søndag den 28. august 2016

The End

A year ago I started this blog. It was my attempt to keep up to date with new trends and technologies. Although Pink Pulse wasn't as large a part of the blog and youtube channel as I hoped, she still contributed. I also dropped the vlogs early in the process since it wasn't something that appealed to me although I did get an insight into it and learned a few things from creating them. In conclusion, I learned a lot about this whole project, but I don't feel that it's something for me, so this is the end of this blog.

What have I learned
I've learned a few things. If I were ever to use blogs more professionally, I would strive to write shorter articles. I also learned to add pictures, and then there's networking and advertising, which is the main thing to do if used in a professional manner. I learned that all of this is not something especially for me, but that I could do it and greatly improve if there was a proper incentive.

Favorite articles
The article I've gone back to the most, and shown/talked to people about most often, is my article about competitive D&D. We're hoping to set something up next year in Denmark, so we'll see how it goes. 

Worst articles
The worst article I wrote I think is my first project update (along with every other project update). These articles were mostly filler, had too much text, and no pictures. I would strive to stay clear of such articles in the future if I were to write another blog.


That's it for this time. Thank you for following and hope you enjoyed some of the articles.

mandag den 22. august 2016

D&D Extra-Life 2014

I've created a 5 min video that shows gameplay footage of our 2014 25 hour D&D 5e game for Extra-Life:


Part 1: 14:09
@00:16 the event begins and I present it.

Part 2: 16:45
@00:50 there's a scene from the invasion of Greenest, where Ravincal shortly describes what the players are generally playing.


Part 3: 20:59
@01:19 there's a combat scene from where the players are chasing after surviving halflings and get ambushed by a rearguard.

Part 4: 23:55
@01:50 a viewer donates to join the game. It's the first time he ever tries to play D&D. 

Part 5: 00:57
@02:19 at this point we reached our goal of $750 and I explain about this threshold along with the next threshold goal.

Part 6: 05:36
@02:50 we've been playing for15½ hours and one of our players fall asleep as the rest of the party infiltrate a halfling cave at an outpost where refugee halflings from Greenest has sought protection from the Dragon Army of Tharsis.

Part 7: 09:12
@03:21 within the halfling cave the players find the barracks, and blow the halflings to pieces with a fireball spell.

Part 8: 14:00
@04:19 we have reached the end and gathered $770 for the Seattles children hospital.


 

D&D 5e profession example

Yesterday I posted drafts for an overview of professions. Here are 3 examples of recipes (Alchemy, enchanting, and cooking). We'll create many more recipes in the future that we may gather and put on the DMsguild.




Name
Alchemist's Fire
Profession
Alchemy
Description
You create a mundane mixture in a flask that ignites into unstoppable flames when the bottle is broken.
Trainer
Any alchemist in any town of population >2000
Recipe
Common. Can be bought from trainers and found in possession of spellcasters and alchemists in the wild.
Ingredients
Glass bottle
Flammable liquid, preferably oil or similar
Soaked jute cork
Tools
Alchemist's Supplies
Cost
Ingredients worth 25gp. If the ingredients above does not cover the total cost, then consumable tools are required in the form of the remaining cost.
Time
10 days
Difficulty
Difficult (DC 20)
Reward
1 Alchemist's Fire
Failure
15-20 nothing happens. Below 15, the alchemist's fire bursts and the alchemist takes 1d4 points of fire damage, losing all ingredients and tools.


Name
Potion of Healing
Profession
Alchemy & Enchanting
Description
You create a magical mixture in a flask that heal wounds when drunk.
Trainer
Specific NPCs in specific towns, mainly enchanters, a few alchemists, and divine spellcasters
Recipe
Common. Can be bought from trainers and found in possession of divine spellcasters in the wild.
Ingredients
Glass bottle
Healing herbs
Divine magical spells such as cure wounds
Tools
Alchemist's Supplies & Herbalism Kit
Cost
Ingredients worth 25gp. If the ingredients above does not cover the total cost, then consumable tools are required in the form of the remaining cost.
Time
2 days
Difficulty
Hard (DC 15)
Reward
1 Potion of Healing
Failure
See the DMG for more information on failed magical potions.


Name
Delicious Meal
Profession
Cooking
Description
You cook a meal that is so delicious that it put your guests in a better mood.
Trainer
Almost anyone can teach you to cook a meal that you can personally improve to a delicious meal.
Recipe
Common.
Ingredients
Relevant and diverse cooking ingredients for the meal prepared.
Tools
Cook's utensils
Cost
Ingredients as described above.
Time
1 hour
Difficulty
Hard (DC 15)
Reward
1 delicious meal (gives advantage on social skills involving food)
Failure
10-15 normal meal; roll below 10 and the meal is horrible and have the reverse effect of a delicious meal.




fredag den 19. august 2016

D&D 5e professions

I'm currently playing in a D&D 5e game with a DM who is relatively new to D&D. He has started creating his own rules for professions, and when I reviewed them I noticed that they were extremely similar to the actual D&D 5e rules. I therefore rectified his text and sent it back to him. The image here is the first draft, and below is the second draft with my corrections.


 Professions


Learning professions:
You must be proficient with an artisan tools to know the profession. To learn a new profession you must spend 250 gp and 250 days with an appropriate teacher to gain proficiency with the relevant tool. 

Crafting Professions:
The following professions are currently available and require the corresponding artisan tool and proficiency to use the tools.
Jewelcrafting
Alchemy
Smithing
Leatherworking
Tailoring
Calligraphy
Brewing
Carpentry
Cartography
Glassblowing
Masonry
Painting
Pottery
Tinkering
Weaving
Woodcarving
Forgery
Poison making

Utility Professions:
Riding
Lock Picking
Cooking
Gaming
Performing
Navigating

Jewelcrafting:
Jewelcrafting allows a player to craft gems, dia­monds, and magical stones into necks, rings or other kinds of jewelery.
The DC to create a specific item reflects the difficulty in creating the item. Combine this profession with enchanting to craft the magical gemstones.
Materials are found within rocks or bought.

Alchemy:
This profession allows the player to create vials with different natural effects.
The DC to create a specific item reflects the difficulty in creating the item. Combine this profession with enchanting to craft magical potions, oils, and ointments.
Materials are found within herbs, creature parts, environment or bought.

Smithing:
Use this profession if you are constantly losing your gear, want new and better gear, or want prettier gear. Creating armor and weapons require the understanding of different materials.
The DC to create a specific item reflects the difficulty in creating the item. Combine this profession with enchanting to craft magical armor and weapons.
Materials often need to be refined and made.
Materials for this profession might be expensive and very hard to find.

Leatherworking:
Do you like the speed and agility provided by fine leather gear. This profession makes you able to create agile and light armor.
The DC to create a specific item reflects the difficulty in creating the item. Combine this profession with enchanting to craft magical armor and gear.
Materials are found in different animal hides.
 
Enchanting:
Would you like your weapon to have a magical property? Or your boots to give that added speed?
Refer to the enchanting rules below.
Materials are rare and unique to the recipe.

Tailoring:
Do you like fine fabric, silk, string and needles.
With this profession you are able to create wonderful stuff.
The DC to create a specific item reflects the difficulty in creating the item. Combine this profession with enchanting to craft magical armor and gear.
Materials are web, silk, string. Rare componants might be needed for greater creations.

Calligraphy:
Unlike enchanting, this profession allows you to bind spell scrolls directly to items.
The DC to create a specific item reflects the difficulty in creating the item. Combine this profession with enchanting to craft scrolls or imbue items with magical writing or people with magical tattoo.
Materials spell scrolls

Riding:
Mounts? Flying? More speed? Road Travle?
Taking care of animals? More Speeeeed?

Lock Picking:
Chests? Locks? Doors? Solving Puzzles?
Items? Cause, don’t hide stuff from me!

Cooking:
Great feasts? What part of the animal is great? + rep to people and factions
Well fed? Buffs?

Downtime (page 127 in the Dungeon Master’s Guide)
The campaign benefits when characters have time between adventures to engage in other activities. Allowing days, weeks, or months to pass between adventures stretches the campaign over a longer period of time and helps to manage the characters’ level progression, preventing them from gaining too much power too quickly.
Allowing characters to pursue side interests between adventures also encourages players to become more invested in the campaign world. When a character owns a tavern in a village or spends time carousing with the locals, that character’s player is more likely to respond to threats to the village and its inhabitants.
As your campaign progresses, your players’ characters will not only become more powerful but also more influential and invested in the world. They might be inclined to undertake projects that require more time between adventures, such as building and maintaining a stronghold. As the party gains levels, you can add more downtime between adventures to give characters the time they need to pursue such interests. Whereas days or weeks might pass between low-level adventures, the amount of downtime between higher-level adventures might be measured in months or years.
Crafting Magic Items (small excerpt from page 129 in the Dungeon Master’s Guide)
An item has a creation cost specified in the Crafting Magic Item table. A character engaged in the crafting of a magic item makes progress in 25 gp increments, spending that amount for each day of work until the total cost is paid. The character is assumed to work for 8 hours each of those days. Thus, creating an uncommon magic item takes 20 days and 500 gp. You are free to adjust the costs to better suit your campaign…
Crafting (small excerpt from page 187 in the Player’s Handbook)
You can craft nonmagical objects, including adventuring equipment and works of art. You must be proficient with tools related to the object you are trying to create. You might also need access to special materials or locations necessary to create it. For example, someone proficient with smith’s tools needs a forge in order to craft a sword or suit of armor…
Practicing a Profession (small excerpt from page 187 in the Player’s Handbook)
You can work between adventures, allowing you to maintain a modest lifestyle without having to pay 1 gp per day. This benefit lasts as long you continue to practice your profession…

mandag den 1. august 2016

D&D Monster Stat Cards

I'm currently doing some extra work on the mass battle quadrins (see bottom of post), and one of the things I've created to give myself a better overview doing the combat encounters are monster stat cards.


Monster stat card
Here's an example of a stat card I've created. 


Visual design
Step 1 - Size: I've created a card that enables me to print 9 pieces of them out on an A4 paper.

Step 2 - Background: I found a parchment background that I've used as the background.

Step 3 - Theme: I found a dark banner symbolizing chaos, which is the enemy faction of the adventure that I'm creating monsters for. I will probably create a green grassy theme, sky blue theme, and other such theme for other factions of future adventures.

Step 4 - Top: The top border was the hardest for me to find. I needed one that was aesthetically pleasing but also symmetrical with a center, so I could use it to center text on to the card more easily. I will probably use different borders for different factions.


Text
Step 5 - Name: I added the name of the monster at the top of the card.

Step 6 - Stats: I then added relevant stats such as initiative, speed, AC, HP, saving throw, attack and damage, special abilities. I replaced level with initiative from the stat cards from the Miniature's Handbook, since I don't need level on these cards, and I added saving throw at the bottom since I wasn't sure where else to place it. The special abilities can also easily include additional features and explanations, but I've tried to keep it short.

Step 7 - Commander Effect: If the creature serves as a commander of a group of enemies, that creature is given a special effect as part of the mass battle rules I'm using. In this example the creature is an Avatar of Chaos, since it's a commander of a chaos force consisting of elementals, primarily fire elementals. I've given other commanders different effects.

Step 8 - Image: As a final touch I've added an image with 50% opacity to illustrate the monster, which should make it easier for me to find a specific monster quickly when sifting through the cards.

What's a quadrin?

A quadrin was an old copper coin, which Webster explains was “in value [worth] about a farthing”. Its name can also be used figuratively of any tiny amount of something, or an insignificant amount of cash.

I use the word quadrin to cover everything from combat encounters, non-combat encounters, events, and locations. In this case a quadrin is used to describe an amount of a small adventure, which is part of a larger campaign, thus a tiny part of the campaign. It is easier to use than “encounter” since not all parts of the adventure are combat or non-combat encounters and it thus also adds a streamlined word I can use so I don’t have to differentiate between an event, a location, and an encounter.

tirsdag den 26. juli 2016

New D&D Campaign - One of Seven

It has been two months since I last wrote about our Gamemasters project, which failed. I mentioned that it "has led us to start up a new group with only a single DM." and now we have run a session 0 and played our first real session as well, already planning our next session.

Setting
We are playing in a homebrew setting that is placed on a large continent divided into four nations. We started out in the Kingdom of Lupos and quickly moved into the Principality of Sethzra where the campaign takes place.

Character 
We have created nature oriented characters. One of the players has quit after the first session. The other three players have created a Paladin of the Ancients, Druid of the Moon, and Cleric of Tempest. All three characters follow a peaceful goddess based on a monotheistic version of Eldath. This has created a very cooperative, religious, and peaceful party that attempts to avoid combat, which was why the fourth character (a combat oriented halfling rogue) has left the group, leaving the original three members that broke off from the Gamemasters project.

Expectation
I have some experience with this specific DM and I therefore have a certain expectation from his games. He is a relatively new DM and has thus much to learn. He doesn't keep track of distance, hit points, events, etc, so I expect a lot of discrepancy. I don't think he plays with monster hit points, and instead simply just decides when a monster should die. He has a lot of puzzles and mind games, and though I enjoy these, they focus on our personal skills rather than our characters' skills. He also has a number of other groups playing at the same time, which are higher level. This will also cause some issues I expect.

Game 
I don't know why the game is called One of Seven. The first session didn't actually give us any clue to the overall storyline of the campaign. We were gathered as a party to escort a countess from the Kingdom of Lupos to the Principality of Sethzra where she was to be wed to the prince there. The escort introduced us to a barren savannah land with a few forests here and there and a mountain that blocked our passage west. We came to small communities and encountered soldiers, guards, and a hydra. Eventually we finished the quest and witnessed the wedding, where an assassin used a magical bow to try and kill the prince. This is where we ended the session.

Future 
I expect that if I don't want to be railroaded too much and want to have fun, I will have to play my own game while playing in this setting and following the campaign. I'm planning on creating a map of everywhere my character goes and elaborate on our goddess, which is the main aspect of the setting that keeps our group together. The other players are also very keen on developing this deity. For example, we spent a long time at the first session randomly finding a small spring in the middle of one of the forests where we then blessed it in the name of Eldath.