Part 1: The Birth of Something Creepy When running a horror/suspense-themed game, you can have better results when player characters have something about them that makes them vulnerable: an element to their character that triggers a fearful reaction. It can be something as simple as a common phobia (spiders, heights, and so on) or it […]
Don’t Look Now: Handling Fear and Suspense in Fifth Edition Read More »
The Oath of the Watchers originated in the dawn of civilization, although exactly where and when is a matter of debate. The Watchers stood on the walls of the first city and guarded the first monarchs. They are charged with defense of their charges over all else. Many who swear this oath are devoted to
Oath of the Watchers Read More »
So you’ve been investing in some of Kobold Press’s many good adventures for Pathfinder, but your players want to try out the latest edition of Dungeons & Dragons. No problem—I’ve got you covered. I’ve recently converted Richard Pett’s Cat and Mouse to fifth edition. In doing so, I’ve been reminded of a few things that
Designing a Better Cat and Mousetrap Read More »
Yours was the dark cart that creaked down the predawn lanes with hooves, wheels, and driver shrouded in black cloth. Criminal or courtesan, rich man or rat-catcher; they all veered aside, seeking doorways and side streets at your approach. You served as the gallows-man, the night-wagon, and, at times, the plague-wagon. You may have been
Gravedigger: A Fifth Edition Background Read More »
What Lives in the Tomb? Wondrous, Dangerous Things! Tomb of Tiberesh is an adventure for the Southlands Campaign Setting for five or six 2nd-level characters and uses the 5th Edition rules. It is easily adapted to any fantasy desert campaign. Just outside Per-Bastet, in the kingdom of Nuria Natal, lie the newly discovered remains of
Adventure in the Southlands with Tomb of Tiberesh Read More »
Yours was to be the limitless heavens. As your master before you, you set your course to become a great navigator and cartographer of the stars and astral bodies. Later you would evolve into a revered soothsayer, advisor to kings and historians, or a renowned researcher and academician for the great churches, colleges, and wizards’
Astronomer’s Assistant (Apprentice): A Fifth Edition Background Read More »
What is missing or present that allows—or drives—an individual to ascend the scaffold and stretch taught the creaking rope? Or to flourish dramatically for the crowd before sending ringing steel through bone and wood? Is it greed, tradition, civic duty, or bloodlust? At best the secret lies within, whether known or buried deep. Who can
Headsman: A Fifth Edition Background Read More »
This installment, you get a break from graphs and formulas—though not entirely. In honor of Thanksgiving, I had to include some pie charts. Instead of plotting trends, however, this time we count how often certain concepts occur throughout the Monster Manual, to help you get a handle on whether they’re common, uncommon, or rare. Before
Howling Tower: Monster Stats, Part 4 Read More »
Born into poverty and squalor, you spent your younger years unsupervised — hustling and haunting the shadier low districts and the crooked backstreets of the urban sprawl. Whether arrested (falsely accused?) for a string of petty infractions or answering the call of a city plagued with vermin, the city magistrates put to good use your
Rat Catcher: A Fifth Edition Background Read More »
In part 1 and part 2 of this series, we looked at ability scores and hit points. In this installment, we look at damage output for official fifth edition monsters. First, a note about how I calculated damage output (average damage per round, or DPR). This topic is covered in a good amount of detail
Howling Tower: Monster Stats, Part 3 Read More »
Cartography by Meshon CantrillWe left Gorol’s Outpost and went north for several days. The weather held, and we counted our blessings. We’d heard stories of the place and had it in our hearts to find those ruins. Vladimir had a map we’d bought from some locals; they said it was as old as some words—whatever
Prepared!: Upon the Icebound Terrace Read More »
Are you ready to put on your encounter design hat? Would you like to venture into the Southlands to craft your next bit of adventuring fun, then share it with the world? We think so! Using rules for the Pathfinder RPG or 5th edition D&D, design a Southlands encounter named “Red Cliff Raiders”, which uses a
Lethal Lairs: A Contest Read More »
We’ve been very pleased with the positive reaction to the Tome of Beasts previews, even—maybe even especially—when readers point out places where we’ve added numbers incorrectly or overlooked a modifier. In a few cases, however, readers have called out features as errors that we don’t consider errors at all. Instead, they’re cases where our philosophy
Monster Philosophy Read More »
In Part 1, we looked at ability scores and established a few useful rules for assigning them to monsters of your own design. In this part, we look at Hit Dice and hit points as they relate to challenge rating and extract a few lessons about monster defenses.
Howling Tower: Monster Stats, Part 2 Read More »
Cartography by Meshon CantrillWe saw it—don’t turn your heads. Up near Hilltop Crossroad and the temple. It walked south; the trees fell in its path. Even the moon hid. Gods help Father Dren… “In Its Horrid Wake” is an explorable fifth edition location designed to offer a hard challenge to four 7th-level PCs. Background A
Prepared!: In Its Horrid Wake Read More »
From tribal migrations to the march of the armies of empire, sentient creatures have always needed to travel, and they have called on the gods of road and river, of ship and path, to aid them getting from one place to another. Servants of these gods are often explorers, leaving behind shrines and maps for
Travel Domain: A Fifth Edition Cleric Domain Read More »
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