En Sattaur

Scarecrow Poems

2024-05-06T00:00:00+01:00

More than a year ago, I played a scarecrow character in a D&D one-shot. The scarecrow’s hobby was writing poems, so I wrote some in preparation for the session. Here they are.

Magpies

One for sorrow, two for sorrow,
Three for sorrow, four for sorrow,
Five for sorrow, six for sorrow,
Seven for sorrow.

Oath to a Nightingale

My heart aches, as I think of thee up there,
Beyond the reach of land-locked boot, above,
Where in this wretched form I can but stare
And dream to climb, to grasp in flaccid glove
Thy neck. O, what torture dost thine presence teach,
What bitter longing blossoms in my breast.
Away with thee! Thou smugly winged turd
Perched high beyond my reach.
Away with thee! But lo, furled wings, at rest.
Fuck you, you smelly nightingale bird.

Blackbirds

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing,
So they put it back to cook
Until you couldn’t hear a thing.

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
There came suddenly a tapping, tapping at my chamber door.
Not awaiting invitation, to my seething indignation,
In there flew a smelly Raven landing on my chamber floor.
I threw daggers at the Raven as it sat there on the floor.
And the Raven was no more.

Motion controls for Ballistic Zen

2023-02-05T00:00:00+00:00

A close friend of mine just released a game! You should probably check it out if you like games.

Ballistic Zen is a first person open world platformer with a unique movement system based on old-school air-strafing, updated for the modern age. Simple to pick up but difficult to master, Ballistic Zen celebrates the joy and meditation of movement in games.

Of course, I decided to play it with the Wii Balance Board.

Controls and controllers have always been a passion of mine, so when a colleague decided to sell his Balance Board, I immediately seized the opportunity. My glee was then almost-as-immediately shattered when I realised that opportunities to actually use the thing would be few and far between. (Playing Wii Fit in 2022, I found it…disappointing.)

Anyway, when Alex finally published Ballistic Zen, I knew that the time had come.

The final control scheme I ended up with uses the Balance Board and Wiimote/Nunchuk in concert. At first, I wanted to use the Balance Board on its own, but the game requires too many fast direction changes, and I couldn’t keep up without falling over. Using multiple sensitivity zones (that is, making the edges of the board more sensitive than the centre) helped – but in the end I had to couple it with the Wiimote.

Watching the video, you’ll notice that you turn much faster using the Wiimote and Nunchuk than you do using the Balance Board, and might reasonably ask if the Balance Board is really necessary. Well, it isn’t. But it isn’t completely useless, either. I did try a control scheme without the Balance Board, and though it worked, it lacked some of the fine control afforded by the full scheme. In short, it was more awkward. Moreover, with any motion control scheme, the more sensors you use, the more stable and reliable the signal, and in this case using the Wiimote, Nunchuk and Balance Board together gave the best result.

The B and Z (trigger) buttons are used for tight turns, inspired by Ballistic Zen’s actual gamepad control scheme.

Here’s the button mapping:

Button mapping. Start and stop by raising both the Wiimote and the Nunchuk. Turn right by raising the Nunchuk and/or leaning right. Turn left by raising the Wiimote and/or leaning left.

And here’s the FreePIE script:

def armsUp():
    return wm.acceleration.y < lift_arms_threshold and wm.nunchuck.acceleration.y < lift_arms_threshold

def shouldClick():
    global arms_currently_up
    global last_click_time
    if (wm.buttons.button_down(WiimoteButtons.DPadDown)):
        return True
    if armsUp():
        if arms_currently_up and time.clock() - last_click_time > click_debounce:
            return True
        elif not arms_currently_up:
            arms_currently_up = True
            last_click_time = time.clock()
    else:
        arms_currently_up = False
    return False

def shouldJump():
    return wm.buttons.button_down(WiimoteButtons.A)

def maprange(input, imin, imax, omin, omax):
    return (omax-omin)*((input-imin)/(imax-imin)) + omin

def deltaX(centre_of_gravity):
    turn = 0
    if (wm.buttons.button_down(WiimoteButtons.B)):
        turn += turn_enhancer_strength
        return turn
    if (wm.nunchuck.buttons.button_down(NunchuckButtons.Z)):
        turn -= turn_enhancer_strength
        return turn
    turn += maprange(wm.nunchuck.acceleration.y, 0, lift_arms_threshold, 0, arm_steering_sensitivity)
    turn -= maprange(wm.acceleration.y, 0, lift_arms_threshold, 0, arm_steering_sensitivity)
    if (abs(centre_of_gravity) > bb_deadzone):
        turn += centre_of_gravity * bb_sensitivity
    if (abs(wm.nunchuck.stick.x) > nunchuck_deadzone):
        turn += wm.nunchuck.stick.x * nunchuck_sensitivity
    return turn

def deltaY(stick):
    if (abs(stick) < nunchuck_deadzone):
        return 0
    return -(stick * nunchuck_sensitivity)

if starting:
    import time
    bb = wiimote[1].balanceBoard
    wm = wiimote[0]
    nunchuck_sensitivity = 0.1
    nunchuck_deadzone = 10
    bb_deadzone = 2
    bb_sensitivity = 0.1
    bb_deadzone_2 = 6
    bb_sensitivity_2 = 0.4
    lift_arms_threshold = -6.5
    turn_enhancer_strength = 10
    arm_steering_sensitivity = 3
    click_debounce = 0.25
    last_click_time = 0
    arms_currently_up = False

mouse.deltaX = deltaX(bb.centerOfGravity.x)
mouse.deltaY = deltaY(wm.nunchuck.stick.y)
mouse.setButton(0, shouldClick())
mouse.setButton(1, shouldJump())
keyboard.setPressed(Key.E, wm.nunchuck.buttons.button_down(NunchuckButtons.C))
keyboard.setPressed(Key.Escape, wm.buttons.button_down(WiimoteButtons.Plus))
keyboard.setPressed(Key.Tab, wm.buttons.button_down(WiimoteButtons.Minus))
keyboard.setPressed(Key.Q, wm.buttons.button_down(WiimoteButtons.One))
keyboard.setPressed(Key.A, wm.buttons.button_down(WiimoteButtons.Two))
keyboard.setPressed(Key.R, wm.buttons.button_down(WiimoteButtons.Home))

Ballistic Zen is available on Steam and on itch.io.

Oh, and if you like this kind of thing, check out BadRAM’s custom Ballistic Zen controller.

N’s Combat Tracker Help

2022-10-24T00:00:00+01:00

This is the help page for my combat tracker.

Getting started

Add participants one at a time by typing their names in the “New participant” box and pressing Enter. Once added, participants’ initiative scores are shown next to their names.
You can edit most fields, such as names, initiative scores and field values by clicking on them.
Show or hide notes by clicking on the “Notes” button.
Show or hide custom fields, such as hit points or armour classes, by clicking on the “Fields” button and using the check boxes there.
Add status effects using the “+” box near each participant. You can select one of the suggestions or type your own. Status effects automatically keep track of how many rounds they’ve been active.
Use the check boxes to track which participants have taken turns. When you’re ready, click “Next” to reset these.
Click on “Manage participants” to remove or reorder participants.
Use the die roller at the bottom right of the screen to roll dice. Type a die roll (e.g. “2d6+3”) and press enter. There is no way to view previous rolls after they’ve disappeared.

Tips and tricks

Die rolls

You can use die rolls almost anywhere you might want to input a number. They usually take the form [Amount]d[Type]+[Modifier], but you can leave parts of this template out.

If you leave out the Amount, it is assumed to be 1, so “d6” will roll 1d6.
If you leave out the Type, it is assumed to be whatever your favourite die type is (by default it’s a d20. You can change this in Settings).
If you leave out the Modifier, it is assumed to be zero.

This means that for standard 1d20 rolls with a modifier, you can just type “+3”, for example, to roll “1d20+3”. Try it in the Initiative field or the die roller. You can also just type “d” to roll your favourite die.

Adding participants

You can add multiple participants at the same time by typing e.g. “Wolf x4” in the “New participant” box. You can use die rolls here, for example “Wolf xd6”.

You can set an a participant’s initiative in the “New participant” box. Just type the initiative first, e.g. “15 Bear”.

You can also enter the initiative after the name, by using a comma, e.g. “Bear, 15”.

And you can combine the above, for example “d20+3 Wolf x2d4”, or “Wolf x2d4, d20+3”.

You can add all participants from another encounter using the “Encounters” (three horizontal lines) menu. For example, you could have an encounter with all your player characters in it, and import that into every encounter you run instead of typing out your players’ names every time. When importing participants, their information is copied to the new encounter: changing values in one encounter will not affect the other.

Custom fields

Click on the “Fields” button to manage your custom fields. Fields can be turned on or off per encounter using the check boxes on the left. You can also choose to show or hide labels.

Fields have three modes of operation.

Value mode

The field stores a numeric value.
The value can have a maximum, which is set by typing e.g. “24/30”.
You can set both the current and maximum values to the same number easily by omitting the maximum, for example “30/” is a shorthand for “30/30”.
You can easily add and subtract from the current value: just click on the field, replace the text with e.g. “+4”, and press Enter. This will add 4 to the current value.
You can use die rolls here, for example “2d10+3/” to roll 2d10+3 and set that as the current and maximum value, or “+d4” to add a d4 to the current value.

Check box mode

This mode is enabled when the “check box” button is pressed in the “Fields” editor.
The field’s value can then be either set or not set. Change it by clicking on it.

Text mode

Fields can store arbitrary text, but I recommend that you use Notes for that instead.

Notes

Enable notes by clicking on the Notes button.
You can use this to make notes! Write whatever you like.
Die rolls you type here will be converted into clickable buttons.
Modifiers on their own (e.g. +3) will not be converted into buttons, as this can be confusing. Type e.g. “d20+3” if you want a button.

Status effects

Click on the “+” next to a participant to add status effects. Choose from the list or type your own.
The number next to an active status effect shows how many rounds it’s been active for.
Click on active status effects to edit or remove them.

Discard encounter

The “Discard encounter” (cross) button at the top right of the screen replaces the current encounter with a fresh one. It’s like tearing the page out of your notebook.

New encounter

The “New encounter” (plus) button at the top of the screen creates a fresh, empty encounter, saving the current one in the background. This is like turning to the next page of your notebook. You can return to your previous encounter using the “Encounters” (three horizontal lines) menu.

Reset encounter

The “Reset” button resets the round counter, removes all status effects, and sets all custom fields to their maximum values.

Factorio tube map

2021-09-10T00:00:00+01:00

What did you expect?

This was pretty fun to make.

It was also pretty interesting! I started this project thinking that it would be easy. After all, most of the hard design work had already been done for me by Transport for London (and Harry Beck). It’s basically just straight lines going through points; Inkscape can handle that easily, right?

This project took many more hours than I ought to have spent on something so silly.

To begin with, there was a major difference between our train layout and the Tube, and that is that Tube lines are bi-directional. You can go to any station and get a train heading in either direction. In Factorio, you don’t usually want to spend the resources to manage double the number of trains (and tracks) you’d have to place for that, so you make the trains go in big, one-way loops.

So the first thing I realised was that my map had to communicate the direction of travel. I settled on changing the station symbols for this, rather than using arrows like the Piccadilly line does around Heathrow. The reason for this is that it’s at stations that the information is most relevant. Generally, when you want to go somewhere, the first thing you’ll do is find your nearest station on the map, and then you can work everything out from there.

The second thing I realised was that making two or more lines bend together around 45-degree corners is an absolute nightmare. You basically need to switch to a 45-degree grid with spacing as wide as your lines, aligned with the position of the bend. I made a little tool for this in Inkscape, a widget that I could drag around and snap all my lines to, but even with this, editing the lines was a pain. It certainly wasn’t the simple “drag points around on a grid” that I had naïvely imagined.

Finally, there are a lot of other little design choices that go into making a map like this. Under what circumstances should you use a 90-degree turn rather than a 45-degree one? At what point do you choose to bend a line? How much do you adjust the real-world distances between stations?

I’ve always thought that the Tube map is lovely (I suspect people in Britain might be conditioned to think that), but I have even more respect for it after this silly little project. I mean, just look at it. It’s great.

Oh, and here’s a link to the timelapse of our session, if you’re interested.

A DIY dance pad for PC

2021-08-27T00:00:00+01:00

Pad image: Crypt of the NecroDancer.

I’ve been using the pictured dance pad since February, and it’s working really well! Here’s how to make one yourself.

I based the pad on Promit Roy’s four-button Velostat design, but mine is made with cheaper materials since I didn’t want to spend too much. Inside, it’s mostly card and sticky tape. If you want to customise this design, I recommend checking out his blog, as he goes into some detail about the impact that different materials can have.

Shopping list

Units are millimetres.

Materials

Plywood for the base, 890x890 (mine’s about 8mm thick)
3mm MDF for the borders, 860x30, 860x30, 890x30, 420x30, 420x30
3mm MDF for the centre platform, 280x280
Copper tape (preferably with conductive adhesive)
Aluminium foil (optional: use copper tape if you have the money)
Sticky tape (and plenty of it)
Newspaper
Velostat, enough to cover eight 280mm steps
Copper wire
2mm polycarbonate, 890x890
5mm-inner-diameter (M5) tee nuts x4
5mm (M5) screws x4
Suitable screw cups x4
Solder
A microcontroller that can act as a USB input device. I used a Teensy LC.
A cable to connect the microcontroller to your PC
Spray-mount glue
Pad image on paper or other flexible material, 890x890
Double-sided adhesive strip (for sticking the control box onto the pad)
Non-slip material (I used this stuff).

Tools

Tape measure and pencil, for obvious reasons
Sandpaper
Wood glue
Clamps for holding the wood together while the glue’s drying, and for holding everything together while you’re drilling holes
Multimeter to make sure everything’s working
Scissors for cutting tape and card
Soldering iron, for soldering
Drill, 5mm, slightly-more-than-5mm bits
Hammer, for hammering in the tee nuts

I ordered all of the wood (plywood base, MDF borders) from two different online services. I wasn’t very happy with either of them, so I won’t share links. They cut the wood to just about reasonable tolerances, but if you have the tools available I definitely recommend doing this part yourself.

You could use thicker MDF if you wanted. That would slightly reduce the usable area of each step, but would probably feel better. If the MDF was thick enough, you could fit the microcontroller in the border as well, meaning you wouldn’t have to have a box stuck to the front of the pad.

A standard pad would have 280mm steps, but thanks to cost considerations as well as the restrictions of the sites from which I was ordering, the border extends 5mm into the play area on all sides, meaning that other than the centre platform, the steps are actually 275mm in one or both dimensions.

Anyway, after receiving the wood, I sanded the edges to make sure I didn’t hurt myself. Then I glued the MDF borders on and laid out the contacts for the eight panels. Most of the area of each panel is aluminium foil (to save money) and it’s all connected with copper tape. You could use copper or aluminium for the whole thing. Note that there’s a little gap at the top of the up/forward step for the wires to come out of.

Please excuse the mess.

This is the common/ground contact. Use the multimeter to check the resistance across the various panels. You should get very low readings.

Now you can glue down the centre panel. Use a pencil and tape measure to mark where the centre panel and panel dividers should go.

If I’d had any tools, I would have cut smaller bits of MDF to divide the panels. Unfortunately, getting little bits of MDF cut to order was prohibitively expensive, so I rolled up newspaper and stuck bits of card together instead. It’s fine. For our purposes, there really isn’t much difference between 3mm MDF and rolled-up newspaper.

Anyway, I stuck the newspaper down with sticky tape, don’t judge me.

One down, seven to go.

Each step needs a nearby contact. I made a double layer of copper tape next to each piece of aluminium foil. If I was doing it again, I’d put them near the edge of the pad, and take the wires around the outside of the pad, instead of routing the wires between steps.

The next step is to cover each piece of aluminium foil in Velostat; then it’s time to make the upper part of each step’s sensor. I used cereal box card for this, but something a little less flexible would be better. Whatever material you use, cut a piece large enough to cover most of the Velostat, cover the bottom side with copper tape, and wrap a bit of copper tape around to the top side to make wiring easier. I don’t have a photo for this, so here’s a diagram instead.

From bottom to top: the common contact, Velostat, copper tape, card. Part of the copper tape extends around the top of the card to create a contact to use later.

Now just connect the exposed copper tape bits to the contacts you made before, making sure that nothing below the Velostat layer connects directly to anything above.

Solder on some wires, route them through the pad and out of the gap you left in the wood border. Note that as well as a wire for each step, you’ll need to solder a wire to the common contact as well. Just put in a short one at the top of the pad, near the hole.

If you’re as cheap and/or as lazy as me, you’re probably thinking “hey, this copper tape has conductive adhesive; can’t I just stick the wires down with the tape instead of soldering them?”

Don’t do that. The connection will be unreliable and you’ll have a bad time.

Connect the wires to the contacts you made for each step. If you have the money and/or the wire lying around already, you could use a different colour for each step to make debugging easier.

Nearly there! Stick everything down with tape. No need to tape every edge of every sensor, but you can if you want.

You should probably test your pad now. Using the multimeter, test each step in turn by measuring the resistance between the common contact and each step contact (or each step’s corresponding wire). When you put your foot on the card, you should see a big drop in resistance (you should see units of Ohms with your foot on the card, and tens or hundreds or more without).

Clamp the polycarbonate sheet onto the pad. Don’t remove the protective film yet. Make sure everything is aligned properly, then drill 5mm holes through the corners.

Take the polycarbonate off (remembering which way round it went) and expand the holes slightly with your slightly-more-than-5mm drill bit. You just need to make the holes wide enough that you can hammer in your tee nuts. Then turn the pad over and do that!

Finally, turn the pad the right way up again, put the polycarbonate back, and screw it on with the screws and screw cups.

Using screw cups means you’re less likely to crack the polycarbonate, and, more importantly, you’re less likely to injure yourself when playing.

It’s finally time to hook up the microcontroller. Solder your wires and plug it into a PC. For the Teensy, I connected the common wire to ground (GND), and the step wires to pins 14–21.

Here’s the code I used, which relies on the Teensy being set up to emulate a keyboard (Tools > USB Type > Keyboard in the Arduino IDE). It’s a slight modification of Promit’s, as I wanted debounce. If you’re just going to be playing Stepmania, you don’t need to bother with the debounce code (the game can do it for you), but you’ll probably need it if you want to play anything else.

I bound the eight buttons to the arrow keys, enter, backspace, control, and shift. Make sure those work properly. Have a go, play some games, tweak the code, make sure it all works.

Now it’s time for the final touches. Remove the protective film and spray-mount the image onto the back of the polycarbonate. Put all the exposed electronics in a box. I used a couple of adhesive strips I got with my doorbell to stick the box to the front of the pad.

Finally, you’ll probably want to glue some non-slip material to the bottom. I used the wood glue for this and it worked fine.

Congratulations, your pad is complete!

Pad image: Crypt of the NecroDancer.

Epistolary

2021-04-22T00:00:00+01:00

Illustration by Kira Smith.

I released a game! Over a month ago, actually.

Epistolary is a co-operative letter-writing RPG about solving mysteries. I wanted to create an experience akin to the feeling of reading a good epistolary novel or playing a great game of Eldritch Horror. That sense of grand mystery and adventure conveyed through small moments, discoveries and anecdotes.

Early iterations of the design had one player take on the role of a game master or coordinator, but I quickly realised that it would be more fun for everyone if both the mystery and its resolution were invented by the players throughout the course of play. The game makes heavy use of that human inclination to find connections between unrelated events: I could have called the game “Apophenia”, but I think “Epistolary” is both a nicer word and a better title.

One thing I decided quite early on was that I wanted players to be able to budget for the game ahead of time. Since it involves sending letters through the post, which has an associated real-world cost, I didn’t want anyone to feel unable to play because of uncertainty about how much it would end up costing them. This is where the stamps system came from.

In Epistolary, the sum of a character’s resources – time, money, health, and so on – are represented by a number of stamps. At the start of the game, each player has around twenty stamps. These are spent in order to send letters, and also lost on occasion due to unlucky dice rolls, representing the expenditure of those resources. Lost stamps can be recovered (they haven’t been used, after all), but a player can never end up with more stamps than they started with (so the player never has to go out and buy more stamps).

The stamps system means that before the game starts, every player knows how many stamps and envelopes they should buy, and can easily estimate how much paper they’ll need, too.

It’s also the reason why a character is out of the game when their player has one stamp remaining, instead of the more satisfying “you’re out when you run out of stamps.” That last stamp is required to send on the character’s notes and inform a contact of their fate.

The system isn’t perfect, and there are occasions where a player will need to buy an extra stamp and envelope. This can happen if their character is out of the game but one of their contacts is unaware of this and sends them a letter anyway. If players are concerned about this, they can notify the other players by email or through other channels, but usually players don’t mind buying the odd extra stamp or envelope.

This was my first time commissioning artwork for any project, and it was a lovely experience. The cover illustration is by Kira Smith, and the internal illustrations are by William Kerr. Both of them did incredible jobs, and I’m really happy with the results. Looking at sales, it’s going to take a long time to make back the money I spent on these illustrations, but I regret nothing. Just look at this:

Illustration by William Kerr.

Kira’s cover illustration is genius, too. She had very little to go off; just some vague mumblings from me about 20th century letter-writing and impending doom, but she managed to capture exactly the feeling I was going for. It was wonderful working with such talented people.

Epistolary is available on itch.io and on DriveThruRPG.

Ashville High

2021-03-27T00:00:00+00:00

Last year, I ran a D&D campaign set in and around a modern-day US high school. This post is just a dump of all my thoughts and some of the resources I made for the campaign. It’s intended to be browsed casually, not read from beginning to end.

Perhaps someone out there will find it interesting and/or useful. I hope so!

Structure

We had 16 sessions in total, over the six months from the 26th of June to the 18th of December. I had been inspired to return to D&D after watching CollegeHumor’s really excellent Dimension 20, and I thought that trying something with a similar structure could be fun.

One thing that I found really fascinating about Dimension 20 was the way they fully embraced the combat side of the game, by having every other episode be dedicated entirely to a combat encounter. Combat in RPGs tends to take a very long time, and my inclination had always been to try and skim over it as quickly as possible. Dimension 20 takes the opposite view: if combat is going to take a long time, let’s accept that, and make it as fun and dramatic as possible.

I think embracing combat is a really good choice if you’re set on playing D&D. So many of a character’s abilities are only relevant in combat that ignoring combat can mean ignoring many of the interesting decisions that a player makes as they level up.

Characters

We made the decision to start off with no one knowing anything about each other’s characters. The week before the first session, I spent an hour or two with each player, getting to know each character. This was so that I could build the story of the campaign around them.

(Yes, the idea of characters as somehow separate to the adventure; the idea of characters being able to slot into a pre-authored scenario with no modifications doesn’t make any sense to me.)

Here are the incredibly disorganised notes I took from those sessions:

Bueller

Bueller Santos

Bueller’s player decided that since Bueller was a kenku, a species who can communicate only through reproducing sounds they’ve already heard, Bueller would communicate exclusively in memes and pop culture references, which fit really well with his nerdy personality. I took inspiration from Bueller’s name and decided that it’s a common kenku tradition to name your children after your favourite film. The full names of the Santos family were

12 Angry Men Santos, “12”, mother, proprietor of a jewellery store
Vertigo Santos, father, airline pilot
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Santos, “Bueller”, high school student
Scarface Santos, Bueller’s younger sister, middle school student
Bill Excellent Adventure Santos, “Bill”, Scarface’s younger brother, middle school student
Ted’s Excellent Adventure Santos, “Ted”, Bill’s twin brother, middle school student

Amber

Amber Romero

Amber was a popular cheerleader in the year above most of the other characters. She didn’t have a great deal going on to drive her character. Her main concern was with being popular, so I tried to bring her into the story through her relationships with other characters.

She ended up being sort of a chosen one – the source of all magic. There were references to this throughout the campaign, but I was far too stingy with clues and failed to remind the players of key details.

Sophie

Sophie Shadwell

Sophie’s player was the only American in the group. That “14–18” in the top right corner is a note I took while asking her about her character. It’s the age range of American high school students.

I was a little out of my depth running this campaign.

Sophie’s player had a great idea for a scene right off the bat. It actually ended up being the first scene of the campaign. Preparing for the first session involved looking at the WikiHow article for “How to Put Down a Horse”.

Hope

Hope Danvers

Hope’s player wrote several pages of backstory, which were a joy to read. She created several characters that became major characters in the campaign, as Hope’s foster family were aware of and involved with the magical world. More on them later.

Thanks to this backstory, I was able to run a one-on-one side-adventure with her by text, covering the time that passed in a session she missed.

Marlowe

Marlowe Faust

It’s interesting that these are the only notes I have on Marlowe. I spent the longest time out of everyone with Marlowe’s player, as he came in with only a vague idea of what he wanted to do. But I left with such a strong idea of Marlowe’s character that clearly I didn’t feel the need to write anything down. He was a theatre kid. Not a bard, but a warlock who had made a pact with The Bard. He was also a fairy, which is a custom race that’s almost identical to the half-elf.

(His name was originally going to be Faust Marlowe, but his player swapped the names before the first session.)

Fairy Traits

Your fairy character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

Size. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. 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 colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

Fey Nature. You are considered fey instead of humanoid.

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

You only require 4 hours of sleep per day.

Skill Versatility. You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.

If Music Be The Food. You do not need to eat or drink, though you may enjoy the pleasures of the material plane. Instead, you feed on the attention of others.

Whenever you make a successful Charisma check that delights others or places you in the spotlight, you gain Inspiration if you did not have advantage on the check.

Whenever you make an unsuccessful Charisma check, or embarrass yourself in public, the DM, at their option, may take Inspiration to use against you, or, if the failure was catastrophic enough, give you a level of Exhaustion.

There were other conditions, too – the usual fairy stuff: weakness to iron; inability to enter any place protected by a horseshoe; etc.

Ferris

Ferris Wheeler

Ferris joined part-way through the campaign. I had him start at third level, like the other characters had. Hope gained an extra level during her side adventure. That meant that for a few sessions, the player characters spanned three levels.

It was absolutely fine; really not a big deal at all.

28/3/2021

Starting items

Each character started with at least one minor magic item.

Amber

Baton of the Majorette

Staff, uncommon (requires attunement)

When you succeed on a save against an enchantment spell, you can use your reaction to turn the spell back on its caster as if you had cast the spell, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability. If the original spell targeted multiple creatures, the reversed spell only targets the caster. Other targeted creatures are still affected by the original spell. Once used, this property can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Bueller

Hoodie of Hiding

Hoodie, common

While wearing this hoodie, you appear in your Human Form to all creatures that do not know your true form. This does not affect creatures that don’t rely on sight, as with blindsight, or can see through illusions, as with truesight. While wearing the hoodie, you can use your action to lower the hood, revealing your true form to anyone watching.

The hoodie also confers a +1 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in urban environments.

Uncle Jimmy’s Nerf Rifle

Weapon (Nerf rifle), common

(range 150/600; 1d8 piercing damage; ammunition; heavy; two-handed)

This modified Nerf gun has a switch on the side that can be used to enable or disable its magical generator.

When switched off, the gun fires regular foam bullets, dealing no damage.

Ferris

Wrestling Band-aids

Wondrous item, very rare

A very rare, limited edition set of novelty band-aids depicting famous wrestlers. You can use your action to apply one to a creature within 5 feet of you, immediately activating its effect. There are six left:

Meg Maniac. The target gains resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage for one minute.

Wayne “The Wall” Dobson and Donna Prima. The target regains 3d6+6 hit points.

Mama Sheen and John D. Greatest. The target is immune to being frightened, and gains 5 temporary hit points at the start of each of its turns. This effect lasts for one minute, after which any remaining temporary hit points are lost.

The Doc. The target benefits from the effects of remove curse, lesser restoration and spare the dying.

Hope

St Christopher’s medal

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

While wearing this medallion, you appear in your Human Form as if under the effect of an alter self spell.

This item also has the following feature if attuned to by Hope Danvers:

I Will Fear No Evil. When you are targeted by an effect that causes you to make a saving throw to prevent becoming frightened, you can use your reaction and touch this medallion. If you succeed on the saving throw, you gain temporary hit points equal to the amount by which you succeeded. Alternatively, you can touch a creature within 5 feet of you, and they gain those temporary hit points instead. You can use this ability once. It recharges at dawn.

Marlowe

Marlowe’s Book of Shadows was a battered script. It was the script of his life, writing itself as he lived. His clothes were imbued with fey magic, granting them the properties of light armour (AC 11 + DEX) and making them resistant to dirt and tears.

His weapon was an acoustic guitar that counted as a two-handed finesse weapon for him and did magical bludgeoning damage (d8).

Sophie

Sophie’s Druidic Focus

A locket containing some of Poppy’s hair, and a poppy.

Once per day, you can use this item to cast the druidcraft cantrip.

This item also has the following feature if attuned to by Sophie Shadwell:

While wearing this locket, you have advantage on Animal Handling, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception and Survival checks relating to horses.

Buttons

At one point, Sophie made buttons for all her friends. These had various effects that enhanced or augmented each character’s abilities. Most of them were existing traits from the 5th edition source books. Here are the details:

Amber’s button

Sophie Shadwell made this for you as a token of your friendship. While wearing it, you have the following ability:

Pack Tactics. You have advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your friends is within 5 feet of the creature and the friend isn’t incapacitated.

Bueller’s button

Sophie Shadwell made this for you as a token of your friendship. While wearing it, you have the following ability:

Improved Primeval Awareness. When you use your Primeval Awareness ability to detect your favoured enemies, you can also sense whether any of your party are present within 5 miles of you. You learn the general direction and distance (in miles) to those party members, as well as the identity of each party member.

Bueller never actually received his button. Instead, he got the following ability when his friend Will died:

Angry Bird

Avenging Strike. When you hit a creature that has reduced one of your friends to zero hit points, you can choose to deal maximum damage for the attack. The damage becomes magical, and ignores any resistances. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Ferris’ button

Sophie Shadwell made this for you as a token of your friendship. While wearing it, you have the following ability:

Fighting Style: Protection. When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll.

Hope’s button

Sophie Shadwell made this for you as a token of your friendship. While wearing it, if you have revealed to the party that you are a tiefling, and Sophie has revealed to you that she is a half-elf, you have the following ability:

Bond of Friendship. When a creature you can see hits a friend who is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to halve the amount of damage they take. You take the remainder of the damage instead.

Marlowe’s button

Sophie Shadwell made this for you as a token of your friendship. While wearing it, you have the following ability:

Bardic Inspiration. You can inspire others through stirring words or music. To do so, you use a bonus action on your turn to choose one creature other than yourself within 60 feet of you who can hear you. That creature gains one Bardic Inspiration die, a d6.

Once within the next 10 minutes, the creature can roll the die and add the number rolled to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw it makes. The creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the Bardic Inspiration die, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once the Bardic Inspiration die is rolled, it is lost. A creature can have only one Bardic Inspiration die at a time.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to half your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain any expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Sophie’s button

You made this for Bueller as a token of your friendship. He gave it back to you with a drawing of you on the back.

While wearing this button, the number of times you can use your Wild Shape ability without taking a long rest is increased by one.

I let the players decide whether or not they would read out the details of their buttons, and they decided not to. I think this was a mistake, in hindsight. It’s fun for players to enjoy sharing the details of their loot, and it helps in combat if everyone has an idea about what everyone else can do.

Other magic items

And here are some other magic items I made for the campaign.

Buff Gun

Weapon (Nerf rifle), legendary

(range 150/600; 1d8 magical piercing damage; heavy; two-handed)

A Nerf rifle styled to look like Ana’s biotic rifle from Overwatch.

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.

Nano Boost. When you hit a creature using this weapon, you can cast haste on them instead of dealing damage. The effect lasts for one minute or until the target loses concentration (as if concentrating on a spell). Once used, this property can't be used again until the next dawn.

Fake ID

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

A blank plastic photo ID card.

One Man in his Life Plays Many Parts. When you cast disguise self, you can magically change the appearance of this card as part of the spell. The card's new appearance must be a form of ID, and must be roughly the same size. Once you use this property, you can’t use it again until the next dawn.

Football

Weapon (football), rare

(melee; thrown 30/60; 1d4 bludgeoning damage)

This regulation size and weight football glows blue when orcs are near. So all the time, basically.

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.

Hamwise the Brave

Weapon (hammer), rare

(melee; 2d6 bludgeoning or piercing damage; martial; finesse; two-handed)

This magic 6-foot hammer weighs only 4 lb, and has a telescopic handle that allows it to fold up to the size of a regular hammer.

Ki-chain

Wondrous item, rare

A cute keychain with a popular character on it.

Digivolve. You can use your action while holding this item to centre yourself. You regain one ki point and 1d8 temporary hit points. Once used, this property can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Lucky coin

Wondrous item, very rare

An old coin Sophie found her pocket after visiting the arcade.

Lucky. After rolling any die, but before the outcome is determined, you can use your reaction to reroll it. You choose which of the two rolls you use. Once used, this property can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Revolver of Truth

Weapon (revolver), legendary (requires attunement)

(range 30/120; 1d8 force damage)

This magic weapon contains six bullets of light called “truth bullets”. You can use an action on your turn to reload it.

If you have the paladin’s Divine Smite ability, this weapon allows you to use that ability with ranged weapon attacks.

Objection. When a creature within 120 feet of you makes a statement that contradicts evidence you have, you can use your reaction to shoot that creature. The attack hits automatically, unless the creature is protected by a magical ward such as a shield spell, and the attack does psychic damage instead of force damage.

29/3/2021

Plot

The initial idea I had for the story was that the party would eventually find out that they were all characters in the imagination (and possibly the D&D game) of one of the NPCs. I’d have them find those character notes from part one during the final encounter.

The dilemma would be this: the safest way to stop the villain is to deny them access to magic, by accepting that magic isn’t real, or something along those lines. But doing so means sacrificing important parts of your own existence.

This didn’t end up happening, because the players never encountered the NPC I’d set up as the source of magic. This was my fault for building too much of the story ahead of time.

What I should have done is what I did with the villain: wait until the story starts, then decide on the key plot points once you know what the players are interested in and what they want to engage with. I knew that I wanted the villain to be someone the players met in the first session, but I didn’t trust myself to set it up without giving it away, so I just played all the characters as best I could, then decided who it was after the fact, based on who the players decided to interact with.

So it wasn’t until the end of the first session that I knew who my villain was. Once that was in place, I could flesh out the rest of the villain’s scheme based on her actions in the first session and the kind of conclusion I had in mind.

Marlowe’s Vision

The curtain rises on a figure in motley.

Consider, ye who weep yet do not act,
who act in life for love and on your stage
do weep for those your tears will never reach
Yet when the curtain falls and all is bare
act not, weep not, hear not the desperate cries,
Let ye who walk twixt truth and lies hear this:

A school, with a dark shadow hanging over it.

If in this world you hope to find
the life and joy you left behind,
and lift up high and ever more
delight the souls and minds and for
a day, a month, a thousand years
assure your tithe of smiles and tears,
Then hearken well, as well you must
avert the fate that looms, and trust
your soul to these, the symbols four,
United face the threat in store.

Enter four figures; the narrator joins them.

First is scholar, mount and rider,
hair of poppy close beside her.
Second, seek the hooded crow,
an actor too, though none may know.
The third jewel shines, a gem from trees,
with power she has yet to seize.
The final part, with veiled face,
a devil walks the path of grace.

The curtain falls as iron bars, trapping you inside, looking out at the figures and the school.

I really wanted to use that trope where the lessons we see the characters having at school are relevant to the combat encounter or puzzle they’re going to come up against. This kind of fell by the wayside after the first encounter, though.

The IT Classroom

The first encounter of the campaign: the IT classroom.

The first combat encounter was set in an IT classroom in which a magical computer virus caused the computers to come to life and attack people. I’ve always wanted to use modrons in an encounter ever since buying the Monster Manual, so this was my chance to do that.

I modified the modrons slightly so that two modrons could merge with each other to form a modron of the next level up. Every turn, the virus would spread from every infected computer or modron to all adjacent computers. The screen of an affected computer would glow green for one turn, after which it would transform into a modron.

3/4/2021

The Gizmo

If you play D&D with me, please don’t read this section!

The gizmo is a magic item that I gave one of the players in the third session. They had no idea what it did, so they never used it.

Many of the effects are genre-specific, but most of them could be fun in any setting.

Several of the effects might seem disproportionately weak/powerful, or unbalanced. For example, the “Simon Says” effect has a relatively lacklustre prize, and no upper limit on how long the effect can continue. This is intentional, and reflects the personality of the character who made the gizmo.

Gizmo

Wondrous item, legendary

The gizmo resembles a Rubik’s Cube made of copper and brass. Instead of coloured faces, each square has a small mechanical widget: a dial, gauge, lever, button, switch, etc. The gizmo is activated by manipulating one of these facets. Roll a d6 and a d10 and consult the tables below to determine the effect.

When a 10 is rolled, the gizmo transforms into a gun turret that fires indiscriminately at the closest creature every turn. A gun turret has an AC of 10 and 10 hit points. When it drops to 0 hit points, it turns back into the gizmo.

The gizmo can be thrown into a space immediately after a button is pressed but before the effect is determined.

Some facets produce items. Those facets remain empty until the items they produced are destroyed.

Some facets produce effects that require creatures to make saving throws. The DC for these saving throws is 10.

Some facets produce treats. Eating more than one of any type of treat, or eating more than three in one day may have a negative effect (e.g. the poisoned condition) at the DM’s discretion if a Constitution check is failed.

Unless otherwise stated, the gizmo’s effects have a range of 30 feet and last for one minute. Unless otherwise stated, effects that transform the gizmo revert when the transformed gizmo drops to 0 hit points. Dropping to 0 hit points while transformed does not destroy the gizmo.

Gizmo Effects

d6	d10	Effect
1	1	They love me/they love me not. Choose a creature within range. That creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, roll a die. On an odd roll, the creature is charmed by you. On an even roll, it is frightened of you.
	2	Truth or Dare. The gizmo selects a random creature within range. That creature must choose between “truth” or “dare”. The gizmo then casts zone of truth or suggestion on the creature, depending on its response.
	3	Would you rather? The gizmo selects a random creature within range. That creature must answer the question: “would you rather fight one (large creature)-sized (small creature) or a hundred (small creature)-sized (large creature)?” The DM fills in the specifics. The gizmo then summons hostile clockwork creatures depending on the creature’s response. Examples: weasel, rat, tarantula, owl, lion, bear, horse, elephant.
	4	Never Have I Ever. You may state something that you’ve never done. Any creature within range that has must either reveal that fact, or take 1d10 psychic damage and make a Charisma (Deception) check.
	5	Spin the Bottle. The gizmo selects two random creatures within range. Each of them must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the other for one turn.
	6	Tell Me A Secret. You may reveal a secret to a creature within range that can understand you. That creature must reciprocate with a secret of equivalent importance. If the creature has no secrets, the gizmo explodes, and each creature within 10 feet must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d10 slashing damage. This destroys the gizmo.
	7	Seven Minutes in Heaven. Two random creatures within range are transported to one of the upper planes (for example, Mount Celestia) for seven minutes. Afterwards, they return to the space from which they left, or the nearest unoccupied space.
	8	Musical Statues. Music begins playing from the gizmo. After 1d4 rounds, the music stops. All creatures within range when the music stops have their speed reduced to 0 for one round.
	9	Simon Says. All creatures within range when the game starts are “in”. The gizmo issues a command every turn. Any creature that does not follow the command on its turn, or moves out of range, is “out”. When only one creature is “in”, that creature is the winner. The winner gains inspiration and 5 temporary hit points.
	10	Water. Range: 30-foot line. A creature hit by the water must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away from the gizmo.
2	1	Box of sweets. The gizmo opens to reveal ten boiled sweets in brightly coloured wrappers. Each sweet restores one hit point when eaten.
	2	Lollipop. The gizmo opens to reveal a lollipop. The lollipop has ten charges. A creature can lick the lollipop as a bonus action, expending one of its charges. That creature benefits from the effects of the haste spell until the start of their next turn. On subsequent turns, if the creature does not lick the lollipop, it suffers a sugar crash. Its speed is halved, it is poisoned, and it can’t take reactions. The sugar crash lasts for a number of turns equal to the number of times it licked the lollipop, or until the creature licks the lollipop again. Once the lollipop’s charges are spent, it becomes a regular lollipop stick.
	3	Chocolate. The gizmo opens to reveal a heart-shaped chocolate. A creature who consumes the chocolate regards the next creature it sees as its true love for one hour.
	4	Candy cane. The gizmo opens to reveal an extradimensional space containing a candy cane the size and weight of a rapier. Its statistics are given below.
	5	Rainbow sweets. The gizmo opens to reveal seven gumdrops, one for each colour of the rainbow. Each sweet bubbles when placed into the mouth and then explodes. The explosion can be controlled and used as a breath weapon that deals 2d6 damage or applies a status effect if a target fails the saving throw. Red. Fire, 30-foot cone, Dexterity. Orange. Acid, 30-foot line, Dexterity. Yellow. Lightning, 30-foot line, Dexterity. Green. Poison, 15-foot cone, Constitution. Blue. Cold, 15-foot cone, Constitution. Indigo. Restrained, Constitution. Violet. Blinded, Wisdom.
	6	Chewing gum. The gizmo opens to reveal a single piece of chewing gum. Chewing the gum for ten minutes provides enough nutrition to sustain a creature for one day. If swallowed, the gum remains in the stomach for 10 years, after which it is finally destroyed.
	7	Ice cream. A tap appears on the gizmo that can be used to dispense ice cream. It lasts until it is dismissed by pressing a button, or until it has dispensed enough ice cream to fill 20 cones.
	8	Round sweets that look square. The gizmo opens to reveal five square-shaped sweets.
	9	Cool mint. A compartment on the gizmo opens to reveal a mint. A creature who eats the mint is frozen in a block of ice for 1d4 rounds, during which time it is paralysed, unable to move or speak, and immune to all damage. The creature regains 1d6 hit points at the start of each of its turns while frozen. The ice has an AC of 10, 10 hit points, resistance to acid damage and magical piercing damage, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to all other damage.
	10	Candy Cannon. The turret has +2 to hit, and deals 1d8 acid damage.
3	1	Fireworks. Fireworks erupt from the gizmo. Each creature within 10 feet must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of your next turn.
	2	Grenade. A ball of flame engulfs the gizmo after two seconds. Each creature within 10 feet must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d6 fire damage on a successful save, or half as much on a successful one.
	3	Dancing lights. Each of the gizmo’s faces begins glowing a different colour. The gizmo hovers two inches off the ground and rotates roughly in time with any music that is playing. If no music is playing, it rotates steadily.
	4	Laughing gas. Each creature within 15 feet must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or begin to laugh uncontrollably and fall prone under the effects of Tasha’s hideous laughter.
	5	Doves. 32 white doves fly out of the gizmo and into the air.
	6	Hole. The gizmo opens to reveal a portable hole, which looks like a black circle 5 feet in diameter. The hole can be placed on a flat surface, creating a portal to an extradimensional space of total darkness 10 feet deep. The hole can be removed from the surface and stored in the gizmo, trapping anything still inside the space.
	7	Balloons. A brightly-coloured button appears on the gizmo. Pressing the button causes the gizmo to inflate a helium balloon, which is attached to the gizmo with string. Up to 50 balloons can be created this way, enough to support the weight of a Large creature. The balloons slowly deflate over the course of 24 hours. The gizmo recharges at the same rate.
	8	Cleaner. The face of the gizmo retracts, and the gizmo begins to suck up dirt and grime. This can be used in a similar manner to the prestidigitation cantrip.
	9	Swap. In a puff of smoke, you and a random creature within range swap places with each other.
	10	Fire. Range: 15-foot cone. Creatures within range must make Dexterity saving throws, taking 2d6 fire damage on a successful save, or half as much on a successful one.
4	1	Time stop. Time is frozen within 15 feet of the gizmo for 1d4 rounds. Creatures and objects within 30 feet of the gizmo have their speed halved for the duration.
	2	Antimagic field. The gizmo casts antimagic field on itself.
	3	Tracker. The gizmo latches onto the closest creature or moving object, and drops a tracking device that can be used to locate it. A creature can spot the gizmo with a successful Investigation check. The DC for this check depends on the creature or object’s size class, and is 12 + 3 × the number of size classes larger than Medium.
	4	Rope trick. The gizmo floats ten feet off the ground and produces a ten-foot rope. It then disappears into an extradimensional space, acting like a casting of the rope trick spell.
	5	Reverse gravity. The gizmo reverses gravity in a 15-foot-radius, 30-foot-high cylinder around it, for 1d4 rounds. The area acts as if under the effect of the reverse gravity spell.
	6	Grappling hook. A 60-foot-length wire with a hook on the end shoots out from the gizmo. It attaches to the first surface it hits, and then retracts at a rate of 30 feet per turn.
	7	Alarm. A dial appears on the gizmo, allowing a creature to set a time or a duration up to 24 hours. At that time, or after that duration, the gizmo rings like an alarm clock. The gizmo also rings if any creature that was not in range when the alarm was set comes within range.
	8	Parachute. The gizmo sprouts straps and a parachute that prevent falling damage to a creature if it falls more than 60 feet through air. The straps and parachute detach when the creature lands.
	9	Silence. The area within 15 feet of the gizmo is silent for 1d4 rounds, as if the silence spell had been cast on it. The area of silence moves with the gizmo.
	10	Glue. The targeted 5-foot square of ground becomes difficult terrain. A creature attempting to leave the space must succeed on a Strength saving throw or have its movement speed reduced to 0 for the turn.
5	1	Rockin’ horse. The gizmo produces a wooden rocking horse in the nearest unoccupied space within range. The horse has an AC of 10 and 10 hit points. It is friendly to you and your allies, and rock music emanates from it. The horse grants a d6 bardic inspiration to a creature within range each turn. It remains for one minute or until it is destroyed.
	2	Action figure. The gizmo transforms into a clockwork action figure or toy soldier. At the start of each of your turns, the figure commands you to perform a random action (Attack, Cast a Spell, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Hide, or Use an Object) for as long as it survives. Following its instructions does not cost you an action. It starts with 5 hit points and loses one at the end of each of your turns. It has an AC of 10.
	3	Dress-up doll. The gizmo transforms into a miniature wardrobe, inside which is a doll and several outfits. A creature can spend one minute dressing up the doll, after which equivalent clothes appear on the creature and grant advantage on one ability check it makes in the next hour, depending on the outfit (so a sporty outfit would grant advantage on an Athletics check, for example.)
	4	Doll’s house. The gizmo transforms into a doll’s house. The house and everything within it is fully functional, just very small. Very tiny creatures and those shrunk by magic could live happily within. The house contains enough food to sustain such creatures for a week. In the children’s bedroom of the house is an even smaller doll’s house. Attempting to interact with it transforms the doll’s house back into the gizmo, ejecting its occupants into the nearest unoccupied spaces.
	5	Spinning top. The gizmo transforms into a spinning top. When spun, it continues to spin for one round longer than any other spinning top within range, after which it transforms back. On its turn, it makes a melee attack against the closest spinning top within range, usually causing that top to stop spinning.
	6	Marbles. About 50 marbles fall out of the gizmo, turning a 15-foot square area into difficult terrain. A creature that enters a marble-covered space must make a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
	7	Jack-in-the-box. A crank handle protrudes from the gizmo. After the handle has been turned 1d8 times, a figure pops out.
	8	Duel Monsters. A secret draw slides out from the gizmo, revealing the five pieces of Exodia.
	9	Music box. The gizmo opens and plays music for 1 minute or until a creature uses an action to close it. When a creature moves into range or starts its turn there, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or fall asleep. Regardless of the result, it is then immune to this use of this effect, and wakes up when it takes damage, when another creature uses an action to rouse it, or when the music stops.
	10	Nerf turret. The turret makes two attacks, has +2 to hit and deals 1d8 bludgeoning damage.
6	1	Plot hook. The gizmo opens to reveal any hook (for example, a fishing hook). The hook has an air of mystery, and is deeply related to whatever the DM wishes to set up next.
	2	Beholder’s eye. The gizmo opens to reveal a beholder’s eyeball and part of the eyestalk from which it was taken. A creature can use the eyeball as an action. Roll a d10 to determine which type of eyestalk it was from (see the Monster Manual for the various effects). The DC for any saving throw is 10, and the maximum damage a ray can do is 2d8. Inside the eyeball is a diamond worth 300gp, which can be detected with a successful DC 20 Investigation check.
	3	Stealth light. A secret drawer slides out from the gizmo. It appears to be empty, but in fact contains a glowing orb that emits bright light for 60 feet, and dim light for an additional 30 feet. The orb and the light it emits are only visible on the ethereal plane, and to those who have their eyes closed.
	4	Plot armour. The gizmo opens to reveal a ring bearing a shield design. A main character who wears this ring and no other armour cannot be reduced to 0 hit points. Any attack that would reduce them to 0 hit points is miraculously avoided. The ring disintegrates after it has been worn for 24 hours.
	5	Wild magic. The gizmo crackles and glows with magical potential. A wild magic surge occurs.
	6	Aura of the Protagonist. The gizmo opens to reveal a glowing golden liquid. A creature who drinks the liquid has the Aura of the Protagonist for one hour. During this time, they have +1 bonus to their Charisma score and they cannot obscure their face with hair, a helmet, or similar. Their face is always well lit, even in dim light. Any non-hostile NPC they come into contact with must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or tell them their current problems. If they have no quests to offer, they must instead explain the history of the area, or provide other relevant exposition.
	7	Compass. A gauge on the gizmo contains an arrow that points north, or in a direction of the DM’s choice.
	8	Well of inspiration. The gizmo transforms into a miniature well that produces an effervescent pink liquid. A creature that drinks from the well gains inspiration. The well then runs dry for 1d4 weeks, after which the gizmo transforms back.
	9	Mysterious ticking noise. The gizmo makes an ominous ticking noise that stops after one minute.
	10	Web turret. The targeted creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be restrained by sticky webbing, which has an AC of 10, 5 hit points, and vulnerability to fire damage. A restrained creature can use its action to make a Strength check (DC 10). On a success, the webbing is destroyed.

Cane of Candy

Weapon (rapier), rare

You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls made with this magic weapon, which deals acid damage instead of piercing damage. The cane has 10 hit points, resistance to all damage, and is edible.

Whenever you would take damage, the cane takes half of that damage instead of you.

As an action, you can eat part of the cane to regain 1d6 hit points, reducing the cane’s hit points by 1.

It was a lot of effort for an item that was never used, but I’m sure I can find an opportunity to use it again.

6/4/2021

The Basketball Game

The second encounter of the campaign: Darren Blade must not be allowed to win the basketball game.

This was a fun encounter. They were against the clock here, with ten rounds to win the basketball game. They managed to pull into the lead on the final turn of the final round.

We used the rules for basketball I posted before.

Friendly NPCs

This seems like as good a time as any to show you the stat blocks for the friendly NPCs in the campaign.

Left to right: Aeron, Aisha, Catherine, Gordon, and Gordon as a firefighter.

Aeron

Medium humanoid (wood elf), lawful good

Armour Class 14
Hit Points 29
Speed 35 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	14 (+2)	8 (-1)	15 (+2)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)

Saving Throws Wis +5, Cha +6
Skills Insight +5, Perception +5, Persuasion +6, Religion +5
Senses darkvision 60 ft.
Languages English, Spanish, Mi’kmaq, French

Fey Ancestry. Aeron has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put him to sleep.

Mask of the Wild. Aeron can attempt to hide even when he is only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, or other natural phenomena.

Paladin. Aeron is a 5th-level paladin (Oath of Devotion) with the following class features: Divine Sense, Lay on Hands, Fighting Style: Protection, Divine Smite, Divine Health, Channel Divinity, Extra Attack. His spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +5 to hit with spell attacks). Aeron has the following spells prepared:

1st level (4 slots): command, shield of faith, detect magic, detect poison and disease, protection from evil and good, sanctuary
2nd level (2 slots): locate object, lesser restoration, zone of truth

Actions

Multiattack. Aeron makes two Truth Bullet attacks.

Truth Bullet. Ranged Weapon Attack. +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) force damage.

Lay on Hands.

Channel Divinity: Sacred Weapon.

Channel Divinity: Turn the Unholy.

Reactions

Fighting Style: Protection. When a creature Aeron can see attacks a target other than him that is within 5 feet of him, he can use his reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll.

Aisha Shakoor

Medium humanoid (human), chaotic good

Armour Class 15
Hit Points 27
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
11 (+0)	17 (+3)	13 (+1)	9 (-1)	16 (+3)	14 (+2)

Saving Throws Int +1, Wis +4
Skills Acrobatics +5, Athletics +0, Insight +4, Nature +1, Persuasion +2, Sleight of Hand +3, Survival +4
Languages English, Arabic, Druidic

Druid. Aisha is a 4th-level druid (Circle of the Moon). Her spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). Aisha has the following spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): druidcraft, primal savagery, thorn whip
1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, entangle, ice knife, jump
2nd level (3 slots): moonbeam, pass without trace, warding wind

Catherine Wheeler

Medium humanoid (half-orc), chaotic good

Armour Class 17
Hit Points 44
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	14 (+2)	15 (+2)	8 (-1)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)

Saving Throws Str +7, Con +5
Skills Acrobatics +5, Athletics +7, Crochet +5, Intimidation +3
Senses darkvision 60 ft.
Languages English

Relentless Endurance. When Catherine is reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, she can drop to 1 hit point instead. She can’t use this feature again until she finishes a long rest.

Savage Attacks. When Catherine scores a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, she can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

Fighter. Catherine is a 5th-level fighter (Battle Master) with the following class features: Fighting Style: Two-Weapon Fighting, Second Wind, Action Surge, Extra Attack. Her battle master techniques use Strength (save DC 15). She has four superiority dice (d8s), which can be used to perform the following battle master techniques:

Commander’s Strike. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can forgo one of your attacks and use a bonus action to direct one of your companions to strike. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you and expend one superiority die. That creature can immediately use its reaction to make one weapon attack, adding the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll.

Menacing Attack. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to frighten the target. You add the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll, and the target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it is frightened of you until the end of your next turn.

Trip Attack. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to knock the target down. You add the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. One a failed save, you knock the target prone.

Actions

Multiattack. Catherine makes up to three Fist attacks. (The third attack uses her bonus action.)

Fist. Melee Weapon Attack. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) bludgeoning damage.

Gordon was one of Hope’s dads. He was a Circle of the Land druid, but his domain was the city. I only worked out the domain’s spells up to 5th level.

Gordon Weissman

Medium humanoid (gold dragonborn), neutral good

Armour Class 12
Hit Points 35
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	10 (+0)	14 (+2)	8 (-1)	15 (+2)	14 (+2)

Saving Throws Int +2, Wis +5
Skills Athletics +6, Medicine +5, Perception +5, Persuasion +5
Damage Resistances fire
Languages English, Druidic

Druid. Gordon is a 5th-level druid (Circle of the Land: City) with the following class features: Wild Shape, Natural Recovery. His spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). Gordon has the following spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): control flames, magic stone, mould earth, shape water
1st level (4 slots): create or destroy water, earth tremor, entangle, speak with animals
2nd level (3 slots): calm emotions*, darkvision, healing spirit, pass without trace*
3rd level (2 slots): stinking cloud*, tidal wave, tongues*

*domain spell.

Actions

Fire axe. Melee Weapon Attack. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) slashing damage.

Breath Weapon. Each creature in a 15 ft. cone in front of Gordon must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one.

10/4/2021

Encounter 3: The House Party

The third encounter: the party gets caught up in a fight between werewolves and vampires.

The idea behind the third fight was that the party would get caught up in an important situation and would need to think quickly and get as much information as they could to prevent something bad from happening. In this case, the vampires had an objective to complete (obtain Cordelia’s necklace), the werewolves wanted to stop them, and the player characters would hopefully get involved because they knew Cordelia and would want to prevent whatever the vampires were intending to do with her.

Unfortunately, this didn’t really work out. The encounter was split across two floors, with Cordelia and the vampire leader upstairs, and the rest of the vampires defending the staircase from the werewolves. I wasn’t clear enough about where the important stuff was happening, and the fact that I hid most of the map with fog of war didn’t help. For the first few rounds of combat, the players didn’t seem to have any interest in going upstairs. They mostly just attacked the vampires and the werewolves indiscriminately. In the end, I had Will go upstairs and get killed by a vampire to draw their attention, which felt clumsy and mean.

If I were to run this encounter again, I’d give them more information upfront about the situation, and I wouldn’t plunge the house into darkness at the start of combat.

Songs

This isn’t something I prepared for the campaign, but Marlowe’s player said that what he was doing at the party was playing the guitar, trying to explain Verfremdungseffekt to the tune of “Wonderwall”. I improvised the second line during the session and wrote the rest afterwards.

No Fourth Wall

Today is gonna be the day that I’m gonna spell it out and say
that by now, you should have somehow realised that it’s just a play.
I don’t believe that anyone should leave their brain behind outside the door.

Backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your art is out
And I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, but you’ve never really thought about
All of the lies that everybody feels they need to claim that theatre’s for.

And all the roads they lead you down are winding
And all the lights that light the stage are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you, so listen now

And think clearer
You’re gonna see some epic theatre
And after all,
There is no fourth wall

So think clearer
You’re gonna see some epic theatre
And after all,
There is no fourth wall.

The next one is one I had anticipated singing in the campaign, but when it came down to it, I didn’t have the confidence to sing more than a couple of lines. It’s the villain Titania’s song from before the final confrontation. The details were to be improvised based on the situation, but this was the general gist.

Queen of Your World

I’ve got medals and prizes aplenty,
I’ve got trinkets and trophies galore.
You want certificates? I’ve got twenty…
But who cares? No big deal. I want more.

I want to be where the people are.
I want them to see, them to see me dancing,
Strutting around on a big shining bright Broadway stage.
Ashville High won’t get me too far;
I’m gonna be, gotta be in New York—
Seeing my name in the lights, see me on the front page,

Down where they sing,
Down where they dance,
Down with the bright lights and the romance,
All eyes on me.
I ought to be
Queen of that world.

17/4/2021

Encounter 4: The Arcade

The fourth encounter: the abandoned fairground arcade.

I ended up with less time to draw the map for this encounter, but I’m quite pleased with how it went. The main threat was the vampire called Niall Swordkiller, who was after Amber. He wanted to drink her blood and make her his thrall, giving him control over the source of all magic.

His partner in this fight was a magician, who was invisible for most of the fight.

The main gimmick of the fight worked well, though. In the centre was a “test your strength” attraction, with an image of a strongman behind it. At the start of the fight, thanks to the magician’s magic, the various attractions lit up and were rendered in colour, and the strongman came to life to fight the party.

The party could disable the strongman by “beating” the six attractions: the hook-a-duck, the hall of mirrors, the shooting gallery, the fortune teller, the coin pusher and the “test your strength” attraction. Each one contained a reward (one of the magic items listed above) and weakened the strongman.

It worked well overall. The minigames were simple and were resolved in one or two skill checks, but this was intentional, as I didn’t want the fight to drag on for too long (the previous two encounters had taken far longer than I had hoped).

Enemy stat blocks

Alright, here they are.

The hostile NPCs. From left to right: Anya, Mungo, Hercules, Mukta, Audrey II and Titania.

Anya Rider

Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), neutral evil

Armour Class 14
Hit Points 120
Speed 30 ft. (50 ft. in wolf form)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
17 (+3)	15 (+2)	15 (+2)	11 (+0)	12 (+1)	12 (+1)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +4
Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons
Senses passive Perception 14
Languages English, Russian
Challenge 4 (1100 XP)

Keen Hearing and Smell. Anya has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Pack Tactics. Anya has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of her allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

Actions

Shapechanger. Anya can use her action to polymorph into a Large wolf or back to her true form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.

Multiattack. Anya makes two attacks. She uses her bite if she can, but only once per turn.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack. +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is a humanoid, it must also succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with werewolf lycanthropy.

Claws/Knife. Melee Weapon Attack. +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage.

Pistol. Ranged Weapon Attack. +4 to hit, range 100/400 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage.

Audrey II featured in the final combat encounter, though I misjudged the difficulty of the encounter so didn’t use it to its full potential. It’s based on the shambling mound.

Audrey II

Large plant/construct, chaotic evil

Armour Class 15 (natural armour)
Hit Points 136
Speed 20 ft., swim 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	8 (-1)	16 (+3)	5 (-3)	10 (+0)	5 (-3)

Skills Persuasion +5, Stealth +2
Damage Vulnerabilities lightning
Damage Resistances cold
Condition Immunities blinded, deafened, exhaustion
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius) passive Perception 10
Languages English
Challenge 5 (1800 XP)

Actions

Multiattack. Audrey II makes two slam attacks. If both attacks hit a Medium or smaller target, the target is grappled (escape DC 14), and Audrey II uses Feed Me on it.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Feed Me. Audrey II engulfs a Medium or smaller creature grappled by it. The engulfed target is blinded, restrained, and unable to breathe, and it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw at the start of each of Audrey II’s turns. On a failed save, the creature takes 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage and Audrey II regains that many hit points. If Audrey II moves, the engulfed target moves with it. Audrey II can have only one creature engulfed at a time.

Hercules Strongman

Large construct, neutral

Armour Class 13 (natural armour)
Hit Points 105
Speed 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
21 (+5)	8 (-1)	19 (+4)	5 (-3)	9 (-1)	6 (-2)

Skills Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages English
Challenge 5 (1800 XP)

Animated. Hercules loses 18 hit points whenever an attraction is won or destroyed.

Actions

Multiattack. Hercules makes two fist attacks.

Fist. Melee Weapon Attack. +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (3d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

Mukta was based on the Mage stat block.

Magical Mukta

Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil

Armour Class 12 (15 with mage armour)
Hit Points 40
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
9 (-1)	14 (+2)	11 (+0)	17 (+3)	12 (+1)	11 (+0)

Saving Throws Int +6, Wis +4
Skills Arcana +6, History +6
Senses passive Perception 11
Languages English, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic
Challenge 6 (2300 XP)

Spellcasting. Mukta is a 9th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). Mukta has the following wizard spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): fire bolt, mage hand, minor illusion, prestidigitation
1st level (4 slots): detect magic, magic missile, shield, silent image
2nd level (3 slots): mirror image, misty step
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, dispel magic, fireball
4th level (3 slots): greater invisibility
5th level (1 slot): animate Hercules

Actions

Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack. +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.

Mungo & Bungo Bobbins

Small humanoid (halfling), chaotic neutral

Armour Class 16 (studded leather)
Hit Points 59
Speed 25 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	18 (+4)	14 (+2)	8 (-1)	13 (+1)	16 (+3)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Int +2
Skills Acrobatics +10, Intimidation +9, Sleight of Hand +10, Stealth +10
Senses passive Perception 11
Languages English, Welsh, Thieves’ Cant

Lucky. When Mungo or Bungo roll a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, they can reroll the die and must use the new roll.

Brave. Mungo and Bungo have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Halfling Nimbleness. Mungo and Bungo can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than theirs.

Naturally Stealthy. Mungo and Bungo can attempt to hide even when they are obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than them.

Ring of the Night. Mungo and Bungo both wear magic rings that grant them darkvision to a range of 60 feet.

Rogue. Mungo and Bungo are 8th-level rogues (Thief) with the following class features: Sneak Attack (4d6), Second-Story Work, Uncanny Dodge, Evasion.

Actions

Hamwise the Brave (Mungo only). Melee Weapon Attack. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) magical bludgeoning or piercing damage.

Multiattack (Bungo only). Bungo attacks twice: once with his fist and once with his dagger.

Fist. Melee Weapon Attack. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d8) bludgeoning damage.

Silvered dagger. Melee Weapon Attack. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage.

Bonus Actions

Cunning Action. Mungo and Bungo can take a bonus action on each of their turns in combat to make a Sleight of Hand check; disarm a trap or open a lock with thieves’ tools; or take the Dash, Disengage, Hide, or Use an Object actions.

The final encounter: The Theatre

The final encounter.

The final encounter took place in the school theatre. The party’s goal was to rescue Amber, who had been trapped in a fake world inside a crystal by Titania, Marlowe’s sister.

The set could change: as a lair action, Titania could rotate the set and bring the shop and the house together to form the barricade from Les Misérables.

This was the only encounter in which I had to reduce the difficulty on the fly. Most of the players seemed very reluctant to expend resources to try and leave the auditorium, despite the fact that it was dealing them significant damage every turn. I think I may not have been clear enough when describing the situation and their options.

Even with my on-the-fly adjustments (making Audrey II and Titania act a little less optimally), the fight was very close, with Marlowe and Will both dying, and nearly everyone dropping to zero hit points at one point or another.

Queen Titania

Medium fey, lawful neutral

Armour Class 17 (natural armour)
Hit Points 144
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	18 (+4)	12 (+1)	15 (+2)	15 (+2)	20 (+5)

Saving Throws Dex +10, Cha +11
Skills Deception +11, Nature +8, Performance +11, Persuasion +11
Damage Vulnerabilities bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from iron weapons
Condition Immunities charmed
Senses darkvision 60 ft.
Languages Sylvan, English, Spanish
Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)

Fey. Titania can’t be put to sleep by magic.

All Eyes On Me. Titania regains 20 hit points at the start of her turn if she is on stage, has at least 1 hit point, and there are no creatures downstage of her.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Titania fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.

Spellcasting. Titania is a 9th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks). Titania has the following spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): shocking grasp
1st level (4 slots): healing word, shield, sleep
2nd level (3 slots): mirror image, misty step, suggestion
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, fear, fireball
4th level (3 slots): greater invisibility, polymorph
5th level (1 slot): cone of cold

Actions

Multiattack. Titania makes two claw attacks.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack. +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage.

Source of All Magic (recharge 5–6). While Amber remains trapped in the crystal, Titania can use her action to regain two spell slots of any level.

Legendary Actions

Titania can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Titania regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.

Move. Titania moves up to her speed without provoking opportunity attacks.

Claw. Titania makes one claw attack.

Lair Actions

Titania can use one of the following actions on initiative count 20 (losing ties). She can’t repeat an action until they have all been used, and she can’t use the same action two rounds in a row.

Willkommen. The auditorium becomes a cabaret until Titania loses concentration (as if concentrating on a spell).
The cabaret is difficult terrain. When a creature enters the cabaret for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 3d6 bludgeoning damage and be restrained by spectral patrons until the effect ends. A creature that starts its turn in the area and is already restrained by the patrons takes 3d6 bludgeoning damage.
A creature restrained by the patrons can use its action to make a DC 15 Strength or Dexterity check (its choice). On a success, it frees itself.

Scene. The set changes between the town and the barricade. Creatures are pushed downstage by the set if necessary.

Could it be? Yes, it could. The second time this action is used, Audrey II appears.

That’s all! Thanks for reading!

Basketball

2020-08-06T00:00:00+01:00

A note from the future:

Last year, I ran a D&D campaign set in and around a modern-day US high school. I’m about to dump a load of assets and thoughts from that campaign onto this blog, but for now, enjoy these rules from the iconic fourth-session basketball encounter.

Rules for Basketball

Possession

A creature with two free hands can gain possession of the ball. When you gain possession, anyone on your team can use their reaction to gain an action and take part of their turn immediately. Alternatively, if you gained possession by using a reaction, you can gain an action as part of that same reaction.

New Actions

The following new actions are available to basketball players.

Follow (reaction)

When an opponent moves out of your reach, you can use your reaction to spend any remaining movement you have to follow them, instead of making an opportunity attack. This movement occurs after they have moved.

Intercept (reaction)

If the ball passes through your space, you can use your reaction to try and intercept it. Make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. If you succeed, you gain possession.

Pass

Pass the ball to another creature. If you are marked, make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by their Dexterity (Sleight of Hand), or foul. If you lose, they gain possession.

If the receiver is marked, they make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by their marker’s Strength (Athletics), or foul. If they lose, their marker gains possession.

A creature is marked if they are within an opponent’s reach and the ball must pass through that opponent’s space or a space orthogonally adjacent to it to reach them.

Shoot

Attempt to score by throwing the ball into the basket. Make a Strength (Athletics) check. The DC depends on where you are when you make the shot.

Shooting DCs

DC	Position
15	The two spaces adjacent to the basket
10	The six spaces adjacent to the spaces above
15	Any other space within the 2-point zone
20	Spaces just behind the 3-point line

For a shot from any other space, the DC is equal to the distance in feet to either of the spaces adjacent to the basket.

A creature marking you can contest your check with their own Strength (Athletics) check, or foul. If they succeed, they gain possession.

Steal (action or reaction)

Attempt to take possession of the ball from an opponent within 5 feet. Make a contested Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, or foul. If the opponent has used the Dodge action, you make your check with disadvantage.

This can be used as a reaction instead of an opportunity attack.

Fouls

Rather than making a contested check, you can instead foul, making a melee attack against your opponent. If you hit, you succeed on the check as well as dealing damage. Any other damage you deal during the game is also a foul.

When you deal damage to an opponent, make a DC 10 Charisma (Persuasion) check. If you fail, the referee takes the side of your opponent and will punish your team with a turnover, or free throws for the fouled player.

Review: Untitled Goose Game

2019-10-08T00:00:00+01:00

Image: Untitled Goose Game

This post was written for and first published in the October 2019 edition of Nouse.

The release of House House’s Untitled Goose Game last month took certain parts of the internet by storm. The reviews are in, and people seem to be enjoying it. However, here at the UK’s leading goose-related university, we are above such wishy-washy, subjective questions as “is it fun?” or “is it worth the money?” We will be evaluating the game on the purely objective grounds of Goose Realism.

To begin with, it should be noted that the untitled goose you play as – no name is given in the game, so for the purposes of this review I shall call it “Entitled Goose” – is clearly a domesticated goose, unlike the wild waterfowl found around the university, evidenced by its pure white colour and reluctance to take flight. The idea that Entitled Goose has escaped from captivity and is now out for revenge against its former masters paints it as a somewhat sympathetic antihero, but don’t worry: the veil of righteousness will quickly slip, and your actions will betray your true nature. You are, as the game’s tagline dictates, a horrible goose.

If there was one gameplay feature I would have expected from a game about being a goose, it would have been the ability to sit right in the middle of a busy pedestrian walkway and watch with imperious satisfaction as all the foolish humans tentatively made their cautious ways around me. Unfortunately, this crucial feature is one that Untitled Goose Game conspicuously lacks. Though Entitled Goose is equipped with realistic honking and wing-flapping functionality, sitting down appears to be beyond its capabilities. Worse, the humans of the village – again, no name is given, so from now on I’ll call it “Untitled Village” – do not treat Entitled Goose with due respect when you get in the way, either rudely barging you out of their path, or at best, waiting with patient annoyance, hands on hips, until you move.

Also lacking, and dealing a similarly significant blow to immersion, is the ability to cover Untitled Village with your excrement. There are few things more goose-like than staring down a bothersome human child as you lay claim to their play area. Unfortunately, in choosing to keep the age rating as inclusive as possible, House House was unable to deliver the realistic goose experience you may have been hoping for.

There are other ways to bully children, though, and it’s in bullying humans – and more broadly, just being a general pest – that Untitled Goose Game really shines. Whether you’re trapping a child in a phone box, or simply borrowing a few cabbages for a pleasant picnic by the lake, there are plenty of opportunities to make a nuisance of yourself, and enemies of the townsfolk. Entitled Goose may not be gaming’s most realistic depiction of a goose, but it excels at displaying the attitude of haughty malevolence and careless entitlement that form the core of the goose experience.

Students will also be pleased to know that dumping traffic cones in the lake is no problem for Entitled Goose. In fact, Untitled Goose Game works well as a risk-free lake dumping simulator, and is a good alternative to the campus lake, which is currently approaching traffic cone saturation.

Overall, though, while Untitled Goose Game provides an engaging and entertaining experience that is at least goose-approximate, it fails to deliver on several core aspects of goose realism, and we are therefore unable to award it any more than two geese out of a possible five geese.

This post was written for and first published in the October 2019 edition of Nouse.

Photographs and reality

2019-07-28T00:00:00+01:00

Image: Final Fantasy XV

If you were to steal my smartphone and open my photo library, you’d see something fairly unusual: hundreds and hundreds of screenshots from videogames. My trip to Lestallum next to my trip to the Lake District. “Selfies” of my Final Fantasy XIV character alongside photos of the North York Moors. My in-game photos are all mixed together with my regular photos, as if there were no real distinction between the two. But is there?

Images: Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy XV

It all started with A Hat in Time. Or was it The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? Or Beyond Good & Evil? Actually, maybe it started with Half-Life 2: Episode Two, in which I began to document my journey with the gnome (unfortunately, those photos, and that game save, were then lost to a Windows reinstall). I’d love to know what the first screenshot I ever took in a game was.

But my current practice of storing my in-game photos in the same place as my regular photos? That started when I visited a friend, and we played A Hat in Time.

Image: A Hat in Time

As soon as we got the camera badge that enables the in-game selfie mode, I started taking pictures. It’s a lovely game, and it was sometimes hard to resist getting the camera out for every achievement or pretty view. We had a great time, and when we stopped, I realised that I wanted to keep the photos we’d taken.

When I got home, I downloaded the photos from his Steam profile. I already had a folder for game screenshots, but while I was filing the new additions, it occurred to me that I hadn’t actually looked at any of the other photos in there for years.

Looking at those old screenshots was just like flipping through an old photo album. So then I thought about how much time I spend, and have spent, playing games with my friends, having fun together and exploring new worlds. And not only that: I have many happy memories of my time in single-player games as well.

So why were my game screenshots consigned to a little-used folder on my hard drive?

Image: Dying Light

The experiences we have within games are no less real than the experiences we have without. To qualify that before anyone gets any ideas: I am not saying that the experience of doing something in a game is the same as the experience of doing that thing in reality. What I’m saying is that any experience you have in a game, whatever that experience is, is a real experience.

If you are blown away by a breathtaking view, or go on a tough journey with a friend, you might want to take some photos to remember it. Just because it happened in a game, your experience isn’t worth any less.

Image: Final Fantasy XIV

Or maybe it is. At the end of the day, you are the only person who can decide how much each memory is worth to you. Perhaps you do value out-of-game experiences that much more than in-game ones. But I bet I’m not the only one whose photo library is full of screenshots. And even if I am, I’ll be surprised if, in a couple of decades’ time, I’m still the strange one.

Photographs and screenshots by En Sattaur.

The Truthseeker

2019-07-16T00:00:00+01:00

A note from the future:

This is a warlock subclass that I came up with for someone else’s D&D 5e game. It should be taken as a rough draft, as it has seen next to no playtesting, and was created to work for just one character in one campaign.

I really like the idea of a subclass based around bartering with knowledge. I wanted to evoke that sense of risk that you see in tales of devil-summoning. You know, the whole “be careful what you say;” “don’t tell it your true name” sort of thing. Perhaps I’ll revisit this subclass if I ever play a warlock again.

The Truthseeker

You have made a pact with a devil who thirsts for knowledge above all else. Although it is undoubtedly evil, it is not interested in destruction, for that would render its accumulated knowledge meaningless. Knowledge is power, and as the Truthseeker’s knowledge grows, it plots and schemes in the dark, preparing for the day when all things will be under its control.

Expanded Spell List

The Truthseeker lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Truthseeker Expanded Spells

Spell Level	Spells
1st	command, identify
2nd	locate object, zone of truth
3rd	clairvoyance, glyph of warding
4th	arcane eye, locate creature
5th	geas, legend lore

Truth for Truth

Starting at 1st level, you are able to use your patron’s infernal power to barter with knowledge. Activate this ability by touching a willing creature who has expressed its intention to tell the truth. While this ability is active, whenever you answer one of their questions truthfully, store one “truth point” against the creature. The effect ends if you tell a lie or if you end your turn in a position where neither of you are able to communicate with the other. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

You can store a total number of truth points equal to your warlock level. If you have any truth points stored against a creature, you may use a bonus action on your turn to ask it a question in return. If it chooses to answer, you know whether or not it is telling the truth. If it does not answer, you have advantage on your next attack roll, ability check or saving throw against it, and it has disadvantage on its next attack roll, ability check or saving throw against you.

Telling the Truth

The Truth for Truth feature requires you to answer questions “truthfully” in order to gain truth points. Here, “truthfully” means fully and honestly. Evasive but technically truthful answers will not grant you truth points (though they won’t end the effect, either).

Truthseeker’s Knowledge

Starting at 6th level, you can use your stored questions to find out more about a creature. This takes the form of a ritual with a casting time of 1 minute, and requires divining components worth at least 25gp. For each question you have stored against a creature, you can ask one question about it, or about something that it knows. The DM chooses from the following possible responses:

Positive, if the answer to your question is ‘yes’ or similar
Negative, if the answer to your question is ‘no’ or similar
Positive and negative, if the answer to your question is both positive and negative, or the creature has mixed or conflicting feelings about the answer
Unknown, if the question does not apply to the creature, or the creature does not know the answer to the question.

Instead of asking a question about a creature, you can instead use this feature and all stored truth points (if any) to cast the augury spell.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Eyes of Truth

Starting at 10th level, you can use your Truthseeker’s Knowledge feature and all stored truth points (if any) to cast the divination spell.

Blind Bargain

Starting at 14th level, you can use your Truth for Truth feature on a creature you can see, without its knowledge or consent. This is similar to casting a spell with verbal and somatic components, and fails if you are unable to speak or move. A creature can notice your gestures or whispering with a successful Wisdom (Perception) check against your warlock spell save DC.

On Dark Souls

2019-06-28T00:00:00+01:00

FromSoftware’s Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition

For the last year and a half, I’ve been a little bit obsessed with Dark Souls. I’ve spent a lot of time playing it, thinking about it, discussing it with others, and just trying to work out exactly what I wanted to write here, because I knew I had to write something.

I always expected to love it. Thinking about it now, I’m not quite sure why: it’s very difficult to describe in a way that makes it sound appealing. But something about the way people talked about it, the passion with which my friends and other fans described it to me, convinced me that this was the game design masterpiece I was waiting for, and it was with eager anticipation that I first started the game in February last year.

I didn’t like it.

Dark Souls, released in 2011, is FromSoftware’s most famous game by far. Despite being mechanically quite similar to their 2009 title Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls was the studio’s smash hit, spawning two sequels, multiple ports and remakes, and paving the way for 2015’s Bloodborne and 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

It is a notoriously difficult game, one that teaches you how to survive by killing you mercilessly and repeatedly until you learn. It is deliberately unfair in ways that few modern games are, taking advantage of the fact that though the player character might die, the player still learns from the experience and can always try again.

And players did learn, and they loved it. When I discuss the game with my friends, and when I read about other people’s experiences, one of the themes that keeps coming up is the feeling of learning; of gradual but perceptible mastery over a system. Competence is a powerful motivator: it feels good to be good at something, and it feels even better to see yourself improve. In Dark Souls, you spend a lot of time retracing your steps between places you’ve already visited, and when you find yourself easily crushing enemies that once destroyed you, you realise how far you’ve come.

I’m fine with the DS3 controls I’ve practiced my kicking now so I can do it at will

good old having to practise to pull off a basic ability

But it’s consistent with how dark souls works You aren’t handed the keys to success you learn them

Personally, I’d rather be able to control my character, but dodgy controls add to the challenge that fans enjoy.

Moreover, in Dark Souls, competence feels earned. Those “easy” enemies could still destroy you if you stopped paying attention. It is only because you, the player, have put the time and thought into learning how they work, that they seem so easy. The player character doesn’t get (significantly) stronger throughout the game, it’s really the player who gets better.

The other main source of enjoyment for many people, I think, comes from the sense of accomplishment that accompanies progress. It’s the triumph that comes with defeating a difficult boss, and the joy of finally making it through a difficult section and reaching the next checkpoint. And the difficulty of the games makes victory all the sweeter.

So that, I think, is why people like Dark Souls. There are other reasons, of course. Many love the setting: Lordran, with its majestic, crumbling castles, dark, magical forests and deep, hellish caverns, is a classic fantasy adventure setting turned up to eleven. Its tricky, twisting layout frequently interconnects in surprising ways, and the feeling of finding a shortcut back to a place you’ve already visited is perhaps the greatest reward that the game ever gives you. Others love learning about the history of the world, piecing together the story through the descriptions of items found throughout the game. Everyone loves the weird and wonderful boss designs (especially Sif, Goodest of Boys). But to my mind, these are all secondary. I don’t think anyone really plays Dark Souls for the purpose of exploring its world, and I would be surprised if any but the most hardcore fans work out the full story while playing, without reference to the Dark Souls Wiki. People like Dark Souls because they enjoy overcoming its challenges, and the feeling of growing mastery that playing provides.

My only friend.

Image: Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition

So I suppose the real question is: why don’t I?

I think it’s important to try and understand why people have the opinions that they do. That’s why I’ve spent half this post and a good amount of time this past year trying to understand what it is about Dark Souls that people enjoy. So please bear with me as I explore my own feelings about it.

To begin with, I want to address the comment that many Dark Souls fans have in the backs of their minds whenever anyone begins to criticise their favourite game: the “you’re just bad” retort. “Get good and you’ll enjoy it.”

Well, it’s true. I am indeed bad at Dark Souls. But if anything I’ve written in the first half of this post is accurate, that shouldn’t affect my enjoyment of the game. The enjoyment comes from the process of “getting good”. One of Dark Souls’ selling points is its difficulty: if you’re already “good”, you’re enjoying a very different experience to the one it tries to sell, and while that’s really interesting, it’s not the experience for which I picked up the game, and it’s not one that I’m going to explore here.

I think that one of my main issues with the game came from the fact that getting better didn’t feel rewarding to me. Instead, it just felt…rather pointless. I kept asking myself why I should try to improve. Why should I want to get past this section? Why should I want to defeat this boss? Why? There is no reward. All you get after each encounter is another, harder encounter. You try and you try and you try, and all you get is more of the same.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say that, looking at Dark Souls as a piece of art, I actually admire this. The entire “plot” of Dark Souls, such as it is, is based around the idea that in the end, all things die, and your life is ultimately meaningless. After hours of this endless cycle of trying and dying, only to be rewarded with more of the same, you reach the end of the game and what do you get? Well, the best you can hope for is that everything stays the same. It’s just so bleak, and I love it. To see the game’s mechanics tie so strongly into the story is lovely, and shows that FromSoftware clearly knew exactly what they were doing.

But it doesn’t exactly make for a fun player experience.

Getting better at killing enemies in Dark Souls allows you to kill more enemies in Dark Souls. Saying that that is the only payoff would be inaccurate: as I’ve stated already, getting better at something is often intrinsically fun, and I think it’s a core part of the appeal for fans. But personally, that hasn’t been my experience. I haven’t been engaged by that cycle of learning: I’m always looking for something more. Learning on its own doesn’t seem to be enough for me, and without that, what is there? Getting better allows you to kill more enemies, but killing enemies in Dark Souls isn’t something I find fun, so why would I even want to try to progress?

I just find it so pointless to play alone, like, why would I keep trying to get good when the reward is just more pain

Why would I practice piano and bass when the reward is just more pain?

it isn’t though the reward is you get to make beautiful music

Clearly, my friend and I play music for different reasons.

When I think about why I don’t like Dark Souls, I try to think about similar games that I do like, and work out what the differences are. And what I find is that in these games, there’s always something else I can point to from which I derive enjoyment.

Let’s take the most superficially similar game that I enjoy as our example: Bayonetta. Like Dark Souls, Bayonetta is a game in which the player character fights their way through hundreds of increasingly difficult enemies for no adequately explored reason. The general strategy of position, dodge, counterattack is similar, though in Bayonetta it all happens much faster. Bayonetta is also much easier to complete than Dark Souls, thanks in no small part to the abundance of its checkpoints.

My intention here isn’t to say that one of these games is better than the other. They are very different experiences, and both have very different things to say. But they are similar enough that I think it’s worth looking at what they do differently, and why. Why was I motivated to try and improve at one and not the other?

Getting better at killing enemies in Bayonetta allows you to kill more enemies in Bayonetta. But the difference is that killing enemies in Bayonetta is fun. It’s very obviously designed to be fun, too, so much so that it actually feels wrong to be comparing it to Dark Souls. Bayonetta is powerful, carefree and flamboyant, and this comes out through her over-the-top attack animations, satisfying sound effects and jazzy background music. Playing Bayonetta feels great. Being Bayonetta feels great. I learnt to use her moves not so that I could make progress through the game, but because using them was fun.

Bayonetta, from Bayonetta.

In Dark Souls, you are a pathetic nobody, and the game reinforces that feeling. That feeling is core to Dark Souls, and changing it would be a mistake. It isn’t an enjoyable feeling, but that’s okay. I’m not saying that there isn’t a place in games for feelings that aren’t enjoyable. My point is that because I didn’t enjoy fighting in Dark Souls, I didn’t feel any motivation to get better at fighting in Dark Souls, because the reward was just more of the thing that I didn’t enjoy.

When I think about other skill-based games I’ve put hundreds of hours into, like osu! and Overwatch, it’s the same story: there was always something about the core gameplay that was enjoyable, and that’s what made me to want to improve.

So I suppose the feeling of improvement on its own isn’t enough for me. What about the feeling of triumph when you overcome a challenge?

This one is easier to answer: it simply isn’t something I’m particularly motivated by.

The joy and triumph of beating a boss has been the loudest noise made in our house.

it’s worth doing because it’s hard?

Yes the initial frustrations compound the final relief

Does this apply to everything?

Okay, let’s dig a little deeper. Obviously, it feels nice to accomplish something. Good puzzle games provide this feeling: when I solve a puzzle in a game like Braid or SpaceChem, I feel satisfied, even though all I’ve really done is unlocked another puzzle to solve. I get a similar feeling in osu! when I clear a difficult song. So why don’t I get this with Dark Souls bosses?

I actually don’t know. My pet theory is this: that the real challenge of working out how to defeat a boss is solved long before you actually defeat it, and the gap between the two means that by the time the boss inevitably dies, you’ve already lost interest in the outcome. In puzzle games, the mental challenge is difficult but the execution is simple, so the reward is immediate and satisfying. In a rhythm game like osu!, there is no mental challenge, but a song can keep surprising you until the final beat, so you can’t feel like you’ve finished until you’ve actually finished. I have no idea whether or not this theory actually holds any water, but whatever the reason, the fact remains that these moments of triumph simply aren’t enough to keep me going.

I know of a few people who initially disliked Dark Souls, but got into the series through FromSoftware’s other games (usually Bloodborne or Dark Souls III). After playing those games, they went back and found that suddenly, they really enjoyed Dark Souls. So maybe there is hope for me yet. Personally, I’m quite interested in their latest offering, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

In Sekiro, you get a grappling hook.

Image: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Sekiro brings two important additions to the series. First, it has a proper story, and gives the player character real motivation for their actions. Second, and perhaps more importantly, movement and combat look fun. Combat in Dark Souls is dull and slow, and it looks dull and slow. Movement options are limited to a casual jog, and a slightly faster casual jog. In Sekiro, the player character can jump and swing about the levels, dashing over rooftops or sneaking up on unsuspecting enemies. With fun gameplay and a proper motivation for the player character, perhaps Sekiro will open the door for me to finally understand Dark Souls.

Or perhaps not. Who knows.

This past year, I have often felt guilty for not enjoying Dark Souls. I felt like I was missing something. Moreover, I felt that I was missing out on something. Now, however, I think I finally understand why I didn’t enjoy it, and why Dark Souls simply isn’t for me. Now, at least until I play Sekiro, I can finally move on.

This post was also published in Nouse.

Meaningless Game Awards 2017

2018-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

If you want to hear me and my friends discussing games for two and a half hours, for some reason.

You can find an MP3 version here.

Pulse bomb tip

2017-07-01T00:00:00+01:00

Here’s a quick tip for Tracer players. I was wondering how the pros always manage to stick pulse bombs the instant they blink in.

Well, if you were wondering the same thing, wonder no more.

Hope this helps!

Nap time

2017-06-11T00:00:00+01:00

I thought you might enjoy this video in which Ana puts everyone to sleep.

Previously…

2017-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

I like to record D&D sessions that I run. For me, it’s way better than taking notes, giving me less to think about during the session. Of course, this means that I have to listen back to a 3+ hour recording afterwards, but it’s good for a number of reasons – self-improvement, inspiration, and remembering small things you’d otherwise have forgotten, to name but a few.

But there’s more that you can do once you have these recordings. One thing I like to do is to make recap videos, and play them at the start of each session:

I think it’s a really nice way to get everyone back up to speed and into the right mindset. It also means that you can jump right into gameplay very quickly after the start of a session.

If you have any other ideas for getting the most out of your recordings, let me know!

Give your players control

2017-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

My players are great.

So D&D – and other tabletop RPGs – are collaborative storytelling games. A group of people create a story together, through play. There are many ways to do this. Often, DMs/GMs (myself included) see their role as something like a computer game’s level designer. The GM creates a system (a world, and a plot thread or two), and then the players do what they want within those constraints.

This makes a lot of sense, and is a perfectly valid way to play the game. After all, it’s basically equivalent to buying a campaign book and running that, isn’t it?

Here’s a fact that I think many GMs often forget: your players want to tell a good story, too. So why not give them a bit more control? Well, I tried it. Here’s how it went.

First, here’s Barker from Be A Better Game Master on this idea:

From A Fistful of Dice’s YouTube channel.

I don’t have this problem in my current group, but the point about keeping your players invested is a really good one. If you can see that someone has zoned out a little bit, this is a really good way to bring them back into the game. Also, once a player has created something, they’re automatically going to have an interest in it – and, by extension, in your campaign.

So during the third session of my campaign, I tried this out a couple of times. Bear in mind that we are all fairly new to D&D: for most of my players, this was only their third or fourth session. Anyway, I started small, asking our half-orc about orc duels:

Excellent. So now we all have this fantastic image in our heads of the two facing off against each other (as well as the fantastic image on the video, which was drawn by that same player later on). And we also know more about the world and about orc culture.

That was all actually unplanned – I hadn’t expected the players to approach the orcs, and certainly hadn’t expected them to challenge one to a duel. But it led to one of the most tense and dramatic combat encounters I’ve experienced, and I think that even the players who weren’t involved enjoyed it immensely.

Later on, the players opened a stone door leading into the mountain. Throwing caution to the wind, I asked one of the players what was behind it. Naturally, this caught him off guard a little bit (remember, this is our third session) – but his response was fantastic:

The dwarf whom he described was from his character’s backstory. What followed was far more interesting (and emotional) than anything I could have planned. It has permanently changed that character, and has set him on a completely different path from anything I think either of us had imagined.

So in summary, the experiment was a great success! Fantastic. I will definitely be doing this again, and I would encourage you to try it with your group. It won’t suit all styles, of course, but I’m sure that for many, it would be a very useful and fun addition to the game.

As a final word of caution, don’t do this if you don’t know your players at all. Some players really don’t like to be put on the spot, especially in front of people they don’t know all that well. Know your group. Take Barker’s advice, and start small.

Armour of Chemosh

2016-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

Earlier this year, I ran my first D&D campaign. With little experience of D&D or other tabletop RPGs (I’d played a couple of sessions of 3.5e, and a few one-shots in other systems), I decided to jump into 5th edition at the deep end with a campaign and world of my own. I’ll save my general experiences for another post, though, because today I want to talk about the first magic item I created: a cursed suit of armour.

A note to anyone familiar with D&D and its settings: I’m not. The party’s cleric was a follower of Mishakal from the Dragonlance setting (I let them choose any gods they wanted), so I associated the armour with Chemosh, assuming that he was the ‘anti-Mishakal’. Hope I got that right.

Anyway, this armour was to be the main focus of the first ‘act’ of the campaign. It was a golden suit of plate armour with no helmet. The cleric’s player had been asking me during the week about when they’d get the opportunity to go shopping for some armour, so I knew that it would be the cleric who would touch the armour first, triggering the curse.

But what was this curse? I’ll show you my notes, explain my thinking, and discuss how it played out in the game; what worked, and what didn’t.

Armour of Chemosh

The Armour of Chemosh is a golden suit of plate armour, without a helmet. It appears to shine with its own golden light, though seeing it in the dark reveals that it does not actually provide any illumination. It does not rust, dent or break, and never loses its shine.

A person who touches the armour while no one is wearing it is cursed by it. Only one person may be cursed by this armour at a time. Unlike other cursed items, the armour can be removed, though this does not break the curse.

A cursed person has a ‘curse level’ which begins at 1. If a person who was previously cursed by this armour touches it again, the curse transfers to them, with their previous curse level.

Every time you cast a spell while cursed, roll a d20. If the result is equal to or lower than your curse level, an effect occurs, and if you are wearing the armour, the curse level increases. The effects are the following:

d20	Effect
1-4	Summon a Shadow.
5-9	Summon a Shadow, Ghoul, Spectre, Ghast or Wight. Use a d6 to determine which. On a 6, nothing happens.
10-14	Summon a Shadow, Ghoul, Spectre, Ghast or Wight twice. Use 2d6 to determine which. You lose the ability to cast divine magic unless your deity is Evil.
15-19	Summon a Shadow, Ghoul, Spectre, Ghast, Wight or Wraith three times. Use 3d6 to determine which. The apparitions follow your orders. Gain a random madness effect.
20	Your body is possessed by Chemosh, driving your own soul out permanently. Your body becomes an Avatar of Chemosh under the DM’s control.

If there are any dead bodies within 60 feet of you when any of these effects trigger, then the following additional effects occur:

d20	Effect
1-4	Raise one of them as a zombie or a skeleton (depending on the condition of the corpse).
5-9	Raise two of them.
10-14	Raise three of them.
15-19	Raise four of them under your control.
20	Raise all of them under your control.

Starting at curse level 5, you gain XP equal to the XP of the creatures you summon and raise, but the spell you cast does not take effect. You gain no XP for slaying undead.

Summoned undead outside of your control are hostile towards anyone not wearing the armour.

So a pretty powerful item, then. A lot of questionable choices there. Let’s go over some of the details.

Monsters: It doesn’t make sense for most of these monsters to appear out of nowhere. I tended not to refer to them by name, and described them all as shadows slipping from the hand of the caster.

Curse level: Unlike regular cursed items, the armour can be removed. To begin with, you’ll only trigger the curse about once for every twenty spells you cast, so if you’re being discreet with your rolls, it’s very possible that the player might not even realise that the armour is cursed. I didn’t even let on that I was making rolls at all, but I described how the first shadow seemed to pass from the armour to the cleric and then out into the world, so they got the picture. This system actually worked really well, with the curse level reaching 8 just as the party figured out how to destroy the armour.

XP shenanigans: Obviously, this item is pretty evil, and it can be tempting for a cleric to succumb to the power. The XP adjustments were intended to make it possible for the cleric to become the villain of the campaign: they get a huge boost to XP if they simply cast a lot of spells and summon all the undead, thus levelling them up enough to be a credible threat for the other players. If they don’t, they’ll still end up with more XP than the rest of the party, as compensation for having to make do without their cleric powers for a while.

Overriding spells: Past curse level 5, a quarter of the cleric’s spells simply won’t work, summoning undead instead. This is a pretty big deal, but bear in mind that it takes on average about 35 spells to reach this level.

Avatar of Chemosh? Yeah, I have no idea what I’d have done if the curse level had reached 20.

In my game, the cleric had a run of bad luck near the start, where practically all of her spells ended up summoning Shadows (in reality this was only about 3 spells, but since they were consecutive it felt like more). This really put her off casting spells for a while, until much later when she had no choice but to risk it. Luckily, she succeeded, and regained her confidence. The players were convinced that I had changed the rules.

While it all worked out well in the end, I did get some feedback to the effect that it wasn’t cool that I basically robbed our cleric of her abilities for so long. Often, people choose spellcasting classes because they want to cast spells (surprise!), so messing with that is a bit of a risk. Know your players, I suppose. I could perhaps have done with getting to know mine a little better before I landed them with something like this.

Anyway, feel free to reuse and recycle this item; please let me know how it goes if you do!