@Wearingglasses I don’t believe so, Small seems to be paired with other abilities. All I can really say is clothing is cheap if you’re short, and with a good disguise they could get away a lot their larger cousins wouldn’t. If it’s for a neat idea though just go for it I says.
Now then! For use with the hot new D&D 5E setting New Zellatia!
Primodem The work of the lost Sky Ascended People, when the Vilelord tore their forgotten citadels from the clouds, the Science Brigade, then just a small part of the greater rebellion, found these artifacts and managed to awaken them.
It was soon discovered they had the capacity to learn, to grow, and to feel. They are unable to recall their ancient origins, and so must strive to build their own legacy under the sky of their forebears.
Maelstrom Heart
Roaring within your hull is an elemental bound to you as fuel and essence for your very life. Choose a type of elemental to serve as your heart:
Storm. Which deals lightning damage.
Fire. Which deals fire damage.
Air. Which deals thunder damage.
Water. Which deals cold damage.
Potentially other elemental hearts exist; work with your GM to find one suitable for your game.
During a long rest, you can charge your unarmed strikes, a weapon, or individually charge a selection of ammunition with the elemental damage of your heart’s type. The number of charges are equal to your Level, and deal an extra 1d4 damage. At 5th level, the damage increases to 1d6, and it increases again to 1d8 at 10th level.
Elemental Recharge
Whenever you take damage of your heart’s type, you can move up to half your speed as a reaction.
Contortionist
Your limbs are multi-jointed and your body can shift in ways impossible for others. As an action, you can squeeze through spaces fit for creatures of Small size or less, such as through prison bars, into a carrying case, or within an animal’s den.
Additionally, you have advantage on your first ability check made to escape being grappled or otherwise restrained.
Automaton
You can forgo sleep, food and water for as long as you wish when you feel such is required, remaining at almost full strength in return for a ongoing -1 penalty to all your rolls. You lose these penalties when you do get a full night’s sleep, food and water.
For you food may include essential oils, metals and minerals considered unusual or hazardous to others, though you can eat ordinary food too.
Starting at 4th level, you gain access to these traits. Choose one:
Brute Finisher
As a bonus action, you can automatically hit a creature within 20 feet of you with a raw elemental burst from your chest. The attack’s damage is 1d6 + your Constitution modifier of your heart’s damage type, but to do so you must reduce your Hit Points by the same amount. If using this trait would reduce you to 0 HP, you are instead reduced to 1 HP.
Speed Boost
Your speed increases to 35 feet. When you move your maximum speed on your turn you gain +1 AC until the start of your next turn.
Probability Analysis
Your mind is an excellent calculator, running at unquestionable speed, allowing you to avoid the worst outcomes in advance. When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and use the new roll.
Roving Soul
Your heart is more than mere fuel, it has a will of its own, though you share a deep connection.
As an action, you can summon the heart into an unoccupied adjacent space 5 feet from you. The heart is a fully aware Medium-sized elemental creature under your control. It has no Hit Points, but shares your Armour Class, and can be targeted with attacks. Any damage the heart takes while summoned is transferred to you upon rehousing it in your body, which is a free action.
On your turn, the heart can move up to 15 feet, and can commit one of three actions:
Attack: Make make a ranged attack against a creature within 15 feet of the heart. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + your Constitution modifier in elemental damage.
Project: Any bonus action, or spell you can cast as a bonus action, may be done by the heart in your stead, provided it is carrying the necessarily supplies or components.
Stall: The heart becomes hazardous terrain in a radius of 10 feet. Any creature barring yourself that starts their turn on spaces occupied by the heart take 1d4 elemental damage.
Dance of the Sky
This marvel of the Sky Ascended People is unknown even to you, but through ancient alchemy you are able to push off from the ground by powerful boosters in your palms and feet, shooting through the sky like a star.
You have a flying speed of 40 feet. You may fly by spending charge, with each charge granting you 1 minute of flight. You must complete a long rest before you can use this trait again if you are reduced to 0 charge.
At 7th level, choose another trait from the options above.
the conceit that magic cannot permanently create value for no cost is present in D&D, my interpretation of fabricate (the only real spell that allows spellcasters to break the economy in a reproducible fashion) makes it borderline useless in most scenarios for flooding the economy. It generally isn't hard to come up with one. With the constraints I've put on the spell, both empowering a wizard to do something truly miraculous like full metal alchemist an entire human body together for a Raise Dead if they can throw out a DC 25 alchemy check to get the exact proportions of chemicals, resulting in an eldritch horror if they fail, and not allowing them to make more than one object at a time, it's not too hard. Sure they can put out something complex and expensive like a suit of platemail as long as they have a warrior's measurements with little effort, but the market is limited there and forces in urban centers might oppose that (as I've indicated)
but wizards cannot magic wealth into being. Settings like the forgotten realms already have baked in some conceits, waterdeep enjoys things a city of its size shouldn't - sanitation isn't a real problem because Magic, plague? magic. Food? Goldenfields is a magical plantgrowing engine that has continuous streams of crops coming in
The conceit of reset button catastrophes like the spell plague or the calamity in Exandria are good enough to justify why no "standardization" of magic has happened to recreate societies like Netheril where regular joes had magic roombas and refrigerators and microwave ovens (although it looks like Waterdeep is advancing, the court rooms magically tell lies, most shops have glyphs of warding for security features, automatons are not super rare on the streets anymore)
For fun:
A list of positive value spells with no material costs whatsoever. Curated for things that do not replace human supplied zero material cost actions.
Create Bonfire (only lasts a minute but replaces consumable materials for heating)
Detect Evil and Good
Purify Food and Drink
Calm Emotions
Healing Word
Lesser Restoration
Prayer of Healing
Zone of Truth
Conjure aniimals(1 hour! Obey verbal commands!)
Plant Growth!
Create Food and Water!
Dimension Door!
Fabricate!
Gaes!
Heal!
Wish!
Specifically wish can be used to replicate any spell of 8th level or lower without needing any material components for that spell. The biggest ones here, besides ressurection and greater restoration... is Hallow. Which normally costs 24 hours and gp to cast. And is permanent until dispelled And is a charisma save for any added effects.
So there are definitely some things that would abound even in a “real magical economy”
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KadokenGiving Ends to my Friends and it Feels StupendousRegistered Userregular
the conceit that magic cannot permanently create value for no cost is present in D&D, my interpretation of fabricate (the only real spell that allows spellcasters to break the economy in a reproducible fashion) makes it borderline useless in most scenarios for flooding the economy. It generally isn't hard to come up with one. With the constraints I've put on the spell, both empowering a wizard to do something truly miraculous like full metal alchemist an entire human body together for a Raise Dead if they can throw out a DC 25 alchemy check to get the exact proportions of chemicals, resulting in an eldritch horror if they fail, and not allowing them to make more than one object at a time, it's not too hard. Sure they can put out something complex and expensive like a suit of platemail as long as they have a warrior's measurements with little effort, but the market is limited there and forces in urban centers might oppose that (as I've indicated)
but wizards cannot magic wealth into being. Settings like the forgotten realms already have baked in some conceits, waterdeep enjoys things a city of its size shouldn't - sanitation isn't a real problem because Magic, plague? magic. Food? Goldenfields is a magical plantgrowing engine that has continuous streams of crops coming in
The conceit of reset button catastrophes like the spell plague or the calamity in Exandria are good enough to justify why no "standardization" of magic has happened to recreate societies like Netheril where regular joes had magic roombas and refrigerators and microwave ovens (although it looks like Waterdeep is advancing, the court rooms magically tell lies, most shops have glyphs of warding for security features, automatons are not super rare on the streets anymore)
For fun:
A list of positive value spells with no material costs whatsoever. Curated for things that do not replace human supplied zero material cost actions.
Create Bonfire (only lasts a minute but replaces consumable materials for heating)
Detect Evil and Good
Purify Food and Drink
Calm Emotions
Healing Word
Lesser Restoration
Prayer of Healing
Zone of Truth
Conjure aniimals(1 hour! Obey verbal commands!)
Plant Growth!
Create Food and Water!
Dimension Door!
Fabricate!
Gaes!
Heal!
Wish!
Specifically wish can be used to replicate any spell of 8th level or lower without needing any material components for that spell. The biggest ones here, besides ressurection and greater restoration... is Hallow. Which normally costs 24 hours and gp to cast. And is permanent until dispelled And is a charisma save for any added effects.
So there are definitely some things that would abound even in a “real magical economy”
Well wish is the greatest one, the others are more or less assumed in the fiction of Forgotten Realms (Golden Fields is literally druids shitting out infinite food magically)
I feel like we can mostly discount wish for the same thing we can discount the fact that giga billionaires can fix homelessness: none of them that can have any interest in doing it
My players were really surprised that the temple of the raven queen has a legal role in society by using speak with dead to arbitrate disputes over inheritence. I don't spend exhaustive hundreds of hours creating a framework to make a world that's a simulation of a world with these capabilites, but try to incorporate them as I can
I love little things like the fact that every major population center has enslaved Otyughs as living waste disposal engines
Edit: it's funny you mention purify food and drink, my curse of strahd character's background was as a sanitation worker, well "vice-minister of water safety for the ministry of health" because no wizard is taking a job title that un-fancy, wizards dont get that spell but the DM gave it to me from my background, and I had all the other similar spells
WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
edited April 2020
Can anyone fiction-savvy have a plausible explanation as to how the magical ritual of a Half-demon self-styled "Son of Rakdos" (that involves, of course, multiple murders) summoning a Rain of Gore over a small city could be the impetus of Tieflings in Ravnica? As far as I've theorized, its main purpose is to create more Tieflings, but I'm not sure on the magical details.
I was thinking everyone drenched by the rain would have a chance of being transformed on the spot -- with those having ancestral Rakdos connections ("the sons of sons of sons/ and daughters of daughters of daughters") having a higher, maybe guaranteed chance -- plus a 50/50 chance on the children of pregnant women, but I dunno, the explanation doesn't feel too satisfying.
I kinda want the event to be a background event overall, with some PCs connected to the police would know about the ritualistic serial killer, but as they have other obligations, a different party of adventurers were the ones to fail to stop him. Good idea? Bad idea?
This is linked somewhat to my Warforged question - I am essentially laying down foundations for the introduction of those races into Ravnica.
Has anyone used Fantasy Grounds? My friend an I made accounts on roll 20 but it seems really clunky? Looking online seems FG more user friendly from the start? But you get less for free than Roll 20. Is it just a case of sticking with it and once you do, Roll 20 is way better?
Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Has anyone used Fantasy Grounds? My friend an I made accounts on roll 20 but it seems really clunky? Looking online seems FG more user friendly from the start? But you get less for free than Roll 20. Is it just a case of sticking with it and once you do, Roll 20 is way better?
fantasy grounds is great its just really got a few bizarre design decisions, like to measure steps you have to lock all tokens and manually approve token moves which slows the game way down, instead of just having a ruler tool like Roll20
Can anyone fiction-savvy have a plausible explanation as to how the magical ritual of a Half-demon self-styled "Son of Rakdos" (that involves, of course, multiple murders) summoning a Rain of Gore over a small city could be the impetus of Tieflings in Ravnica? As far as I've theorized, its main purpose is to create more Tieflings, but I'm not sure on the magical details.
I was thinking everyone drenched by the rain would have a chance of being transformed on the spot -- with those having ancestral Rakdos connections ("the sons of sons of sons/ and daughters of daughters of daughters") having a higher, maybe guaranteed chance -- plus a 50/50 chance on the children of pregnant women, but I dunno, the explanation doesn't feel too satisfying.
I kinda want the event to be a background event overall, with some PCs connected to the police would know about the ritualistic serial killer, but as they have other obligations, a different party of adventurers were the ones to fail to stop him. Good idea? Bad idea?
This is linked somewhat to my Warforged question - I am essentially laying down foundations for the introduction of those races into Ravnica.
Perhaps this is the final fulfilment of an ancient bargain that was thwarted eons ago, perhaps even by the original cult leader's own son/daughter. However it was merely stopped rather than undone, so when it completes the line of the original hero (the last surviving scion of the cult) are granted the boon their predecessors' bargained for in the distant past. That might also give you a chance to have your PCs do some detectoring, if the original hero ends up part of the nobility - chasing down bastard sons and forgotten offshoots from old genealogy books (to get the official story) and now ancient and half-mad midwives (to get the truth) in order for them to make the connection.
Especially if perhaps an important wedding at one point was a sham (never consummated due to a gay/ultra-religious royal, or hastily arranged to cover for an existing pregnancy) breaking the obvious link so that it just seems random at first.
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KadokenGiving Ends to my Friends and it Feels StupendousRegistered Userregular
Can anyone fiction-savvy have a plausible explanation as to how the magical ritual of a Half-demon self-styled "Son of Rakdos" (that involves, of course, multiple murders) summoning a Rain of Gore over a small city could be the impetus of Tieflings in Ravnica? As far as I've theorized, its main purpose is to create more Tieflings, but I'm not sure on the magical details.
I was thinking everyone drenched by the rain would have a chance of being transformed on the spot -- with those having ancestral Rakdos connections ("the sons of sons of sons/ and daughters of daughters of daughters") having a higher, maybe guaranteed chance -- plus a 50/50 chance on the children of pregnant women, but I dunno, the explanation doesn't feel too satisfying.
I kinda want the event to be a background event overall, with some PCs connected to the police would know about the ritualistic serial killer, but as they have other obligations, a different party of adventurers were the ones to fail to stop him. Good idea? Bad idea?
This is linked somewhat to my Warforged question - I am essentially laying down foundations for the introduction of those races into Ravnica.
Perhaps this is the final fulfilment of an ancient bargain that was thwarted eons ago, perhaps even by the original cult leader's own son/daughter. However it was merely stopped rather than undone, so when it completes the line of the original hero (the last surviving scion of the cult) are granted the boon their predecessors' bargained for in the distant past. That might also give you a chance to have your PCs do some detectoring, if the original hero ends up part of the nobility - chasing down bastard sons and forgotten offshoots from old genealogy books (to get the official story) and now ancient and half-mad midwives (to get the truth) in order for them to make the connection.
Especially if perhaps an important wedding at one point was a sham (never consummated due to a gay/ultra-religious royal, or hastily arranged to cover for an existing pregnancy) breaking the obvious link so that it just seems random at first.
I'm supposed to go back to the feywild with my character in my saturday game, my sorceress hasn't been back there for a very long time (and was banished for splitting off her cruelty, which being the feywild, spawned into an entity of its own and became a serial killer), but now I need to have my character act appropriately weird
Making a random list of a few things fey-ey that I have to blurt out at opportune moments
-Bargain with the first tree we run into
-Insist nobody play any music that evokes the color red
-Remind the party not to accept any gifts from anyone or anything, if you do, give a gift back, but not a more valuable gift, and not a less valuable gift
-Do not tell anyone your name, even though we're going to meet my character's mysterious patron, an archfey queen within her realm, even if she asks politely decline
-Don't follow the wrong lights
-Follow the correct lights, those ones you want to follow
-Focus on the destination, direction and distance are meaningless
-Never ever say "you have my thanks" or "you have my gratitude" or any other expression like that unless you don't want to ever be able to give thanks again
-Dress to impress, if you can't dress to impress, don't dress at all, look just find a pixie to plan an outfit for you
-If all else fails, a barrage of fireballs works pretty good against most fey
-All rules subject to change without notice
-Honor all deals, this is the most important rule. The second most important is that you don't have to honor your deals if you can honor them without honoring them.
Trying to come up with more things, behaviors that should be different in my home plane. The DM has already said that I'm going to be super powerful in the feywild, able to literally persuade spells to do something different that another spell of the same level could do, etc.
override367 on
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Had to cancel our game tomorrow because my damn modem died and I can't get a new one until Tuesday.
@Wearingglasses I don’t believe so, Small seems to be paired with other abilities. All I can really say is clothing is cheap if you’re short, and with a good disguise they could get away a lot their larger cousins wouldn’t. If it’s for a neat idea though just go for it I says.
Now then! For use with the hot new D&D 5E setting New Zellatia!
Primodem The work of the lost Sky Ascended People, when the Vilelord tore their forgotten citadels from the clouds, the Science Brigade, then just a small part of the greater rebellion, found these artifacts and managed to awaken them.
It was soon discovered they had the capacity to learn, to grow, and to feel. They are unable to recall their ancient origins, and so must strive to build their own legacy under the sky of their forebears.
Maelstrom Heart
Roaring within your hull is an elemental bound to you as fuel and essence for your very life. Choose a type of elemental to serve as your heart:
Storm. Which deals lightning damage.
Fire. Which deals fire damage.
Air. Which deals thunder damage.
Water. Which deals cold damage.
Potentially other elemental hearts exist; work with your GM to find one suitable for your game.
During a long rest, you can charge your unarmed strikes, a weapon, or individually charge a selection of ammunition with the elemental damage of your heart’s type. The number of charges are equal to your Level, and deal an extra 1d4 damage. At 5th level, the damage increases to 1d6, and it increases again to 1d8 at 10th level.
Elemental Recharge
Whenever you take damage of your heart’s type, you can move up to half your speed as a reaction.
Contortionist
Your limbs are multi-jointed and your body can shift in ways impossible for others. As an action, you can squeeze through spaces fit for creatures of Small size or less, such as through prison bars, into a carrying case, or within an animal’s den.
Additionally, you have advantage on your first ability check made to escape being grappled or otherwise restrained.
Automaton
You can forgo sleep, food and water for as long as you wish when you feel such is required, remaining at almost full strength in return for a ongoing -1 penalty to all your rolls. You lose these penalties when you do get a full night’s sleep, food and water.
For you food may include essential oils, metals and minerals considered unusual or hazardous to others, though you can eat ordinary food too.
Starting at 4th level, you gain access to these traits. Choose one:
Brute Finisher
As a bonus action, you can automatically hit a creature within 20 feet of you with a raw elemental burst from your chest. The attack’s damage is 1d6 + your Constitution modifier of your heart’s damage type, but to do so you must reduce your Hit Points by the same amount. If using this trait would reduce you to 0 HP, you are instead reduced to 1 HP.
Speed Boost
Your speed increases to 35 feet. When you move your maximum speed on your turn you gain +1 AC until the start of your next turn.
Probability Analysis
Your mind is an excellent calculator, running at unquestionable speed, allowing you to avoid the worst outcomes in advance. When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and use the new roll.
Roving Soul
Your heart is more than mere fuel, it has a will of its own, though you share a deep connection.
As an action, you can summon the heart into an unoccupied adjacent space 5 feet from you. The heart is a fully aware Medium-sized elemental creature under your control. It has no Hit Points, but shares your Armour Class, and can be targeted with attacks. Any damage the heart takes while summoned is transferred to you upon rehousing it in your body, which is a free action.
On your turn, the heart can move up to 15 feet, and can commit one of three actions:
Attack: Make make a ranged attack against a creature within 15 feet of the heart. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + your Constitution modifier in elemental damage.
Project: Any bonus action, or spell you can cast as a bonus action, may be done by the heart in your stead, provided it is carrying the necessarily supplies or components.
Stall: The heart becomes hazardous terrain in a radius of 10 feet. Any creature barring yourself that starts their turn on spaces occupied by the heart take 1d4 elemental damage.
Dance of the Sky
This marvel of the Sky Ascended People is unknown even to you, but through ancient alchemy you are able to push off from the ground by powerful boosters in your palms and feet, shooting through the sky like a star.
You have a flying speed of 40 feet. You may fly by spending charge, with each charge granting you 1 minute of flight. You must complete a long rest before you can use this trait again if you are reduced to 0 charge.
At 7th level, choose another trait from the options above.
Gonna use this, and the manta race as well, once I start my Spelljammer campaign. I don't know if you're going to publish New Zellatia online anywhere, but if you do I'm definitely adding it in. If you don't, I'll just keep the home sphere of these secret. I could just make shit up, of course, but I really like what you're doing here and would feel like I was ripping you off and ruining your setting somehow (even though you'd probably never know or care)
If you do make it available, maybe throw in some info about what else is contained in it's star system for me, eh? Eh? :rotate:
@Wearingglasses I don’t believe so, Small seems to be paired with other abilities. All I can really say is clothing is cheap if you’re short, and with a good disguise they could get away a lot their larger cousins wouldn’t. If it’s for a neat idea though just go for it I says.
Now then! For use with the hot new D&D 5E setting New Zellatia!
Primodem The work of the lost Sky Ascended People, when the Vilelord tore their forgotten citadels from the clouds, the Science Brigade, then just a small part of the greater rebellion, found these artifacts and managed to awaken them.
It was soon discovered they had the capacity to learn, to grow, and to feel. They are unable to recall their ancient origins, and so must strive to build their own legacy under the sky of their forebears.
Maelstrom Heart
Roaring within your hull is an elemental bound to you as fuel and essence for your very life. Choose a type of elemental to serve as your heart:
Storm. Which deals lightning damage.
Fire. Which deals fire damage.
Air. Which deals thunder damage.
Water. Which deals cold damage.
Potentially other elemental hearts exist; work with your GM to find one suitable for your game.
During a long rest, you can charge your unarmed strikes, a weapon, or individually charge a selection of ammunition with the elemental damage of your heart’s type. The number of charges are equal to your Level, and deal an extra 1d4 damage. At 5th level, the damage increases to 1d6, and it increases again to 1d8 at 10th level.
Elemental Recharge
Whenever you take damage of your heart’s type, you can move up to half your speed as a reaction.
Contortionist
Your limbs are multi-jointed and your body can shift in ways impossible for others. As an action, you can squeeze through spaces fit for creatures of Small size or less, such as through prison bars, into a carrying case, or within an animal’s den.
Additionally, you have advantage on your first ability check made to escape being grappled or otherwise restrained.
Automaton
You can forgo sleep, food and water for as long as you wish when you feel such is required, remaining at almost full strength in return for a ongoing -1 penalty to all your rolls. You lose these penalties when you do get a full night’s sleep, food and water.
For you food may include essential oils, metals and minerals considered unusual or hazardous to others, though you can eat ordinary food too.
Starting at 4th level, you gain access to these traits. Choose one:
Brute Finisher
As a bonus action, you can automatically hit a creature within 20 feet of you with a raw elemental burst from your chest. The attack’s damage is 1d6 + your Constitution modifier of your heart’s damage type, but to do so you must reduce your Hit Points by the same amount. If using this trait would reduce you to 0 HP, you are instead reduced to 1 HP.
Speed Boost
Your speed increases to 35 feet. When you move your maximum speed on your turn you gain +1 AC until the start of your next turn.
Probability Analysis
Your mind is an excellent calculator, running at unquestionable speed, allowing you to avoid the worst outcomes in advance. When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and use the new roll.
Roving Soul
Your heart is more than mere fuel, it has a will of its own, though you share a deep connection.
As an action, you can summon the heart into an unoccupied adjacent space 5 feet from you. The heart is a fully aware Medium-sized elemental creature under your control. It has no Hit Points, but shares your Armour Class, and can be targeted with attacks. Any damage the heart takes while summoned is transferred to you upon rehousing it in your body, which is a free action.
On your turn, the heart can move up to 15 feet, and can commit one of three actions:
Attack: Make make a ranged attack against a creature within 15 feet of the heart. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + your Constitution modifier in elemental damage.
Project: Any bonus action, or spell you can cast as a bonus action, may be done by the heart in your stead, provided it is carrying the necessarily supplies or components.
Stall: The heart becomes hazardous terrain in a radius of 10 feet. Any creature barring yourself that starts their turn on spaces occupied by the heart take 1d4 elemental damage.
Dance of the Sky
This marvel of the Sky Ascended People is unknown even to you, but through ancient alchemy you are able to push off from the ground by powerful boosters in your palms and feet, shooting through the sky like a star.
You have a flying speed of 40 feet. You may fly by spending charge, with each charge granting you 1 minute of flight. You must complete a long rest before you can use this trait again if you are reduced to 0 charge.
At 7th level, choose another trait from the options above.
Gonna use this, and the manta race as well, once I start my Spelljammer campaign. I don't know if you're going to publish New Zellatia online anywhere, but if you do I'm definitely adding it in. If you don't, I'll just keep the home sphere of these secret. I could just make shit up, of course, but I really like what you're doing here and would feel like I was ripping you off and ruining your setting somehow (even though you'd probably never know or care)
If you do make it available, maybe throw in some info about what else is contained in it's star system for me, eh? Eh? :rotate:
That’d be swell! Keep in touch with how it goes please.
It won’t be an official level release but I certainly plan to publish my notes via google docs and perhaps a wiki page.
The final document will consist of races, sub-classes, lots of weapons and a small amount of items, with an overview of the setting and a rough history from the Vilelord’s takeover to the ragtag adventures that took him down and set up the city of New Zellatia itself.
Huge spoilers for high level NZ below!
So the ‘Sky Ascended People’ who built a bunch of floating islands vanished some time ago. That’s because the islands were merely jump pads to launch into space!
As the Vilelord tore their islands down (save that one a DM wants to include in their game) potentially unused prototype ships are scattered throughout the world, if only the adventurers entering them figure that out.
There are three types of starships in this world:
Songships: Semi-intelligent with the ability to speak to and manipulate lesser ships (they’re bards). Modelled after ‘Ikaruga’.
Mantlecraft: Big tankers covered in holy bells and sacrament, powered similarly to the primodem, but with divine or infernal forces instead of elementals.
Verdentiles: Much simpler craft which may have different origins (DM to decide). Grown like a plant, but otherwise more traditional, merely solar-powered (with the complication that it slows down without a star to light it).
Space for this setting will have its own weird rules, but could easily be just a unique area of Spelljammer!
The Sky Ascended People, for the record, are a spiritualist technologically advanced people who have become beings of pure plasma to mimic the stars, and now have more in common angels and devils than a playable race. They can manipulate magnetic fields and send information to each other at light speed. They’re terrifying because they’re not bad guys outright, but are trying to go so far beyond everything they’ve sort of lost their grip; you couldn’t hold a conversation with one.
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AssuranIs swinging on the SpiralRegistered Userregular
So, we were playing FFG's Star Wars before the Virus hit.
After taking a week off, we moved to Roll20 and I picked up Dungeon of the Mad Mage because I figure running a dungeon crawl while we wait out the pandemic is something easy to pass the time. I'm having trouble sizing spell templates and it's kinda annoying. I'm following videos and guidelines step by step exactly (pausing and mimicking what the video says to do) but it keeps snapping the templates I made in at the wrong size once I have it set up. It's not a huge deal because I can change their size on the map, just annoying I can't figure out exactly what the issue is with my tokens. I did some research and it may be linked to the module itself because the map scaling in Mad Mage is off.
Also, apparently Adam Koebel of Dungeon World/Roll20 presents screwed up during the last Far Varona game he ran. I really appreciated his DM Prep videos even if I found his DMing style hit or miss and I loved the Roll20 presents group (Random Tuesday, Dave, Bluejay, and Distracted Elf) so I'm wondering if that stream is over. I understand and agree that Adam went to far, but it would be shame if the other four lost their weekly game on the DnD twitch channel.
We used Roll20+Discord yesterday for our session and will continue next week. A bit of startup things and getting used to it, but it worked pretty well.
I did have the worst luck during the combat though (sticking with my habit: skill checks (roll d20:15-20) attack rolls (roll d20: 1-3). And the tradition of me doing more damage to my party members than any of our opponents continues (2 critical fails on attacks).
So last tuesday was an interesting moment in our descent campaign; We had an ultimatum dropped by the NPC named lulu and after the party didn't fully line up behind her, she refused to travel in our demongrinder and went to take off.
Which prompted me (an aasimar redemption paladin who is kind of sick of the chaotic neutrals (though technically they're lawful evil now thanks to a protracted stay in avernus) that make up 3/5th of the party) to get out of the war engine and proceed to follow the holyphant; a decision that I realized was almost assuredly going to lead to me being removed from the campaign with this character, but ultimately I was OK with it. I'm a strong believer in the idea that character death should have meaning as opposed to simply being bad RNG, and Going out with lulu to try and complete her quest seemed to be the most epic way to go out with them.
And then the party's cleric (the other 1/5th that wasn't LE) hopped out to stand beside me, and a few thoughts went through my head:
Huh, I guess we're splitting the party.
This makes sense, me and the cleric both worship Sune.
Are they trying to get the other party members to change their minds since we're effectively the tank and heals?
It's going to be hilarious watching a warlock, a monk with a few cleric levels and an arcane archer diviner try and get this done.
I wonder if the cleric realizes we're basically wandering out of the story.
Around this time I could just about hear the GM's sphincter tightening as he realized he was looking at an almost perfectly split party and there was almost no way the remainder could get this done on their own, let alone with the attrocious luck that follows the Monk like it's jason voorhees, and so hastily Lulu took off streaming tears behind her, and without the option for flight to follow her I was left with no choice but to rejoin the rest of the party.
The lesson learned here, is that party splits can sometimes be legit nightmares for the GM too :P
So last tuesday was an interesting moment in our descent campaign; We had an ultimatum dropped by the NPC named lulu and after the party didn't fully line up behind her, she refused to travel in our demongrinder and went to take off.
Which prompted me (an aasimar redemption paladin who is kind of sick of the chaotic neutrals (though technically they're lawful evil now thanks to a protracted stay in avernus) that make up 3/5th of the party) to get out of the war engine and proceed to follow the holyphant; a decision that I realized was almost assuredly going to lead to me being removed from the campaign with this character, but ultimately I was OK with it. I'm a strong believer in the idea that character death should have meaning as opposed to simply being bad RNG, and Going out with lulu to try and complete her quest seemed to be the most epic way to go out with them.
And then the party's cleric (the other 1/5th that wasn't LE) hopped out to stand beside me, and a few thoughts went through my head:
Huh, I guess we're splitting the party.
This makes sense, me and the cleric both worship Sune.
Are they trying to get the other party members to change their minds since we're effectively the tank and heals?
It's going to be hilarious watching a warlock, a monk with a few cleric levels and an arcane archer diviner try and get this done.
I wonder if the cleric realizes we're basically wandering out of the story.
Around this time I could just about hear the GM's sphincter tightening as he realized he was looking at an almost perfectly split party and there was almost no way the remainder could get this done on their own, let alone with the attrocious luck that follows the Monk like it's jason voorhees, and so hastily Lulu took off streaming tears behind her, and without the option for flight to follow her I was left with no choice but to rejoin the rest of the party.
The lesson learned here, is that party splits can sometimes be legit nightmares for the GM too :P
My goody two-shoes arcane trickster did the same thing. The other characters were too attached to the Demongrinder though, and our Lulu was happy to stay with them, so I ended up rolling a new character, but after that my heart wasn't in it.
I'm glad I've decided to run it with my Dads group rather than my old crew. The old crew are helmed by a pair of assholes as the groups drivers. At least the Dads are the more naive and idealistic type of role players.
Talespire is the shit. It doesn't have a lot of tilesets or minis yet, and the "play" mode is mostly good for moving your mini (it's actually pretty fun to wasd your mini as it clops around the world and up stairs) and using another program/resource for your character sheet as it lacks a lot of fuctionality, but this thing is SLICK for something that isn't ready for early access yet
I built the St. Andral Church, the Orphanage of St. Andral, and the building across the street from the church (which I made a smithy) from the western side of vallaki, screenshots inside
Works pretty flawlessly in Multiplayer right now as well, when this thing comes out and has workshop support in steam it's going to take Fantasyground's place for my group. I feel like to not make it exhaustive on the DM it will have to be released, because then we'll have a library of thousands of structures people have uploaded we can seamlessly pull in
Entrance to the church
Main part of it, the 12 braziers in the center form the 12 points of the holy symbol of Lathander, I had no official art to go from for this church so I just did my best
Orphanage front
Inside
go for the plunging attack on the two gossiping orphans
I love how the DM has total control over music, ambience, time of day, and can tie it to little triggers. You have to manually fire them, because it's pre-pre-alpha, but its all invisible to the players, they walk into a room and suddenly it gets dark and ominous sounds start playing, it's good shit
I plan to actually run Sunday's curse of strahd session in Talespire, that means I need to create the burgomeister's mansion and Wactherhaus in it tomorrow, no prooooblem
the best part is that if the DM doesn't clear it, the game world just gradually fills up with dice because they physically roll in the game world (the results also display in the center of the screen and in the dice log)
As a joke I’ve decided to put dwarves into my setting New Zellatia, since the rest of the races are wacky, brand new creations like manta ray ex-storm troopers and magical tree paladins.
However, after a little thought about what might become of a long lived race that were enslaved by a classics dark lord figure for a couple hundred years they’ve actually turned out quite interesting and very metal.
Dwarf
The years of the Vilelord’s reign were long, and the dwarves did not even have the luxury of not knowing a time before it. The dwarves were enslaved, forced to make the very weapons that destroyed their way of life in order to survive. They felt, and many still feel, they dishonoured themselves to the point of no return.
They continued to train in secret with whatever they could get their hands on, and as the tide turned they rose up from beneath the very feet of their captors and slew what remained on the Vilelord’s forces.
Ability Score Increase
Increase your Constitution score by 2, and your Intelligence score by 1.
Age
Dwarves mature at the same rate as Tunglani, but they're considered young until they reach the age of 30. On average, they live about 260 years, though it is said they once lived much longer.
Alignment
Dwarves are strict advocates for a well-ordered society that benefits all involved as equally as possible, but due to a so-called ‘curse of the head’ individual dwarves are known to fall into bouts of great melancholy or creative madness that drives them away from others. Overall they are a lawful people who struggle with an inner darkness.
Size
Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.
Darkvision
Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Curse of the Head
During a short or long rest you can transform any number of your remaining Hit Dice into Genius. When you would make a roll to use an artisan’s tools to craft an object you can spend your Genius to simply succeed at the task as if the result had been a Critical Hit.
Things you make with Genius will always have something strange or unsettling about them, but will be of exceptional quality.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Everything a Weapon
You have proficiency with improvised weapons, and one martial or ranged weapon of your choice.
Diamond & Shadow
Starting at 4th level, you gain access to these traits. Choose one:
Dwarven Toughness
Your hit point maximum increases by your Level, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.
Grudge Keeper
Through a shared family grudge you have learned to excel at defeating your chosen quarry. Choose a creature type from aberrations, beasts, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, mon- strosities, oozes, plants, or undead. You can elect to instead choose two humanoid races (such as Calipdis and Aefwynders).
You gain the following benefits:
- In the first round of combat, you have advantage on attack rolls against your chosen foe.
- You have a +2 bonus on any saving throw forced on you by your chosen foe.
Cavernous Mind
While unconscious a part of you remains tirelessly at work. When you are attacked while sleeping you snap awake, and are therefore not susceptible to a Sneak Attack. Additionally, your Passive Perception is increased by 2 in dimly lit and dark environments.
Discipline in Dishonour
So long as you make an Attack action on your turn you are immune to the effects of being charmed or frightened until the start of your next turn.
At 7th level, choose another trait from the options above.
Long story short, they’re barrel shaped paranoid Jackie Chans that hate that they were late for the rebellion and live to bring respect back to their people, but struggle with mad issues about crafting after centuries of making evil weapons.
Okay but your tree race needs to have a noteworthy cat population that they keep as pets. Or, rather, that insist on hanging around in the trees whenever they're out adventuring
Thanks for looking them over! I’m so pleased you do! I think there’s a lot of mileage for a young dwarf PC doing an impersonation of what they think a dwarf is from what little history they know, or a psychotic survivor that just throws whatever they see when combat starts and occasionally has a fit and crafts a perfect wagon wheel covered in spikes for no reason.
Okay but your tree race needs to have a noteworthy cat population that they keep as pets. Or, rather, that insist on hanging around in the trees whenever they're out adventuring
The tree race is only medium sized, so no panther throwers I’m afraid. I do like the idea of one of them having a nest or tiny animal living in a leaf-afro on their head.
There are the classic talking trees in this setting which are related to that race though, so there’s definitely a tree cat lady somewhere.
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
edited April 2020
I realize for real that I am terrible at balancing fights. when my players are getting outgunned and the weaker bad guys weren't even doing sneak attack damage.
Then again it was seven baddies against four-and-a-half PCs because the Warlock was just level 2. I did managed to pull a convincing mechanic out of my ass that allowed the Warlock to shine and turn the tide of the battle somehow.
All in all, they were relieved they didn't die and the escorts survived. And they did say they enjoyed this evening (7pm to 2am!) so if they're happy, the DM is happy.
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
Thanks for looking them over! I’m so pleased you do! I think there’s a lot of mileage for a young dwarf PC doing an impersonation of what they think a dwarf is from what little history they know, or a psychotic survivor that just throws whatever they see when combat starts and occasionally has a fit and crafts a perfect wagon wheel covered in spikes for no reason.
Thanks for looking them over! I’m so pleased you do! I think there’s a lot of mileage for a young dwarf PC doing an impersonation of what they think a dwarf is from what little history they know, or a psychotic survivor that just throws whatever they see when combat starts and occasionally has a fit and crafts a perfect wagon wheel covered in spikes for no reason.
Someone's been playing too much Dwarf Fortress!
Not for years now, but it has forever ~*encrusted*~ my view of dwarfs with crude <slate>, marble and +elf bone+ opinions.
remembering the time I built an opulent mansion in dwarf fortress for the nobility, that was suspended over an active volcano by a single bridge ....
they loved it, filled with the best finery a dwarven noble could want, lots of food, fine artisan crafts, murals, the very best
It served them well as I pressed the lever sealing them inside the capsule shaped multi-mansion and detached the bridge, dropping the entire structure into the volcano, truly if they were going to explore the center of the earth they should do so in style
my best gaming memory
later on that same map, I was overrun, so I pressed the self destruct button I had engaged... so I built a lava-tower that held several million gallons of lava, the self destruct switch just filled the entire fortress and the valley it was in with lava I had pumped out. The most dwarfy way to go beyond the more traditional death of getting fucked up on mushroom ale, vomiting into a trench until it filled up to a depth of a meter, and stumbling over to a lake and being eaten by carp
remembering the time I built an opulent mansion in dwarf fortress for the nobility, that was suspended over an active volcano by a single bridge ....
they loved it, filled with the best finery a dwarven noble could want, lots of food, fine artisan crafts, murals, the very best
It served them well as I pressed the lever sealing them inside the capsule shaped multi-mansion and detached the bridge, dropping the entire structure into the volcano, truly if they were going to explore the center of the earth they should do so in style
my best gaming memory
later on that same map, I was overrun, so I pressed the self destruct button I had engaged... so I built a lava-tower that held several million gallons of lava, the self destruct switch just filled the entire fortress and the valley it was in with lava I had pumped out. The most dwarfy way to go beyond the more traditional death of getting fucked up on mushroom ale, vomiting into a trench until it filled up to a depth of a meter, and stumbling over to a lake and being eaten by carp
Are you tired of hearing about who lives in New Zellatia yet?
Well. Oh. Yes? Um. Well regardless here are what I’d classify as the humans of this setting, but they stopped being humans a long time ago...
Short version: They’re the descendants of folk experimented on, and are all kinds of colours and might have horns or whatever special snowflake purple tiefling look you fancy. They’re designed to be a real good pal.
Tunglani
The most populous folk, their origins lay in mass displacement, arcane experimentation and the destruction of recorded history at the hands of the Vilelord in his pursuit of total domination. Thought meek and servile, it was from their stock that the Champion cut a path for the rebellion to follow.
Their oral history remained throughout, and it is for this that stories and song are considered the greatest form of expression, though indeed all acts of creation are held in high esteem. With the founding of New Zellatia the Tunglani have for the first time in an age a place to call their own, and live for its progress as much as the city is a bastion for their own achievements.
Ability Score Increase
Increase the ability score of your choice by 2, and another by 1.
Age
Tunglani come of age at around 16, but aren’t considered adults until at least 20. They are not known to live much longer than 100 years, though legends abound of far older Tunglani—usually monarchs or mighty sorcerers.
Alignment
From oppressed peasants to rebel instigators to the bringing together of disparate races in the foundation of New Zellatia, whatever they may once have been, the Tunglani are now free to act as they wish, judged only by their own morales and those they love.
Size
Tunglani are usually between 5 and 6 feet tall and run the full gambit of weight, with some being most frail and others being incredibly broad. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Bondsman’s Fortune
When an ally you can see rolls a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and they must use the new roll. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Empathetic Rush
As a reaction, you can move up to half your speed towards an ally that has been successfully hit with an attack.
Lineage Feature
All Tunglani have two-toned skin which may be expressed by a soft gradient change, stripes, mottled patches, leopard-like spots, or other naturalist patterns. Decide what skin tones fit your character now.
Next, roll 1d6 or choose one Lineage Feature from the options below.
1. Antlers. You possess small deer-like antlers or curved ram horns. When you make an unarmed strike you deal an additional 1d4 bludgeoning damage.
2. Furred ears. Your ears are larger and covered in fluffy fur, and your eyes sharp. You have proficiency in the Perception and Insight skill.
3. Feathered crest. In place of hair you have brilliant feathers. Your walking speed increases to 35 feet.
4. Vestigial wings. Transparent, insect-like wings sprout from your shoulder blades. When you knowingly leap from a height while wearing no more than light armour you can slow your fall, allowing you to land unharmed. If you fall or are interrupted during your descent you take falling damage where applicable.
5. Sharp teeth. You have beast-like fangs, a honed nose, and a shaggy mane. You have proficiency in the Athletics and Investigation skills.
6. Shimmering scales. Your body is covered or partially covered in fine iridescent scales. You have resistance to fire damage.
Truth & Beauty
Starting at 4th level, you gain access to these traits. Choose one:
Quickest Wit
As an action on your turn, you can cajole nearby foes to distract them. Until the end of your next turn, your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you that you can see. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Young Blood
When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Marvellous Visage
Your singular appearance gives pause to your foes, who take longer to judge your capabilities.
When a creature you can see makes an attack roll against you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the roll. You must use this feature before knowing whether the attack hits or misses. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Dark Designs
The Vilelord had a plan for your bloodline, or else was particularly cruel in his experimentation.
As an action, you can shift into a bestial state, your bones stretching and muscles ablaze with sinister power. You gain a temporary damage boost equal to double your Proficiency Bonus for 1 minute.
After reverting to your regular form you take 1 poison damage each turn (or lose half your remaining Hit Points when on a journey) until you complete a short or long rest.
You can shift again at any time, halting the poison, but the effect will be doubled upon reverting to your regular form.
Underdog
When you are outnumbered you reduce the damage you take by 1d4 + your Charisma modifier.
At 7th level, choose another trait from the options above.
Absolutely too modular for ‘real D&D’, and I’m sure a subsection of fans would explode trying to calculate how good choosing your stat bonuses is, but I’d be lying if I said I care.
Are you tired of hearing about who lives in New Zellatia yet?
Genuinely no, this stuff is so stealable. Keep posting!
Okay. I really need to move on to describing the place and what you actually do as heroes in this post-main villain world. It’s all about building a network of supplies, trade and construction out from the city to bring back/make a new kingdom to keep everyone safe and bring them forward into an era of prosperity. The secondary goal would be recovering lost history, artefacts and traditions to a largely uneducated population.
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
Is it a good idea to give someone an appropriate, custom (weak) feat as part of their story arc completes?
Posts
Now then! For use with the hot new D&D 5E setting New Zellatia!
Primodem
The work of the lost Sky Ascended People, when the Vilelord tore their forgotten citadels from the clouds, the Science Brigade, then just a small part of the greater rebellion, found these artifacts and managed to awaken them.
It was soon discovered they had the capacity to learn, to grow, and to feel. They are unable to recall their ancient origins, and so must strive to build their own legacy under the sky of their forebears.
Dexterity +2, Constitution +1
[regular speed etc.]
Maelstrom Heart
Roaring within your hull is an elemental bound to you as fuel and essence for your very life. Choose a type of elemental to serve as your heart:
Storm. Which deals lightning damage.
Fire. Which deals fire damage.
Air. Which deals thunder damage.
Water. Which deals cold damage.
Potentially other elemental hearts exist; work with your GM to find one suitable for your game.
During a long rest, you can charge your unarmed strikes, a weapon, or individually charge a selection of ammunition with the elemental damage of your heart’s type. The number of charges are equal to your Level, and deal an extra 1d4 damage. At 5th level, the damage increases to 1d6, and it increases again to 1d8 at 10th level.
Elemental Recharge
Whenever you take damage of your heart’s type, you can move up to half your speed as a reaction.
Contortionist
Your limbs are multi-jointed and your body can shift in ways impossible for others. As an action, you can squeeze through spaces fit for creatures of Small size or less, such as through prison bars, into a carrying case, or within an animal’s den.
Additionally, you have advantage on your first ability check made to escape being grappled or otherwise restrained.
Automaton
You can forgo sleep, food and water for as long as you wish when you feel such is required, remaining at almost full strength in return for a ongoing -1 penalty to all your rolls. You lose these penalties when you do get a full night’s sleep, food and water.
For you food may include essential oils, metals and minerals considered unusual or hazardous to others, though you can eat ordinary food too.
Starting at 4th level, you gain access to these traits. Choose one:
As a bonus action, you can automatically hit a creature within 20 feet of you with a raw elemental burst from your chest. The attack’s damage is 1d6 + your Constitution modifier of your heart’s damage type, but to do so you must reduce your Hit Points by the same amount. If using this trait would reduce you to 0 HP, you are instead reduced to 1 HP.
Speed Boost
Your speed increases to 35 feet. When you move your maximum speed on your turn you gain +1 AC until the start of your next turn.
Probability Analysis
Your mind is an excellent calculator, running at unquestionable speed, allowing you to avoid the worst outcomes in advance. When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and use the new roll.
Roving Soul
Your heart is more than mere fuel, it has a will of its own, though you share a deep connection.
As an action, you can summon the heart into an unoccupied adjacent space 5 feet from you. The heart is a fully aware Medium-sized elemental creature under your control. It has no Hit Points, but shares your Armour Class, and can be targeted with attacks. Any damage the heart takes while summoned is transferred to you upon rehousing it in your body, which is a free action.
On your turn, the heart can move up to 15 feet, and can commit one of three actions:
Attack: Make make a ranged attack against a creature within 15 feet of the heart. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + your Constitution modifier in elemental damage.
Project: Any bonus action, or spell you can cast as a bonus action, may be done by the heart in your stead, provided it is carrying the necessarily supplies or components.
Stall: The heart becomes hazardous terrain in a radius of 10 feet. Any creature barring yourself that starts their turn on spaces occupied by the heart take 1d4 elemental damage.
Dance of the Sky
This marvel of the Sky Ascended People is unknown even to you, but through ancient alchemy you are able to push off from the ground by powerful boosters in your palms and feet, shooting through the sky like a star.
You have a flying speed of 40 feet. You may fly by spending charge, with each charge granting you 1 minute of flight. You must complete a long rest before you can use this trait again if you are reduced to 0 charge.
For fun:
A list of positive value spells with no material costs whatsoever. Curated for things that do not replace human supplied zero material cost actions.
Create Bonfire (only lasts a minute but replaces consumable materials for heating)
Detect Evil and Good
Purify Food and Drink
Calm Emotions
Healing Word
Lesser Restoration
Prayer of Healing
Zone of Truth
Conjure aniimals(1 hour! Obey verbal commands!)
Plant Growth!
Create Food and Water!
Dimension Door!
Fabricate!
Gaes!
Heal!
Wish!
Specifically wish can be used to replicate any spell of 8th level or lower without needing any material components for that spell. The biggest ones here, besides ressurection and greater restoration... is Hallow. Which normally costs 24 hours and gp to cast. And is permanent until dispelled And is a charisma save for any added effects.
So there are definitely some things that would abound even in a “real magical economy”
Now I want to play a pigeon kenku based on Tommy.
It sounds useful, but I don't DM nearly enough to see if it is any good
Well wish is the greatest one, the others are more or less assumed in the fiction of Forgotten Realms (Golden Fields is literally druids shitting out infinite food magically)
I feel like we can mostly discount wish for the same thing we can discount the fact that giga billionaires can fix homelessness: none of them that can have any interest in doing it
My players were really surprised that the temple of the raven queen has a legal role in society by using speak with dead to arbitrate disputes over inheritence. I don't spend exhaustive hundreds of hours creating a framework to make a world that's a simulation of a world with these capabilites, but try to incorporate them as I can
I love little things like the fact that every major population center has enslaved Otyughs as living waste disposal engines
Edit: it's funny you mention purify food and drink, my curse of strahd character's background was as a sanitation worker, well "vice-minister of water safety for the ministry of health" because no wizard is taking a job title that un-fancy, wizards dont get that spell but the DM gave it to me from my background, and I had all the other similar spells
I was thinking everyone drenched by the rain would have a chance of being transformed on the spot -- with those having ancestral Rakdos connections ("the sons of sons of sons/ and daughters of daughters of daughters") having a higher, maybe guaranteed chance -- plus a 50/50 chance on the children of pregnant women, but I dunno, the explanation doesn't feel too satisfying.
I kinda want the event to be a background event overall, with some PCs connected to the police would know about the ritualistic serial killer, but as they have other obligations, a different party of adventurers were the ones to fail to stop him. Good idea? Bad idea?
This is linked somewhat to my Warforged question - I am essentially laying down foundations for the introduction of those races into Ravnica.
Matt Colville seems to really like it.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Perhaps this is the final fulfilment of an ancient bargain that was thwarted eons ago, perhaps even by the original cult leader's own son/daughter. However it was merely stopped rather than undone, so when it completes the line of the original hero (the last surviving scion of the cult) are granted the boon their predecessors' bargained for in the distant past. That might also give you a chance to have your PCs do some detectoring, if the original hero ends up part of the nobility - chasing down bastard sons and forgotten offshoots from old genealogy books (to get the official story) and now ancient and half-mad midwives (to get the truth) in order for them to make the connection.
Especially if perhaps an important wedding at one point was a sham (never consummated due to a gay/ultra-religious royal, or hastily arranged to cover for an existing pregnancy) breaking the obvious link so that it just seems random at first.
It also gives an excuse to play Slayer
Making a random list of a few things fey-ey that I have to blurt out at opportune moments
-Bargain with the first tree we run into
-Insist nobody play any music that evokes the color red
-Remind the party not to accept any gifts from anyone or anything, if you do, give a gift back, but not a more valuable gift, and not a less valuable gift
-Do not tell anyone your name, even though we're going to meet my character's mysterious patron, an archfey queen within her realm, even if she asks politely decline
-Don't follow the wrong lights
-Follow the correct lights, those ones you want to follow
-Focus on the destination, direction and distance are meaningless
-Never ever say "you have my thanks" or "you have my gratitude" or any other expression like that unless you don't want to ever be able to give thanks again
-Dress to impress, if you can't dress to impress, don't dress at all, look just find a pixie to plan an outfit for you
-If all else fails, a barrage of fireballs works pretty good against most fey
-All rules subject to change without notice
-Honor all deals, this is the most important rule. The second most important is that you don't have to honor your deals if you can honor them without honoring them.
Trying to come up with more things, behaviors that should be different in my home plane. The DM has already said that I'm going to be super powerful in the feywild, able to literally persuade spells to do something different that another spell of the same level could do, etc.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
No cell coverage at the house unfortunately.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Gonna use this, and the manta race as well, once I start my Spelljammer campaign. I don't know if you're going to publish New Zellatia online anywhere, but if you do I'm definitely adding it in. If you don't, I'll just keep the home sphere of these secret. I could just make shit up, of course, but I really like what you're doing here and would feel like I was ripping you off and ruining your setting somehow (even though you'd probably never know or care)
If you do make it available, maybe throw in some info about what else is contained in it's star system for me, eh? Eh? :rotate:
That’d be swell! Keep in touch with how it goes please.
It won’t be an official level release but I certainly plan to publish my notes via google docs and perhaps a wiki page.
The final document will consist of races, sub-classes, lots of weapons and a small amount of items, with an overview of the setting and a rough history from the Vilelord’s takeover to the ragtag adventures that took him down and set up the city of New Zellatia itself.
Huge spoilers for high level NZ below!
As the Vilelord tore their islands down (save that one a DM wants to include in their game) potentially unused prototype ships are scattered throughout the world, if only the adventurers entering them figure that out.
There are three types of starships in this world:
Songships: Semi-intelligent with the ability to speak to and manipulate lesser ships (they’re bards). Modelled after ‘Ikaruga’.
Mantlecraft: Big tankers covered in holy bells and sacrament, powered similarly to the primodem, but with divine or infernal forces instead of elementals.
Verdentiles: Much simpler craft which may have different origins (DM to decide). Grown like a plant, but otherwise more traditional, merely solar-powered (with the complication that it slows down without a star to light it).
Space for this setting will have its own weird rules, but could easily be just a unique area of Spelljammer!
The Sky Ascended People, for the record, are a spiritualist technologically advanced people who have become beings of pure plasma to mimic the stars, and now have more in common angels and devils than a playable race. They can manipulate magnetic fields and send information to each other at light speed. They’re terrifying because they’re not bad guys outright, but are trying to go so far beyond everything they’ve sort of lost their grip; you couldn’t hold a conversation with one.
After taking a week off, we moved to Roll20 and I picked up Dungeon of the Mad Mage because I figure running a dungeon crawl while we wait out the pandemic is something easy to pass the time. I'm having trouble sizing spell templates and it's kinda annoying. I'm following videos and guidelines step by step exactly (pausing and mimicking what the video says to do) but it keeps snapping the templates I made in at the wrong size once I have it set up. It's not a huge deal because I can change their size on the map, just annoying I can't figure out exactly what the issue is with my tokens. I did some research and it may be linked to the module itself because the map scaling in Mad Mage is off.
Also, apparently Adam Koebel of Dungeon World/Roll20 presents screwed up during the last Far Varona game he ran. I really appreciated his DM Prep videos even if I found his DMing style hit or miss and I loved the Roll20 presents group (Random Tuesday, Dave, Bluejay, and Distracted Elf) so I'm wondering if that stream is over. I understand and agree that Adam went to far, but it would be shame if the other four lost their weekly game on the DnD twitch channel.
Good gaming everyone.
I did have the worst luck during the combat though (sticking with my habit: skill checks (roll d20:15-20) attack rolls (roll d20: 1-3). And the tradition of me doing more damage to my party members than any of our opponents continues (2 critical fails on attacks).
What a crazy time to be alive!
Which prompted me (an aasimar redemption paladin who is kind of sick of the chaotic neutrals (though technically they're lawful evil now thanks to a protracted stay in avernus) that make up 3/5th of the party) to get out of the war engine and proceed to follow the holyphant; a decision that I realized was almost assuredly going to lead to me being removed from the campaign with this character, but ultimately I was OK with it. I'm a strong believer in the idea that character death should have meaning as opposed to simply being bad RNG, and Going out with lulu to try and complete her quest seemed to be the most epic way to go out with them.
And then the party's cleric (the other 1/5th that wasn't LE) hopped out to stand beside me, and a few thoughts went through my head:
Around this time I could just about hear the GM's sphincter tightening as he realized he was looking at an almost perfectly split party and there was almost no way the remainder could get this done on their own, let alone with the attrocious luck that follows the Monk like it's jason voorhees, and so hastily Lulu took off streaming tears behind her, and without the option for flight to follow her I was left with no choice but to rejoin the rest of the party.
The lesson learned here, is that party splits can sometimes be legit nightmares for the GM too :P
My goody two-shoes arcane trickster did the same thing. The other characters were too attached to the Demongrinder though, and our Lulu was happy to stay with them, so I ended up rolling a new character, but after that my heart wasn't in it.
I built the St. Andral Church, the Orphanage of St. Andral, and the building across the street from the church (which I made a smithy) from the western side of vallaki, screenshots inside
Works pretty flawlessly in Multiplayer right now as well, when this thing comes out and has workshop support in steam it's going to take Fantasyground's place for my group. I feel like to not make it exhaustive on the DM it will have to be released, because then we'll have a library of thousands of structures people have uploaded we can seamlessly pull in
Entrance to the church
Main part of it, the 12 braziers in the center form the 12 points of the holy symbol of Lathander, I had no official art to go from for this church so I just did my best
Orphanage front
Inside
go for the plunging attack on the two gossiping orphans
I love how the DM has total control over music, ambience, time of day, and can tie it to little triggers. You have to manually fire them, because it's pre-pre-alpha, but its all invisible to the players, they walk into a room and suddenly it gets dark and ominous sounds start playing, it's good shit
the best part is that if the DM doesn't clear it, the game world just gradually fills up with dice because they physically roll in the game world (the results also display in the center of the screen and in the dice log)
However, after a little thought about what might become of a long lived race that were enslaved by a classics dark lord figure for a couple hundred years they’ve actually turned out quite interesting and very metal.
Dwarf
They continued to train in secret with whatever they could get their hands on, and as the tide turned they rose up from beneath the very feet of their captors and slew what remained on the Vilelord’s forces.
Increase your Constitution score by 2, and your Intelligence score by 1.
Age
Dwarves mature at the same rate as Tunglani, but they're considered young until they reach the age of 30. On average, they live about 260 years, though it is said they once lived much longer.
Alignment
Dwarves are strict advocates for a well-ordered society that benefits all involved as equally as possible, but due to a so-called ‘curse of the head’ individual dwarves are known to fall into bouts of great melancholy or creative madness that drives them away from others. Overall they are a lawful people who struggle with an inner darkness.
Size
Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.
Darkvision
Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Curse of the Head
During a short or long rest you can transform any number of your remaining Hit Dice into Genius. When you would make a roll to use an artisan’s tools to craft an object you can spend your Genius to simply succeed at the task as if the result had been a Critical Hit.
Things you make with Genius will always have something strange or unsettling about them, but will be of exceptional quality.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Everything a Weapon
You have proficiency with improvised weapons, and one martial or ranged weapon of your choice.
Diamond & Shadow
Starting at 4th level, you gain access to these traits. Choose one:
Your hit point maximum increases by your Level, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.
Grudge Keeper
Through a shared family grudge you have learned to excel at defeating your chosen quarry. Choose a creature type from aberrations, beasts, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, mon- strosities, oozes, plants, or undead. You can elect to instead choose two humanoid races (such as Calipdis and Aefwynders).
You gain the following benefits:
- In the first round of combat, you have advantage on attack rolls against your chosen foe.
- You have a +2 bonus on any saving throw forced on you by your chosen foe.
Cavernous Mind
While unconscious a part of you remains tirelessly at work. When you are attacked while sleeping you snap awake, and are therefore not susceptible to a Sneak Attack. Additionally, your Passive Perception is increased by 2 in dimly lit and dark environments.
Discipline in Dishonour
So long as you make an Attack action on your turn you are immune to the effects of being charmed or frightened until the start of your next turn.
At 7th level, choose another trait from the options above.
Long story short, they’re barrel shaped paranoid Jackie Chans that hate that they were late for the rebellion and live to bring respect back to their people, but struggle with mad issues about crafting after centuries of making evil weapons.
Thanks for looking them over! I’m so pleased you do! I think there’s a lot of mileage for a young dwarf PC doing an impersonation of what they think a dwarf is from what little history they know, or a psychotic survivor that just throws whatever they see when combat starts and occasionally has a fit and crafts a perfect wagon wheel covered in spikes for no reason.
The tree race is only medium sized, so no panther throwers I’m afraid. I do like the idea of one of them having a nest or tiny animal living in a leaf-afro on their head.
There are the classic talking trees in this setting which are related to that race though, so there’s definitely a tree cat lady somewhere.
Then again it was seven baddies against four-and-a-half PCs because the Warlock was just level 2. I did managed to pull a convincing mechanic out of my ass that allowed the Warlock to shine and turn the tide of the battle somehow.
All in all, they were relieved they didn't die and the escorts survived. And they did say they enjoyed this evening (7pm to 2am!) so if they're happy, the DM is happy.
Someone's been playing too much Dwarf Fortress!
Not for years now, but it has forever ~*encrusted*~ my view of dwarfs with crude <slate>, marble and +elf bone+ opinions.
they loved it, filled with the best finery a dwarven noble could want, lots of food, fine artisan crafts, murals, the very best
It served them well as I pressed the lever sealing them inside the capsule shaped multi-mansion and detached the bridge, dropping the entire structure into the volcano, truly if they were going to explore the center of the earth they should do so in style
my best gaming memory
later on that same map, I was overrun, so I pressed the self destruct button I had engaged... so I built a lava-tower that held several million gallons of lava, the self destruct switch just filled the entire fortress and the valley it was in with lava I had pumped out. The most dwarfy way to go beyond the more traditional death of getting fucked up on mushroom ale, vomiting into a trench until it filled up to a depth of a meter, and stumbling over to a lake and being eaten by carp
Dwarf Fortress stories are the fuckin best
Well. Oh. Yes? Um. Well regardless here are what I’d classify as the humans of this setting, but they stopped being humans a long time ago...
Short version: They’re the descendants of folk experimented on, and are all kinds of colours and might have horns or whatever special snowflake purple tiefling look you fancy. They’re designed to be a real good pal.
Tunglani
Their oral history remained throughout, and it is for this that stories and song are considered the greatest form of expression, though indeed all acts of creation are held in high esteem. With the founding of New Zellatia the Tunglani have for the first time in an age a place to call their own, and live for its progress as much as the city is a bastion for their own achievements.
Increase the ability score of your choice by 2, and another by 1.
Age
Tunglani come of age at around 16, but aren’t considered adults until at least 20. They are not known to live much longer than 100 years, though legends abound of far older Tunglani—usually monarchs or mighty sorcerers.
Alignment
From oppressed peasants to rebel instigators to the bringing together of disparate races in the foundation of New Zellatia, whatever they may once have been, the Tunglani are now free to act as they wish, judged only by their own morales and those they love.
Size
Tunglani are usually between 5 and 6 feet tall and run the full gambit of weight, with some being most frail and others being incredibly broad. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Bondsman’s Fortune
When an ally you can see rolls a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and they must use the new roll. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Empathetic Rush
As a reaction, you can move up to half your speed towards an ally that has been successfully hit with an attack.
Lineage Feature
All Tunglani have two-toned skin which may be expressed by a soft gradient change, stripes, mottled patches, leopard-like spots, or other naturalist patterns. Decide what skin tones fit your character now.
Next, roll 1d6 or choose one Lineage Feature from the options below.
1. Antlers. You possess small deer-like antlers or curved ram horns. When you make an unarmed strike you deal an additional 1d4 bludgeoning damage.
2. Furred ears. Your ears are larger and covered in fluffy fur, and your eyes sharp. You have proficiency in the Perception and Insight skill.
3. Feathered crest. In place of hair you have brilliant feathers. Your walking speed increases to 35 feet.
4. Vestigial wings. Transparent, insect-like wings sprout from your shoulder blades. When you knowingly leap from a height while wearing no more than light armour you can slow your fall, allowing you to land unharmed. If you fall or are interrupted during your descent you take falling damage where applicable.
5. Sharp teeth. You have beast-like fangs, a honed nose, and a shaggy mane. You have proficiency in the Athletics and Investigation skills.
6. Shimmering scales. Your body is covered or partially covered in fine iridescent scales. You have resistance to fire damage.
Truth & Beauty
Starting at 4th level, you gain access to these traits. Choose one:
As an action on your turn, you can cajole nearby foes to distract them. Until the end of your next turn, your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you that you can see. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Young Blood
When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Marvellous Visage
Your singular appearance gives pause to your foes, who take longer to judge your capabilities.
When a creature you can see makes an attack roll against you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the roll. You must use this feature before knowing whether the attack hits or misses. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Dark Designs
The Vilelord had a plan for your bloodline, or else was particularly cruel in his experimentation.
As an action, you can shift into a bestial state, your bones stretching and muscles ablaze with sinister power. You gain a temporary damage boost equal to double your Proficiency Bonus for 1 minute.
After reverting to your regular form you take 1 poison damage each turn (or lose half your remaining Hit Points when on a journey) until you complete a short or long rest.
You can shift again at any time, halting the poison, but the effect will be doubled upon reverting to your regular form.
Underdog
When you are outnumbered you reduce the damage you take by 1d4 + your Charisma modifier.
Absolutely too modular for ‘real D&D’, and I’m sure a subsection of fans would explode trying to calculate how good choosing your stat bonuses is, but I’d be lying if I said I care.
Genuinely no, this stuff is so stealable. Keep posting!
Okay. I really need to move on to describing the place and what you actually do as heroes in this post-main villain world. It’s all about building a network of supplies, trade and construction out from the city to bring back/make a new kingdom to keep everyone safe and bring them forward into an era of prosperity. The secondary goal would be recovering lost history, artefacts and traditions to a largely uneducated population.