Tag: table-top role-playing

the Crone

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So often modern imagery depicts death as skeletal, or ghoulish.  It presents anthropomorphized death as evil, a relentless hunter who seeks our destruction and then revels in it when he inevitably wins.

In the campaign I am currently running, Death goes by many names, among them the Hunter of Shadows, the Mistress of Ravens, and the Drowned King.  However, should the player characters fall, they will encounter a kindly old woman.

Click here to read the passage I have prepared for my players.

A note: We are playing Dungeons & Dragons™, 5th Edition.  I intend to give this passage to any players whose characters have failed two death saves.  Should they fail the third save and die, the Crone will lead them out of the Forest of Souls.  Companions who survive will have the opportunity to rescue the character(s) from the Otherworld.  Should they succeed their death saves and stabilize, the Crone will light their path back to the mortal realm.  But the characters will have the opportunity, at two fails, to choose to move on.

 

 

Creative Commons License This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

 

Creating Characters

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This week I chose to talk about my character creation process.  Usually I don’t have any trouble creating new characters. On those rare occasions when the ideas just aren’t there, I use these tricks to get the creativity flowing again.  And sometimes I just have fun rolling up random – really random – characters.

Click this link to read the full post: Character Creation

May the dice always roll in your favor!  Or at least give you really interesting character concepts.

 

 

Creative Commons License This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Critical Success

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Sometimes the dice roll in your favor, and whatever you’re trying to do you do spectacularly well.  In combat, this means you get to open a can of whoop-ass on your enemy.  Unfortunately, sometimes the enemy opens that can on you.

I added the Critical Success table to the Critical Rolls page.  (<– Click the link to check it out.)  It ranges from Maximum Damage, to Triple Damage, with some extra stuff in between.  We haven’t had the chance to test these tables in-game yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about the tables, or about anything else on the Worldwalker’s Guide, please post them.  I’d love to hear from you.

May your dice favor you in all things!

~Jean

Critical Fails

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It happens.  It’s okay.  It’s not the end of the world (usually).  Sometimes the dice hate us, and we end up with a critical fail.  I’ve wanted a little consistency in my games, and also a quick reference chart, so I put together a couple of tables for what happens when that dreaded “1” shows its face.  The tables were created with Dungeons and Dragons 5e in mind, but I’ve removed anything that is specific to that game system.  I’ll be adding critical success tables too, at a later date.

Click the link to access the tables: Critical Rolls

These tables are released under a free culture Creative Commons license.  Take them, use them, modify them, share them, do whatever you want with them.  The idea can’t be copyrighted – you’re always free to make your own.  All this covers is the specific wording and the layout. If you use the tables “as-is”, please link back to their page.

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Critical Roll Tables by Jean A. Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

 

 

Rootless

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I wanted to do something different this week, so I wrote about one of my favorite homebrew classes: The Rootless.  This isn’t a class like fighter, mage, or rogue.  This is a class of people like farmers, merchants, noblemen, or craftsmen.  They are considered holy people, and a little out of their minds.  Like kleptomaniacs can’t help but steal, the Rootless can’t help but explore and learn.  Though the Rootless were created for a fantasy world, they can be adapted to any setting.  In a science fiction world they would be scientists, scholars, and explorers.

You can read all about them by clicking this link: The Rootless

I got the name, and the idea, from a song by S. J. Tucker titled, you guessed it, Rootless.  There is a beautiful sign-language performance of this song on YouTube, here: https://youtu.be/fUvm4FJ92P4

Have a great weekend, and may you discover something new every day!

 

 

Creative Commons License This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Dagger

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Well, a day late but not a dollar short.  I’m glad I took the extra time to flesh this out.  The Drunken Dagger and the Dagger’s Inn are like characters, and they deserved a good character sketch.  I still don’t have the map – my mapping skills are rusty and I’m going to have to work on it.  In addition, I’ve always had trouble visualizing the layout of the Dagger for some reason, so mapping it is a real challenge.  LOL

Click here to read the write-up on The Dagger

The description is subject to change.  I’ll update it as the map progresses, but what’s written is certainly serviceable.

Tankards all around!

~Jean

 

Creative Commons License This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Deacon and Rosa

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A pair of strong and strong-willed merchants, Deacon and Rosa Yumi run the best and most famous inn/tavern in Ellay: the Drunken Dagger.  This week’s post is a character sketch of Deacon and Rosa.  Next week I’ll post about the Dagger itself.  With luck, there will be a map.

Click the link to read about Deacon and Rosa Yumi

May your ale be strong and ever-flowing, and your bed be free of fleas.

~Jean of Ellay

 

 

Creative Commons License This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Jamie

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This week, a more traditional character background.  Jamie McFadden is an irrepressible scoundrel and optimist.  His latest adventure has him off searching Mexico for the fabled city of Shamballa, courtesy of a couple of scammers, a fake map, and an old song called The Road to Shamballa.  The awesome thing is that Shamballa exists – or did.  A pocket of scientists that survived the Great Death built a tiny, isolated community.  What that community has become, and how much of their knowledge has survived, is anyone’s guess.

click the link to read about Jamie McFadden

May your journey be long, your burdens be light, and your rewards be beyond your wildest dreams.

Happy Traveling!

~Jean Nadira

 

Creative Commons License This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Maxy

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I’m enjoying creating character sketches in a story-like way.  Maxy is a young man who finds himself on the wrong side of the law.  He’s shot in the back while running from police, and winds up in a world that is more than a thousand years in the future.  It takes him years to learn how to live in his new home.  His only regret is that his mother would never know what happened to her boy.

Click the link to read the full write-up:  Maxwell Carter aka Maxy

Have a great weekend!

~Jean

 

Creative Commons License This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Shadows Pouncing

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This week’s blog is a character profile – for a cat.   I used Shadows Pouncing, and his mentor Stub Tail, as familiars and companions for my Sonora game.  However, they are characters in their own rights.  I based the concept, very loosely, on a book called Tailchaser’s Song, by Tad Williams (which I just learned is in production for a 2018 movie release. Huzzah!)   I highly recommend the book.

So here he is, Shadows Pouncing

It’s nice to do different things, sometimes.  If you wanted to run an all-animal game in Sonora, you could. Cats, dogs, raccoons, coyotes – emerging sentience, burgeoning societies, old enmities.  What could be better?

May you catch enough prey to keep you from hunger, but not so much that you become lazy.  And may you never lose your tail in a dog fight.

~Jean “Tiptoes” Nadira

 

Creative Commons License This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.