One bard's take on D&D and other things
In this session, the party continues to prepare for the upcoming battle. They travel to the Grey Crescent Mountains and have a very unexpected encounter.
These Campaign Diary posts are where I discuss the latest session of the campaign I play in!
Continue readingWe had our June Curse of Strahd session among summer thunderstorms, which was great for ambience! The group continues searching through Castle Ravenloft, only to encounter a familiar foe.
In these session prep posts, I go over what I did to prepare for my monthly Curse of Strahd sessions. I also talk a bit about what happened and what I need to prep for next time!
Continue readingMythic Odysseys of Theros, a D&D sourcebook for the world of Theros, is available digitally now!
Theros is a world from Magic: The Gathering.This is the second time we’ve seen a Magic world brought to D&D, with Ravnica being the first. Mythic Odysseys of Theros introduces a world inspired by Greek mythology, where heroic champions strive against the bonds of destiny.
In this book are options for players to create humans, centaurs, leonin, minotaurs, satyrs, and tritons as playable characters. The human options are the same as in the Player’s Handbook, while the triton mechanics are as they appear in Volo’s Guide to Monsters (though the flavor is different). The satyr and leonin options are unique to Theros.
This post will take a look at the centaur and minotaur character options. Both of these appeared in a previous Unearthed Arcana article, so let’s take a look and see what’s changed!
Continue readingHey, all.
We’re living in a time of inequality. Across the U.S. and across the world, people are coming together to protest police brutality and systemic racism against Black people. This is the time to take a stand however we can. I’ve included links to resources here, and I encourage you to check them out:
Resources—petitions to sign, causes to donate to, and other resources: https://blacklivesmatter.carrd.co/#
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
Black AF Roundtable of TTRPG Creators—an hour-long conversation between Black creators about “race, racism and being black in in the RPG space”: Twitch VOD and Youtube
Part two (three hours): Twitch VOD and Youtube
At D&D Live 2020: Youtube
To bring this back around to D&D, let’s keep in mind that the stories we tell can perpetuate harmful ideas. Dungeons & Dragons was created by a group of white men in the 70s; it’s got baggage that has carried forward into 5th edition. For example, we still have people groups that are represented as being almost always evil—the dark-skinned drow and the superstitious, tribalistic orcs, both of which are antagonistic towards the “civilized” peoples (humans, dwarves, halflings, elves, etc.). Does D&D need that? Does that belong in your game?
What stories are you telling with your game?
If you’re incorporating real-world issues into your game, are you doing it empathetically and truthfully (and with the consent of other players)? Or are you using them as shallow plot devices?
Are these your stories to tell?
It’s okay to recognize that you were wrong and change your actions based on information you didn’t have before. I still have plenty more to learn. Let’s keep listening, learning, and taking action.
Stay safe, everyone.
-Hannah
Update: Wizards of the Coast has released a statement about what they’re doing to address problems with their depiction of orcs, drow, and the Vistani people, plus other notes on what they’re doing to improve.
We’ve seen some of these improvements in the form of edits to Tomb of Annihilation and Curse of Strahd. Many of these are edits to descriptive language. Here’s a link for some deeper considerations for an anti-racist portrayal of the Vistani people (that go beyond simply removing some words).
In this session, the player characters fight to prove their resolve and earn new power for the upcoming battle.
In these Campaign Diary posts, I discuss the campaign I play in and what happened in our most recent session!
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