Hello! It’s been a couple of weeks since our last blog. There is a reason for that. We went to C2E2 in Chicago and caught Covid-19. We’ve been off work and sick. The worst part has been the lack of taste, which we are finally getting back! It’s good to start to feel like ourselves once again.
We’ll get back to normal 2x-3x weekly postings this week. We’ve got Thread of Souls: The Deep Hollows sent off to our ARC readers and our book cover artist. With a publication date of June 10th, we are just ironing out the final details to get it out for everyone to read!
This is the first in a series of posts on designing dynamic and unique TTRPG boss fights for your campaigns.
Opening up this new series exploring how to design effective boss battles, we will talk about adding “minions” to the fight. No, not the little yellow guys or the fish from Megamind. We’re referring to allies that support the main boss. Here are some examples:
An army captain supported by foot soldiers.
A giant spider supported by offspring.
A dragon supported by elemental worshippers.
Minions can be the defining factor in how engaging and challenging TTRPG boss fights are. They give your players something else to have to worry about and focus on. They also help to flesh out the world and cement that your villain isn’t alone. Here are some of the reasons minions will help your TTRPG battles feel more epic:
Quick Rewards: It can take many turns for your party to take down the big boss. Being able to also defeat weaker enemies in the meantime keeps morale up.
Added Challenge: Depending on how many minions you add and how powerful they are, you can increase the difficulty of the fight.
More Dynamic Rounds: Let’s face it, it isn’t really fun to have all the heroes take a turn before your villain gets to, even if they get legendary actions. Minions add in more bad guy turns to keep up the intensity for everyone involved.
Prolonging the Fight: No one wants their villain to go down in one round. But if you have a very strong party that unleashes all their most powerful attacks in the first round, that is a possibility. Minions prolong the fight by adding in more targets and more overall HP.
If you want to add minions into your fight, consider who would support your villain. These could be fanatic supporters, simple servants following orders, or even monsters with little intelligence other than to kill.
Have fun in those fights! And stay tuned for more in this series.
There has been trend in our popular media over time. From movies, TV, games, comics, and books. It began as presenting our main characters as flawless good guys. They always did the right thing. They always had good manners. They were kind, but they weren’t realistic.
In rebellion against that, the anti-hero came out. The hero that still liked to murder. The criminal who would fight the bad guys as well as the good. A subsection even morphed into following villain stories altogether. While more realistic, they aren’t hero characters to be admired and modeled after. If taken too far, it glorifies violent behavior. (Note: these can be done right but often aren’t!)
But now we are seeing a shift to a more appropriate middle ground. A hero who is a good person, but also a flawed person. Not in the way that they will shoot someone in the face for crossing them, but flawed in the way that they make mistakes, struggle internally, and let down people who count on them. This is a much more relatable character because they are not perfect superhumans. But neither do they glorify the worst of humanity.
When I see inexperienced storytellers or TTRPG players want to play “murder hobos” or write about a “hardened mob boss” because they say it’s cool, I am left scratching my head. What is cool about that?
In fact, I think good characters are far more interesting than evil characters. And in my research on this topic, I found others that have summed up my whirlwind of thoughts quite well.
“I just think goodness is more interesting. Evil is constant. You can think of different ways to murder people, but you can do that at age five. But you have to be an adult to consciously, deliberately be good – and that’s complicated.” – Toni Morrison
I’d always found goodness to be more interesting than evil, though I was aware this wasn’t the most general view. To my mind, it took more work and more courage to be good, an opinion continually reinforced by my own shortcomings. ” – Dick Francis
The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist; a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.” – Ursula K. LeGuin
I suppose that is why I like to write about, read about, watch, and play good characters. Far from perfect, certainly. Capable of violence, certainly. And tempted to do wrong while sometimes failing to win that battle. But also marked by compassion, by caring about others, by valuing life, and by still trying each morning to be better than they were the day before. To me, at least, those are the characters I love.
They also mark some of my favorite fictional characters.
The Doctor from Doctor Who, always wanting to understand and to help. But who is still flawed because he will cross the line in using his power.
Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, an advocate for peace and diplomacy. Who is flawed because he struggles with taking risks and accepting his bloodline.
Megamind from Megamind, a supervillain who didn’t want anyone to really get hurt. Who is flawed because he lies.
Danielle from Ever After, whose kindness and mercy persists even under the worst circumstances. But who is flawed because she carries on a deception for too long.
Luz from The Owl House, who never judged and always wanted to make friends. But who is flawed because she is too reckless.
What is a collaborative TTPRG check-in, and why is it important? These check-ins are when players together, or a GM and a player, take time to talk about the game they are playing. It’s a great opportunity to brainstorm ideas for the story ahead, as well as talk about character development.
We’ve employed these TTPRG check-ins throughout our nearly eight years of playing. We did it when we had a very large group at the table, and we do it even more now with just the two of us.
These can be formal, sit-down occasions with note taking. Or they can be more informal text messages whenever you’re free. It depends on the schedule of the people involved, and how much you want to cover.
These check-ins are so important for the game to be what everyone wants it to be. For everyone to have fun at the table. And to tell a mutual story together.
Here is what we recommend discussing during your check-ins:
Character Development – This is a very broad topic. But you should talk about what you want the future to look like for your character. This can evolve as the game carries on, and the plot affects your character. It’s great to talk about where their mind is at, what they are feeling right now, and what you’d like to explore with them next.
Character Backstories – You can touch base about how to involve your character backstory in the next section of the campaign in either a major or minor way. This gives your character agency and motivation to go on quests.
Battles – You can talk about enemies you’d like to fight and interesting encounters you’d like to have. Combining ideas helps battles not to feel repetitive and gives everyone their dream fight. A giant anaconda in a swamp? Battling a yeti while escaping an avalanche? A pirate ship battle? All of it is possible if you share your ideas!
The Overall Plot – Obviously this depends on how much players and GMs are involved together in the story. Some players want to know nothing and be completely surprised. Other times they like to collaborate with the GM on what they’d like to see. Be respectful of everyone’s ideas. A player who is so invested in the story they want to brainstorm, and a GM who wants to surprise players so much they keep secrets, are not bad things. They are good things. And they can work together to both get what they want.
Passion for the story you are telling together is a wonderful thing to have. That’s why sharing ideas collaboratively is good for everyone. Just remember to be respectful of what the GM or other players also have in mind. We can assure you, there’s room for everyone’s ideas at the table.
We give our advice on how to get started with TTRPG homebrewing!
Most of the people who play TTRPG’s are creatives. We love to build characters, to roleplay, and to imagine. So if you are a Game Master or even a player, you might find yourself interested in doing some homebrewing. After all, the rulebooks can feel limiting to those of us who think outside of the box.
Dorian and I got started in TTRPGs with many standard rulesets. Pathfinder, 5e, Forbidden Lands, Lord of the Rings, etc. As soon as we got the hang of how to play a TTRPG, we wanted to start homebrewing. That has evolved over the years into creating our own rule system, or own spells, monsters, classes, items, and world. But you don’t have to go all out like we did! Here are some of our tips to get started with TTRPG homebrewing.
Pull Inspiration From What You Like
We have found inspiration from many things we enjoy and converted them into the game. Here are some examples:
We converted Gandalf’s spells from Lord of the Rings into spells we can use.
We created a warlock subclass based on Talion and Celebrimbor from Shadow of Mordor.
We designed a region of our game inspired by the beauty of the Scottish Highlands.
We created dungeon traps inspired by the Indiana Jones movies.
All it takes is to think creatively about how such an item or place would exist in a TTRPG setting. From there, you can continue to test and tinker until you get it exactly how you want it.
What if I Don’t Know How to Balance Monster Stats?
We love to homebrew our own monsters and villains. But if you read a how-to guide from one of the core rulebooks, it will make it seem like an impossible task. But it doesn’t have to be! The key is to keep things flexible.
If this is your first time homebrewing a stat block, give yourself some flexibility once it comes into play. If your players are getting hurt much worse than you planned, reduce the hit points/life points or armor class of the opponent. Give them less advantages and less deadly attacks. You can do this in a subtle way so it won’t be noticeable. The opposite is also true if the monster is much weaker than you anticipated!
Here’s a tip to keep in mind for how powerful you want your monster/villain to be. Imagine they are the only monster fighting your party. Think about your party’s more powerful attacks and how much damage they can do in one round.
That dual-wielding ranger? She easily deals out 30 points.
That barbarian? 40 points.
The wizard will probably attempt to do a support spell to bolster the party.
The cleric could use his radiant strike spell for 25 points.
All together that’s 95 points if all of them hit. Will your creature get taken down in one round? If the answer is yes and you don’t want them to be, adjust accordingly.
How Do I Build a Believable Culture?
The best way to build a believable fantasy culture is to look at the world around you. Some curiosity about other places, religions, rituals, and holidays are great starting points. You can even be inspired by just the architecture of other places. Example:
The colorful Moroccan architecture could inspire a culture that is lively and full of festivities.
Mexico’s Day of the Dead practices could inspire a culture that focuses on honoring their ancestors and family ties.
The floating houseboats in Louisiana could inspire a culture that lives on the water and respects nature.
Here’s something not to do.
While you might be inspired by war, conflict, and political struggles in our real world, be careful what you carry into the game. Not everyone is comfortable indulging in a fantasy world that also has them deal with their real-life issues of racism, sexism, and homophobia. It is supposed to be escapism, after all. If you find yourself using logic such as, “Well, women are abused a lot because they’re weaker than the men here,” then stop yourself. No one likes those ideas in real life, and no one wants to play them, either. The only exception is if a player asks to explore these themes and everyone at the table agrees.
Players should feel empowered and confident at the table, not bullied and belittled.
General Tips for TTRPG Homebrewing
Don’t try to do it all at once! Start with just an item or just a spell. Once you get the hang of it, it’s easier to do a lot more.
Watch movies, read books, play games, and travel to get more inspiration!
Look at photos online of places around the world.
Use tools like Inkarnate to help with map-building.
Rules are made to be broken. Think outside of the ruleset when creating!
If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.
There can be pressure on those both new and seasoned to TTRPG’s, especially GM’s, to do voices when roleplaying. After all, you see big personalities and talented actors online playing their games and able to do endless voices.
So, do you need to at your game? And does it take away from play if you don’t?
Dorian is really great at voices, though he has done professional voice acting training, did the narration for our audio book, and has done a variety of commercial work across his career. He can do different accents, mannerisms, and tones of voice.
I consider myself less prolific. I can do a couple of accents and switch between a few different tones. But otherwise, if I’m voicing multiple characters at once, most of them end up sounding the same.
Across our handful of players at the table, only one put on a voice. Most just altered their mannerism of speaking to be more aligned with their character. Sometimes that ends up being a very subtle difference, other times a major difference.
You should, by no means, feel obligated to whip out a bunch of crazy voices when roleplaying just because someone on TV does it. This is especially true if you’re not comfortable with it or feeling insecure.
My suggestion is to add “narration” to your dialogue to inform others at the table who you are roleplaying. For example, I’m female and when I do roleplay, I have pretty much one Man Voice I use for my male characters. It’s a little deeper and little raspy and that’s all I got.
So to help, I’ll add in narration tags.
“Wash seems uncomfortable and says…”
“Taliesin speaks up…”
“Sen shakes his head and says…”
It helps Dorian know who I am speaking as, which is crucial in situations where we have a large group of characters all together.
Helpful Tips!
Your mannerism of speaking is usually more important than a perfect accent.
Add dialogue tags before each character speaks to help clarify.
Character voices may be immersive and fun, but they are not essential to enjoying a TTRPG.
We talk about virtual or physical maps in TTRGs and the pros and cons of each.
You’ve seen the photos online. Elaborate TTRPG maps spread across a gaming table. Or perhaps you’ve built them yourself for your DnD, Pathfinder, Forbidden Lands, Call of Cthulhu, or other tabletop game. During the pandemic years, virtual games became more common, relying on digital maps for dungeon crawling and battles.
But is one better than the other?
We have done both in our eight years of playing. And we give our thoughts to help you determine what is best for you.
The Physical TTRPG Map
We started out our game with just a graph paper and some lego characters. But we fell so in love with the game that we kept pushing the boundaries of physical map-building. We bought and painted miniatures and set pieces. We spent way too much money on Dwarven Forge. We bought LED pieces, speakers, ambient lighting, and scented candles to set the mood.
It really was something special. It pulled you right into the world and gave you something tangible to interact with. One of my favorite builds required us to bring along a tiny lit lantern and we had to stay in the light and not cross into the shadows.
Pros:
Allows you to feel a part of the world with touchable elements.
Allows for fun effects such as flickering lights, traps, and multi-level builds.
It is fun to setup.
Cons:
It can become extremely expensive to collect enough pieces.
You are limited to builds based on what you have on hand.
You need a large enough space for your builds.
The Virtual TTPRG Map
When we traveled out of a campervan for awhile, we donated all of our TTRPG items to a local library that wanted to start its own program. We’re talking thousands of dollars worth of books, miniatures, and set pieces. It is both a happy and sad memory at the same time. We spent so many years and so many dollars collecting those. But we are happy that they went to a good cause, to bring others joy like they brought us.
The need to travel more easily made us switch to virtual maps. We built through Inkarnate, one of our favorite systems, and then used the maps on online gaming platforms like Roll20.
Pros:
You can create anything. You aren’t limited by pieces.
It doesn’t matter where you are, you can always play virtually.
It is free. Or at least cheaper if you end up paying for a subscription or a premium version of software.
Cons:
It lacks the personal touch. You can’t interact with it.
You need to find a good online system that allows you to move your characters and bad guys around easily.
It requires some technology and artistic understanding to build these sets and create characters the way you envision them.
The Verdict
So, which one is best? Both of them. We’ve enjoyed both for different reasons. We loved the full sets we used that were so immersive and sprawling. But we also like the cost effectiveness and portability of virtual sets. Perhaps in the future, we will buy set pieces again. And then we can vary between physical or virtual TTRPG builds depending on what we need in the moment.
This is an autobiographical post. The names of people and places may be changed.
We decided to write autobiographical posts about the colorful life we have lived. There will be tales of sleeping in a campervan on the beach, of defending a bird’s nest from a snake, and of running away from wolves while sick with bronchitis. There will be tales of diagnosis with PTSD and ADHD and how it changed our lives, of meeting biological family, and of job loss. It’s a tale of overcoming challenges, of finding out who we are, of love, hope, cats, and of a marriage that’s gotten stronger through it all.
Autobiography Post 15
Discovering TTRPGs changed our lives. Ever since 2015, it has impacted our hobbies, our interests, and led to the launch of our book series. There is no way to minimize how it has shaped our future.
But it had very modest beginnings.
Critical Role
Dorian watched Critical Role long before I ever did. He would tell me about the stories and the characters. Seeing the rules played out before him made him want to learn how to play the 5th edition of D&D. He bought a rulebook and would read it frequently, learning the game. He invited me to learn but I was hesitant. It was so confusing to me when he would explain it. I didn’t understand how it was played.
Ending Up Involved
Once Dorian felt confident with the rules, he met up with his friends to have them make characters. He met with five different people and they scheduled a time to all play their first game together. But the week of, only two of them said they would show up.
“It would really be better with three players,” Dorian sighed. “I don’t know who else to ask.”
I hesitated, then offered, “I could play. It’ll be fun.”
He brightened and helped me through making a character. A chose a druid because I could do elemental spells and have an animal companion. That was when I made Jade and Foxy. I still didn’t understand, but I was willing to give it a try to support my then-fiance.
During the first game two of Dorian’s friends showed up. It was the person who played Brother Zok, and the person who played Sen. About an hour before the game Dorian encouraged me to call my adoptive sister to see if she’d be interested in joining us.
“You know, I’ve always wanted to learn how to play DnD,” she admitted. “I can’t tonight, but I might be able to join another week.”
So the three of us playing Jade, Sen, and Brother Zok sat down at the table. We had an incredible time playing through what’s ended up being the first two chapters (not including the prologue) of Phantom Five.
Learning More
Not long after that, I started watching Critical Role with Dorian. Seeing a game played out helped me learn and realize what a TTRPG could become. Though we started out with D&D 5e, over the course of the years we learned many other systems and ultimately forged a game more homebrewed than anything else. That’s our creative minds at work!
Back then, we only used graph paper for a map and some lego pieces for characters. Years later it led to a huge Dwarven Forge collection and an entire bookshelf worth of miniatures. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of the first games, but you get an idea of what we created in the following years!
We became so invested that it changed the course of our lives forever. And over the next couple of autobiographical posts, I am happy to share with you how it evolved and how it turned into Thread of Souls.
We talk stereotypes on TTRPG players, and about who all played at our table.
It’s a tired stereotype that still hangs around in the media. The overweight role-player who lives with their parents, has no job, and can’t socialize. They can name stats for the most obscure monsters but can’t cook more than box mac and cheese. Even big companies in the TTRPG world (which shall rename nameless in this blog) said they are realizing they had a stereotypical idea of who plays their games and see now they were wrong.
So, who are the TTRPG players? Drawing only on our own personal experience, we’ll list who has played at our table across the years.
A rogue character was played by an x-ray technician who worked in the ER at a local hospital. She owned her own home on enough land to have a farm. She liked to sing, play instruments, and was actively involved in her church.
A fighter character was played by her husband, another x-ray technician. He enjoyed playing video games and going out in the evenings. He was also a cancer survivor.
A ranger character was played by a legal assistant who worked for the social security administration. She was a former high school athlete that continued to play rec sports as an adult, and enjoyed video games and board games.
A wizard character was played by her husband. He transitioned from marketing to healthcare administration in his career. He enjoyed social activities of all kinds. They had an apartment in the city before building a house.
A paladin character was played by a math teacher and baseball coach. He liked to collect comic books and still played rec baseball as a hobby. He rented a house along with a group of friends.
A barbarian character was played by a music teacher who had a Master of Music degree. He enjoyed pizza and composing and relaxing with friends. He owned a house with his wife.
Our ranger and wizard characters are played by Dorian, an executive producer in television and a business owner. He likes video games, editing videos, and traveling.
Our cleric and druid characters are played by me, Talia, a professional writer and a professor. I like drawing, traveling, and fashion.
If you’re a TTRPG player and feel comfortable sharing, let us know your profession and hobbies!
Our thoughts on the new Heroes’ Feast Flavors of the Multiverse official D&D Cookbook.
We received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We make no money off of this productand are not affiliated with it.
The first D&D official cookbook, Heroes’ Feast, came out many years ago. A couple of the recipes we still use today, though we’ve done our own variations on them over time. Flavors of the Multiverse is a follow-up, providing more fantasy-based cuisine for you to try.
The book is quite pretty and quite hefty. There are 200+ pages of recipes, art, and short stories. It’s well thought out and well-composed, making cooking fun for those who are inexperienced at it.
Is it Healthy?
I wouldn’t consider the book as a whole to be a healthy cookbook. Most of the recipes require sugar and fats. Some of their healthier recipes, like the Chopforest salad, tend to be side dishes rather than full meals. It would be difficult to customize most of these meals to be healthier.
Is it Allergen or Diet-Friendly?
If you have allergies such as dairy or gluten, or follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, you won’t find much here. They stick with the stereotypical fantasy genre meal that more has roots in our own imagination of what medieval life is like rather than the reality. Such as the fact that almond milk was frequently used in the Middle Ages, and that meat was not eaten every day because of hunting variables. Of course, this is set in their own universe, so they have free reign over what they consider standard food.
Is There a Variety of Recipes?
No. As mentioned above, they stick with what stereotypical fantasy cultures should eat. It would be nice to see more dishes inspired by Asian, African, or Latino cuisine. What they do have is some side dishes, plenty of dinner dishes, various drinks, and desserts. Here’s some of what you can expect:
Goldenstars: baked pasty pockets filled with sausage, potato, and leeks. Contains: sugar, gluten, eggs, and dairy.
Halfling Game Birds: a chicken wing dish.
Fried Soy with Vegetables: a skillet tofu and veggie dish. Contains: soy and sugar.
Spiced Pork and Orange Peppers: baked pork on a bed of spicy peppers.
Fire-Wrapped Golden Fish: fried fish meal. Contains: gluten.
Undermountain Alurlyath: a sherry-based drink with lemon and cucumber.
Green Dragon Blackbread Muffins: a pumpernickel-like bread. Contains: gluten, dairy, sugar, and eggs.
Will TTRPG Players Like It?
I believe so. Anything that encourages more cooking at home is a useful tool and a great way to bring people together. There’s plenty of traditional and some more interesting recipes in the book to teach people new cooking skills. Whether you want to cook up a full meal for the game, snacks, or just whip up some drinks, there are so many recipes here to choose from. It has plenty of helpful tips and encourages the use of fresh ingredients. Despite the limitations of its breadth, it is still a fun book to have on hand for most D&D parties.
