Delve into the Depths in the Kobold Blog

Mastering the Mechanics: Roll for Initiative

Let’s examine the “rules as written” regarding initiative: “Initiative determines the order of turns during combat. When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order. The GM makes one roll for an entire group of identical creatures, so each member of the group acts at the same

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Folk Magic: Items of Everyday Wonder

Bag of Marbles Wondrous Item, Uncommon (Requires Attunement) This small, innocuous-looking leather bag contains glass marbles, and one marble can be removed at a time. When a marble is tossed on the ground, it magically becomes hundreds of marbles that create difficult terrain in a 10-by-10-foot square. Any Large or smaller creature entering or leaving

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Musings from an Empty Tankard: Sibling Rivalry

Here are some ideas on how to rope players into creating shared backstories that add a level of complexity. While players often use group backstory to offer a quick explanation for shared events or why individuals might be accompanying each other in the first place, players and GMs often overlook introducing the complex social and

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Bards with Class: Chef Background

Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Persuasion. Tool Proficiencies: Cook’s utensils. Equipment: Cook’s utensils, a letter of recommendation from a famous patron, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 15 gp. Culinary Training Chefs are employed in every town, city, and village. Every chef learned their trade in one or more establishments, and this often influences

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Introducing Players to Roleplaying Games: TTRPGs vs. Video Games

When teaching a TTRPG to new players, their only prior experience may be with roleplaying video games. You can build on these experiences, but you also must deal with some of the expectations based on the limitations of video games. Such players will have some experience playing as different characters, but in most video games,

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89 Colorful Kennings

Kennings Related to Weather and Places “Ancestor’s watch”—a stone circle. “Boreas’s burning”—snow blindness. “Elf-glory”—the sun. “Feather’s fall”—falling snow. “Frozen road”—ice-covered river. “Green clearing”—shaman’s gathering place. “Northern kiss”—cold wind. “River-bone”—rock. “Ship of night”—the moon. “Sky’s black cloak”—nightfall. “Swan-road”—the sea. “Thor’s laughter”—thunder. “Whale-way”—the sea. “Weather of wolves”—harsh winter (can also allude to the end times, or “Fenris’s

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Children of Typhon: A New Cult and Its Leader

Leaders, Organization, and Goals The Children of Typhon are fractured into two distinct sects, each with its own power structure, leaders, and means of operation. They are both united in the purpose of releasing Typhon from his imprisonment. Despite this, they are also rivals, constantly competing with one another. Each sect wants the prestige of

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