One bard's take on D&D and other things

Category: Banter (Page 3 of 11)

These posts are just talk, not related to any particular campaign or adventure.

Leaving Holes in Your Character’s Backstory

When we, as players, start rolling up characters, we all approach our character’s personality a bit differently. Sometimes you choose class based on what sort of person your new character seems like. Sometimes details of personality start to form when you choose their background. And, more often than I’d expect, our characters turn out differently than we’d imagined once we actually begin play.

It’s important to explain why your character is an adventurer within their backstory. Adventuring is dangerous, and it’s not an especially secure way to make a living! So why is this character you’re making going down that route?

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Looking at UA: Mages of Strixhaven

The Strixhaven setting from Magic: The Gathering is coming to D&D this year! The setting book was announced this past week along with a related Unearthed Arcana article.

This UA introduces five subclasses related to the five colleges of Strixhaven. These subclasses break the mold by being available to more than one class. Let’s dive in and see what’s up with these new playtest options!

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Learning from Other Games

Dungeons & Dragons is the game I started with and the game I’ll always enjoy. You can do a lot of things with the system to make the game that’s the most fun for you and your players.

D&D is one of the most popular tabletop role-playing games, but there are many other options as well! We can learn a lot from playing other TTRPGs. This post discusses how you can pull inspiration from other games to help improve your game.

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What We Know about Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

The upcoming Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is just around the corner, with a release coming later in May! Wizards of the Coast have already sent out some advance copies, and many of these recipients have graciously shared some snippets. For example, we can now see the table of contents for the book!

In this post, I’ll talk through what we can expect to see once Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft hits the shelves later this month.

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Looking at UA: Draconic Options

Unearthed Arcana is swooping in once again with new dragon-inspired player options! This is a beefy, 7-page document including new dragonborn options, a new kobold option, feats, and spells.

The “Looking at UA” series is where I take a look at new Unearthed Arcana from Wizards of the Coast! This is all playtest material that may appear in future UA or in official D&D books.

Let’s get into it!

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Looking at UA: Folk of the Feywild

It’s time for a new Unearthed Arcana article! This time, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) is showing playtest versions of four Feywild-inspired character options.

In the “Looking at UA” series, I talk about the latest Unearthed Arcana playtest options! These are options that could appear in later Unearthed Arcana articles (in an edited form) or in an official expansion (in their final form).

This article introduces options for playing a fairy, a hobgoblin of the Feywild, an owlfolk, or a rabbitfolk!

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DM Tips for Running One-Shot Adventures

A one-shot is an adventure that starts and ends in one session. We use one-shot adventures when some players are free, but we can’t do a session our long-running campaign. I’ve run some one-shot adventures and played in several, and they’re a great way for people to try out character concepts!

Here, I’ll talk about the set-up and prep for a one-shot, as well as tips to keep in mind while actually running a one-shot.

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