Unnatural Twenty

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement) This symbol is usually of religious or civic significance. When presented to citizens of the issuing authority (a bonus action), the bearer has advantage on all Charisma checks and Wisdom checks related to those citizens. If the bearer or their allies attack, cast a spell, or damage those citizens then the effect ends.

Wondrous item, uncommon This key appears to be made from a single bone. It grants a +5 bonus on checks to unlock doors.

Weapon (spear), rare (requires attunement by a character with darkvision) This spear is a magic weapon that grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. It seems to be made from normal wood and metal, but is completely black. When used in complete darkness, attacks against the bearer have disadvantage.

Part 1 I thought some more about what I want a game of D&D to be like, particularly if I run a game in Calidar . Having four classes available to players feels like old school D&D games, that’s why I decided to use the fifth edition Basic Rules . Now I’m thinking of going a bit further with some additional rules tweaks. Wizards Wizards will be evokers if we use the basic rules. I wanted to have a system similar to Wonder & Wickedness . In my version, any spell that deals damage as part of its effect will not deal damage. That makes a lot of spells less useful, if not completely useless. Evokers will be able to use an action to convert a spell slot into raw magical damage. At character creation the player will decide what form this takes, in terms of the sensory effects, as well as the game mechanics of it. They might want their magic to affect an area, or a single target. It can deal damage of one type, like lightning, fire, or force. They can make an attack roll o...

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement by a monk) This leather lined metal armguard seems to be made of polished silver. It is engraved with mystical symbols. While wearing this armguard, you gain a +1 bonus to AC if you are wearing no armor and using no shield. If you use the deflect missiles class feature and reduce the damage taken to 0, you can attack with the missile without spending a ki point.

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement) This unadorned silver circlet feels cool to the touch. The bearer can speak and understand Celestial. Your Wisdom score is 19 while you wear this circlet. It has no effect on you if your Wisdom is already 19 or higher.

I’m beginning to think that two players is the ideal number! I made a forum post on roll20.net a while back about playing D&D Fifth Edition with the Modern Magic rules addon. After some delays we went ahead with the first session last night. One player had dropped out before the first session came around, so there were three of us. I went over some ideas I had come up with, and everyone seemed happy with them. We decided to not name the city we were in, but we decided on dollars for the unit of currency. Another thing I had suggested was that most people in the world are unaware of anything supernatural. The player characters had somehow come into contact with the unexplained. One had been an underground bare knuckle fighter, who ended up fighting an orc. The other was a computer scientist who found messages within random blocks of code. They both had reasons to be at the same nightclub one fateful evening. We had no grid which is how I usually run games, and that seemed to wo...

Another new player failed to show up, so we pressed on with two characters. I might introduce an NPC adventurer if this happens again, partly to give me some dice rolling to do! The pair went back to the dungeon, this time at high noon. The thief went first and checked for traps, and sure enough there was a trip rope at the bottom of the steps. Yolktina sawed through the rope, but then came under fire from four arrows. She moved into the middle of the room and saw four goblins with bows hiding in the tunnel to the next room. She dropped her torch and shot one with her bow, then Brahman came running in, torch in one hand, hammer raised in the other. He picked his way across the bundles that were all over the room and quickly dispatched the three remaining goblins. Yolktina however, had noticed by the light of his torch that the bundles were actually sleeping goblins, about forty of them. Quietly moving over to the dwarf, she passed on this information. After a short discussion they...

Ring, common (requires attunement) This ring allows the bearer to use an action to completely clean themselves. All their clothes and carried equipment become clean, as well as their hair and body. No perfume, or makeup is applied, and nothing is repaired or mended, simply cleaned. After three uses the ring becomes non-magical.

Weapon (longsword), rare (requires attunement) This longsword is a magic weapon that grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. When you roll a critical hit with this sword, the target takes an extra 7 slashing damage. Curse . This sword is cursed. When you roll a critical hit and damage a creature while attuned to this sword, the curse takes hold. Until the creature you scored the critical hit against is dead, you cannot rest or cease combat. You must pursue the creature to the best of your ability. You inherently know the direction to your target. If you die while pursuing the target you become a revenant, and continue your pursuit until you kill the target.

This time I had two players and the game was a lot better for it. After some negotiations at a tavern the newcomer, an elf named Yolktina, agreed to accompany Brahman the dwarf on an adventure. He led her back to the dungeon he had visited the previous day, and they found more goblins there. Not trying to communicate this time, they slaughtered the goblins with bow and hammer, then searched the ruins. Finding a secret door, Yolktina let Brahman enter first and they discovered a room with a very well constructed pool in the center. After a short swim, they set off a trap in the base of a broken statue, allowing some ghouls to spring out and attack them. After a  fighting withdrawal Yolktina was knocked out and Brahman had to finish off the last two ghouls single handed. After she recovered, they rested and counted their spoils, a few gold coins from the pouches of the goblins. Again I felt the rules were great, staying out of the way and easily applied to any situation that came...

Here are some ideas I had for a set of gambling rules for D&D Fifth Edition. I can’t decide whether to call a gambling event an encounter, and have one or more monsters that the PCS try to defeat, or something more skill based. I suppose it’s a mish mash of both ideas, but I’ll try it out and hopefully refine it a bit after I’ve actually used it. Each character buys into a gambling event with a certain amount of money. Once that is done, they are in the encounter, and either lose it all, or win big. Either way, when the event is over, they emerge from the encounter with some XP. Each character can choose which ability score to be their primary for the event. In some games, certain abilities won’t make any difference, so it’s up to the GM to decide if strength helps in poker for example. Armour Class: Usually 10 + wisdom modifier. Hit points: The amount of money you bought in with Attack roll: 1d20 + prof (if proficient in gaming set) + primary ability modifier ...

I just realized that the six ability scores can be divided into three traits. I might have read this somewhere, but I still felt like it was a revelation. Strength and charisma are your abilities to change the world. Charisma is your strength of character (as applied to other people), it’s your force of personality. Strength is your force of arms. Dexterity and intelligence are your abilities to avoid the abilities of others. Intelligence is your mental agility, it’s your quickness of wit. Dexterity is your quickness of body. Constitution and wisdom are your abilities to survive the world. Wisdom is your will to live, it’s your mental toughness. Constitution is your toughness of body. These three traits could be used to define the character classes in original D&D games. The fighter has strength and charisma. He swings his sword, inspires followers, and eventually leads armies. The thief has dexterity and intelligence. He avoids obstacles, obtains riche...

Last night I ran a session on roll20.net using The Black Hack , a new set of rules for old school D&D (OSR). I had only posted an ad the day before, so of the two players who joined the game, only one showed up. We went through the process of making a character, getting equipment, going into a dungeon, fighting some monsters, and leveling up. The rules were so simple they were barely there, although the player (D) did keep thinking that rolling a low number was a bad thing! Another issue I had while running the game was that the player was rolling all the dice. This was only an issue because there were no other players to take turns though, with even two players this issue wouldn’t come up. It was pretty easy for me to run combat, and that left more time for description and decision making. I had expected to find this was a rule set for introductory sessions only, but now I think it really does have the potential to work in a longer campaign. Assuming I get a couple more pla...

Wondrous item, rare, (requires attunement by a spellcaster) This orb of grey stone gives +1 to hit on spell attack rolls and can be used as an arcane focus. Once per day it can be hurled as a thrown weapon (range 20ft/60ft). In flight it transforms into a massive boulder that deals 3d10 bludgeoning damage. The target must make a DC 16 strength saving throw or be knocked back 15', or knocked prone (thrower's choice).

Ammunition, uncommon Standard issue from the Nilba Navy. When used with a pistol there is no disadvantage on long range attacks. When used with a musket there is no disadvantage on long range attacks, and there is no range limit. If the target is outside the musket's usual long range, then the attack is still at disadvantage.

Warhammer, very rare (requires attunement) This warhammer is a magic weapon that grants a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. While holding it, you gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class, and saving throws. The warhammer has 20 charges for the following properties. The hammer regains 2d8 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the hammer retains its +2 bonus to attack and damage roll but loses all other properties. On a 20, the hammer regains 1d8 + 2 charges. Power Strike. When you hit with a melee attack using the hammer, you can expend up to 3 charges to deal an extra 1d6 thunder damage to the target per charge spent. Spells. While holding this hammer, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC and spell attack bonus: levitate (2 charges), shatter (2 charges), thunderwave (5th-level version, 5 charges). Retributive Strike....

Knowing when it’s your turn to speak. It’s a skill we all learned, but when? And did we all learn it the same way? I’ve been watching some actual play videos, and thinking about my own roll20 campaign, and face to face games, and I realise that everyone has their own rules for conversation. In some cases it all works out, but in others, we have people interrupting each other, talking for longer than necessary, or not speaking at all. The lack of visual cues in my online (voice only) game probably makes this worse. A rules system for speaking This reminds me of a time when I ran a session of Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition. There were eight players on that fateful Saturday morning, and they all wanted to do stuff. So I had them roll initiative, not for the characters to do stuff, but for the players to be allowed to speak! I got through that session, and never ran such a big one again. But last weekend I was a player in a session of D&D 5th edition, with eight players...