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Criminal Variants: Con Artist
Decided to take a pass at making a background. This time around I am making a background for a variation on Criminals. The general Criminal background is fine and I even use it for one of my PC’s but it seems to me that there was space for more. Criminals come in a wide range and having backgrounds to reflect some of those variations could be useful. I thought I would start with a Con Artist. A bit of trivia. The term “Mark” is a reference to a mark that was made on the back in chalk at carnivals. The mark was to indicate the subject was susceptible…
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The Basics of the Game Rambles about Kaiju and Giants
I am back at it. Here is a review of a couple of 5e PDF products from Rite Publishing. Both have 5e rules work done on them by my friend Brandes Stoddard. Brandes’s Blog http://www.brandesstoddard.com/ Kaiju Codex is a book of super large and powerful monsters. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/219786/Kaiju-Codex-5e In the Company of Giants is a book of pc options for the giant inclined. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/226574/In-the-Company-of-Giants-Revised-5E (production Note: round about 5:30 there is a little bit of audio weirdness. Not sure why but I couldn’t fix it and I didn’t want to record it twice.) My Patreon https://www.patreon.com/jeremiahmccoy
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Different Rules for Death.
Why I am I talking about death on a blog dealing mainly with games? Well, games handle death differently. In many video games, you simply return to prior save point if you die. In Dungeons & Dragons we have spells which can bring you back from the dead. Death does not have the tight hold on a character it does on people in the real world. How easily a caster can gain access to these Resurrection spells says a lot about the setting. If it is just something you pay some gold for at the local temple, then death is less scary. If it is something that only pc’s can learn,…
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The Basics of the Game Rambles 269 My Favorite Game
This is inspired by a thread on the Brigade over on Facebook. I thought it was worth talking about. My Patreon https://www.patreon.com/jeremiahmccoy
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The Vigilante Rogue: The Justice Found In The Dark
As is often the case, I was inspired by a friend’s work. My pal Greg over on his blog wrote up a barbarian build for the Urban Arcana Unearthed Arcana article….. Wow, that a repetitive sounding sentence. That phrase almost counts as alliteration. That should totally be a comic book phrase. I should find that as the title of a book in Dr. Strange’s library. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right….INSPRIRED! Anyway, his build was for a city tied barbarian pulling on the spirit of a neighborhood. It felt very Luke Cage adjacent. When I commented such, he admitted he was inspired by that Netflix show.…
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4 Grand Thieves Guilds
Large Scale Thieves guilds The thieves guilds are an integral part of the standard generic fantasy worlds in which D&D takes place. This is partly due to the inspiring fiction. That said, it is often portrayed as a local phenomenon. There is a local guild or two in the city, or maybe the bandits inhabit a particular forest. I am looking at you Sherwood. World guilds, which is the term I am going with, are not quite so local. They have a broader reach but still remain secretive and unknown. This could be like La Cosa Nostra, or the Yakuza in the real world. They may have local affiliates, but…
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Undead Beware the Gravedigger’s Wrath: The Gravedigger Rogue Archetype
I have a long history with the concept of playing a gravedigger. I played one for over a decade at a larp in the Atlanta area. I rather think he may have been the most interesting character I have ever played. For all his sneaky abilities (he was a rogue) he was also noble in thought and action. He was tremendously creepy and people expected him to be evil, but he wasn’t. He was just not socially adjusted. That lead to some amazing role play sessions and I kind of miss playing the guy. Anyway, I always liked the vision of champions of death that are not evil. With that…
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5 Magic Spears…you are on your own for the Magic Helmet
So…magic weapons are a thing in D&D. They have been since the early days of the game. Certainly the most often remembered ones are magic swords. A sword is a good weapon. It is versatile, with chopping, slashing, and stabbing elements throughout its various iterations. It was the go-to weapon for professional soldiers through a lot of history. However…. There are other contenders. Let me tell you about spears. The spear is also a weapon with a long history. Spears are useful for a number of reasons. First, they are cheap to make. You find a straight piece of wood. Forge about a daggers worth of metal to add to…
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The Basics of the Game Rambles about The Immortals Rules
This is my long-promised review of the Immortal Rules for D&D. It is a less explored portion of D&D. I will be curious if any of my viewers have ever actually played them. I think I will review something non D&D in the near future. Any suggestions will be appreciated. The next subject will be a breakdown of the history of crossover between comics and RPG’s. That may take a few episodes actually because there is a lot of crossover. Engage Shameless Plug: Go check out my self-published gaming project. The Grimoire of Grimoires http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/211467/The-Grimoire-of-Grimoires My Patreon https://www.patreon.com/jeremiahmccoy
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The Basics of the Game Rambles About Boxed Sets Dungeons and Dragons
I decided to do a primer on the boxed sets rules for Dungeons and Dragons. A number of people started playing with 2nd edition or later, and may never have used those boxed sets. Trying something new here with the production. Tell me what you think.