's going to have to be ale in the end. It always has been and always will be. they are the only two left of the original party. they have been traveling together the longest and have been through the entire plot together. Yes Jessie has been there for *most* of it but not *all* of it. not the prison not traveling through the swamps and finding out the gods were fake, not the fight with the sahuagin, or the dryad.

We, as players, are just waiting for the moment the choice will be made for us because there ain't no way Ale is going to cut out Sash's heart with literally any other choice. and I know it's going to be soooo dramatic and soooo tasty. every session we know its that moment is getting closer but not when, and the tension is becoming so palpable

i hold them in my hands