The concluding part of the Creator Series has been the most intensive of the lot. I’ve released the series as a trilogy, as I will be taking a D&D break to work on my other ideas. But there’s an NPC-related product in the works…
I love creating systems, combining my creativity with a methodical structuring of the material. Providing rollable tables, to me, is bliss. It challenges me to come up with plenty of options for the DM in an overall theming that makes sense.
Testing
For this module, I rolled up the results for 100 different NPCs, including their upgrades and possession (equipment). This was so useful, because I caught a lot of changes either for grammatical errors, or because the result didn’t work as I had originally intended. I also balanced the stat increases, which is big part of the NPC creation process.
Modern applications
I found that two new tools were a massive help in creating this module. The first was midjourney, which gave me so much scope in terms of creating experimental art at an affordable price. The second was Chat GPT. I used it to come up with category lists and character backstories based on my rolls for the characters’ personality and background. I always had to tweak it, but it gave me something to work from.
There’s lots to play with in the NPC module. New actions, character traits and backgrounds combine with classic character classes and creature builds. It becomes an extension of the existing DND experience and will hopefully give DMs another tool when creating their world.
I’m excited to be creating a new adventure series for DnD 5e called the Danger Series. The idea came earlier this year after I created the ‘Deck of Foes‘ book. I wanted to give each of these creations an adventure where players could discover them.
The second challenge I set myself with this series was to keep the adventures on a single page. I am a big fan of the One Page Mage having seen some of their adventures on social media. By designing my own products I had come up with my own series of short-cuts and designs to summarize NPCs and plot, so I was excited to put this into practice.
The Danger Series takes both the Deck of Foes creatures and the One-Page adventure principle to create environment-themed books. I started by creating the ‘Dangers in the Jungle’ and the ‘Dangers in the City’ books, but I have ten such books being planned. Each book contains five adventures. The Deck of Foes creature that inspired it is just one of the encounters to feature. There are also new hazards and NPCs to interact with.
Finally, each book has an Appendix with twenty magical, and twenty non-magical treasures to find. This extra resource gives DMs more flexibility when running the modules. So, if you fancy creating one-shots or side quests with your players, give the Danger Series a look.
In Part I, I discussed the types of spellcasters and how they interacted with magic in the fantasy realm. It’s time to look at the mechanics of spellcasting. How does it work in practice?
Here are the basics…
Prepared spells: Some spellcasters need to prepare spell for the day from a greater resource they have access to.
Known spells: Some spellcasters learn spells until they know them, meaning they do not need to prepare them in advance.
Spell Slots: Most spellcasters have Spell Slots (Monks are the exception), which represent their capacity to cast spells before their magic is used up and they need to replenish their energy.
Spell Modifier:All spellcasters use a modifier to work out how effective their spells are. This affects their Spell Attack rolls and rolls for the Spell’s Difficulty Class for opponents to try and match or get a higher result when they roll a saving throw.
Each character class or sub class is a little different, so let’s compare…
Bards don’t study magic, they take what they know and perform. For that reason, bards have known spells and a charisma modifier.
Clerics are conduits for divine power. They use Wisdom as a modifier. They can cast any cleric spell available up to their current spell level, but need to have them prepared. This is their Wisdom modifier + Cleric Level.
Druids draw on nature, as clerics draw on the divine. They use Wisdom as a modifier. They can cast any druid spell available up to their current spell level, but need to have them prepared. This is their Wisdom modifier + Druid Level.
Eldritch Knight is a subclass of the Fighter. Like Bards, they have knownspells they learn as they improve and apply to their fighting style. They draw from the wizarding spells and their modifier is Intelligence.
Monks learn to use magical energy called Ki. They channel this energy in their martial art practices uses Ki Points. The subclass Way of the Four Elements can cast elemental spells using Ki points. Like Bards and Eldritch Knights, these become Known but are referred to as Elemental Disciplines and not spells. They use a Wisdom modifier to determine out how effective their spells are.
Paladins learn to draw on divine magic as clerics do. They use Charisma as a modifier. They can cast any cleric spell available up to their current spell level, but need to have them prepared. This is their Charisma modifier + half the Paladin’s Level.
Rangers learn to draw on nature as Druids do. But they behave far more like Bards and Eldritch Knights, applying what they have learned and using their Known Spell, learning more as they level up. They use a Wisdom modifier.
Arcane Trickster is a subclass of the Rogue. Like Bards and Rangers, they don’t study magic, they take what they learn and apply it. For that reason, these Rogues have known spells . They use an Intelligence modifier.
Sorcerers have no need to study as magic is in their veins. Very much like Bards, they perform what they know. Because of this, Sorcerers have known spells and a charisma modifier. They also have Sorcerer Points, which can be used to enhance their spells in some way.
Warlocks are peculiar because although they have spell slots, all of these slots are the same level as their current spell level. They can still cast lower level spells but they will be using a higher level spell slot to do it. They perform the gifts of their patron, so like Bards, they have known spells and a charisma modifier.
Wizards are the students of magic and draw from a spellbook to prepare spells (They should also use physical components as part of the spells’ preparations but not all roleplays apply this). Because of this their known spells are whatever spells are in their spellbook, so researching and finding spell scrolls can be exciting! They use the Intelligence modifier. The number of spells they can prepare is their Intelligence modifier + Wizard Level.
Magic is as integral to D&D as dragons and faeries. It allows for anything to be possible; from creatures with strange, otherworldly abilities, to travel between planes, to crazy spells such as being able to polymorph into a dinosaur! But, to paraphrase a well-known superhero movie, with great power comes a great deal of rules!
The 5th edition rules for D&D have tried to keep spellcasting (using magic to affect something) as simple as possible, but it still takes some getting used to. That’s what we’re here to do…
In this first article, I’ll look at the different types of spellcasters.
Your spellcasters come under the following types…
1) those who have a natural gift for magic 2) those who study it 3) Those who are blessed with magical powers for their beliefs 4) Those who pick it up as they go along
The natural
The sorcerer is the gifted magic user, who has through some cosmic reason or exotic lineage been chosen to carry such power.
The student
Wizards are keen to master magic and require spell books to record what they have learned and to prepare their daily spells. Eldritch Knights also study magical techniques to enhance their fighting prowess. Monks learn to channel magical energy known as ki.
The blessed Clerics and Paladins draw on the divine magic of their deity. Warlocks gain powers in return for serving their patron (an otherworldly being). Barbarian Totem Warriors also gain gifts through their spirit animal. With nature as their muse, Druids and Rangers learn to use magic from their environment.
The knack
Gifted performers known as Bards learn tricks on the road as they perform and can weave magic with their music. The Rogue type, Arcane Tricksters also learn tricks which enhance their shadowy lifestyle.
That’s enough magic talk for now. If you want to discuss anything in particular, let me know. Next time, we get into the rules…
In a week when the Best Picture at the Oscars featured a fishy lead in The Shape of Water, here is a way to introduce a fishy feel to your D&D campaign. Set these NPCs loose on the story, for free:
These characters are part of a Sub-Aquatic Six Pack I have created. All six characters have been given character class levels and a rich backstory to bring them to life. If you’re interested in taking a look at the full version, it is available on the Dungeon Master’s Guild, for under $5.
If you are interested and do get a copy, please let me know what you think.
Recently I’ve been getting a few questions regarding the mechanics of D&D and how it works. The Player’s Handbook is excellent but it is just one explanation and sometimes what might make sense to one person might baffle another. So this series is about looking at an element of D&D and explaining it in more detail.
Let’s start with a description of Saving Throws taken from Wikipedia:
A saving throw is a roll of dice used to determine whether magic, poison, or various other types of attacks are
effective against a character or monster.
What are they for? In D&D they are used to determine whether a character can resist or avoid the effects of a threat, such as a
trap, drinking poison or being charmed by another creature.
How do they work?
When the Dungeon Master (DM) reveals a threat to the player, they will be asked to roll a saving throw based on one of their character’s attributes. But which one?
Here are the 6 attributes as described by the Player’s Handbook, p.173:
Strength – measuring physical power
Dexterity – measuring agility
Constitution – measuring endurance
Intelligence – measuring reasoning and memory
Wisdom – measuring perception and insight
Charisma – measuring force of personality
I’ve listed 20 possible scenarios below and sorted them into the attribute the character needs to save against. Next to that is the reason why that attribute is the one being used.
How do you roll a saving throw?
You roll a saving throw against a difficulty class given by the DM. Often these are pre-determined; for example a monster’s attack effects (Beholder’s eye ray effects have a difficulty class is 16) or a magic user’s spells (8 + spell
caster’s ability modifier + proficiency bonus).
For difficulty classes not pre-determined, it is up to the DM to decide how difficult it is to avoid or
resist the threat. These range from very easy (difficulty class of 5) to nearly impossible (dc of 30). The DM should
also say what character attribute it is against.
Now you know what you are rolling against, you roll a d20 die and add you attribute modifier. If your character class has proficiency against that attribute, you add their proficiency number to the die roll. For example, a Level 3 Wizard with intelligence of 16 needs to try and pass an intelligence save. His intelligence modifier is +3 and as a
Level 3 wizard he can add his proficiency of 2. So his saving throw is 1d20 +5.
If the saving throw equals or is greater than the difficulty class, then they successfully save. This normally results in avoiding or reducing the effects that were threatening them.
So does it matter what attribute to use when making a saving throw?
Yes, it will matter to the character making the save. Each class has proficiency in saving throws for two attributes (see list on p.145 of the Player’s Handbook). Here is an example:
Meet Pevel, a Level 5 rogue from my online RP campaign, Agora Core. Rogues have proficiency in saving throws for Dexterity and Intelligence.
In this example, Pevel is being attacked by a Beholder (yikes!). The Beholder can attack with its many eye rays. Let’s blast Pevel 10 times with 2 different eye rays. The first time through, we will use the Petrification Ray, which requires
a Dexterity saving throw. Then we will repeat the dice rolls but this time, we will use the Sleep Ray, which requires
a Wisdom saving throw. For both, the difficulty class is 16.
Pevel’s rolls without adding modifiers are:
13, 5, 1, 6, 12, 7, 14, 20, 18, 17
Against the Petrification Ray, Pevel uses his Dexterity saving throw. As a Level 5 rogue, he add his proficiency, which is +3. So with his Dexterity modifier, his saving throw is 1d20 + 6.
That means his saving throws rolls are:
19, 11, Nat 1, 12, 18, 13, 20, Nat 20, 24, 23
Against the Sleep Ray, Pevel uses his Wisdom saving throw. As a Level 5 rogue he is not proficient in Wisdom, so simply adds his Wisdom modifier. He saving throw is 1d20 + 1. That means his saving throw rolls were:
14, 6, Nat 1, 7, 13, 8, 15, Nat 20, 19, 18
The difference between the two results shows how your chances of success vary depending on your character’s attributes and class. For the Dexterity saving throw in which Pevel was proficient, he successful rolled 16 or more 6/10 times. But for the Wisdom he only succeeded 3/10 times.
What if there is no threat?
If there is no threat, then the character is not reacting to imminent danger to their life. Any actions they take become an Ability Check instead. These still use the core 6 attributes, but more often than not use skills, which character can have proficiency in. For example, spotting a trap is a Perception Check (Wisdom-based), and working out how to disarm it with an Investigation Check (Intelligence-based).
The party are searching for their Drow Warlock Hector, who skipped gleefully away with the fey. Their search takes them to the heart of Queen Lilliope’s court, where the wild things play!
In the Roleplays you have played, what Player Characters stood out? Which ones are still memorable and why? By a stand-out character I mean player characters that were unique, and memorable in some way.
For my second choice, I pick Sir Rengar. For the campaign Jungles of Nocturnal Madness, the DMs allowed us to choose our own PC, but they had to be from specific books available in Unearthed Arcana, which is an area of D&D designed to create custom character and creatures not available in the Players Handbook or Monster Manual, in my case I was given Eberron, Waterborne and That Old Black Magic. As a race of creature, I chose a Krynn (Sea-faring race of Minotaur) and was asked to select 3 types of classes. From those, the DM selected paladin. I was excited!
Sir Rengar Gutlub is a fearsome agent of order and took the Oath of the Crown, dedicating himself to society and the just laws that hold it together. In appearance he is a very resplendent bull of legend created to inspire allies and terrify agents of chaos. In his owns words, he had a privileged background but never forgot that his mother did not. He treads the line between the honest working folk and the pillars of society. In truth, he can be a bit of a hypocrite; he believes in upholding moral standards of society, but is immensely proud of his noble birth and can be arrogant and let praise go to his head.
In the first two instalments of Jungles of Nocturnal Madness, the PCs encountered each other in a sea battle between crusaders and pirates during a devastating storm. The survivors ended up on an unknown island. Sir Rengar’s mettle was tested in a jungle full of terrifying creatures (especially at night!). He battled with the need to work together with piratical chaos-agents for the greater good and survival. Without the glue that society brings, he had to refocus and found moments of chivalry and aid kept him in check. When they found a corrupt city with segregated layers of society based on wealth and status, his goal became clear – to purge the city of corruption! I’m looking forward to the next part of this saga.
