Settlement: Javhintor’s Keel

Cursed Jewelry! Remember, canonically Identify doesn’t pick up curses, so have fun tricking your players into getting cursed. <3

standing on the deck of a ship while all the dead men's eyes look down on you from the rigging. just sailing things

So i wanna do homebrew content but i fundamentally don't understand how to hand make a character sheet??? Like how do i make it w/o using dnd beyond???

So I figure i’ll use this opportunity to explain character making/character sheets in general.This will be more in depth than you need but i’ll call it a resource and add it to my blog in a link. 

Buckle up guys this is going to be a LONG one we’ll call this

DUNGEONS AND KOBOLDS’S LONG GUIDE TO MAKING CHARACTER SHEETS

1.     Character Sheet

First step is getting the character sheet itself. Below is a link to where you can download them on Wizards of the Coast’s website:

https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets

This should download a file – the sheet that people use most often is called CharacterSheet_3Pgs_Complete.pdf

It’s well laid out and easily editable on your computer.

2.     Class/Race/Background Combination

Second, choose your class/race/background combination. It’s also important to understand a basic idea of where these appear/what they effect

Race: Ability Scores, Skills, Proficiencies, Features & Traits

Background: Skills, Proficiencies, Features & Traits, Equipment

Class: Basically everything but Ability Scores – although it does determine how you’ll want to arrange your Scores.

3.     Ability Scores

Ability Scores are on the far left hand side of the sheet. These determine your base Strength, Dexterity, etc. bonuses (ie. What you add to your rolls).

There are 3 basic ways of determining these scores: rolling, point buy, and standard array.

https://thekindgm.wordpress.com/2017/12/16/determining-ability-scores/

Above is a link to a post that explains these better than I could which I refer to often. (consult your DM as to which way you are using for your campaign)

For every 2 points your Ability Score goes up/down by, your bonus will go/down by 1. Ie. A Strength of 10 will give me 0 or no bonus a 12 +1, a 14 +2, etc. Whereas an 8 will give me -1, a 6 -2.

Arrange these scores as you wish – a good rule of thumb is you want your primary attacking ability to be your highest (normally the Quick Build section of your class will have good suggestions on how to arrange these statistics). I’ll go through what each of these scores effects in my explanation which should give you some options on how to arrange them.

To these base scores you’ve figured out, you then add the bonuses given to you by your Race.

For example, if I have a 14 Dexterity (+2) but I’m playing a Kobold (which has an increase of 2 for Dexterity as one of its traits) my Dexterity is then brought up to 16 (+3)

4.     Proficiency Bonus/Saving Throws

Proficiency bonus has a separate column in the levelling table of your class. At level 1 it is generally +2. This means that if you are proficient in a Saving Throw, Skill, Attack, or Tool you add your Proficiency Bonus and the bonus from your associated Ability Score to the Roll.

For example, if my Kobold is a barbarian, they have proficiency in Strength and Constitution Saving Throws. This means if my Kobold has a Strength of 14 (+2) and I am rolling a Saving Throw, I add another +2 to the roll (bringing it up to a total of +4). On the left hand side of the Saving Throws (and skills) there are little circles, fill in the circles of the Saving Throws you are proficient in to remind yourself why you have that score (but write next to them what you’ll actually be adding, ie. +4 Strength Saving Throw for my Kobold).

5.     Skills

This sheet actually makes skills relatively easy to fill out. Again fill in the circles of the skills you are proficient in (these can come from your class, race, and background so be sure to check all three). On the right hand side of each skill is the associated Ability – if you are not proficient you write down your base Ability Score bonus. If you are proficient be sure to add the +2 (at first level)

6.     Other Proficiencies

In Other Proficiencies and Languages write down the languages, tools, weapons, and armour you are proficient in – this is more to remind yourself of what you can and can’t easily use.

7.     Armour

https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Armor#content

Here is a link to all of the armour scores you’ll need. Generally, armour is a base score (say 11 for leather armour) plus your Dexterity (just the base Ability Score bonus). Some armour gives you just a base score that you don’t add anything to. Some will have a strength requirement for you to be able to use it. The link divides the amour into light, medium and heavy amour – whether or not you can use them is determined by your proficiencies (found in your other proficiencies section)

If you’re wielding a shield you add another 2 to your armour score.

Unlike weapons your generally can’t use armour that you are not proficient in.

 8.     Initiative

Unless you have a Feat or a special class based bonus your Initiative is your Dexterity Ability Score Bonus

9.     Weapon Attacks

https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Weapons#content

This link again divides the weapon up neatly into the proficiencies (simple and martial weapons).

There are 2 main scores to worry about with weapon attacks – Dexterity and Strength.

Dexterity based weapons are Ranged or Finesse weapons. Strength is everything else. Your attack bonus will be either your Strength or Dexterity Score (depending on the weapon) plus your proficiency bonus (although you can use weapons you are not proficient in, you just lose this bonus).

Your damage is the listed damage (see link above) plus either your Strength or Dexterity (again depending on the associated score).

(I’m not going to go into dual wielding here but feel free to ask if interested)

10. Equipment

Equipment will be listed in class and background – all you have to do is write it down in this section.

11. Gold

Gold normally appears in your background and class, but have a chat to your DM to see if they have a preference for staring gold.

12. Features/Traits

In the Features/Traits column you write down basically the things you can do (though people will use this column differently).

This includes things such as Darkvision, the ability you gain from your background and general abilities granted by your class (that are not spells or attacks). For instance a Cleric’s Channel Divinity might be written in this column.

 13. Spell Casting Ability

Your spell casting ability will be listed in your class – either Charisma, Intelligence or Wisdom. 

14. Spell Save DC

Your Spell Save DC will be your Spell Casting Ability Score’s bonus + your proficiency + 8. Ie. If my kobold is now a bard with a Charisma of 18 (+4) and is 1st level their Spell Save DC will be 4+2+8 for a total of 14.

 15. Spell Attack Bonus

Your spell attack bonus is your Spell Casting Ability Score’s bonus + your proficiency – for my previously mentioned kobold this would be 4+2 for a total of +6

16. Choosing Spells

There are 2 main ways classes determine what spells you have. The first method is, you choose new spells as you level up and those are the only spells you have (for example a Bard uses this method). The number of spells you have for classes such as this will be determined by the Spells Known column in your levelling up table. The second method is preparing spells. This means you can potentially cast any of the spells for your class, but each morning you choose certain ones for the day. The number of spells you can prepare will most likely be your Spell Casting Ability Score Bonus + your level (unless you’re a paladin).

17. The Other Stuff (alignment/personality)

The other stuff you can write or not write as your wish – this stuff is more for RP. Personally I will write my alignment and that is it – but you can plan as much or as little as you want! 

As usual feel free to ask for any clarifications/more information.

Hope this was helpful! (sorry of the length)

Art by Tiffany "arty" Boother This month, truth compels me to write four subclasses. Every single one of them are completely new, and I'm polishing up the final one as we speak. This first subclass, the Spelleater (gmbinder doc here) takes a theme that is notoriously hard to execute (good at beating up wizards) and does as much as it can to actualise that idea: its benefits still completely deck most spellcasters, but they also work reasonably well against pretty much any foe there is. Antimagic Vigor is essentially the opposite of a barbarian rage (or rune knight's hill rune), and gives you a combat's worth of survival and ultra high saving throws vs magic. Spell Drain is my favorite part of it. You cause a bunch of creatures to succeed on a save against a spell being cast - but the spell can be from either friend or foe! Now you can work in tandem with other spellcasters to shape your allies' spells safely round the party, Or, you can just completely screw a lich over. Either way, you get to absorb the magic into your sword, and then unleash it the next time you attack. It's a really nice feature that makes them fantastic against spellcasters while still being handy elsewhere!

plot feeling a little empty in the middle? here’s some food for thought.

actions have consequences. things that your characters do inevitably can affect other people around them. what might they have done in the past that could come back and serve as an obstacle? or, maybe, what could they do now that could possibly raise the stakes just a little bit more?

subplots! be mindful of the subplots you’re adding - but sometimes it might be a good idea to include one if your plot is feeling a little bit empty. not only can it tie back into the overarching struggle, but it could also serve as a way to explore one of your characters or points further.

character exploration. get to know your characters a little bit better! let your readers find out something new. connecting and understanding the people within your story is important if you want your readers to grow attached to them.

world exploration. similar to the previous point, with the addition of creating a greater sense of familiarity of the circumstances that your story is taking place in. remember that nobody else knows the world of your wip as well as you do - illustrate it even further so everyone else can grasp it even better.

let your characters bond! maybe there’s a lull in the plot. if your characters have the chance to take a breather and get to know the people around them, let them! it might help flesh out or even realistically advance their relationships with each other.

Monster hunt: Goudslok the Gorger 

“ Fellers, yer not going to ‘alieve this, but I was siftin through all this pickrel and I think I found me ol’ keys, how’d ya think they ended up ‘ere?”

Setup: The gnomish village on the shore of a great lake is seasonally plagued by the appearance of a tremendous golden carp. Nicknamed “the gorger” by the locals, this golden monstrosity emerges from the depths to devour all the fish at the height of the catching season before returning to the muddy deep for another year. 

Furious after years of plundered nets, a fishergnome by the name of Lennart Trawley has found the biggest boat he could, gathered a crew full of cousins, and stockpiled an arsenal of harpoons and cable. He’s still looking for a few strong backs to aid in his Ahabic vengeance quest and the party look like viable candidates for a pressganging.  

Adventure Hooks

While the Gorger is an easy enough quarry to find, catching it is another matter. The massive fish is capable of splintering hulls with a slap of its tail and causing weaker vessels to tip over with its trashing. What’s more, no mundane line or net is capable of holding the creature, as it seems preternaturally able to break any bond forced upon it. If the party manages to pick themselves up out of their first sodden defeat, they may wish to seek out artisans capable of crafting unbreakable or otherwise enchanted fishing gear, perhaps a blacksmith that works in adamantine or a fey tinker who can spin a promise into a rope? 

Not one to waste a good catch, Trawley and his crew will pull Goudslok’s body to shore for the butchering, revealing a belly full of still-wriggling fish as well as a trove of strange objects The gorger has seemingly scavenged off the lakebed. loose coins and gemstones, bewitched items, even a still-locked treasure chest, a portion of wish the party will be allotted a share based on their participation, along with as much fish as they can carry. Some of these items include: the ring of a rivergod who’d very much like it back, oddly familiar keys that open doors to places they shouldn’t go, and a weighty, invulnerable breastplate that compels its wearer to go swimming against their better judgement.  

Goudslok is not a normal fish, as anyone can tell, but few could guess that its true origin lays somewhere in the feywild. To be swallowed by this great, glimmering beast is to be spat up on those shores of primal wonder, as the party may discover should their hunt go very, very badly. Likewise, slaying the beast in the mortal realm is not enough, as it will continue to return each year unless slain in its home domain. Doing so is easier said than done, and may require bargaining with whatever fey lord keeps the now miniaturized gorger as a pet. 

Ally: Lady Keiva Marzanna, The Waylaid Huntress

“ What are you standing around for? Any longer and It’ll kill all of them, think you can distract it long enough for me to get off another few shots?” 

Adventure Hook: Shots and screams ring out as the players approach the city, along with the roaring of some great beast and the thunder of its footsteps across snowy earth. 

Arriving, they find a grisly scene in action: a procession of riders and their mounts slaughtered, and a towering jotun murderously trundling towards a crowd of fleeing travelers. 

A woman in a voluminous winter riding gown sits with her back to a tree, face stained with blood, black powder, and frozen tears. She labors to reload her massive flintlock rifle braced against a broken leg and splintered ribs. With a plea, she turns and fires, drawing the jotun’s attention to her position and the party’s presence. 

Setup: It was an inauspicious morning when Lady Keiva set out with her brother  Valiboor’s hunting party, restless of her life as the family’s courtly heir and jealous of her younger sibling’s marital pursuits.   As it happened, this was the morning a giant burst from the thick ice of the nearby trade river and decided to besiege the city. Barely past the gate ,  Valiboor and his hunting party turned about to try and delay the beast till proper help could arrive and managed to harry it for some time as it picked them off in twos and threes. Though Keiva had held back as was her duty as noble heir, she took up her brother’s gun after watching Valdiboor and his last few riders fall beneath a tree hurled by the jotun. 

The party finds her just having been swatted off her mount, injured and mad with avenging grief she pulled her body free of the mangled beast’s carcass and limped over to find a better shooting vantage. If they aid her, the party will earn the favor of one of the city’s most powerful noble families, that is if they survive a confrontation with an icy, bone-crunching colossus first.  

Keep reading

Game-Changing Sites for Writers

A recent search for a specific type of site to help me build new characters led me down a rabbit hole. Normally, that would make me much less productive, but I have found a treasure trove of websites for writers.

Bring Characters/Places to Life

There are a few different places you can use to create a picture of something entirely new. I love this site for making character pictures as references, instead of stock photos or whatever pops up on Google Images.

thispersondoesnotexist: every time you reload the page, this site generates a headshot of someone who doesn't exist. This is great if you're thinking about a character's personality or age and don't have specifics for their facial features yet.

Night Cafe: this is an AI art generator that takes your text prompt and generates an image for it. I tried it for various scenery, like "forest" or "cottage." It takes a minute for your requested photo to load, but no more than maybe five for the program to finish the picture.

Art Breeder: this website has endless images of people, places, and general things. Users can blend photos to create something new and curious visitors can browse/download those images without creating an account. (But if you do want to make an account to create your own, it's free!)

Find Random Places on Earth

You might prefer to set a story in a real-life environment so you can reference that place's weather, seasons, small-town vibe, or whatever you like. If that's the case, try:

MapCrunch: the homepage generates a new location each day and gives the location/GPS info in the top left of the screen. To see more images from previous days, hit "Gallery" in the top left.

Atlas Obscura: hover over or tap the "Places" tab, then hit "Random Place." A new page will load with a randomly generated location on the planet, provide a Google Maps link, and tell you a little bit about the place.

Random World Cities: this site makes randomly selected lists of global cities. Six appear for each search, although you'll have to look them up to find more information about each place. You can also use the site to have it select countries, US cities or US states too.

Vary Your Wording

Thesauruses are great, but these websites have some pretty cool perspectives on finding just the right words for stories.

Describing Words: tell this website which word you want to stop repeating and it will give you tons of alternative words that mean the same thing. It typically has way more options than other sites I use.

Reverse Dictionary: type what you need a word for in Reverse Dictionary's search box and it will give you tons of words that closely match what you want. It also lists the words in order of relevancy, starting with a word that most accurately describes what you typed. (There's also an option to get definitions for search results!)

Tip of My Tongue: this website is phenomenal. It lets you search for that word you can't quite place by a letter in it, the definition, what it sounds like, or even its scrambled letters. A long list of potential options will appear on the right side of the screen for every search.

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Hope this helps when you need a hand during next writing session 💛