#dnd thoughts

[storyboard-sketch]

Repair as a DnD power word

You guys ever think about how the "Repair" skill in games has the potential to be so overpowered that it can be used for an isakai anime? Like...hear me out

"Repair" on its own is an extremely flexible term, isn't it? It means to fix something that's damaged or not working correctly. The latter of which can be up to a person's own tastes.

"Repair" as a power word could be used to:

turn a rusted and/or broken weapon to brand new

restore shattered artifacts or ruins

fix up a run down shelter to something even kings could stay in

take spoiled or poisoned food and make it edible again

clean water systems of all pollutants or toxins

heal wounds from small cuts to broken bones or even damaged organs

take a broken egg and restore it entirely (I'm sure there's a dragon mother out there that would be VERY grateful if you saved her unborn babies)

If your DM allows it...you could even "Repair" undead back to life. Making for a VERY confused new NPC or party member.

Take a cursed weapon and make it safe without losing the benefits if you roll high enough.

Obviously you need junk stock piled in your bag of holding to make it work (wood, meat, metal, bone etc) but it's SO fun to think about the potential.

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

My favorite part of the online DnD community is that it's pretty consistently ahead of WotC and does things with 5e that blows the official releases out of the water.

Take the magic school setting, as seen in 2021's Strixhaven expansion. The idea had already been done, and better, in the original TAZ campaign (2014), Campaign 2 of C.R. (2018, which was so good that WotC published it as its own setting), D20: Fantasy High (2018) and the Mage Madness Arc of NADDPOD (2019).

The big names also consistently do things with 5e it was never meant to do, especially D20, which pushed the system to its limits with Tiny Heist and Starstruck Odyssey.

The smaller indy creators are also doing things the system hadn't before, whether that's the afro-centric content of shows like Three Black Halflings, Jocat's wildly successful Crap Guide, the Arcane Arcade, Tulok the Barbarian's How to Play or any number of other series I doubt this site's character limit would let me heap praise upon.

TL;DR, WotC is far behind the stuff that online creators have made.

[awkward-fink]

Because its time to build a new character for the new coming DnD campaign, my mind went out to think, what classes would Tf141 be? Well.... I am open for other suggestions, but: Price - Barbarian, Totem of Bear or a Paladin, Oath of the Crown (double meaning here and I am loving it!) Gaz - Sorcerer, Lunar (because holy shite, those are awesome) Ghost - Cleric of the Death Domain / or Blood Hunter Soap - Artificer, Arteillerist (duh.)

Alejandro - Rogue, Soulknife (he guards what is HIS with a drive I dont see in any other class.) Rudy - Fighter, Banneret (he is the backbone, a rally point, Alejandros rock to lean on, always there)

König - Fighter, Champion (those muscles.... please...) Horangi - Warlock, Pact of the Archfey or a Monk, Way of Shadow (And then there is me, just staring at all of them, foaming at the mouth. Help.)

[lunian]

did some litol research on Sorcerers in dnd/forgotten realms lore out of nothing and like

so Blackstaff Academy also has Sorcerer apprentices, alongside with Wizards, HUH. So they also have Sorcerer academics and teachers.

I suppose, they have different and separate kinds of training but I'm just remembering all beef these two classes have between each other so I'm having a very big serious question

How many times sorcerer students wanted to beat up Gale when he was a kid?

Because I can PRETTY MUCH TELL HE WAS INSUFFERABLE

"You are not versed in magic, are you" MISTER, YOU WAS TAUGHT IN MAGIC ALONGSIDE WITH OTHER SORCERERS *pushes him into the locker*

(c) this post was made by Gale enjoyer and doesn't support bullying

[primordialsneeze]

I can't find much on the timeline of Steeplechase other than Carmine built the first layer in 2030, but I have a theory? Was Montrose an Old Kidedelphia kid? Did he get left to grow up in a daycare and that's why he knows so much about the park? And has a strange attachment to animatronics? What if Dentonic raises the daycare kids as future employees? Did Montrose become obsessed with Ephemera bc he wanted to know what was so amazing that his parents would leave him in the care of animatronic daycare workers?

Also if Old Kidadelphia was closed off 4-7 years ago (Gooch was dropped off around 9 years old and is now 13), why weren't the daycare workers hardlight? They had hardlight at that point, so why have human workers that leave? Or even if they WERE hard light, why would Dentonic pull the hardlight workers out of the layer rather than just brick them up alongside the kids??

[drowsylock]

Small dnd/worldbuilding thought today: why don’t more people play around with “flat earth” type worlds?

Obviously no world is flat, but it’s such a fantastical idea that it’s a shame not more people play around with it. The OG is clearly “Discworld” by the late and great Terry Pratchett (I think his estate has a Discworld TTRPG set to release soon). But my goal is that by 2026 I have a unique flatworld setting.

[thetealhummingbird]

Just a thought.... What if the more warlocks a patron has, the stronger they become, raising them to eventual god-like status.

[madamrynodm]

Thinking big thoughts about The Hotel cast playing D&D together

The Manager is definitely the Dungeon Master. She gets to control everything and keep everything in order. The most straightforward narrator ever. Definitely bullies The Owner every chance she gets. Strictly adheres to the written rules

The Lobby Boy... oh boy he's a dice goblin. He's got dice pouring out of every hole in his uniform. With his bug motif, I'd say he's a druid player. The Manager only fudges rolls for him, everyone else can suck it up. Locathah druid

The Owner doesn't wanna be there but plays because Madam Hotel wants him to. Probably plays a basic fighter so he doesn't have to be very involved. Definitely plays a kenku for them crow aesthetics. Kenku fighter

The Bellhop is the murderiest murderhobo to ever roll the dice! A rogue that kills everything. NPCs, random animals, the other people at the table. People have to clean their dice after each session. She's probably got one of those sets where all the dice are weapons. Goblin rogue

The Concierge actually takes the game seriously, probably plays a paladin or graviturgy wizard. Min-maxed to the extreme. Never rolls below a 15, The Manager hates it. Human paladin or wizard

The Auditor definitely made some kind of warlock that totally isn't obsessed with Madam Hotel her patron. Psshh naw this totally isn't a self-insert fanfic. Kisses ass at the table and just fixated on Madam Hotel's character. Thri-kreen warlock

Madam Hotel is the bard. Mind flayer bard

[indiecrowarts]

Since I started playing dnd years ago I’ve started to enter the mentality of:

“How can I turn this failure into lore?”

And I think that says something about ttrpgs teaching you new ways of thinking

[samuel-the-blonde22]

Me having Dnd Character thoughts:

A Clockwork Soul sorcerer sound fun to play, basically playing Blue from MTG in dnd, and I really like the spell Tasha's Overworldly Guise, so they can be an angel of some sort, maybe an Aasimar, maybe a bit of Order cleric, maybe? Catholic angel is such a vibe.

Me, realizing I've just made Sunday from Honkai: Star Rail...

[dcotommy]

So my main dnd character is canonically adopted by a level 26 magic idk my DM refuses to drop more lore about powerful wizard dude

Anyways in the lore my dnd character also has a mom, there is no broken relationship or hurt

Just a completely loving family

The larger art of the mom was the last time my character saw his mom

She’s a Fey

This is in progress lore. Now my character is currently trying free his dad from purgatory after the unknown amount of war crimes against the gods? Dm said he tried deleting the weave god

One of moms goals is they wanted to be an archery but didn’t get to that point

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

The online DnD actual play community is a great lesson in what happens when talented creators are allowed to make what they want without the restrictions brought about by network interference - creativity and innovation brought about by a desire for self-improvement by passionate voices.

The two big examples that I'll use to prove this point are Matthew Mercer's Critical Role and Brennan Lee Mulligan's Dimension 20, as they're the big names in the community. When Dimension20 Fantasy High was released in September of 2018, Critical Role was relatively early in The Mighty Nein, and there was a definite improvement in the storytelling of CR as D20 continued, and this improvement drove an improvement in Brennan's storytelling, which drove Matt Mercer etc., etc. until as of now they're releasing their best content to date (Starstruck Odyssey/Neverafter for D20 and Bells Hells for CR). I doubt that this would have happened if the pair had been constrained by trend-chasing corporate execs.

There's also the fact that the stories told are so far outside of the network TV/streaming service norm that they have completely unique feelings to them, especially the anthology-driven storytelling of D20. Stories that take hundreds upon hundreds of hours to experience and short, genre anthology series are, especially after the failure of GoT, almost unheard of, but the freedom that the pair have allows them to pursue these kinds of stories.

The best part of this, though, is that there aren't any hard feelings between CR and D20, and the casts of the two have crossed over so many times that it's essentially one big community, and they actively engage with voices that aren't as well known to foster a sense of diversity and inclusivity with others in the space.

One last thing - both Brennan and Matt have gone out of their way to combat the effects that their shows have had, making it abundantly clear that, as people who essentially make DnD content for a living, their product is far outside what anyone should expect of the DMs at their home games, and as someone who DMs, I really appreciate that fact.

[smorp-a-dorp]

A friend and I were having a discussion about the fanon versus canon interpretations of firbolgs. He revealed to me today that all the fanon firbolgs inspired by Critical Role are actually cows. I spent this whole time thinking they were goats for some reason.

That being said, I have a proposal: bovid firbolgs. Cows, goats, sheep, yaks, buffalo, wildebeest, antelopes, hell even dik-dik. Tell me a gazelle or a bison firbolg wouldn’t be sick as fuck.

[ninawolv3rina]

The moment in the game: [mostly comedic banter]

Me, thinking about it hours after the fact: But what if it was like. Heartbreaking?

[cassiartblog]

Also uhhh I’m the anon who spoke about Graz’zt, Belial and who doesn’t shut up about Neverwinter Nights. My brain’s like super mega fixed on Baator , devils and archfiends atm (less so the Abyss even though I find Graz’zt interesting with his relationship with Tasha)

Hi :D

I love it so much that I'm not the only one who is super fixated on the nine hells atm! And I'm always happy to see another question in my ask box :D

Baator is so an interesting place, I try to learn everything interesting about it. And your questions really got me thinking. Atm I am working on my own interpretation of Belial and draw it, I hope i will finish it soon (as long as I don't draw Mephi instead again lmao)

I'm also working on Asmo, Levistus and soon Dispater.

Oh and the tip with neverwinter nights was awesome! I have the game now (but I'm still at the beginning, still didn't finish Bg3) and I listen to the Mephistopheles lines on YouTube often. His voice is very good and how he developers in the game and with the choices you make is awesome. Some lines really got me laughing. Poor Mephi.

And Graz'zt... Tbh the only demon I find interesting atm but I'm not deep into abyss lore, is a very interesting character as well. And Abyssal Tieflings are fascinating too. I love their design.

So don't hesitate to ask me whenever you have a new thought, you really gave me a few good ideas :D

Thank you for your questions so far and I wish you a hellish good day and rest-weekend, greetings from Cania XD

[drowsylock]

DUNGEONS

Hellooooooooo everyone it's Drowsy and I have not post nearly as much as I wanted to on here (or anywhere TBH) and I wanted to start off today by reinstating a favorite of mine-- what's that? You have no clue what I'm talking about. Oh, how sorry I am, let me backup, because today is--

Every(ish) Wednesday I like to try and do a thingy thing-- a worldbuilding thingy thing. And I haven't been doing that, which is so very sad. Which is also why I'm bringing it back!

Now for today I'm gonna be talking about something who is, I'd say, very past the cultural zeitgeist now (by a couple months) which is Dungeon Meshi, why? Because I only recently finished the series and it pertains to today's topic-- DUNGEONS.

Why Dungeons? Well 1.) because I feel like they can still serve a purpose in modern D&D/other TTRPGs, 2.) they don't get enough love (in my opinion), and 3.) I plan to use Dungeons (or rather one honkin' huge one) in my own project. Sound good? Awesome.

First what is a Dungeon? Merriam-Webster describes them as "a dark usually underground prison or vault." Which I like but we can do better.

For simplicity sake we are going to describe a dungeon as "an obscured, usually maze-like, structure which gives host to a particular adventure or set of adventures." Vague, but pointedly vague.

Now the thing about my style of game, whether or not it's D&D, is it's always always roleplay based, I've never been a big "Dungeon-Crawler" GM, but I used to be a big "Dungeon-Crawler" player, which comes with I think just the crowds I was playing with when I was first introduced to the game and the community (y'know, way back when). But there isn't anything wrong with playing dungeon crawls, I just like my game a bit more grounded in reality. That was until I discovered a world, or rather series that tackles that dungeon crawling in such a unique and interesting way, I am of course referring to--

Delicious in Dungeons otherwise known by it's far more popular name, Dungeon Meshi. This series has a real nostalgic vibe for me, like an old school game but played by a serious GM and party who want to push the boundaries of their game. That is of course thanks to the creator Ryoko Kui and her deep love of all things fantasy.

Well what makes it so fresh and new in the staple of an already heavy and preexisting genre of fantasy, well for starters, and the most obvious, is the cooking element. Each monster has its own unique worldbuilding, flavor, and unique ways to be vital to a single episode of the series. There is also the subtle worldbuilding and lore of the dungeon itself which defines the dungeon and gives it its own personality. There is also the use of fantasy staples (Halfling rogue, Human fighter, Elf who's good at magic, big strong Dwarf) and turning those tropes on their head (Halfling who's in his 40s, Human leader who isn't charismatic, Elf who isn't always good at magic, Dwarf who likes cooking). All of this combines to make a setting which feels uniquely its own.

Now, of course Dungeon Meshi is just one fine example of this worldbuilding but there are many more, each with their own unique styles, lore, creatures, treasures, etc. But how can we make *YOUR* dungeons more interesting?

The Flavor: well for any good Dungeon it should take on a sort of character of its own, you can make your dungeons unique by giving them their own character traits.

Think of unique descriptors or traits that would flavor your dungeon to have a specific pizzazz. For one of my settings "Carved from Ruin" dungeon delving is a key role in the story, so to distinguish them they each have their own flavors: one of them is buried deep in the dessert, washed away under a mountain of sand and acts more like a pyramid lost beneath the sands. Another one could be a necromancer's laboratory with a keen sense for undeath. Yet another could be trapped between dimensions and splits between the different realms of existence between layers.

Either way you go about it, each dungeon should feel uniquely its own. Think of different places, reasons, and types of dungeons that would be built.

The Monsters: now I don't suggest spending time developing what each and every monster tastes like (unless you're into that kind of thing) but give the dungeon unique monsters, not just your run of the mill goblins, ghouls, and other g-starting-words. Make them feel varied and like a orchestra of different beings.

I for one don't subscribe to the idea of "evil races" in any TTRPG, there are evil people who do evil things, but not every one of a group is evil. Goblins might rob you because they need money for their desolate villages to trade with their Dwarven neighbors, and skeletons might be able to reconnect to their souls from when they were alive. However, some animals or creatures may act on instinct, such as slimes may detect you as a food source and they need more nutrients than rat dung and bones. A pack of roaming basilisks may have set up nests in the depths of a dungeon for protection.

Each monster/animal/creature should have purpose, and purpose more than just "I'm evil!" Good storytelling comes when stories cross and blend into one or many different stories.

And finally, we have play with the status quo. The norm of the dungeon should not be the norm of the surface world, things get weird down here. I almost use Dungeons as the Wild Wests of my settings, where nearly everything is legal and laws go out the window.

Perhaps the nearby dungeon serves as the home of the town's Black Market, or rather its been taken over by turncoat Adventurers who have become more like poachers. Either way these Dungeons don't work well with the "status quo" of the above world.

Aaaaand yeah! I hope all those were helpful, and let me know if this is something you're interested in seeing in the future! I worked hard on this one and maybe later I'll talk about my own project. Any ways I hope to see you all again very very soon. And with that... *yawn* I'm... uh... Zzzz... Zzz... Drowsy... Zzzz...