#6 mini d6s

[antivastalon]

i jst counted i have 194 dice, dnd and otherwise

[tabletopresources]

Image credit "Fishing" By yonaz

So in last night's 3.5 edition D&D game, my players had a chance to do some ice fishing and one player called out for one of my ad hoc mini-games (I do this a lot haha). I wanted something simple, a combo of character skill and some luck, and so in short order ended up with this very quick mini-game you can easily employ.

:

Quick Disclaimer: These fishing mini-game mechanics may not be entirely original and could resemble systems from other games I just can't recall. For my part, I'm posting this FOR sharing. Feel free to use, adapt, or modify them in your own games as you see fit. No ownership or exclusivity is claimed over this idea—enjoy and share as you wish!

:

Fishing Mini-Game (D&D 3.5 Edition)

Step 1: Build the Fishing Pool

The player rolls a number of d6 equal to their relevant skill modifier (Survival or Profession (Fisher)).

Example: A character with a +10 in Survival rolls 10d6 and sets these dice aside as their "Fishing Pool".

Fishing Pool Example Roll: 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6.

Step 2: Perform the Fishing Check

The player then rolls 5d6 as their "Fishing Check" for one hour of fishing.

Example Roll: 1, 2, 4, 4, 6.

Step 3: Match for Combos

The player now attempts to match the dice results from their Fishing Pool with their Fishing Check results to form combos. The number of dice used in the combo determines the size of the fish:

Small Fish: Match 2 dice from the Fishing Pool with the Fishing Check.

Medium Fish: Match 3 dice from the Fishing Pool with the Fishing Check.

Large Fish: Match 5 dice from the Fishing Pool with the Fishing Check.

Example Combo:

If the player's Fishing Pool has dice showing 1, 2, 4, 4, and 6, they could match all 5 dice with their Fishing Check, catching a Large Fish.

Step 4: Fish Weight and Rations

Once the fish is caught, the total weight of the edible parts of the fish is determined by summing the values of the dice used in the combo.

Example: For a Large Fish (1, 2, 4, 4, 6), the total weight is 1+2+4+4+6 = 17 kg.

To calculate the number of rations provided by the fish:

1 kg = 2,000 calories (or half a ration).

Rations Formula: Divide the total weight of the fish by 2.

Example: 17 kg / 2 = 8.5 kg or 8 rations (we round down).

Step 5: Continue or Stop

After catching a fish, remove the dice used from the Fishing Pool.

If the player still has at least 2 dice left in their Fishing Pool, they can attempt to catch another fish using the same Fishing Check results. Otherwise, they are done for that hour.

That's all that we did and they loved it!

But since then we've considered how future games or others might expand on it with special roll combos, items, locations, setting conditions, Aid Other, etc. So here are some...

Optional Add-Ons and Considerations

Multiple Attempts Per Hour:

If the player rolls exceptionally well on their Fishing Pool, they may be able to attempt fishing multiple times in an hour. To keep this simple, I'd say if they are able to clear the first Pool entirely, they get a brand new roll, a whole new Pool as if starting fishing over, but they keep their previous catches.

Modifiers and Conditions:

You could introduce conditions that affect the Fishing Pool or Fishing Check rolls:

Good Fishing Spot: +1d6 to the Fishing Pool.

Bad Weather/Overfished Area: -1d6 (or more) to the Fishing Pool or disadvantage (see 5e, we use this idea quite a bit even in our 3.5e games) on Fishing Check rolls.

Magic/Luck Items: Grant rerolls or bonus dice to the Fishing Pool or allow rerolls of the Fishing Check.

Special Fish Combos:

Occasionally, you could allow rare or magical fish (or larger species) that provide bonuses or other effects; perhaps these are possible if the combos use specific die results:

Giant Fish: Requires a match of dice with identical values, but double the weight result (ex: a medium fish that used 5,5,5 would be a Giant of its type, and grant 15x2 or 30 kg of edible parts!).

Magical Fish: Grants temporary bonuses, like extra HP or special buffs, when consumed. (ex. A combo of sequential rising values, like 1,2,3,4,5, would grant a Magical Large fish)

Fishing Tools and Bait:

Fishing equipment or bait could modify the rolls:

Better Rods/Lines: Allow rerolls or add extra dice to the Fishing Pool.

Special Bait/Lures: Increases chances of catching better or more fish (ex. set any one die result to 6; or allow player to select the value of any one die, etc.).

Aid Other

Another player can choose to assist Player A if they are proficient in the same associated skill (Survival or Profession (Fisher), etc based on your setting):

Player B (helper) rolls for the associated skill.

If the result of their skill check (rolled like any other skill check) is 10-19, Player A gains 1 extra die in their fishing Pool.

If the result of their skill check is 20 or higher, Player A gains 2 extra dice in their fishing Pool.

Player A can then use these extra dice to help form better combos when matching against their Fishing Check.

Let me know if you use this mini-game in your D&D sessions, or revamp it for the tabletop rpg/edition you play!

I'd love to hear your stories of the biggest catch, or lamenting that one LEGENDARY CATCH that got away!

And check out Tabletop Gaming Resources for more art, tips, and tools for your game!

[probablybadrpgideas]

For Weird Dice Wednesday I present multiple offerings!

First is my collection of different novelty dice, including potion d6s, (unbalanced) Cthulhu d6s, and 2 d6s that double as gelationoua cube minis.

Next, my misprinted d6 that no DM will let me use, because my possible rolls are 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7. (The 3 printed over the 6)

And last are from a novelty collection a friend bought me, including a d3, d5, d8, d16, and a d24.

­

[catindabag]

Every District “facts” and “local info” according to Festus Creed and old Professor Dementia Demigloss in my TBOSAS on Crack!AU.

[Read this for context]

District 1

Provides the Capitol chocolate coins!

Luxury items Fake gold.

Fashionista Land.

Their mayor is a ✨diva✨ who lives in a gold encrusted treehouse.

District 2

Provides the Capitol hugs and cuddles!

Masonry Mason jars??

Throws bread to their dead.

Their mayor (Mr. Rocky Rock O’Rolly) is a piece of rock. #immortalmayor2me&u

District 3

Provides the Capitol “free” flat screen televisions and spy cam teddy bears.

Technology Techno Pop Robo Cop??

They can hack your ass.

Their mayor has a flying wheelchair.

District 4

Provides the Capitol sea witches and lobster guards.

Fishing Catfishing. Duh.

They don’t serve bacon pizzas in D4. They might not even know what a pizza is (according to their local gremlin).

Their mayor is a self proclaimed mermaid.

District 5

Provides the Capitol the strongest Hello Kitty duct tape in the world.

Electricity Power Rangers!

Clemmie’s daddy is the shadow king of D5.

Their mayor is a homeless electrician.

District 6

Provides the Capitol Thomas & Friends.

Transportation Transformers??

Nero Price used to be the shadow king of D6, but now he’s a werewolf.😔

Their mayor only cares about her exclusive toy train collection.

District 7

Provides the Capitol wooden chairs and “free” firewood.

Lumber Cucumber??

They can throw and swing their axes taxes!

Their hobo mayor is a self proclaimed “flower child” who can talk to trees and bees.

District 8

Provides the Capitol sparkly mini skirts and sexy lingeries??

Textiles Project Runway.

Apple berry pies and cookies are their only “accepted” currency.

Their weird mayor claims to have a walking and talking bathroom rug. She might be crazy (but not “Palmyra Monty” crazy).

District 9

Provides the Capitol grain rain??

Grain Raisins.

They might have a secret “rice worshiping cult” over there. Who knows. Don’t care.

Their mayor sells a suspicious smelling “sugar powder” for a living. Is that even legal? Somebody should investigate him.

District 10

Provides the Capitol blue cheese and ✨Moo Moo Milk✨.

Livestock Chicken wings and drumsticks.

Domitia’s himbo daddy rules D10 with his emotional support cow (Lord Claudius).

Their mayor is Lord Claudius.🐮

District 11

Provides the Capitol cabbages and lima beans.

Agriculture Cabbage land and vultures!

They can legally marry their scarecrows. However, they are not allowed to divorce their scarecrow spouses for some reason.

Their mayor’s wife is a sexy scarecrow.

District 12

Provides the Capitol singing birds and pole dancers??

Coal mining ✨Pole dancing✨.

They’re poor but they don’t live in dumpsters with their freaky pet rats.

Their mayor’s daughter is a mean boyfriend stealing b*tch (according to their local singing rainbow bird).

District 13

The Capitol Nobles are currently pretending that D13 doesn’t exist anymore. But we all know it does. Lol.

D13 is now called the underground “Mole Kingdom” ruled by the mole people.

President Ravinstill is highly allergic to mole people and their rebellious mole habits.

Their self proclaimed “mole president” is deathly allergic to Bichon Frisé puppies. But who cares! D13 doesn’t exist.😉

[plotbunnygames]

I thought I'd post a reminder of all the games you can get through us!

Viva la QueerBar is a story game about a queer bar and the team who runs it. GM-less one-shot for 2-6 players, Descended from the Queen mechanics. Written by Sandra Dahlhoff and Andrea Rick, cover art by Hannah van den Höövel.

Miss Bernburg's Finishing School for Young Ladies is a story game about the interpersonal drama at a boarding school for upper-class young women in the 1950s. GM-less one-shot or few-shot for 3-6 players, Firebrands mechanics. Written by Andrea Rick, cover art by Christiane Ebrecht.

Bunny, We Bought a Dungeon is an OSR map-drawing story game about anthropomorphic bunnies who bought a dungeon to move in there together. GM-less one-shot for 2-6 players, D6 dice pool mechanic. Written by Jasmin Neitzel and Andrea Rick, cover art from the Public Domain.

Dolly, We Bought a Dream House is a dream-house-drawing story game about Dollys in a pinktastic world who explore and furnish a Dream House together. GM-less one-shot for 2-6 players, D6 dice pool mechanic. Written by Jasmin Neitzel and Andrea Rick, cover art by Andrea Rick.

Magical Pets is a narrative TTRPG about pets at a magic school. One-shot or mini campaign for 2-6 players and 1 GM, Lasers & Feelings hack. Writing and art by Andrea Rick.

Rodents With Guitars is a narrative TTRPG about a group of rodents who want to win a guitar band contest. One-shot or mini campaign for 2-6 players and 1 GM, Honey Heist hack. Writing and art by Andrea Rick.

ImproVeto is a story game to practice collaborative storytelling (usually fun and absurd ones) and using the X-card. Warm-up or one-shot of 10-90 minutes, minimal mechanics. Writing and art by Andrea Rick.

---

We've also published the official German translation of Follow by Ben Robbins and are currently working on further translations into German (including Dream Askew/Dream Apart by Avery Alder and Benjamin Rosenbaum).

We'll be crowdfunding our next bilingual game Against the Monster/Gegen das Monster in February 2024 (separate post to come!).

You can buy all the games shown in this post through our website (most of them are available in print and PDF). Digital versions (all screenreader-ready with image descriptions, PDF tags, etc.) and more detailed descriptions in English are also available on Itch.io.

[husk-not-whiskers]

♥️♣️~MINI EVENT ~♠️♦️

No one knew how… or when.. but a large poker table had seemingly formed out of nowhere near the back of the hotel.

“LISTEN UP FUCKERS, I’M BACK FOR THE NIGHT”

“So come play a game of cards with the former gambling overlord. The fuck’ve ya gotta loose anyway?”

“Anything’s on the table tonight ya sons a’ bitches”

<Rules and instructions under cut>

Basically you’ll say what you want to gamble (your offer), and what you want from husk. And he’ll probably agree to it.

I’ll be rolling dice so tell your number. Now… depending on your character you’ve got higher chances of winning.

All Alastors get one number from a d6

All other overlords get one number from a d12 // if overlords ask for a risky gamble it goes to a d20

Everyone else gets one number off a d20

NOW! If your deal is something a bit more risky or you know something husk won’t like it’s gonna be d50 you get one number.

Ex- asking to pet him, asking him to do a stupid pose for a photo, wear something dumb

And in RARE cases, if your ask is absolutely batshit insane it’s gonna be a d100

Ex- like telling him to ask angel out

And in EXTREME CASES, I’m gonna ask Siri to pick a number 1-1000

Ex- telling him to say something to Alastor

This event will last for about 6 hours

How to send a gamble request

Start with some kind of intro and then what you’d like.

“So you’re gambling tonight? I want you to paint your nails hot pink if I win and if you win, I’ll buy you whatever kind of booze you want” (I pick 15)

Or you can leave the choice up to Husk. But we warned you don’t get any say if you whatever you want. It will be. WHATEVER he wants <or whatever mod green thinks is funny>

“Hands down if I win I want you to wear the cat in the hat hat. And you can have whatever I don’t care” (32)

That would be a d50 bc husk wouldn’t wanna do that

If you are unsure, just pick a number 1-20

[emi-matchu]

one of my dnd podcasts is doing a mini arc using the extremely funny Roll For Shoes ttrpg micro-system, where you start with the skill "Do Anything - Level 1", and your successes snowball into increasingly goofy niche powerful running-gag skills

the full rules:

Say what you do and roll a number of D6s, determined by the level of relevant skill you have.

If the sum of your roll is higher than the opposing roll, the thing you wanted to happen, happens.

At start, you have only one skill: Do Anything 1.

If you roll all sixes, you get a new skill specific to the action, one level higher than the one you used.

For every roll you fail, you get 1 XP.

XP can be used to change a die into a 6 for advancement purposes only.

the podcast is Worlds Beyond Number and it's very good

[kylewithann]

Village Necromancer - A Solo TTRPG Liveblog

Back when I was posting all of my journaling game playthroughs on Twitter, the first one I did was Village Witch by Eliot Silvarian. Today I'm playing a re-flavoring of that system called Village Necromancer by SmallTownCreepy. As a fresh-faced graduate of Atropos University, you are charged to set up a necromantic practice for your year-long residency. Will you succeed and find a place to call home? Or will you have to start anew next year? Only time will tell.

CW: This game has themes of death and dying.

How to Play

For this game, you'll need a d6 and a tarot deck.

The gameplay is divided into seasons, which each last 13 weeks. For each week, a tarot card is pulled from the deck for an event-based writing prompt. I will also be playing with the optional roll to roll a d6 to determine the outcome of the event (1-3: bad outcome, 4-6: good outcome). At the middle or end of the season, your necromancer can decide if they want to move villages or continue their practice where they are. Gameplay ends when you have gone through all 4 seasons, after which you move to the ending questions and decide whether or not your residency was a success.

Character Creation

Now it's time to build out our necromancer using some guiding prompts:

Name - Cordyceps, but he goes by Cordy

Pronouns - he/him

Appearance - he's just a little mushroom guy! Think of a mini-myconid from D&D or a mushroom veggieling if you're familiar with the Dragon Stew 5e supplement by Antonio Demico.

Clothing - Unlike what you would expect from a typical necromancer, Cordy likes to dress in warm colors like oranges, reds, and yellows.

Why a necromancer? - Being a necromancer runs in Cordy's mycelium. His family has always had an affinity for reanimating the dead, so Cordy is pursuing a family tradition.

What are your code of ethics? - Cordy does no harm to living creatures. He's a good boy who tries his best to help others.

What are your favorite necromantic spells? - Cordy loves to reanimate corpses with his own lil shroomy twist. You can tell which bodies he has revived based on the mushrooms sprouting on them.

World/Village/Residence Creation

Now time to flesh out our world! For the setting, I've chosen high fantasy.

After rolling a d6 to determine what kind of village we start out in, I got The Grasslands, where funeral pyres are common.

Now to answer some more prompts to define our residence within village. The prompts are kinda long, so I'll just bullet point my responses to the questions:

Cordy resides within the local cemetery, which is mostly made up of the graves of poor farmers.

Instead of having a traditional home, he likes to burrow into the soil to create a living space under the dirt (think of Rabbit's hole from Winnie the Pooh). He has spaced it a respectful distance away from the graves.

Cordy keeps a little garden of herbs and produce to share with the locals.

Meadowfield is your standard farming village. The houses are sparse among the rolling fields of crops, minus a small town center where your farmer's market takes place.

There is a dilapidated church not far from the cemetery that most of the villagers religiously attend.

Meadowfield is informally governed by a council of the farmers with the most land. The council is facilitated by the local priest, Rhys.

The villagers of Meadowfield, being a very religious and superstitious sort, are initially apprehensive towards Cordy's arrival.

The first person Cordy meets is Burke, and older gentleman who comes to the cemetary often to pay respects to his deceased wife, Mabel.

Season #1: Spring

More opening questions to start off the first season! The questions are once again a little too long to write them down word for word, but my responses will give you a general idea of the prompts:

Meadowfield has begun planting its spring crops, particularly potatoes, parsnips, green beans, cauliflower, and kale.

Meadowfield is made up of hardworking, dilligent people. Unfortunately this means they give themselves little time to celebrate the season of rebirth and renewal.

They're also so busy tending to their crops that they hardly ever take time to honor their dead. Most often, the deceased are cremated and their ashes are spread over the crops in hopes that they'll nuture the soil. You do, however, have some people that insist that their loved ones are buried in a traditional manner (much like Burke).

Cordy plans to show the people of Meadowfield that instead of working themselves to death while allowing themselves no pleasures, they should celebrate life while they still draw breath.

As far as the literal seeds he is planting, he is currently nurturing some strawberry and rhubarb plants for potential jams and pies.

Cordy is naive and stubborn enough to believe that he doesn't have to sacrifice anything in pursuit of his goals.

Now we can dive into the events for Spring! Let's hope we get some successful rolls!

Spring #1:

Event - A man cursed with immortality seeks your aid.

Dice result - 1 (fail)

---------------------

While there was no door to Cordy's residence, he could feel large footsteps rumbling through the ground. He emerged from the ground to find a large, ancient tree person hovering above his home.

The arboreal creature entreated the small fungal necromancer for his aid. They had traveled from a faraway forest because they had heard rumors that there was a practitioner of death in Meadowfield. Their request perhaps went outside of the parameters of Cordy's usual practice: they had lived for far too long and wished to pass on and create a fertile environment for their little seedlings to grow.

Cordy was conflicted. While he had promised to never trifle with the living, the tree person's begging tugged on his heartstrings. The mushroom boy wanted nothing more than to help a troubled soul in need, so he agreed to lend a hand.

Cordy was initially stumped as how to carry out this plan, but then an idea popped into his head. While his spores normally reanimated the dead, why couldn't they also fulfill the mushroom's natural purpose to decompose?

Cordy drew from the power of the mycelium to channel his spell spores. With a puff, they drifted over towards the tree creature. Cordy's chest puffed up with pride as he watched the mushrooms began to sprout from the bark as the tree person let out a contented sigh. But suddenly, the sigh turned into an agonized yell.

"It burns," the wooden creature cried, attempting to peel their own bark off of themself.

Before Cordy could reverse the spell, it was already too late. His spores had turned into a painful infestation, spreading rapidly. There was nothing the fledgling necromancer could do.

The tree person contorted into a painful, angular position and let out once last pained moan, their face forever frozen in a grimace. Their body had rotted from the inside out. They would never be able to properly provide for their sprouts now.

Cordy's first instinct was to dispose of the body within flames. But he couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead, the poor creature's dark, twisted frame would hang over the entrance to Cordy's abode for days to come, reminding the necromancer of his failure and his re-commitment to his code of ethics.

Spring #2:

Event - You hear an unsettling rumor in the village. What is it? Who is involved? Is the rumor true?

Dice result - 6 (pass)

-----------------------

One day, as Cordy was walking around the farmer's market to grab supplies, he heard two spinsters gossiping loudly as he walked by.

"Well I heard that Silas is intending to buy out the graveyard to expand his farm"

"Oh heavens, what are they going to do with all of those bodies?"

"Dig them up, I suppose. Probably light the pyres, you know."

"Oh poor Burke, he'll be so heartbroken..."

As the two woman chattered on, Cordy felt his mycelium grow cold. There was no way that could be. Where would he live and practice? Worse, how would his friend Burke be able to visit Mabel if she was no longer resting there? He had to get to the bottom of this rumor to see if it was true.

It was easy to find Silas' farm, as it was the most expansive in Meadowfield. Cordy hurriedly made his way to the farmer's homestead and knocked on his door. As Silas came out to greet him, the little mushroom lad began to barrage him with questions and pleas to not tear the graveyard down. With a chuckle and a sympathetic smile, Silas assuaged the necromancer's fears.

"I can see why you're worried, but not to worry, kiddo. I would never disrespect those folks like that. Your cemetery is safe. Ya know, I'm actually thinkin' of buyin' a plot over yonder by..."

As Silas began to ramble about his plans to increase his fields, Cordy breathed an internal sigh of relief. That would be the last time he believed such wild gossip.

Spring #3:

Event - A day of stillness, quiet, and self care. Do you gain a new perspective?

Dice result - 5 (pass)

------------------------

Business was virtually nonexistent for the recent necromancer graduate. The villagers were still wary of Cordy and his "dark arts." It gave Cordy lots of time to tidy up his home and tend to his crops.

Eventually, he started running out of things to do. He had to find alternate ways to keep himself entertained. Sometimes, he would go through the cemetery and read the headstones, imagining what the lives of the deceased buried beneath must've been like. Sometimes, he would go into town just to people watch. Eventually, even these activities began to grow stale.

It was another slow day in the graveyard when Cordy decided to do something he had never done before: settle somewhere quiet and practice meditating. He sat under a nearby shady tree and closed his eyes, feeling the spring breeze rustle his mushroom caps. He tried to empty his mind of all thoughts, but he couldn't help but drift back to thinking about the denizens of Meadowfield.

He had spent so much time these past three weeks trying to advertise his services to the people of the village, but all he had been met with was polite declines or outright disdain. He had hit a wall. How could he ever win over the hearts of the people of Meadowfield?

A revelation came to him: he couldn't brute force his way into swaying the hearts and minds of the villagers. He would have to slowly ingratiate himself into their community. He had to meet them at their level. Perhaps he could win them over by sharing his crops and the fare he could create from them? He could set up at the farmers market and converse with the local farmers. If they were less afraid of him, maybe they would be more likely to come to him in the future.

He would have to sacrifice his time and patience, yes. This would be the things he allowed to die to serve as compost for his plans. From this, he hoped something beautiful would grow.

Spring #4:

Event - Another Necromancer shows up in town and questions your skills

Dice result - 3 (fail)

---------------------

As Cordy was tending to his patch of crops, he was alerted by the appearance of arcane runes appearing on the ground nearby. He watched as a fiery portal opened up and a familiar figure emerged. It was Nespira, a red-skinned tiefling who also practiced the necromantic arts. Like Cordy, she was a recent graduate--top of the class, actually. What she was doing here, Cordy had no idea. It wasn't like they were particularly close.

"Ah, I had heard that their was another Atropos student who had set up a practice here," she said, her eyes sweeping the graveyard with a disdainful expression, "Meadowfield, huh? Hm. Certainly a choice."

As for Nespira, she explained that she had set up shop in Metropolia. The name was familiar to Cordy. He had never been, but he had heard it was the largest city in the land. According to Nespira, business had been booming for her.

"And what about you, Cordyceps? How many customers have you had so far?"

Cordy sheepishly held up a single finger, causing the tiefling necromancer to let out a haughty laugh.

"Oh that's a shame" Nespira said, feigning pity, "but I suppose it can't be helped. "

Her gaze then landed on the gnarled tree body that stood watch over Cordy's residence. She took a moment to study it before recognition spread across her face.

"So this must've been your only customer. A pity. Seems like you couldn't get the decomposition right. And such a simple spell too."

Nespira extended a single finger, necrotic energy swirling around it. Before Cordy could protest, a beam shot from her index finger. As it hit her target, the deceased tree creature slowly began to melt into a pile of black ichor. The mushroom boy's heart sank.

Nespira then chanted under her breath before another doorway of flames opened up before her. As she partially stepped through the portal, she turned and looked back at Cordy.

"Cheer up, Cordyceps. You can always try your residency again next year...if they don't call you back to the university, of course. You could certainly use the practice."

With a wink, the transportation spell closed behind her. All of the tears Cordy had been holding back began to spill onto his face. He would prove Nespira wrong. He had to.

Spring #5:

Event - You are visited by a village official. Is everything alright?

Dice result - 3 (fail)

----------------------

Cordy was in the process of backing a strawberry rhubarb pie to bring to the farmer's market when he felt a foot tapping gently near the opening to his home. Cordy tunneled up through the tunnel to find Rhys, the local priest of the old church.

"Hiya, Rhys!" Cordy said with a bow. "What can I do for ya? I got a pie in the oven if you wanna stay around for tea."

The clergyman's solemn expression did not shift. He bowed his head gently, his eyes looking at the ground rather than making contact with the mushroom lad's.

"Thank you for the kind gesture. However, I'm afraid I must decline. I am here strictly on business. The news is...not pleasant. I will keep it brief."

"The people of Meadowfield feel...uncomfortable with the presence of a necromancer in our community," Rhys continued. "The farmers put it to a vote and...well...I'm afraid I must ask you to leave our village."

Cordy felt like he had been hit in the chest with a ton of bricks. He tried to keep his composure, but he could feel his bottom lip quivering while holding back tears.

"I'm sorry for the short notice, but the villagers requested that you leave by tomorrow morning. If you will excuse me, I will give you time to gather up your belongings. Good luck on your journey, Cordy."

The priest departed, leaving Cordy alone. Cordy descended into his abode, sniffling as he began to pack up his things. As he was almost ready to depart, a timer dinged. His pie was ready. Cordy released the fire magic that was baking his dessert while he slowly removed it from its resting place, looking down at the lattice pattern he had placed on the crust with care.

Carefully, he wrapped up the baked good. Afterwards, he jotted a quick note. He emerged from his dirt hole and walked over to Mabel's headstone, setting the items down. He wanted to leave a gift and explanation for his departure to first and only friend in this town, Burke. He knew he would be by tomorrow to bring flowers to her grave, right on schedule.

With the last of his things packed, Cordy slung his bag over his shoulders and began walking down the dirt path. It was time to start over once again.

Village/Residence Creation #2

Because Cordy has been kicked out of Meadowfield after his unsuccessful tenure there, it's time to roll up and build out a new village. Here are the main points:

The village of Neverglades resides within a swamp, complete with bog mummies.

There is no official graveyard in Neverglades. The dead are given something akin to a Viking funeral: wrapped bodies are floated on a small boat and are torched by fire magic.

Instead, Cordy lives in a house on chicken feet stilts, much like the other denizens of Neverglades. The huts can travel across the murky marsh with ease, meaning neighbors can go directly to each other without ever touching the ground below.

Cordy's home is small and sparse, but he has a hammock he can hang from the tree branches so he can relax and enjoy some quiet time in the humid outdoors.

This place is more up Cordy's alley than Meadowfield. The villagers all have a quirky vibe that the budding necromancer can relate to. They are also not fearful of the dark arts.

The shops of Neverglades are run out usually more stationary huts by their residents. They are not in a centralized location, so one has to remember where each shop is and travel to them separately.

There is no unified body of worship. The denizens of Neverglades are more spiritual, preferring to commune with nature.

The village is ruled by an ancient hag known only as "The Mother"

Neverglades celebrates Cordy's arrival, as their last necromancer recently passed on.

The first person Cordy meets is actually The Mother, as she was the one to give him her blessing to move into the community.

Season #2: Summer

Opening questions answered to start the second season:

The citizens of Neverglades deal with the hot weather by taking frequent plunges into the water. It's not the most sanitary or safe, but it's the only way to beat the heat.

Neverglades hosts a huge celebration for the summer solstice.

Cordy is working hard this summer. Haunted by the failures of spring, he wants to prove that he has a place in his new community.

The cards for last season have been shuffled back into the deck. Let's see how summer plays out!

Summer #1:

Event - A villager hires you to reanimate their dying business

Dice result - 5 (pass)

----------------------

Cordy was unpacking the last of his belongings when he heard the creaking of another hut sidling up next to his. He scurried over to his front porch to spy a wild-haired, heavily pierced girl waving him down. She introduced herself as Chana and began to bemoan her plight.

She was the oldest creator and salesman of shrunken heads in Neverglades. What was perhaps an odd and even terrifying practice outside of the bog was commonplace here. As such, competition had begun to pop up, diluting the market. Chana expressed that if things didn't turn around soon for her, she would have to close up shop. She pleaded with the necromancer to help her get a leg up on her competitors any way he could.

Cordy pondered on how to help the girl. After all, he didn't possess any business acumen. But then, a quite literal idea popped into his head: why not reanimate a dying business by...well...reanimating the dead?

Cordy dug deep into his mycelium to create spell spores to overtake one of the shrunken heads. As mushrooms began to sprout through the eye sockets, the head gasped and cried out in a comically squeaky and indignant voice,

"Heya bud, what's the big idea?!"

Chana laughed long and hard. She asked if Cordy to create more of these, to which the necromancer agreed. Once he finished his task, Chana was beaming.

"Business is gonna be BOOMING after this! Thanks mister! I owe ya one!"

As she lept across the gap from Cordy's residence to her own, she waved heartily as her hut began to dislodge from the mire and trod away.

"If ya ever need anything, ya can rely on Chana! Ya hear that? Chana's got your back!"

At last, Cordy had successfully serviced his first customer.

Summer #2:

Event - You are woken by the sound of someone digging their own grave

Dice result - 3 (fail)

----------------------

It was shortly before sunrise before Cordy slowly awoke to a strange sound: the wet sloshing and slopping of mud. He sleepily stumbled out to his front porch to investigate the source.

Down in the swamp below, there was a giant, humanoid creature made of mud. They were digging through the water, tossing muck and mire behind them. Cordy hailed the mud mound.

"Lookin' for somethin'?" the tiny necromancer called down below, "How can I help ya?"

The creature of slop shook their head, pointing to the hole that was slowly filling in with mud once more.

"It is my time. I feel the earth calling me back. Please, leave me to my work."

"But wait!" Cordy cried out. "I can help you! Are you sick? Injured? I can help! If you pass on, I can bring you back!"

Once again, the humanoid shook their head, muck sloughing off the side of them as they did so.

"I have no need for your magics.," they rumbled. The earth....she beckons me. To her I must return. I beg of you, leave me to my duty."

Cordy began to stammer out protest, but the creature ignored it. Once they had cleared away a sizeable portion of the bottom of the bog, their body began to relax. They slowly began melting into the bog.

"Goodbye....goodbye....I am going home."

That day, Cordy sat in solitude for a long time, attempting to process what had occurred in front of him. He left with this lesson: no matter how tragic, the wishes of the living in regards to their demise were something to be respected and honored.

Summer #3:

Event - A young couple of star-crossed lovers want to fake their deaths to escape their families.

Dice result - 5 (pass)

-----------------------

It was the dead of night when Cordy was awoken by the sound of someone calling out for him. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he stumbled towards the front porch to see what the fuss was about. The voice cried out once more, causing Cordy to turn his attention below. There he spotted a boat with a young man and woman inside, waving him down.

The couple introduced themselves as Julius and Ramona. They explained their plight: Julius was a noble and Ramona was a commoner from a kingdom not too far from Neverglades. After being told they could never be together, the lovers escaped and hatched a plan. They beseeched the necromancer for his aid: help them fake their deaths so they could slip away into anonymity. They left an obvious trail to the swamp so the search party would be able to find their decoys. Because of this, they didn't have much time and needed urgent assistance.

Cordy immediately got to work. He reached forth, calling forth mycelium to rapidly grow and expand into two roughly humanoid shapes. The gnarled forms looked almost like decayed corpses. Cordy explained that they should leave their top layer of clothing and possessions behind to aid the illusion before allowing the boat to float away. He offered to take them to the edge of the swamp via his movable home so they could make their escape. The couple gladly agreed, carrying out the next steps of the plan. Once the reached the clearing, they hurriedly thanked the necromancer before hopping off and running off into the distance hand-in hand.

Summer #4:

Event - You receive a bad omen. What form does it take? What do you think it’s warning you about? Does it come true?

Dice result - 5 (pass)

------------------------

The omen was so subtle at first that Cordy didn't notice it. While his chicken-footed home trekked its way through the bog one day, Cordy spied a large tree taken with rot. Although the main body of the plant was no longer alive, green baby branches still dotted the large branches. The mushroom lad thought nothing of it.

The second omen was more obvious. While laying in his hammock tied to the treetops the next day, he spotted a deceased bird, still shielding her eggs even in death. Feeling pity for the poor babies, the necromancer used his magic to revive the mother.

Bad luck comes in threes, and this was no exception. The day after, Cordy was sweeping his porch when he spotted a gruesome sight: a mother gator floating belly up in the water with her babies feasting upon her flesh. This time, Cordy couldn't bring himself to use his necromancy upon the corpse--they were already too far gone.

The puzzle pieces clicked together in Cordy's brain. All of these dead creatures had one thing in common: they were providers. Mothers.

The Mother.

She must be in danger.

Cordy quickly rushed through the mire to make it to The Mother's hut. When he arrived, he found her on her bed. She looked so sickly and frail--she was definitely nearing the end. Neverglades could not survive without her. Cordy had to act fast. He had no time to grab a medic.

The mushroom boy conjured up some healing spores and sprinkled them all over the dying leader. With a gasp, her eyes shot open. She slowly raised herself from the bed.

"My child," The Mother croaked, "You have done us a great service this day. We thank you. Neverglades thanks you."

Summer #5:

Event - A sleeping sickness strikes the village. Those suffering look like they have died but recover in a few days…if they haven’t been buried or cremated already.

Dice result - 1 (fail)

---------------------

Cordy was riding the high of last week's miracle. He was hailed a hero throughout the village and a celebration was held in his honor. He was so caught up in it all that the next tragedy flew under his radar.

It was only one or two people at first--a gentle snooze into a deep slumber, a deep slumber into nothing at all. Then it spread. Rapidly. Half of Neverglades was overtaken with what appeared a sleeping death. Chana, the shrunken head saleswoman who Cordy had become pals with, had been afflicted as well. The village made the difficult decision to dispose of the bodies before the plague spread to the remaining members.

Cordy pleaded with The Mother to try to let him perform his magic. He would be able to save these people. However, the hag could not be swayed.

"This is the only way to protect those we have left, my child."

Bodies were quickly being wrapped, placed on boats, and being prepared for the symbolic burnings. As people were distracted, Cordy nervously scuttled around to try and find Chana. If he could save her, perhaps the village would believe him.

His search took him some time, but at last, he was able to unwrap and find Chana. As he was preparing to perform a resurrection ritual, he heard her let out a yawn. Her eyes slowly blinked open, and she looked up at him with a confused expression.

"Oh hey little buddy, whatcha doin' here?"

Cordy's mycelium ran cold. These weren't deaths. These were victims of a sleeping sickness. A curable disease.

As Cordy ran to report his findings, he discovered that he was too late to save some of the villagers. Bodies were already being burned. Even though he acted as fast as he could, it wasn't enough.

Upon learning the truth, the denizens of Neverglades began working on reviving the remaining victims. Children were reunited with parents. Lovers reunited with lovers. However, what should've been a joyous occasion was solemn and morose. The smoke hung heavy in the air.

Summer #6:

Event - You find roadkill/dead animal that is fresh enough to reanimate.

Dice result - 5 (pass)

------------------------

It was a quiet week. No one came by Cordy's residence, nor did Cordy reach out to anyone. He and Neverglades were still reeling from the recent losses.

The only thing Cordy did that week was revive a small animal that he found. It was basic necromantic practice--the very first thing he learned to do at the university. It wasn't much, but it was enough to remind him of her purpose. He was a necromancer. He could save lives.

Summer #7:

Event - You see or are informed that there is a ghost nearby. It's the specter of a highwayman. Do you investigate?

Dice result - 3 (fail)

-----------------------

"Hey Corrrrrdy!"

The small mushroom boy heard a familiar cry outside of his hut. Across the way, he spied Chana, waving him down wildly. It was in the middle of the night--what could she possibly want at this hour?

"I saw a ghoooooost! You wanna come check it out?"

Normally, Cordy would excitedly agree to the proposition. He loved a good old-fashioned spooky adventure. However, he was still haunted by all of the deaths from two weeks ago. Ghosts only served to remind him of his failures.

It broke his heart to see Chana so crestfallen after he turned down his plans. As her home trudged away, Cordy crawled back into bed. Sleep did not come easily to him that night.

Summer #8:

Event - A messenger on a skeleton horse brings you a small package.

Dice result - 6 (pass)

-----------------------

A loud, mournful neigh was not what Cordy expected to hear in the middle of the swamp. It was accompanied by the sound of a splashing gallop. Cordy had to check out the ruckus.

Outside of his abode, he saw a skeletal horse pull up to a stop right next to his home.

"Delivery!" the messenger called out.

Cordy lowered the ladder for the deliveryman. After climbing up and handing off the package, the courier saddled back up and rode off.

Cordy recognized the handwriting on the outside of the package--his mother's. He excitedly tore into the mail. Inside was a heartwarming note congratulating him on being almost halfway through his residency. His family was so proud of him and couldn't wait for him to return to visit soon. Also attached was a bag of Cordy's favorite mushroom tea.

As he brewed and drank in the earthy, umami flavor of the tea, nostalgia rushed over him. It was nice to hear from family and be reminded of home. He hoped that he could continue to make them proud.

Summer #9:

Event - You catch kids sneaking around at night

Dice result - 2 (fail)

----------------------

Night had fallen, and Cordy was preparing for bed. Just as he was about to tuck in, he swore he heard the faintest hint of giggling. He grabbed a lantern and went outside to investigate the noise.

He scanned the horizon and couldn't find anything. But then, giggling once more. He peered down before and found what appeared to be three small figures playing in between the chicken legs of his residence.

Cordy excitedly waved down to them and asked them if they would like some tea. Startled, the children looked up at him with large eyes. They began screaming and running away.

Their fear was a painful reminder of what it was like living in Meadowfield.

Summer #10:

Event - There’s trouble in the village due to a misunderstanding. Do you get involved?

Dice result - 2 (fail)

----------------------

Despite calling Neverglades his home, Cordy lived on the outskirts of the tiny town. As such, gossip hardly ever made it to his doorstep. But this time, he heard the news of unrest in the village. From what he could gather, a disagreement had broken out between The Mother and another member of the village.

Although Cordy was normally the type to poke his nose into business that wasn't his, he did not feel his usual drive to help. He was still thinking about the burning bodies. The fearful children. How could he show his face in the village right now? Instead, he decided to continue to huddle up in his home. He would wait for all of this to blow over.

Summer #11:

Event - You find buried treasure. Is it the usual of gold or something more unusual?

Dice Result - 3 (fail)

-----------------------

Cordy was foraging for cattails in the swamp--he had heard from one of the locals that the roots were particularly delicious this time of year. He was trudging through the muck when he felt his toe stub against something hard. After muttering some curses under his breath, Cordy began to dig through the mud to figure out what it was.

His eyes sparkled with delight as he pulled out what appeared to be a chest. Buried treasure! What secrets were hidden inside?

Cordy pried open the treasure chest and peeked inside. Nothing a couple of silvers and coppers. Boring. Cordy returned the chest to where it belonged and continued about his business.

Summer #12:

Event - You discover a berry hedge near your residence. Are they edible or poisonous? How do you know?

Dice result - 2 (fail)

---------------------

After collecting and cooking up cattails successfully, Cordy had developed a newfound appreciation for the art of foraging. He wanted to continue pursuing this new hobby. Besides, it gave him the excuse to stay out of the village. His guilt still prevented him from stepping foot there.

While exploring, Cordy discovered a berry bush near the edge of the swamp. The small mushroom's mouth watered at the thought of biting into one of the delicious, juicy fruits. Cordy happily plucked a few berries from the shrub. As he returned home, he thought of all the ways he could utilize them in his cooking before just deciding on eating them raw. Along his walk, he popped a couple into his mouth.

However, once he returned to his home, he felt his stomach churn. He began to feel lightheaded. Uh-oh. Perhaps he should've investigated the berries further before eating them. It seemed as though he had unwittingly poisoned himself.

Luckily, he could conjure up a few healing spores to cure his ailment, but he still spent the rest of the day sulking in bed.

Summer #13:

Event - You are challenged to a game of chance. Do you make a wager? Use your D6 to see how you do in three rounds.

Dice result - 1 (fail)

---------------------

As the end of the summer season drew near, Cordy pondered what his next move would be. He was officially halfway through his residency. Was Neverglades where he wanted to plant his roots? He felt his heart twinge. He didn't want to leave--this place had been so accepting towards him, and he felt like he did some good work here. However, he was still shaken by the sleeping sickness incident. Cordy was conflicted.

As he was wrestling with his thoughts, he once again heard the familar, chipper voice of Chana hailing him. Stepping out onto his porch, he found her and another individual who he hadn't met before.

Chana introduced the mysterious figure as Jack. According to her, Jack was an expert card player, so she figured they could all get together to play a game or two.

Although Cordy didn't want to participate, he felt bad for blowing Chana off for the past few weeks. Therefore, he agreed to play.

"So whatcha betting?" Jack asked with a sly smile.

Cordy was a little taken aback. He didn't realize they were playing with wagers.

"Oh...uh...I'll just play for fun," he offered with an embarrassed smile.

But in his mind, he decided to make a bet with himself: win this hand, and he'll stay in the Neverglades. Overcome the guilt he had been wrestling with and stay with his friends. Lose, and he'll pack up and start over. It was all or nothing.

As he pushed all of his makeshift tokens into the pot, Cordy bit his lip nervously. It all came down to this.

The card was flipped and revealed: total bust. Round lost.

Although Cordy was wracked with sadness at his lost, he knew the fates had spoken.

It was time for his tenure in the Neverglades to come to a close.

Village/Residence Creation #3

Although I'm heartbroken that Cordy will no longer continue living in the Neverglades, I feel like with the way the dice rolled this season, it makes sense for the story. So that means it's time to hit the drawing board and create another village. Here are the highlights of our new place of residence:

Sirensong is a stormy seaside town on a rocky cove, where water burials are common.

Cordy lives in an cave right on the shore, rumored to be a former thieves' hideout. Although it is not a graveyard, it is littered with bones from creatures and people alike.

The furnishments are minimal. No garden like he had in Meadowfield. No wraparound porch like he had in Neverglades.

Sirensong has a somber air about it. The mood of the villagers matches the dour weather and surroundings.

The buildings in Siresong are made from driftwood from ships that have crashed along its shores.

Because it is a port town, there is an open air bazaar with many traders selling wares from across the ocean. It is the most lively aspect of the town.

There is a temple on the highest point of the village overlooking the sea. Religion is not a joyous custom in Sirensong. The denizens worship the sea fearfully, appeasing it with gifts and sacrifices.

The mayor of the village is Robert Morrow, a stern retired sailor. Villagers whisper that he lost his whole crew at sea, turning him into the solemn man he is today.

The citizens are apathetic towards Cordy's arrival. Like the tide, visitors come and go, never staying for long. They are not optimistic that he will remain.

The first person Cordy meets is Marcus, one of the market vendors who tries to maintain an upbeat attitude in the overwhelmingly morose atmosphere of Sirensong.

Season #3: Fall

Here are the opening questions answered for this season:

The sea offers little in return this season. The villagers have no harvest to celebrate.

In an effort to quell the ocean's displeasure, the people of Sirensong give up what little possessions they have to the waves. Even the dead are offered up, with the people hoping that providing the wildlife nourishment will increase nature's bounty.

Much like Sirensong, Cordy's harvest is nonexistent. He has sacrificed a place he loved and called home to move to this gloomy town.

Time to reshuffle and start the events for this season!

Fall #1:

Event - You are offered a new path in life by a strange hooded figure. Do you take them up on it?

Dice result - 4 (success)

--------------------------

Cordy had not expected to receive any visitors yet. He had yet to advertise his services, as he was still in the process of unpacking and setting up shop. However, a visitor came to him unannounced. Cordy only spotted them out of the periphery of his vision. Their footsteps made no sound and they said nothing to reveal their presence. Cordy was also silent in response, eying the nondescript person up and down. Who was this? What did they want with him?

The cloaked figure extended a bony hand and called out in a raspy voice.

"Young necromancer, I offer you a new path. The true path. Give up your foolish magicks. Offer yourself to the sea. She will reward you generously in her depths. Come, take my hand. I will show you the way to enlightment."

But Cordy stood his ground and shook his head. He knew his purpose in life, and it was not sacrifice himself to the waves. He still had so much to give this village--to show them the joy of life.

Although he could not read the visitor's face, Cordy felt their aura darken. The hand retracted coldly.

"Very well...you will see the truth soon enough."

Cordy blinked and the figure vanished. A chill ran down the necromancer's spine. A foreboding welcome to Sirensong--hopefully this would not set the tone for his time here.

Fall #2:

Event - You have a dream of the location of a magical artifact. What is it? Where is it? Do you retrieve it?

Result - 1 (fail)

-----------------

As sleep took Cordy this evening, he received a dream. More accurately, a vision. Swirling out of the fog of his mind was the image of an amulet with a glowing, azure-tinted jewel. The vision flashed again and he saw a grotto containing piles upon piles of abandoned treasure, the necklace laying in its midst.

He felt himself awake, although not entirely. He felt himself rise from bed as he felt a tug towards the back of the cavern. His mind was no longer control of his body--he was sleepwalking.

He lurched along, entering unexplored reaches of his cavernous home. After walking what felt like hours through the labyrinthine passages, he arrived at the destination he saw in his dream. Although there was mountains of untold riches--enough for Cordy to live comfortably for the rest of the days--he ignored them entirely. His purpose was singular: find the amulet. He kneeled at the pile of treasure and began to dig methodically through the gold and trinkets until the necklace was in his clutches.

Another compulsion overtook him: he must place the necklace around his neck. As he did so, he pulled the jeweled centerpiece close to his ear. His mind was filled again--this time with quiet, muffled singing.

Oh, how the song was so beautiful--but oh so distant. Too distant. The enthralled mushroom boy simply had to get closer.

He began to make his way back from whence he came--that's where the enchanting tune seemed to be coming from. As he did so, the melody began to gradually grow louder. He exited the mouth of the cave, and the singing swelled into a crescendo. But still, it was not enough. He needed to be even nearer. And there was only one way to do so: go into the sea.

And so, he walked. The waves lapped around his ankles. Then, his knees were submerged. He continued, the water now coming up to his waist. Although logic pleaded with him to turn back, the cries were drowned out by the enrapturing melody. The saltwater now came up his chin. Forward. Forward. He must press forward. Finally, the top of his head descended into the deep.

The night passes silently. Dawn approaches, but Cordy does not emerge. The poor boy had succumbed to the Jewel of the Siren's Song.

The tide comes and goes in Sirensong, and life continues on.

Ending

While we haven't reached the end of the seasons, I feel like I should cut the game here. Although I am sad for Cordy's misfortune--the dice and cards seemed to be working against him the whole game--it feels narratively appropriately for his story to end here. However, endings are only temporary for necromancers, right?

The game does have some wrap-up questions, however, I am opting to skip them for this conclusion. Curious about what they are? Looks like you'll have to check out the game for yourself ;)

Final Thoughts

I was worried that this game would have been too similar to my experience playing Village Witch, however, the flavor was unique enough to separate the two games. I'm glad I opted to use the dice roll rule--it really helped me shape how I answered each prompt. Next time I play, I'll try not to be so morbid and make it through all of the seasons (because yes, I'll definitely want to play this game again).

I know this is a long one, but thanks for reading! I hope to be back soon with another solo game to explore.

[let-me-iiiiiiiin]

Did I ever talk about the dnd lockpick mini game I made. Because I'm gonna talk about it again

The bare bones:

You use dice for this. Any dice. You can switch to a different dice any time.

Your goal is to get to the number 20 by way of addition and subtraction. With the results you get from the dice.

The nitty-gritty

Each mini game consists of parameters such as: A) Whether the character has thieves' tools, B) whether the lock has a modification (whether it's magical or not, or if there is a ward, or how complex it is), C) how many PINs the lock has

If you have thieves' tools (and you are proficient with them) you get to add or subtract your proficiency bonus in the roll. This has no cooldown and no limit (except for once per roll).

The PINs are the number of times you need to reach 20 to successfully pick the lock. Basically rounds.

The sum of your rolls can sometimes go over 20— this is pretty much normal, go ahead and start subtracting instead.

You get 10 rolls per round and if you haven't finished by then, you need to restart that PIN.

At the end of the PIN, when you have reached 20, if you have remaining rolls (like, for example, you rolled 6 times and got to 20, but still have 4 tries left), you get to keep what's leftover as a "round bonus". You can use this round bonus in any other round or roll, one time only. They stack. (Singularly. For example, if you're at 18 and you have a ±5 round bonus, you can't take 2 and leave 3. It only exists as 5.)

In magical locks, the round bonus does not stack. You can only use it in the next round or it's just gone.

When there's a ward, the character may take damage while trying to pick the lock. Each roll has a DC (which you roll extra saving throws for) and at the end of each round, you do a saving throw with a higher DC. If you fail, the damage is upgraded by one dice (and I mean that if the rolls failure penalty was a d6, the round penalty would be a d8).

You can also use the round bonus in the saving throw for the end of round damage. This does not spend the round bonus, though some DMs might choose to have it spent for extra Tension (TM).

In game, each roll is 1 second long. If you roll 6 times to reach 20, you've spent 6 seconds on that PIN. This allows for time constraints and extra tension in the story, perhaps in a heist and the guards are approaching.

It's surprisingly addictive. I've mastered the process and sometimes tried for speed-runs. I've gotten past a 10 PIN warded magical lock with no thieves' tools under a minute. I've ALSO almost died while trying to get through a 4 PIN version of that, WITH thieves' tools.

While some may complain that this way the utility of a Rogue may be compromised, I will tell you now that the biggest hurdle in this game is the d4. It is the worst dice. And with the bonus of thieves' tools, you get to slightly modify this number and save a significant chunk of time.

Also, the fact that ANYONE can do it makes it a better game. EVERYONE can do it. Sometimes you want speed so you make the Rogue do it. Sometimes it has a horrible ward and you want the HP vessel character to do it. Sometimes there's simply no one else available, and your Cleric with no thieves' tools has to do it.

And honestly, just play it by yourself. Try it out. It's fun even by itself. It's not very balanced (though I've tried to make it so with my limited dnd experience), but I think that is the mini game's best quality. Sometimes your Rogue will take 30 seconds on a lock, which your Cleric got through in 10 because they rolled two 20's in a row. It's like gambling— the more you do it and the luckier you are, the more fun it is.

[onslaughtsixdotcom]

My Wilderness Hexcrawl Rules

This post began life as an attempt to redesign the Ranger for 5e. I'm still going to do that, but it diverted to an explanation of my wilderness hexcrawl procedure, which I don't believe I've ever shared online in full.

I am on record as saying "exploration" is everything the players do that isn't talking to people or fighting monsters, but for the sake of this, we're going to focus on wilderness "exploration" and parts of the game that use that.

So to do that, we need to talk about what this looks like in my game and at my table. All overland travel in a dangerous area is on a 6 mile hex grid, and we engage in the "gritty realism" rest variant when we use it. This means a short rest is 8 hours overnight, and a long rest is every 7 days/short rests or if the party spends 24 hours within the same hex (which also puts them back on "normal" resting; unless, of course, they travel outside that hex again). Again, this is a "dangerous area," which is most of the parts of the world that adventure takes place in. If the players are travelling a long distance that isn't the focus of the adventure (for example, they travel weeks from the city of Dawnharbour to the city of Steelhaven) then that can be handwaved; they're sticking to roads and not worrying about it, because the Adventure is not The Travel.

When the party travels through hexes, we determine their planned route and weather. This determines how many hexes they can go through. The party can travel 24 miles per day through normal terrain, which equals 4 hexes; difficult terrain like swamps, deep forest or mountains may reduce this to 3 or even 2 hexes.

For each hex, the players roll what I call "Advancing d6s." This means they roll, in order: 1d6, 2d6, 3d6, and finally 4d6. This produces several results, between 1-6, 2-12, 3-18 and finally 4-24. This corresponds with this simple table:

The d6 table is landmarks such as burial mounds, obelisks, etc. The d8 table is several encounters that are not necessarily combat related, such as a group of fake adventurers, a Peryton that attempts to capture a player, or a golden Fey steed appearing on the horizon. It also contains an entry called "Character Event," which is a series of encounters built around the PCs. (I'll go more into Character Events in a later post.) The d12 table is larger landmarks and mini-dungeons or lairs, including things like wild magic zones, dead magic zones, etc. Finally I have lists of combat encounters. Embphyrkhaksis is the BBEG of the campaign this particular table is taken from; an adult red dragon who can appear any time all four players roll 6s. (For each encounter with Embphyrkhaksis, I raise the threshold for him to abandon the encounter by 10hp; initially they just had to deal 10 damage to the dragon for him to flee, but after 4 or 5 encounters they need to do 40 or 50 damage for him to leave. Exciting!) I then arrange the encounters we rolled into the best narratively cohesive order, based on my judgement as a DM and my absolute, flawless, omniscient knowledge of what is Actually in the hexes ahead of them; I ignore results that are boring or have been used recently if there is a legitimate feature in a hex that I've previously determined. At a later time, I'll update this post with a formatted PDF of my table so you can alter it and make your own.

When the party spends the night in the wilderness, they need to set up watches. My rules assume a 4 person party using 2 hour watches. (Elves can take 2 watches and still gain the benefits of a short rest.) During a watch, they roll 1d6; on a 6, an encounter happens. The character makes a Perception check to see if they notice the encounter; this is contested against a DC equal to a passive stealth check made by the monster. (If there are multiple monsters, I use the monster with the highest bonus.) If they fail, they are Surprised, which can be really dangerous with 3/4 of the party still sleeping, outside of their armour. If they pass, the party member has the opportunity to wake up the other players and put on their armour. (Realistically, this takes 10 minutes, but the start of the encounter is a little abstracted in this case.)

This is the core of my wilderness overland travel system. It's easy to see, when it's laid out like this, that there are several "hooks" by which the Ranger can key into to make them feel very useful in this style of campaign.

Next time: We fix the Ranger.

[galionne-speeding]

WWWIIWWWYYYYY I'll give you somethin' to get the ball rollin' mayhaps 🥺

We all know Zavok is the Leader(tm), but what would be your take if each of the others were leader instead? Whether they're fit for the position or not does not matter in this silly what-if 🤭 Gramps might be easiest to start with, since it's easy to assume he was likely the original Leader in the very beginning of the packs' creation (me thinks anyway, even for a short while)

A second version to this could beeeeeee like how any of the remaining four would handle being a temporary Leader in Zavok's absence for any reason (serious and non-serious reasons), and who you think would be the best option for that temporary time 🤔 (I say four and not five bc I think Zik would handle it best by default)

sorry if thats alot for a first ask coming back 😭

Ooooh this is a fun one!

Okay, okay, so I have a lot of little stories in my head that exist just for fun and not really to be shared ; and one of them is about each D6 getting two other Zetis (mostly OCs because it's fun) under their command and forming 6 mini-teams ; so I actually have a few thoughts on something like that already!

So, yeah, I think we can all agree that aside from Zavok, Master Zik would be the best candidate as Deadly Six leader- he was canonically the previous leader of the pack, after all. And he's the one who trained Zavok ; he's the one who passed all the leadership skills down to him. His leadership would probably be pretty smilar to Zavok's, with perhaps slightly more emphasis on manipulating the enemy rather than full-on fighting.

Zeena is definitely the kind of leader who would give a few orders and then sit back and watch. Do not question her leadership or authority, that's 'how to get kicked in the face 101'. I'd like to think she's a pretty good strategist, tho. So while she likes to sit back, her plans work well enough that the team allows her to do so and has moderate to great success.

Zazz... Zazz. If I say Zazz's solution to every single issue is violence, will you be surprised? The team is going to fight everything and anyone standing in their way- even when that's really not necessary. But one thing I'd like to think Zazz would be really good at as leader is getting the pack fired up. His bloodlust is contagious and he knows exactly what to say or do to get every single member of the group hyped up for the fight(s).

Zomom doesn't know how to strategize and he's not a great speaker. One thing he does know how to do, though, is take hits and protect others. He's less of a leader in the sense of someone telling orders what to do ; and more in the sense that he's not afraid to be at the front of the group in battle. He'll let others come up with the plan ; and make sure they're safe while it's being put in motion.

Zor is probably the most difficult to imagine as a leader. It just, really doesn't feel like a position he'd want. But if he really needs to lead, I'd imagine it would be quite similar to how Zeena does it. Find a plan, lay it out to the team, and sit back. His powers would obviously have to come into play ; perhaps as a tool to help the rest of the pack without having to put himself in harm's way.

So that's that for the first part!

As for how the rest of the pack would react to being temporary leaders ; I have another little story around that idea! Long story short, Zavok and Master Zik are captured by (some villain) and the remaining four have to rescue them.

In the end Zeena, Zazz, Zomom and Zor end up splitting leadership duties between the four of them. Zor gathers intel to help them make informed decisions. Zeena strategizes and crafts attack plans based on the intel. Zazz leads the charge and directs the pack into battle. Zomom keeps the group safe and ensures they all get out of the fight unharmed.

Stepping away from that little story ; I feel like neither Zomom nor Zor would want any kind of leadership position. If there's someone else to drop those duties onto they will gladly hand them the responsability. On the other hand, both Zeena and Zazz would do anything to be leader- and both strongly believe they'd do better than the other. They would probably just end up fighting each other for leadership until Zavok and Master Zik decide to do the work themselves, break free and make their way back on their own.

[davrial]

I've had this idea for a heavily thematic RPG rattling around in my head for a few years now. Decided this was as good a time as any to give it a shot at making it, even if it is an extra mini version. Helps me refine the rules as much as i can anyway. I give permission for it to be archived elsewhere as long as it has proper accreditation. Everything after/below this line is the RPG. ------------------------------------------------

Mad Science Murder Mystery (Mini-Edition)

For 1 GM and unlimited Players

You're a mad scientist at a party of peers. There's been a murder. And… it might actually be real!? Who did it? Why? And most importantly, how!?

Rolls: Your stats determine how many d6 you roll when doing a corresponding action. Rolls can have an added special d6: the Madness Die. If you roll a 6 on any die, you succeed at the task you're rolling for. If you roll a 6 OR 1 on the Madness Die, you succeed in a very Mad Scientist way, but then Succumb to your Madness. If a stat is 0 or less, you can't roll it, but you can still choose to roll using the Madness Die.

Madness: At creation, pick a Field. When Succumbed, any roll using that Field has +2. All other stats are -2. Madness goes away once a penalized stat succeeds at a roll.

Stats: -Mad -Scientist -[Field], can be any specific kind of Mad Science; can have as many Fields as desired -Murderer -Mysterious Each non-Field stat starts at 1. You start with 10 allocatable points. Stats cap at 6.

Now solve that mystery, scientist!

Tumblr 200-Word RPGs 2023

Last November, we did an informal game jam for folks who wanted to write something for Writing Month, but would prefer to write fewer than fifty thousand words of it. You can find the complete list of participants for that event in this post here. There's also an off-Tumblr archive of entries whose authors gave permission for them to be preserved here, if any of those links turn out to be broken.

Last year's collaboration went over well enough that I thought we might dust it off again this year. To be clear, this is just for fun – it's not a curated jam, and nobody's judging winners or handing out prizes..

If you'd like to throw your hat in, just follow these steps:

Step 1: If you're unfamiliar with 200-word RPGs, read a bunch of last year's entries (linked above) or browse the 200 Word RPG Challege archives at https://200wordrpg.github.io/ to get your brain-meats properly configured.

Step 2: Write your own 200-word RPG. If you're not sure whether you have 200 words or not (and with RPGs it can genuinely be difficult to tell!), you can use the word counter at https://200wordrpg.github.io/wordcount to check.

Step 3: Reblog this post and append your 200-word RPG.

Step 4 (optional): Please indicate in your post whether you're okay with having your 200-word RPG archived off-site for posterity – if you don't say anything one way or the other, I'll assume the answer is "no".

(As before, as a courtesy to anyone who's creeping the notes, please restrict non-200-word-RPG commentary to replies and tags until November 2023 is over – let's make the actual games easy to find!)

[ainow]

Arduino Pro Mini 328

The Arduino Pro Mini 328 3.3V/8MHz is an Arduino board with a 3.3V power supply and runs on an 8MHz bootloader. It includes connectors that allow for flexible orientation when soldering wires or connectors. For beginners, we suggest starting with the Uno R3 as your first Arduino board.

The Arduino Pro mini 328 series is a fantastic board that allows for a quick and easy setup. It caters specifically to users who are aware of the system’s voltage limitations (3.3V), lack of connectors, and off-board USB connection.

The Arduino Pro mini 328, a microcontroller board powered by the ATmega328, features 14 digital input/output pins (including 6 for PWM output), 6 analog inputs, an on-board resonator, a reset button, and pin header mounting holes.

The Arduino Pro mini 328 is designed for semi-permanent placement in items or displays. It comes equipped with headers that allow for the utilization of a range of connectors or direct wire soldering. Additionally, the six pin header can be linked with an FTDI cable to supply USB power and enable communication with the board. The pin configuration also conforms to that of the Mini Arduino.

Included in this product are a variety of notable attributes to enhance your experience.

There are a total of 8 analog input ports, specifically labeled A0 through A7.

A set of TTL level serial port transceivers are included, featuring separate RX and TX capabilities.

The following six ports operate using PWM: D3, D5, D6, D9, D10 and D11.

Utilize the Atmel Atmega328P-AU microcontroller.

Back up linear data retrieval.

-Provide assistance to 9V battery.

[draegerit]

Gruseliges Raspberry Pi Pico Projekt: Die Spooky Box für Halloween

Passend zur kommenden Halloween-Zeit möchte ich dir heute ein passendes kleines Projekt vorstellen, welches du easy an einem Wochenende erstellen kannst, es ist eine Spooky Box mit Soundausgabe. Als Mikrocontroller verwende ich den Raspberry Pi Pico in der Ausführung mit WiFi / Bluetooth.

Die Idee dazu bekam ich vom Leser meines Blogs, welcher mir per Mail ein ähnliches Projekt vorgestellt hat. Dieses war jedoch mit dem weniger verbreiteten Calliope Mini. Der Vorteil des Calliope Mini ist jedoch, dass dieser besonders für Anfänger einfacher zu programmieren ist. Jedoch auch die Programmierung in MicroPython ist, wie du gleich sehen wirst, nicht allzu schwierig.

Teileliste für die Spooky Box mit einem Raspberry Pi Pico

Wenn du die Spooky Box nachbauen möchtest, dann benötigst du: - einen Raspberry Pi Pico oder Pico W, - ein Micro-USB-Datenkabel, - eine Lochrasterplatine, - zwei 40 Pin Buchsenleisten, - zwei LEDs mit Vorwiderstände (220 Ohm), - einen Taster, - einen Servomotor Typ SG90, - einen Piezo Buzzer

Für den Aufbau auf der Lochrasterplatine benötigst du noch zusätzlich: - einen Lötkolben, - Lötzinn & Lötfett, - eine hitzebeständige Unterlage - einen kleinen Seitenschneider, - Litze / Draht in unterschiedlichen Farben

Spooky Box

Die Box selber habe ich aus dem örtlichen Tedi Mark für 3 € gekauft, zusätzlich noch Acrylfarbe und Pinsel, somit ergab dieses genau 6 €. Wenn du das ganze online suchst, dann findest du hier eine kleine Liste: - eine kleine Schatzkiste aus Holz, - Acrylfarbe, - Pinselset, Der Vorteil an der Acrylfarbe ist, dass diese recht schnell trocknet. Du kannst deine Spooky Box natürlich nach Belieben anders bemalen und bekleben.

Aufbau der Schaltung am Raspberry Pi Pico

Nachdem die Box fertig bemalt ist und trocknen muss, kümmern wir uns um die Schaltung am Raspberry Pi Pico.

Programmieren

Das Programm erstellen wir wie erwähnt in MicroPython, dafür nutze ich die Thonny IDE. Das Gute gleich vorweg, wir benötigen keine zusätzliche Bibliothek für dieses Projekt, d.h. du könntest auch rein theoretisch den MU-Editor verwenden. Nachfolgend folgt nun eine Schritt-für-Schritt-Anleitung, wie du das Programm aufbaust. Schritt 1 - Abspielen des Halloween Sounds am Raspberry Pi Pico Die Spooky Box soll bei Aktivierung einen Sound abspielen, diesen habe ich jedoch lediglich für ein Arduino Programm gefunden, dieses habe ich für MicroPython umgeschrieben. #Module zum ansteuern der GPIOs und #erzeugen eines PWM Signals from machine import Pin, PWM from utime import sleep #der Buzzer ist am GPIO1 angeschlossen buzzer = PWM(Pin(1)) #Tonname & Frequenz in einem Dictionary mappen tones = { "cs6": 1109, "fs5" : 740, "d6" : 1175, "c6" : 1047, "f5" : 698, "b5" : 988, "e5" : 659, "bf5" : 932, "ef5" : 622, "b4" : 494, "g5" : 784, } #Töne vom Lied song = #Spielt einen Ton in einer Frequenz ab def playtone(frequency): buzzer.duty_u16(1000) buzzer.freq(frequency) #Verstummt den Buzzer def bequiet(): buzzer.duty_u16(0) #Spielt das Lied ab def playsong(mysong): #läuft über die Liste mit den Tönen for i in range(len(mysong)): #abspielen eines Tones aus der Liste mit dem Index i playtone(tones]) #kleine Pause von 200 Millisekunden sleep(0.2) #verstummen des Buzzers bequiet() #Abspielen des Liedes playsong(song) Der Code bewirkt lediglich das, dass Lied auf dem Piezo Buzzer abgespielt wird. Schritt 2 - Auslesen des Fotowiderstandes Der Fotowiderstand ist am ADC0 / GP26 angeschlossen und wird als analoger Wert ausgelesen. #Module für das auslesen des LDR from machine import Pin, ADC from utime import sleep #der LDR ist am GPIO26 / ADC0 angeschlossen adc = ADC(0) #Starten einer Endlosschleife while True: #auslesen des LDR und #ausgeben auf der seriellen Schnittstelle print(adc.read_u16()) #kleine Pause von 300 Millisekunden sleep(0.3) Wenn du den obrigen Code ausführst, dann wird kontinuierlich die Helligkeit gemessen und ausgegeben. Solltest du deinen Finger auf diesen Sensor legen, so ändert sich der Wert in der Konsole entsprechend. Auf diesen Wert können wir jetzt reagieren und somit erkennen, ob der Deckel unserer Spooky Box geöffnet wurde. Schritt 3 - Taster interrupt erstellen Wenn der Taster betätigt wird, soll der Sound aufhören zu spielen und die kleine Pappfigur soll abgesenkt werden. Dazu müssen wir einen Interrupt erstellen, der Pi Pico bietet an jeden der GPIOs die Möglichkeit ein Interrupt anzuhängen. #Module zum ansteuern der GPIOs from machine import Pin #der Taster ist am GPIO5 angeschlossen, #zusätzlich wird dieser über den internen PullUp #Widerstand verbunden button = Pin(5, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_UP) #Funktion welche ausgeführt werden soll #wenn der Taster betätigt wird. def button_handler(pin): print("Hello, world!") #konfigurieren eines Interrupts button.irq(trigger = machine.Pin.IRQ_RISING, handler = button_handler) #Starten einer Endlosschleife, #diese wird benötigt damit das Programm sich nicht selbstständig beendet while True: pass Wenn du den Taster betätigst, wird die Funktion "button_handler" ausgeführt. Egal, was gerade parallel auf dem Mikrocontroller ausgeführt wird. Schritt 4 - Steuern des Servomotors Der Servomotor wird per PWM Signal gesteuert, hier musst du noch zusätzlich ins Datenblatt des verwendeten Servos schauen. Wenn du wie ich den Servo SG90 verwendest, dann hat dieser die Frequenz von 50 Hz für einen Schritt. #Module zum steuern der GPIOs from machine import Pin, PWM from utime import sleep #Servomotor am GPIO0 angeschlossen servo = PWM(Pin(0)) #der Servomotor arbeitet mit einer #Frequenz von 50 Hz servo.freq(50) #0° hat ein Dutycycle von.. grad0 = 500000 #90° hat ein Dutycycle von.. grad90 = 1500000 #Starten einer Endlosschleife while True: #Servo auf 90° bewegen servo.duty_ns(grad90) #kleine Pause von 500 Millisekunden sleep(0.5) #Servo auf 0° bewegen servo.duty_ns(grad0) #kleine Pause von 500 Millisekunden sleep(0.5) Der Code lässt den Servomotor immer zwischen den Winkeln 0° und 90° bewegen. Probleme mit zwei unterschiedliche PWM Signale Der Piezo Buzzer & der Servomotor werden beide über PWM Signale gesteuert. Das Problem, welches wir haben ist, dass der Pi Pico lediglich ein Signal zulässt. Wir müssen also nun etwas herumtricksen, dass der Piezo Buzzer das Lied abspielt, aber der Servo auch gesteuert werden kann. Meine Lösung hierzu ist, dass ich den jeweils nicht benötigten Aktor auf einen GPIO zuweise, welcher nicht belegt ist, somit ist der Aktor quasi deaktiviert. Bevor ich diesen wieder verwende, muss dieser dann lediglich wieder korrekt zugewiesen werden. from machine import Pin, PWM from utime import sleep servo = None buzzer = None grad0 = 500000 grad90 = 1500000 tones = { "cs6": 1109, "fs5" : 740, "d6" : 1175, "c6" : 1047, "f5" : 698, "b5" : 988, "e5" : 659, "bf5" : 932, "ef5" : 622, "b4" : 494, "g5" : 784, } song = def playtone(frequency): if isinstance(buzzer, Pin): initBuzzer() buzzer.duty_u16(1000) buzzer.freq(frequency) def bequiet(): if isinstance(buzzer, Pin): initBuzzer() buzzer.duty_u16(0) def playsong(mysong): for i in range(len(mysong)): if (mysong == "P"): bequiet() else: playtone(tones]) sleep(0.2) bequiet() #GPIO des Servomotor initialisieren def initServo(): global servo servo = PWM(Pin(0)) servo.freq(50) #konfigurierten Pin ändern def resetServo(): global servo servo = Pin(8, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_UP) #GPIO Buzzer initialisieren def initBuzzer(): global buzzer buzzer = PWM(Pin(1)) #konfigurierten Pin ändern def resetBuzzer(): global buzzer buzzer = Pin(9, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_UP) while True: initServo() servo.duty_ns(grad90) sleep(0.5) servo.duty_ns(grad0) sleep(0.5) resetServo() sleep(0.2) initBuzzer() sleep(0.2) playsong(song) sleep(0.2) resetBuzzer() sleep(0.2) Im Video siehst du nun das zunächst der Servo von 0° zu 90° wechselt und danach wird das Lied abgespielt. Das fertige Programm für die Spooky Box am Raspberry Pi Pico Hier jetzt das fertige Programm zum Download: MicoPython Code für die Halloween SpookyBox Read the full article

[akuntashop]

XiaoMi-Dron MIJIA D6 8K profesional con cámara Dual, fotografía óptica, cinco vías, evitación de obstáculos, juguetes de regalo, 5000M

MIJIA D6 Mini Drone 8K Profesional HD Cámara Dual Fotografía Óptica Cinco vías Evitación de obstáculos Quadcopter Juguetes Regalo 5000M UVA   Descripción: Artículo NO. : D6 Material: plástico ABS y componentes electrónicos Color: negro/gris/naranja Giroscopio: 6 ejes Frecuencia: 2,4G Canal: 4CH Motor: motor sin núcleo cepillado 716 Batería: Batería Lipo 3,7 V 1800MAH (incluida) Potencia del…

[rideordice]

Day 6/75: Chessex magenta borealis mini d6!

Day 2 of d6's

I also don't have a complete set of these and it's killing me

I have all the other Chessex Borealis polydice sets 😭