It’s spring! I don’t know about you all, but my winter was pretty cold and snowy. I’m not complaining exactly since I was skiing and loving the snowflakes, but there’s al so excitement in new green things and birdsong. To celebrate that I’m pulling up a review from the archives that’s all about birds, Humblewood! Since I wrote my original review, publisher Hit Point Press has funded a book of adventures called Humblewood Tales that’s ready for preorder. If you like what you read (or read again) then consider heading over there and picking up an epic tale of birds and non-birds trying to save a ..read more

I love lifepath generation. Similar to an active session zero, using lifepath generation lets you start a campaign with mechanics and a colorful backstory. In my experience it gives you a richer character whether you’re new to the game or a veteran. Lifepath generation hasn’t been an option for D&D before so I’m doing it myself! This is a preview of a product that I’m creating for The DM’s Guild. Let me know what you think! This example is just part of what the final project will be: a character coming from a tradetown, not the middle of nowhere but a pretty remote place anyways. You can u ..read more

Today I have the great pleasure of interviewing Chris Dias, head of Dias Ex Machina Games and author of the Amethyst setting for D&D. I’ve written about Chris’s work before but hearing the inspiration for the setting is great. Plus, he’s got a Kickstarter going to create an updated and expanded Amethyst for 5e. There’s still two weeks to get in on it! Mephit James: I’m sure you have this down pat by this point, but what’s your basic pitch for the world of Amethyst? It’s where “magic and technology collide,” so how is that different from other sci-fi/fantasy settings? Chris Dias: Ameth ..read more

I love the Eberron setting for D&D. I’ve gotten every official book put out since it debuted in 3e and I’ve bought a significant number of fan creations since it was opened up for the DM’s Guild. I’ve also written a ton about it here and on other sites… So clearly I’m excited about the latest book from Wizards giving official versions of the setting material for the game’s fifth edition. In this post I’m going to be covering the first one hundred pages of this book and leaving the other two-hundred-odd pages for the next post. Why am I splitting the book up so unevenly? Well Chapter 1: Cha ..read more

Today I’m back with the other half of my Historia review. Last time I talked about the species and professions (equivalent to D&D classes) that can be found in the book. I mentioned that there’s lots more, though, so buckle up and let’s go! As a reminder, Historia is a D&D 5e setting with a dark Renaissance tone and anthropomorphic animals living there. It’s really a fun setting (more details in that first post) but it’s also full of game options that you can port over into other 5e games. Ventures Image © Mana Project Studio Let’s start with Historia‘s alternative to backgrounds. In v ..read more

Hello folks! I’m back with a rare dip into the world of D&D 5e games. It’s been a while since I talked about a 5e game but the world of Historia is just so epic and surprising that I couldn’t stay away! I’ve been pretty consciously moving away from games based on 5e for a while because that’s not currently what’s at my table and also they don’t really need the signal boost. As I said, though, there’s jut so much going on with Historia that you really have to hear about it. I could describe it the way the publishers do as a “Dark Fantasy Renaissance Setting for 5th Edition” but you can easi ..read more

I’m back today with more Eberron action, this time from the brand new Exploring Eberron book produced by setting creator Keith Baker and a host of very talented writers. While Rising From the Last War (the subject of three previous posts) updated the setting to 5e, this book includes many of Baker’s intense and amazing thoughts on the world of Eberron. There’s plenty here for fans new and old so let’s dive in! It’s impossible to cover everything in a single book but two areas that don’t get a lot of attention are the Age of Demons and the Age of Giants. Both of these time periods, and the myth ..read more

I recently ran an encounter with oracles in my D&D 5e game that went wild. It turned into a great experience of plot hooks, clue dispensing, and character development. I wanted to share the mechanics I used with you and also give my advice on using prophecies and oracles in your games. Using prophecy in an RPG is a tricky business. When you’re writing a story, you can make changes in later edits to make sure your prophecies come true and make sense. That doesn’t work in a roleplaying game: when you tell players the prophecy it’s locked in place and editing later can be an awkward business ..read more

Alright, we’re back! So last time we looked in depth at the character creation portions of the book and found them interesting but mostly updated versions of what’s in the Wayfinder’s Guide. That’s just the first third of the book, though. Today we’re going to be looking at the setting information and what it can offer to new and veteran players in Eberron. Chapter 2 of the book is a survey of Knorvaire, the main area for Eberron campaigns, with a bit at the end about the broader world. The chapter is set up alphabetically for the Khorvairian nations, with about two pages per nation, with some ..read more

Esper Genesis is a science-fiction D&D 5e game that I’ve been excited to see grow better and better since its launch. They have a series of adventures out and another on the way, plus pregenerated characters and a bunch of great digital resources. Today, though, I’m going to talk about their biggest and most recent supplement: the Threat Database. Basics of the Book Bestiary-style books like this aren’t always super-useful. Sometimes they’re just a collection of monsters that you can throw at players which can come in handy for specific adventures. But even if there are cool, widely useful ..read more