A Belated Valentine's Monster, The Love Angel <3

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know I'm late, but I wanted to share a Cupid monster with you, the Love Angel! Hope you enjoy!

Simplified Spells: Evocation

The Challenge

I’ve always wanted a better magic system for D&D. I understand that they’re tied to using Vancian magic, but it’s always kept me from playing a magic user. 5th edition has made it a lot better, in my opinion, but I still find it lacking.

One of my issues is that there are so many spells with very minor differences. Part of this is because, in the core rules, there isn’t a way to customize spells (GM can always change things, of course). We have the firebolt cantrip, which does 1d10 fire damage, but what if you want to do cold or lightning? Sure, you could take shocking grasp, but that’s a melee spell. Why can’t we just have arcane bolt, and then pick an element?

Many RPGs have been moving toward a more narrative, free-form style lately. The new Genesys system, for example, has a very open spellcasting system. I want to see if we can incorporate something like that into D&D.

Let’s try focusing all of the spells from a D&D arcane school into a single spell, starting with evocation. Evocation is generally pure damage, which is the easiest type of spell to balance. Let’s make the damage spell, our catch-all spell for damage.

Taking a look at all of the spells that deal damage, and the spell creation rules in the DMG, we can plot out the amount of damage a spell should do at certain spell levels. Our goal here is to:

1. Use damage similar to that of existing spells
2. Make something easily scalable

Certain spells like fireball break the mold, so it’s not going to be an exact match. Some normal spells are going to be stronger or weaker than our damage spell. We can eventually go back and start working on refining the process, but for now we’ll have to accept those discrepancies. Here’s the first pass at the numbers:

Spell Level	Damage
Cantrip	1d10 at 1st level 2d10 at 5th level 3d10 at 11th level 4d10 at 17th level
1	3d8
2	5d8
3	7d8
4	9d8
5	11d8
6	13d8
7	15d8
8	17d8
9	19d8

Spells that target one creature should deal more damage than those that deal damage to multiple creatures. Taking a look at other spells, some have additional effects or abilities that happen as well. All of these spells should deal less damage overall than a spell that deals pure damage.

An easy way to model this would to reduce the size of the dice used.

Let’s take a level 1 spell that hits one creature. By our rules, it would deal 3d8 damage. If we want to hit multiple creatures, then reduce the d8s to d6s. Now, our spell deals 3d6 damage. Let’s update the chart to show what it looks like with lower damage dice.

Spell Level	Damage	Additional Effect Damage
Cantrip	1d10 at 1st level 2d10 at 5th level 3d10 at 11th level 4d10 at 17th level	1d8 at 1st level 2d8 at 5th level 3d8 at 11th level 4d8 at 17th level
1	3d8	3d6
2	5d8	5d6
3	7d8	7d6
4	9d8	9d6
5	11d8	11d6
6	13d8	13d6
7	15d8	15d6
8	17d8	17d6
9	19d8	19d6

You can choose to stack this multiple times as well. If someone wants to affect an even larger area, or have two extra effects, reduce damage die size by another step, from d8 to d4, for example.

A benefit of this system would be flexibility and ease of use. However, does require the GM to decide what kind of effects are acceptable. Instead of specifying exactly what kind of effects are allowable, let’s list some suggestions. This way, each group can decide what works best for them. Some may allow a wider range of effects, while others may require a more focused approach. Both work, but here are some suggestions.

Effect Examples

·         Area of effect: (cone, burst, etc) Hits multiple creatures, allowing a saving throw for half damage.

·         Target can’t take reactions

·         Target can’t regain hit points

·         Reduce target’s speed

·         Divide the attack between multiple targets

·         Force target to make a saving throw instead of attack roll, taking no damage on a successful save

·         Inflict a condition

·         Impose disadvantage on next attack (2)

·         Grant advantage on next attack against it

Using the Spells

I can think of two ways of using this system.

1.       Customized Spells. Whenever you learn/prepare a spell, you decide which extras or flaws to apply at that time. This lowers on-the-fly spellcasting flexibility, but allows you to pick and create the spells you want to use. This would be the easiest to introduce, since it fits in to the current spellcasting system easily.

2.       Ad Hoc casting. With this method, you just prepare the Destruction spell once. Whenever you cast it, you can choose to add extras or flaws as needed. This grants the most amount of flexibility, since you can tailor your spells to do what you need. However, it only counts as one spell, which means that spellcasters have an infinite amount of damaging spells with one prepared/learned spell. Once we have a full spellcasting system overhaul, we can have a resolution to this, but as of right now I don’t have a good solution for this problem.

The Spell

Anyway, here is what our new destruction spell looks like!

This is my first attempt at simplifying the spellcasting system in D&D 5th edition. If you find this interesting, let me know if you have any other ideas or suggestions!

Masks: Overwatch NPCs

REAPER

Real Name: Gabriel Reyes

Drive: Kill overwatch operatives

Moves:

• Turn into mist, avoiding all damage.
• Disappear and reappear somewhere else
• Fill an area with bullets

Conditions:

• Angry
• Insecure
• Hopeless

Powers: mist form, endless bullets, unkillable.

SOMBRA

Real Name: ??? (Olivia Colomar)

Drive: Unravel the global conspiracy

Moves:

• Disable a device
• Hack any system
• Maneuver into an advantageous position through invisibility or teleportation

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Angry
• hopeless

Powers: Invisibility, teleportation device, hacking

DOOMFIST

Real Name: Akande Ogundimu

Drive: Only through conflict do we evolve

Moves:

• Destroy with the doomfist
• Evaluate a target’s weaknesses
• Knock enemies far away

Conditions:

• Angry
• Afraid
• Hopeless
• Insecure

Powers: Doomfist gauntlet, cybernetic implants

WIDOWMAKER

Real Name:  Amélie Lacroix

Drive: At the moment of the kill, I am alive

Moves:

• Hit a target from a far distance
• An enemy triggers a Venom Mine
• Grapple to a better position

Conditions:

• Angry
• Guilty
• Hopeless

Powers: Near zero heartrate, enhanced abilities

TRACER

Real Name:  Lena Oxton

Drive: The world could always use more heroes

Moves:

• Blink a short distance
• Recall self through time
• Detonate a pulse bomb

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Guilty
• Hopeless

Powers: Personal time control, pulse pistols

GENJI

Real Name:  Genji Shimada

Drive: Even if I sacrifice my body, I will never sacrifice my honor

Moves:

• Dash through enemies
• Reflect attacks
• Strike multiple foes with the Dragonblade

Conditions:

• Angry
• Guilty
• Insecure

Powers: Cyborg ninja, shuriken, dragonblade

MCCREE

Real Name:  Jesse McCree

Drive: justice ain’t gonna dispense itself

Moves:

• Hit a precise shot with his Peacekeeper revolver
• Stun with a flashbang
• Take your time a line up a shot. If not stopped, you hit what you want.

Conditions:

• Angry
• Afraid
• insecure

Powers: Sharpshooter, Peacekeeper revolver

PHARAH

Real Name:  Fareeha Amari

Drive: I will protect the innocent

Moves:

• Knock back with a concussive blast
• Stay out of reach with jump jets
• Unleash a barrage of rockets

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Guilty
• Insecure

Powers: Raptora combat suit, flight, rockets

SOLDIER 76

Real Name:  Jack Morrison

Drive: We’re all soldiers now

Moves:

• Pinpoint targets with tactical visor
• Heal with biotic field
• Rally troops

Conditions:

• Angry
• Guilty
• hopeless

Powers: Enhanced abilities, heavy pulse rifle with rocket launcher

BASTION

Real Name:  SST Laboratories Siege Automaton E54

Drive: I love Ganymede

Moves:

• Transform to recon mode, sentry mode, or tank mode
• Heal self from damage
• Break barriers and lay suppressing fire

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Guilty
• Insecure

Powers: Self repair, multiple configurations

HANZO

Real Name:  Hanzo Shimada

Drive: With every death comes honor. With honor, redemption

Moves:

• Hit a target at an impossible angle with scatter arrows
• Detect enemies with a sonar arrow
• Clear an area with Dragonstrike, that only damages creatures

Conditions:

• Angry
• Guilty
• Insecure

Powers: Storm bow, dragonstrike

JUNKRAT

Real Name: Jamison Fawkes

Drive: It’s a perfect day for some mayhem

Moves:

• Launch a target through the air with a concussion mine
• Trap an enemy in place with a steel trap
• Cause a large explosion with the RIP-tire

Conditions:

• Angry
• Afraid
• Hopeless

Powers: Frag launcher, mind for explosives

MEI

Real Name:  Mei-Ling Zhou

Drive: Our world is worth fighting for.

Moves:

• Freeze something with endothermic blaster
• Summon a wall of ice
• Have Snowball create blizzard-like conditions

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Guilty
• Hopeless

Powers: Endothermic blaster

TORBJÖRN

Real Name:  Torbjörn Lindholm

Drive: Build ‘em up, break ‘em down.

Moves:

• Repair a device or item
• Create an item with personal forge
• Shoot with entrenched turret

Conditions:

• Angry
• Guilty
• Insecure

Powers: personal forge, rivet gun,

D.VA

Real Name:  Hana Song

Drive: I play to win

Moves:

• Absorb projectiles with defense matrix
• Trigger massive self-destruct explosion
• Master a game

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Angry
• Insecure

Powers: MEKA suit, gaming skills

ROADHOG

Real Name:  Mako Rutledge

Drive: I’m a one-man apocalypse

Moves:

• Hook a target and drag them close
• Push enemies back with a flurry of scrap with Whole Hog
• Get a surge of healing and energy with Take a Breather

Conditions:

• Angry
• Afraid
• Hopeless

Powers: Scrap gun, enhanced strength and endurance, chain hook

WINSTON

Real Name:  Winston

Drive: Imagination is the essence of discovery

Moves:

• Protect from attacks by placing a barrier projector on the ground
• Cover a large distance with jump jets
• Invent a new device
• When angry, enter a Primal Rage

Conditions:

• Guilty
• Angry
• Insecure

Powers: Genetically engineered gorilla, tesla cannon.

ORISA

Real Name:  Orisa

Drive: Your safety is my primary concern

Moves:

• Forcibly move enemies with Halt!
• Place a protective barrier that absorbs damage
• Resist movement and damage with Fortify
• Place a supercharger that amplifies the attacks and damage of allies nearby.

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Guilty
• Insecure

Powers: fusion driver, barrier creation

REINHARDT

Real Name:  Reinhardt Wilhelm

Drive: Justice will be done

Moves:

• Block attacks with a barrier field
• Move quickly and crush enemies with Charge
• Strike the ground and knock enemies down with Earthshatter

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Guilty
• Insecure

Powers: Crusader armor, rocket hammer, barrier field

ZARYA

Real Name:  Aleksandra Zaryanova

Drive: Together we are strong

Moves:

• Block damage with particle barrier
• Grow stronger by absorbing damage
• Trap enemies in a graviton surge

Conditions:

• Angry
• Afraid
• Hopeless

Powers: Strongest non-superhero woman, particle cannon

Ana

Real Name:  Ana Amari

Drive: Never stop fighting for what you believe in

Moves:

• Put someone to sleep with a sleep dart
• Heal damage with biotic rifle
• Boost an ally with nanites

Conditions:

• Guilty
• Insecure
• Hopeless

Powers: Biotic rifle

Lucio

Real Name:  Lúcio Correia dos Santos

Drive: Come on, let’s bring it together!

Moves:

• Speed up the movement of nearby allies
• Amp up a crowd with music
• Drop the beat and put a sound barrier on allies

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Angry
• Guilty

Powers: Sonic amplifier, wall riding,

Mercy

Real Name:  Angela Ziegler

Drive: I’ll be watching over you.

Moves:

• Heal injuries or boost damage dealt
• Revive an unconscious or dying ally
• Discover a cure or administer long term aid.

Conditions:

• Guilty
• Afraid
• Insecure

Powers: Valkyrie suit, Caduceus Staff

Moira

Real Name:  Moira O’Deorain

Drive: science will reveal the truth

Moves:

• Heal allies and damage enemies with biotic orbs and coalescence.
• Reveal an unexpected side-effect of treatment
• Fade into the shadows and teleport a short distance

Conditions:

• Angry
• Afraid
• Hopeless

Powers: Genetic tampering, biotic grasp and orbs

Symmetra

Real Name:  Satya Vaswani

Drive: The true enemy of humanity is disorder

Moves:

• Teleport allies with a stationary teleporter
• Injure and slow enemies with places turrets
• Create a hard light object

Conditions:

• Guilty
• Insecure
• Hopeless

Powers: Hard light constructs

Zenyatta

Real Name:  Tekhartha Zenyatta

Drive: True self is without form

Moves:

• Spout wisdom and enlightenment
• Follow a creature with an orb that weakens or heals
• Enter a transcendent stance with pulsing, healing energy

Conditions:

• Afraid
• Guilty
• Insecure

Powers: Telekinetic control of orbs

Fight a Super Saiyan! The Unleashed Monk NPC

This week's entry to the NPC Gallery is the Unleashed Monk.

Ok, it's not actually a super saiyan. But it's what I thought of as soon as I saw the picture.

The unleashed monk is what I see as a fantasy version of a fighter going super saiyan. Instead of it being an ability utilized due to heritage, it's something any sufficiently trained monk can use, although with danger to their own body.

Check on the CR 18 Unleashed Monk.

Designing an NPC

Today we're going to go through a step-by-step process for designing an NPC!

There are many ways you can go about creating an NPC. When I need to come up with a cool NPC, I head to the internet to find a cool picture to use for inspiration.

Let's use this cool picture from Daniel Kamarudin (theDURRRRIAN)

What are your first impressions of this person when you see this picture?

Here are some of mine

• Physical power
• Heavy armor
• Iconic helmet

I think this person is a fighter. Based on his unique armor, he probably has a nickname. His helmet looks like it has a horn, so let's call him The Rhino.

No, not that rhino

Well, if we call him the Rhino, we need to give him a charge ability, don't we? Let's add a charge.
To look at how charge works, look in the Monster Manual for monsters that already have it. Here's what we'll use.

• Charge. If the Rhino moves at least 15 feet straight toward a target and hits with a melee attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 18 (4d8) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. Charge only applies on the first attack that hits in a turn.

Most of this was taken directly from an existing monster, all that changed was the distance required to move and the damage/DC.

What other abilities can we give The Rhino? He's got a big shield, let's use that. A number of NPCs in the Monster Manual have "Parry", let's use that. (Parry appears to add a creature's proficiency to their AC as a reaction).

The Rhino looks like an aggressive person. I want him to be able to use the shield offensively, so let's give him a Shield Bash ability. I could make it just a simple damaging ability, but I want to try something different. Let's have the shield bash just move the target if they fail on a saving throw. This won't change the Rhino's Challenge Rating (CR) at all, so we can add it without worry.

• Shield Bash. When The Rhino hits with a melee attack, it can use a bonus action to try to push the target. The target must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw, or be pushed back 5 feet on a failure.

Let's move onto some of the more numerical aspects, the statistics.

The Rhino looks incredibly strong. The highest level a human can normally achieve on Strength is a 20, so let's use that.

He doesn't look very agile, so I wouldn't put his Dexterity high. He's a skilled fighter, so let's do just slightly above average, 12.

Constitution looks like it would be high as well, so let's make it an 18. I could see making it a 20 as well.

I see the Rhino as surprisingly insightful instead of having book smarts, so I'll give him a higher Wisdom instead of Intelligence. We don't need to make him dumb though, so I'll give him average Intelligence of 10.

Finally we come to Charisma. I mean, that's a pretty looking dude, but Charisma isn't just appearance. I'm starting to get an idea in my mind of The Rhino, seeing him as a leader. Let's give him a 14 on Charisma. It's not super high, but it's certainly above average, making him an effective leader.

Before we go any further, let's talk about where we stand with The Rhino. He's shaping up as a physically strong warrior, who also leads. To get a nickname like The Rhino, I'm thinking that he has to be a mercenary. They get cool names, right? Anyway, The Rhino is a leader of a mercenary group, we can figure out who later.

With this new information in mind, let's do saving throws quickly. We can add two saving throws without affecting the CR. A good idea is to look at the weakest stats and apply the saving throws there if you want to reduce the character's weaknesses. I want the Rhino to be an all around good fighter, so I'll amplify his weakest saves, Dexterity and Wisdom.

The Rhino's skills can come naturally from the vision we have. Athletics is obvious, due to his physique, as well as Intimidate. I see him as surprisingly insightful, so let's go with Insight. Finally, even though he's not smart, he's a tactical leader. I think he's well read with historical battles and tactics, so let's give him History as well.

Armor. Looks like he's got heavy armor, so let's call it plate. He's got a shield, so add those together for a total of AC 20.

The hardest party is figuring out hit points and attacks. For beginners, I would suggest looking at the hit die and number of attacks of a similar creature to the one you want to make. For the Rhino, I see him as a big, beefy tank. He has a large AC, so let's give him a large pool of hit points as well.

For his attacks, three is a good number for a melee fighter. He's not getting damage from anything else except his charge, so he needs multiple attacks to keep his damage up. One thing I did was increase the damage he deals with melee weapons. A maul would usually deal 2d6 damage, but I doubled it to 4d6 to make him a bigger threat.

Finally, we calculate his Offensive CR and Defensive CR, and then find the average. By doing the math, we come out at a pretty big CR 13. Playtesting is important in figuring out the real CR a monster/NPC should be, but this is a good guideline to use.

That's it! We've made an NPC. This is what our final version looks like.

The Rhino

That's the very quick, very brief run-through of designing and creating an NPC. I hope this was helpful, and stay tuned for more in the future. I'm adding an NPC gallery in the Homebrew section where the Rhino and other NPCs will live.

Do you have an NPC you want to stat out? Hit me up on twitter @pirategonzalez and let me know what you have!

Undertale- Sans Stats

SPOILERS FOR UNDERTALE AHEAD

The hardest boss in Undertale is the most surprising. Laid back skeleton Sans has been holding back, and the only reason you’re alive is because he made a promise to someone.

i'm sans. sans the skeleton

This stat block mechanically represents his abilities in a D&D world situation. He’s incredibly powerful, with the ability to use Reverse Gravity, a 7th level spell, at will. Size limits don’t apply to this, so even the largest threat is still going to get affected by this spell. His only real protection is his incredibly high pool of hit points and his ability to use shortcuts to escape.

If you’re fighting sans in D&D, you probably did something wrong. He is Karmic Retribution incarnate. And if you can’t SAVE and LOAD, you’re screwed.

you're gonna have a bad time.

Sans was an interesting character to me, and can be seen as an archetype. He’s a lazy friend with incredible power, who only interferes when absolutely necessary. He knows that when faced with people who can control time, he doesn’t stand a chance, so why bother? You can create a Sans-like NPC in your game.

If deities that can alter reality or change time exist, there’s not much you can do against them. The NPC has incredible power, akin to a demi-god, but knows that any major actions they take are meaningless. They become fatalistic.

When the NPC can’t sit aside any longer, they finally step in. They have a strong ideal that propels them to act, even with knowledge that it may not matter. They’re going to give it their all. And you better hope that they’re not fighting you.

Here is the statblock for Sans! I hope you enjoy it.

Ant Extermination: Side Quest

A few months back I made a free, short D&D 5e adventure called Ant Extermination: Side Quest. Ants accidentally got into an alchemist's growth formula, and turn into giant ants! You can check out the adventure here.

While making the adventure, I created four new Giant Ant variations. Not all of them made it into the adventure, but I hope you can use them yourself!

Molly Ostertag's Paper Dragon

Molly Ostertag is an illustrator who currently works on the webcomic Strong Female Protagonist, and just published The Witch Boy. She also happens to be a DM for a D&D game.

On twitter one of the players, Noelle Stevenson (another cartoonist whose works include Nimona and Lumberjanes) posted a drawing from an encounter with a Paper Dragon that Molly created. Molly later posted the stats for the dragon, and the mechanics were really cool!

a little sketch from D&D the other night, when Quorrin told a story to a paper dragon to save her friends pic.twitter.com/Zb07YPFHOA

— Noelle Stevenson (@Gingerhazing) November 12, 2017

I decided to give her dragon the full Monster Manual treatment, including Noelle's art!

The paper dragon can inflict madness with it's breath attack, and even destroy memories! A normally dangerous creature just got even worse!

Check out the Paper Dragon here, and check out Molly and Noelle's work, they're great!

Creature From The Black Lagoon

I believe this is my final classic monster conversion, but here is the Creature from the Black Lagoon!

King Kong

October is over, but I still had some more classic monsters I wanted to do for D&D 5e.

For our next entry, the Eighth Wonder of the World, King Kong!

Apparently they're gearing up for a King Kong vs Godzilla movie. Based on the stats, I think Godzilla has the upper hand, but what do you think?