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.
How can you handle a fitting, cinematic death for a PC when death can happen suddenly and randomly?
Adam Koebel posted this comment to Twitter, and it generated a lot of conversation.
the most significant change i think D&D needs to make it really work for RPG-as-show is a way to maintain character throughout a campaign without taking the fangs out of the system. an alternate-to-death failure state.
— adam koebel (@skinnyghost) January 1, 2018
Adam’s comment is specific to streaming, but it’s an interesting idea. D&D’s rules allow death to happen at any time, which works in most games. However, streamed games are for an audience, and their needs are sometimes different. Gaming groups that focus on character development and story may find that they want some more agency in their characters destinies. How can we accommodate this?
Changing the normal rules of D&D isn’t necessary, since this is something that individual tables can house rule themselves. At its core, this is about wanting more control over the shared story, so a possible solution should be narrative in nature. The fewer rules, the better.
So...this is how...I die...
I have a quick solution that I’ve put together, and I’d like to hear your opinions on it.
When a character would be killed, they are instead stable and unconscious at 1 hit point, but they are marked by Death. The character will meet their end soon, or be forced to retire from the adventuring group. Work with your GM privately to decide how your character will move on.
Mortal wounds are one way of handling this, but aren’t necessary. You know the character will die, so you can work on making it as heroic or fitting as you need. If don’t have anything in mind, or think the death will serve the story, you can die in the moment!
When you can specify a time of death for your character, you avoid the issue of having a player sit around and not participate in the game. A character’s death is unfortunate, and not being able to participate for an indeterminate amount of time can be frustrating. Death is set up to be a penalty, instead of another story moment.
Come back into the Light.
Resurrection in D&D can cheapen death. Once you achieve a high enough level, the basic rules allow for death to be a revolving door. This feels good when a character you like gets to keep playing, but removes the importance of death. When you allow players to find a fitting death for their character, resurrection isn’t as necessary. With this idea, you can get rid of resurrection magic entirely.
What do you think? Do you have any ideas, or do you do something differently for your game? Let me know!
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
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.
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.
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!
This game is awesome!
I have been running a game of Masks for the last couple of months, and I love the system. I’ll talk about the system itself at some point later, but I just had a very cool event occur in our game that I wanted to share.
The characters
Nexus (The Transformed). Fused with an alien silicon based life-form, and now looks like an android. Technomancy powers.
Firefly (The Outsider). Princess of a bee-like alien planet, partying on earth while avoiding her royal duties. Psychic powers.
Jishaku (The Reformed). Daughter of the Iron Emperor, Japan’s equivalent of Magneto. Turned away from her father and is trying to be a hero. Magnetic powers.
And our star of this session:
Friction (The Janus). Physics geek who wants to prove that she’s not ‘boring’. Control of friction.
Meet Friction
At the end of the previous session, Friction received a call from her younger brother, Jack. A villain named Teegan Queen spoke instead, stating that she had kidnapped Friction’s brother and wanted her to come to a location, alone.
Friction went to confront Teegan Queen, stealthily infiltrating a surprisingly empty mansion. Upon finding Teegan, she began to fight but locked eyes with a large mirror in the hallway. Her reflection was wearing a different costume. Friction suddenly felt ill, as the world seemed to wobble.
When her senses returned, she found herself face to face with her reflection outside the mirror, who seemed to hold a special hatred for Friction. The two of them began to fight, and Friction was able to remove the doppelganger’s mask, revealing herself but aged a few years.
As the fight progressed, the doppelganger revealed herself as Friction from the future. In her future, Jack died because she wasn’t strong enough to save him. Now that she’s older and stronger, she sees this as an opportunity to save Jack and live in a new timeline.
Then Friction’s player surprised me.
Friction acknowledged that her future-self was stronger, and better suited to save Jack. She surrendered to herself.
Future Friction, full of contempt for her past self, threw young Friction through the mirror and shattered it. Now, future Friction will live in the past and change the timeline.
This was an incredible moment, and has opened up so many interesting possibilities. For now, we are going to have Friction’s player control her future self, without letting her teammates know about the change.
Even better, one of our players, Firefly, wasn’t able to make the session. She has NO IDEA about what happened, and we’re going to keep it that way. We aren’t going to tell her about the scene, and see if she is able to notice anything different.
What is Masks? A way to throw as much drama and teen angst at a game as possible. It's the best.
This is sure to be an exciting game, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
Pirate Gonzalez Games is Working on a Kickstarter!
Coming to Kickstarter soon will be the launch of the Archive of Magic Items (AMI)!
Chainsaw Blade
Since the launch of D&D 5th edition, I’ve been creating fun, unique magic items for the system. A few years and 300+ magic items later, and I’m finally going to launch a Kickstarter for publishing!
The writing is already done, although some playtesting of tricky items is still needed. The majority of the kickstarter costs are going to art! The items I’ve created may sound cool, but seeing them fleshed out brings it to a whole other level.
I’ve already tapped Matthew Sargent (@mbsargent) and Alli Grimes (@gracefulxdead) for some initial art, which you can see here. With a successful Kickstarter, I’ll be able to put in more art!
I’m expecting to launch Q1 2018, but stay tuned for updates!
If you’re interested in helping to be part of the playtest, reach out to me on Twitter @pirategonzalez
I hope you like it!
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.
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!
Playing a tank is a common term in RPG video games. As a tank, your role is to protect your teammates by taking damage for them. Games like World of Warcraft have built in mechanics that force an enemy to target you. Tabletop RPGs, however, don’t have an AI. The Game Master decides what the enemies do and who they attack. How do you play a tank then?
Here are 5 ways to effectively play a tank in D&D 5th edition:
1. High Hit Points, High AC
I'm wearing armor over my armor. That gives me twice the AC, right?
Most attacks from NPCs target a player’s armor class (AC), and deal 0 damage on a miss. The higher your AC is, the less likely it is that you’ll be hit by a weapon attack. Wearing heavy armor, carrying a shield, spells, and certain class abilities are ways to increase your AC. With 5th edition’s bonded accuracy, having a high AC early on is very hard for enemies to hit.
Having a large amount of hit points is critical as well. Even with a crazy high AC, you’ll still take damage. Spells, traps, and environmental effects can target your saving throws, and can deal damage even on successful saves. Having a large pool of hit points is a key component of being a successful tank. Getting reduced to 0 hit points in a couple of hits isn’t going to do you much good. For example, a monk can have a pretty high AC due to their class abilities, but they don’t get as many hit points as a fighter or barbarian. Getting hit hurts a monk a lot more than a barbarian.
2. Mechanics
There are only a few abilities that force attacks against a target, like the compelled duel spell, but even things that grant penalties for NOT attacking you is an option. The DMG has this as an optional rule, a cool carryover from 4th edition. Marking a target grants a target disadvantage if their attack doesn’t include you as a target.
Sentinel and Polearm Master is a combination of feats that makes it very difficult for creatures to get past you. On a successful opportunity attack, you lock them in place.
Other mechanics that benefit a tank are boosts to your AC, temporary hit points, and resistance or immunity to damage. The barbarian gets resistance to the most common forms of damage while raging, effectively doubling their hit points.
3. Positioning
Always take the high ground.
If playing in a theater of the mind style, describe your intentions along with your actions. Take these two examples:
“I rush at the goblin and attack.”
versus
“I rush at the goblin and attack, putting myself between Wazo the Wizard and the goblins”.
The first example only focuses on your attack, while the second shows that protection of your teammate is important to you. You haven’t done anything mechanically different, but by adding some more description you’ve established something as fact in the narrative. If the goblins want to attack the wizard, the GM knows that you’re in the way.
4. Taunt/Intimidate
Come at me bro!
If you can’t force a target to attack you, the next best thing is to make them WANT to attack you. Make yourself impossible to be ignored. Enemy archer aiming at your cleric? Make fun of their clothing. Insult their family. Do something to focus their attention on you. Spiderman is an excellent example of this. He taunts and quips with his opponents, making them REALLY want to squash him.
Intimidation can be done in the same way, although it’s all about how you direct it. Intimidating might cause someone to be afraid of you, avoiding you and attacking someone else. As a tank, you don’t want this. You want to seem like you’re the biggest threat, the one to focus their attention on first. If you’re trying to intimidate creatures into attacking you, specify the intent, otherwise, a common assumption is that you are frightening something away.
5. Change Tactics As Needed
A fighting style for every day of the week!
Unlike a video game, not every enemy is going to be susceptible to the same tactic. Part of the beauty of a tabletop RPG is having enemies react in a dynamic fashion. Maybe you’re fighting a tactical general who knows to focus on the wizard and healers first. No taunting or bluffing is going to get him to change his tactics, so you’ll have to rely on positioning.
Learning how to play an effective tank will involve trial and error, and will change between games. What worked against wolves in your last game may not work against them with a new DM in a new world. You’ll need to pay attention and learn to adapt.
These are just some ways to play an effective tank in D&D. Do you play a tank or defender class? Let us know how you play in the comments!
Bonus: Let’s see how many comments we get about the word “tank” not having a place in D&D, or the idea of playing a “tank” being wrong. Bonus points if 4th edition is mentioned in a disparaging way!
I'm going to PAX Unplugged!
Read MoreMolly 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!
