Tag: TTRPG

Bardic Inspiration, TTRPGs

Bardic Inspiration: Exploration

Thread of Souls

Welcome to the second installment of Bardic Inspiration. This segment looks at, well, listens to, the best tracks to play during tabletop role-playing game session. The first article about adding mood-setting music to tavern scenes is a great starting point for any campaign or story.

This time around we’re sticking with songs that revolve around exploration. These tracks are perfect for when the adventuring party heads into a dense jungle, traverses a desert, or searches for tracks. The music is designed to build upon mystery and intrigue so they players are pulled into the action.

Into the Unknown

Now, before everyone gets the Frozen 2 song stuck in their head, let’s start with one of my favorite exploration songs: “The Hunter’s Path” from the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. If you really want to set the mood, start up this track. It’s slow and melodic and reminds me of a full party tracking a wild beast through the plains. Even the name has explore built into it. It literally means following a path.

It’s a slow tune that uses soft drums to add a sense of stealth to the piece. Their rhythmic pace echoes footsteps while a lute – or perhaps a suka or gadulka – plays along with them. It’s great for leaving on repeat as well and is just shy of three minutes.

I take a lot of inspiration for planning music playlists from song titles. It can help you find tracks that fit a region or area better. For instance, if the party is traveling through an open plain, a great song to use is “The Plains of Erathell” composed by Grant Kirkhope.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has a special place in my heart as does its music. This track is built for expansive plains or fields. It can be used as a way to setup the area the character’s are going to explore or to enhance a description of arcane ruins. It’s just beautiful. And at four minutes, it’s easy to loop.

“Sand Travellers” by Ryan Roth is a track from the game Moon Hunters. The indie title from Kitfox Games is a fun adventure game with an all around excellent soundtrack. This specific track may focus around desert environments but it can be used for much more regions. It’s mysterious and can really transform scenes.

I first discovered it while building an encounter around a sphinx. Since that day I’ve used it while the character’s explored ruined temples, underwater ruins, and flown across vast distances.

For a song with spooky motif, I recommend “Dead City” by Pawel Blaszczak. It’s from the first Witcher game and is great for traveling through graveyards, following cultists through a dungeon, or entering a dragon’s lair. It’s dark and foreboding tone also makes it rather perfect for venturing to Strahd’s Castle Ravenloft.

It’s eight minutes long so you can easily leave it running while you hold a conversation or interact with the players.

Thankfully, there are thousands of video games and movies that have songs built for exploration. Lord of the Rings, Skyrim, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls Online, and Golden Sun are full of epic adventure music to fill your D&D games.

Exploring is a one of the key pillars of Dungeons & Dragons along with social interaction and combat. It can be pushed aside quite frequently due to combat but is no less important. It’s a time for characters and players to discover ancient lore, important information about the quest, or find new magic items.

The fellowship in the Lord of the Rings wouldn’t have made it far without exploring. Frodo would not have found the light of Eärendil nor would Bilbo have found Sting or Gandalf Glamdring if they hadn’t come across the troll cave.

In real life, we use music to get us through everyday experiences as well. Whether it’s working out or driving to and from the store or work, turning on some tunes can enhance our imagination and make us think. It’s certainly helped in our D&D game and during our camper van travels.

TTRPGs

New Dragonlance Trilogy Announced

Thread of Souls

The original Dragonlance trilogy series is becoming one of my favorite fantasy stories ever written. Now, however, it will no longer be a trilogy. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman announced they are writing three more novels in the series.

It’s been a long time coming and it’s certainly a great way to start off 2021. While there is no information detailing the plot of the new trilogy, they will revolve around the original cast: Tanis Half-Elven, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, Raistlin, Caraman, Flint Fireforge (shoutout to dwarfs), Sturm Brightblade, Goldmoon, Riverwind, and Tika. Joining the crew will be a brand new protagonist as well.

“Dungeons & Dragons is at the heart of what spurred us to adventure and Dragons of Autumn Twilight is among one of the many stories that reignited that drive.”

Dungeons & Dragons is at the heart of what spurred us to adventure and Dragons of Autumn Twilight is among one of the many stories that reignited that drive. Along with The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and our homebrew Dungeons & Dragons game. Whether it’s rolling dice at the table or following the Heroes of the Lance or Drizzt, we absolutely love the tabletop game.

Weis and Hickman created the world of Krynn and its characters then played the heroes in their home Dungeons & Dragons game. It’s rather similar to how we started our fantasy book series Thread of Souls.

In 2015, we finally took the plunge and bought the Fifth Edition Monster Manual and Dungeon Master’s Guide for Dungeons & Dragons. Dorian was the dungeon master and we had several friends over for session 0. Jade, Zok, and Sen were created first, followed a few months later by Artemis and Skar. Unole joined about a year later. It wasn’t until 2018 that Wash, Taliesin and Ruuda were put on paper. Thus, the world of Corventos went from pure imagination to published.

The rights to the upcoming series was secured by Weis and Hickman in 2018, too. Then came legal trouble with Wizards of the Coast. The 2020 issue surrounded creating new books and was settled before the end of the year. The series will be published by Del Rey Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. There is no word on when the first book will be released.

As for Thread of Souls, the first two books of the ongoing series are available on Amazon now! If you’re a fan of the Dragonlance series, consider checking it out. We’re also in the process of converting a camper van so we can travel around like Tanis and his crew or a Dungeons & Dragons party.

TTRPGs

Solasta: Crown of the Magister’s Future Looks Good

Thread of Souls

Solasta: Crown of the Magister is one of two modern Dungeons and Dragons games out now and it’s only going to get better. While the ruleset is based on Fifth Edition mechanics, there is only so much developers Tactical Adventures can do when translating it to a video game. But now the team is working on adding even more ways to make Solasta just a bit more like the tabletop version.

A game as epic and large as Solasta has some big shoes to wear considering it’s pulling from one of the bestselling TTRPGs ever. Solasta is still in Early Access and it’s always evolving. The January patch is the second update since its launch in October 2020 and is full of plenty of interesting information to discuss. For instance, being silenced by a spell now makes a character unable to cast spells that require their voice. Or a character that is restrained can’t cast spells with a somatic component. These two instances are often and easily overlooked in a fast-moving game of D&D, but not in Solasta.

Other details simply change cutscenes, so they flow better. A few items got on overhaul as well, so they aren’t over or underpowered. The list is lengthy but worth a look to see what changed. Tactical even made sure to include some humor so reading the list didn’t feel like a chore.

However, the most interesting details are featured in the final paragraph of the patch notes. The development team’s next project will fundamentally change the flow of the game but at the player’s choice. Tactical is working on adding difficulty settings to Solasta so players can choose to dial down the game if it’s too hard or increase the scale making everything hit harder. It’s like adding a dungeon master to the mix but without having to do all of the prep work for the next session.

The new difficult settings will also allow players to change how an ability modifier works. Instead of sticking with the dice roll and adding or subtracting from the roll, the settings would allow players to forgo the modifier altogether. The settings will also change how enemies function as well. Instead of using their weakest attack and not adding a modifier, they may instead use a more powerful one repeatedly. They’ll even go after unconscious characters in an attempt to fully kill them.

Continuing to follow the ruleset of 5E, characters will notice new rules to encumbrance. Which in a video game is easier to control than in at the table. Another feature is the addition of weighted dice such as metal ones. They would completely change how RNG works.

Tactical Adventures did not say when the difficulty settings would be added. The full patch notes can be read on Steam or on Solasta’s website.

TTRPGs

5 Best Cleric Spells to Always Prepare

Thread of Souls

So, you are the healer. Your party is counting on you to keep them alive. Easier said than done, right? Because despite all the shenanigans and danger the party puts themselves in, there is also the daily question of what spells to prepare. When you are playing a healing-based cleric in Dungeons & Dragons, you have a multitude of choices on that account. If you know what you are going to encounter for that day’s quest, that certainly makes things easier. But what if you don’t know? What are the best healing spells to prepare for any occasion? Let’s break it down.

#5: Lesser Restoration

This is an easy spell to overlook, especially as you continue to level up and leave 2nd level spells further behind. But it continues to be relevant and useful even when you’re a level 20 cleric.

Lesser Restoration allows you to end one disease or condition affecting a creature by touching them. The condition can be blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned. This can be critical in a battle when party members are in need, most especially if they are paralyzed or blinded. Sometimes even turn-by-turn saving throws can’t save them.

The downside to this spell is you have to touch the creature in question. But that is balanced out by its low-level casting. So if multiple party members are affected, you can easily help them all.

#4: Healing Word

As a low-healing 1st level spell, it’s easy to dismiss Healing Word. However, what makes it weaker compared to other healing spells is actually its strength. Healing Word allows you to restore 1d4 HP + your spellcasting modifier. It goes up by each level you cast it at, though it won’t make too much of a difference. You can heal a creature up to 60 feet away.

The biggest perk of this spell is that it is a Bonus Action. While the healing is very low, it’s perfect to quickly get an ally up when you need to save your action for something critical, or have another ally in need. The fact that you don’t have to touch to cast is another big perk. And with it being a first level spell, you can keep casting it numerous times.

#3: Greater Restoration

When you only can prepare a small amount of 5th-level spells, it can be hard to choose which to bring along. But Greater Restoration should always be prepared due to its quick resolution for very serious problems. Yes, it does cost diamond dust to cast. And it’s likely not be used on a daily basis. But when you do need it and it’s not prepared, especially if you are dungeon delving, things can get tricky.

Greater Restoration allows you to spend 100 GP of diamond dust to remove a target’s exhaustion level by one, end a charm, remove a petrification, get rid of a curse, end a reduction to ability scores, or end an effect that reduces Hit Point maximum. Any player that has had to fight their own charmed party knows how critical this can be. And if you are in the middle of a deep dungeon, taking a long rest in order to fix your petrified bard the next morning can be a dangerous endeavor.

#2: Heal

If you need a powerful healing spell for a very dangerous encounter, Heal is your best bet. Even though slots are limited at the 6th level, this is never a spell you want to be without! Your target regains 70 HP immediately after the cast, and the amount goes up by 10 HP if you cast at a higher level. This spell’s biggest perk is that you can cast it at a 60 foot range, and it costs nothing.

Heal is not only great for saving an ally’s life, but due to the amount of healing it churns out they are good for mulitiple more rounds. You also do not have to roll for Heal, it automatically does 70 HP. This makes it really stand out against other roll-for-heal spells.

#1: Mass Cure Wounds

When it comes to saving your party from a TPK, however, there is nothing better than Mass Cure Wounds. Despite having to roll to heal, and it not being a huge amount (only 3d8 + your spellcasting modifier), this spell’s perks far outweigh its cons.

Your cleric doesn’t have to be the center of origin for this spell. You can choose any point within 60 feet around you. And from that point a wave of healing spreads out that is a 30 foot radius sphere. That’s an incredible 60 foot diameter circle of healing! Unless your party is extremely spread out, it’s hard to miss anyone with that spell.

It is a 5th level spell, and healing increases by 1d8 for each slot cast above that level. If you roll high, you could be healing each party member by 24 HP + your spellcasting modifier. But even if it is much lower, the main benefit of this is the ability to heal everyone at once. It is a party saver and should always be prepared. We definitely know from experience in our own game when we had everyone unconscious, and only a lucky Death Save got the party’s cleric up in time to cast this.

Honorable Mention: Mass Heal

The reason Mass Heal did not make our top five list is because it’s a 9th level spell. Unfortunately, many D&D campaigns either don’t last until the cleric is level 17, or the campaign is completed by then. But with its ability to dispense 700 points of healing divided across any creature within 60 feet of the caster, this is the heavy hitter of healing. In addition to the hit points, it also ends any disease and effect making targets blind or deaf.