Node - Call of the Wild Episode 1

You can watch this on youtube here.

From what I can tell, Node does a lot of video game streams. In this video, they sit down to play a home-brewed campaign.

It's weird. There's no set. They're just playing in someone's house. But the video is professionally produced complete with quick cuts, graphics and background music.

Reading the comments is very interesting. It seems like a lot of younger people watched this and became interested in D&D. That's a nice thing about this new era. People can actually see what the game is like, and once people see it, they "get" it.

The DM is Sam. A lot of commenters say he reminds them of Dane Cook.

(Niko) Nohki  - Human Ranger
(Brandon) Bran - Human Barbarian
(D.) Darien - Human Druid

The heroes are members of a nomadic tribe scouring the wilderness to survive.

The Town Elder says that he senses elk and the group needs to go hunt one. A caravan shows up at the camp. They come bearing gifts: scale mail, metal-tipped arrows, and grains.

The group spots an elk. Nohki sneaks up and kills it with a single shot.

A bear is here. The group makes very quick work of the bear.

Bran starts to feel ill. He has mini-pox. He loses a point of Constitution. It looks like that caravan guy has brought disease to the tribe.

They rush back to the camp. Oh geez, they're all going to be sick..

At the camp are soldiers. Some of their family members are missing. Others are dead.

The heroes rush in.. and start rolling natural ones. Poor Bran falls in the campfire.

One guard goes into a tent. They hear screaming - it's Nohki's wife. The guard tries to stab her, but he rolls a one.

Another guard tries to flee. Nohki shoots him for 18 points and kills him.

The bad guys are dead. Myra's alive. The children were taken as slaves. They check on the village elder. Both of his legs are broken and bent the wrong way.

There is a little dog politely watching the group play. This dog is intensely interested in everything that is going on. It is very amusing to watch.

The elder gives Bran a scroll of lesser restoration to cure him of the the minipox. He gives them a medallion that can cast divination once per day. They ask the amulet where Bran's family is. They're separated - one is near, and one is far away.

A bird flies over and regurgitates food into the elder's mouth. The elder tries to move and is dying. The group decides to let him die. Wow.. Nohki decides to put him out of his misery. The elder dies before Darien can stab him.

The group searches the guards. They find orders. A cleric named Orville of Quintonshire ordered them to wipe out the tribe to make room for more farms.

Overall

I like the plotting and I like the idea of having the group play members of a tribe. This was very simple but effective. This is a "real" game of D&D where the focus is on the game and not on jokes. They edited out all the pauses and the rules talk so that we get a nice, quick run through the session that flows really nicely.

All of the players are very likeable and definitely people you'd probably want to play D&D with. The DM has a lot of enthusiasm and is more than ready to run the game.

This show seems like it is especially good for people who haven't played D&D and want to see what it is like. It definitely looks like they enticed a small horde of people to try D&D.

I think "actual play" videos like these have helped 5th edition become a huge success. People from all of these different corners of the internet are convincing thousands of people that the game is worth playing.

Dungeons & Dragons - The Dice, Camera, Action Curse of Strahd Index

Click Here to go to the Season 2 Index.

The Dice, Camera, Action team has off this week. I figured I would take this opportunity to make a guide to Dice, Camera, Action. This page will give you basic information on the Curse of Strahd series, the characters, and each episode. I'll update this each week until the campaign is complete.

I went through my summaries and changed the links from Twitch to youtube. Twitch archived videos vanish after about a month, I guess. Changing all of the timestamps will be a long term project. For now, most of the old ones are broken.

Backstories: You can see what we know about the backstories of the heroes so far.
Reddit: Check out Dice, Camera, Action on Reddit here.
Stats: The notoriously low dice rolls of the Waffle Crew are now being tracked.

What is Dice, Camera, Action?

The Strahd Puppet

This is a show where Chris Perkins runs a game of Dungeons & Dragons. The adventure he is running is the one he wrote - Curse of Strahd. It's about how the heroes are trapped in the gothic realm of Barovia. The bad guy is Strahd von Zarovich, who is a vampire and a very famous character from Dungeons & Dragons history.

Chris Perkins: He has been in the D&D business for decades. He's written classic adventures and has risen to become known as the greatest dungeon master in the world. He runs the extremely popular Acquisitions, Inc. games which are held in jam-packed theaters at PAX conventions that occur every 6 months or so.

The Heroes

You can read their backstories right here.

Diath: He is a tomb-raiding rogue. Here is his character sheet.

• He was given a key ring from a mysterious person long ago. He eventually learned that the keys unlock the Tome of Strahd.
• On the road, he came upon a body hanging from the gallows. The corpse looked exactly like him.
• Also known as "Diath, Windmill's Bane" because of his performance in the battle at the Old Bonegrinder.
• He was arrested for killing a guard in Vallaki. They hung him and he died.
• Diath became a disembodied spirit and inhabited Paultin's body for a time.
• While he possessed an undead golem lady, he gave a speech and convinced the Abbot to resurrect.. himself.
• He has been referred to as "The Hanged Man" by creepy people on at least one occasion.
• Strix tried to heal him with a potion she took from the hags, but it was a potion of youth. Diath de-aged and is currently 18 years old.
• Diath made a dark pact with Zhudun the Corpse Star. Diath now looks like a ghoul and he has the power to cast resurrection one time. He needs a diamond worth 1,000 gp to cast the spell. He made this pact to bring Strix back to life, but she was raised by other means. 
• He killed a little girl named Arabelle. She cursed him as she died.
• He ate part of the corpse of the group friend, Falkon.
• Diath drank the ashes of Saint Markovia and cured himself. He went back to being a spry 18 year old lad.

Evelyn: She is a paladin of Lathander, who is also known as The Morninglord. Her character sheet is here.

• She has a pet mouse named Juniper.
• In episode 1, Strahd appeared in a campfire and gave her a long, meaningful stare.
• She has an axe called Lightfall. It is double-bladed, has the symbol of Lathander on it and it is gold-colored. She sometimes casts magic weapon on it.
• Evelyn has a crush on Paultin.
• Madame Eva told her that she is the key to everything that is happening.
• The vistani loaned her a horse. She named it Valentina. Valentina died and Evelyn ended up with an undead horse named Mourning Glory.
• She contracted lycanthropy and was a werewolf.
• She sometimes didn't pay attention in paladin school because she was drawing horses.
• She once hugged Strix into consciousness.
• She has a second special axe called "Treebane." She pulled it out of the Gulthias Tree.
• She once turned into a werewolf and the group thought she ate a baby.
• She summons Mourning Glory with a lovely Disney-esque wordless tune. 
• She had a teacher who wore the Icon of Ravenkind long ago. 
• The spirit of Saint Markovia eventually enchanted Lightfall. It gained the powers of a mace of disruption.

Paultin: He is a bard who is working on a drinking problem. His character sheet is here.

• He plays the lute and the bagpipes.
• Paultin has a magic item: Eyes of charming. He can charm people with them.
• Paultin agreed to go look at a windmill with Evelyn once the adventure is over. I think it's a date in Evelyn's mind.
• He has the power to give people a vistani curse.
• He knows that Van Richten killed his parents. He doesn't know why.
• He was replaced with a simulacrum for a short time.
• Paultin's shadow has been seen moving in impossible ways. His shadow actually went after Van Richten when everyone was sleeping, but Diath stopped it. His shadow attacked Dee.
• Escher, Strahd's vampire minion, really, really, really likes Paultin.
• Paultin agreed to be Strahd's ally. His job is to spy on the party.
• He may have had an incident with Dee at Van Richten's Tower. 
• He held hands with Diath on at least one occasion.  
• Paultin can summon a Waffle dome (Leomund's Tiny Hut) so that the group can safely rest and vomit. 
• Wields the Sunsword .

Strix: A tiefling spellcaster from a strange planar city. Her character sheet is here.

• She has a pet cranium rat named Stinky.
• She is from Sigil, a city at the center of the multiverse.
• Her home is apparently a hovel.
• She carries snacks covered in pocket lint.
• She was a member of The Dustmen faction.
• She has an aunt, a brother and three cousins.
• Her brother is Izek Strazni, an evildoer with a demon arm.
• She accidentally killed Ireena, who she was trying to save from Strahd's clutches.
• A vampire killed Strix in the Amber Temple. Strix wandered the mists of Ravenloft with a boy named Jesper until Van Richten brought her back to life.
• She ate two live snails.  
• Strix has somewhat successfully impersonated Strahd and Rahadin.
• Strix has given Diath two potions that have transformed him. One potion made him 18 years old, the other cured him of being a ghoul.
• Is the one who must try to suck Strahd into the effigy.

Why Are they Called the Waffle Crew?

It happened on episode 1. They were questing for waffles when they got sucked into Barovia. The group started this campaign at 3rd level. They'd been adventuring together for a while, but we don't know anything about those early adventures.

Words and Phrases

These are the terms that amuse me the most on this show:

• Butthander: This is the group's pet name for the god Lathander. Strix coined it when she theorized that Lathander wasn't helping them because he was busy picking his butt.
• Strix's horse was once described as a "moth-eaten heap of sadness."
• Burgermaster: Ruler of a settlement. Also known as a Burgomaster.
• Corpse Burrito: When you wrap up a dead body in a blanket and carry it around for days as it rots.
• Light-Touched Folk: Diath referred to the group as this when he gave his speech to the Abbot.
• 25 Units of Well-Being: A very positive way of saying 25 hit points.
• Ass Smear: A delicious pun and the nickname of Kasimir, an NPC that the group doesn't trust.
• Wall of Meat: Someone who has a lot of units of well-being. 
• Doodly-Doo: A major artifact that is key to defeating Strahd. Also known as The Icon of Ravenkind.

Episode Guide

Note: I put an "*" next to the episodes that I think are the best/most fun to watch.

Episode 1: A band of heroes were going to get some waffles when they were sucked into the mists of Barovia, a realm ruled by the evil vampire Strahd Von Zarovich.

Episode 2: The heroes battle a vampire and meet Ireena, who Strahd is obsessed with.


Episode 3: The Waffle Crew gets a fateful Tarokka reading that determines many aspects of the adventure:

• (Diath's card) The Tome of Strahd: Bishop - They'll find it "..beyond the amber doors."
• (Evelyn's card) The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind: Abjurer - The symbol is in "a fallen house guarded by a stone dragon."
• (Strix's card) The Sunsword: Anarchist - "Wall of bones - remains of enemies long forgotten."
• (Paultin's card) Strahd's Enemy: Mists - "A vistana searching for her mentor at St. Markovia's Abbey."
• (Chris's card) Strahd: Raven - "Look to the mother's tomb - the mother of evil." Madame Eva straight tells them that the mother of evil lies under Castle Ravenloft.

Episode 4: The group has a sprawling battle with hags that live in a windmill.

Episode  5: The epic battle with the hags is concluded.

Episode 6: The group arrives in Vallaki. They meet Rictavio, who interprets Madame Eva's reading:

• Evelyn: The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind is in Argynvostholt.
• Diath: The Tome of Strahd is in The Amber Temple.
• Paultin: Ezmerelda is in St. Markovia's Abbey.
• Strix: The Sunsword is in a bone ossuary in Castle Ravenloft.

Episode  7: Diath kills a guard and is scheduled for execution.

Episode 8: The Waffle Crew tries to find a way to bring Diath back.

Episode 9: Diath's spirit possesses Paultin's body as the group explores the abbey.

* Episode 10: The group tries to convince the abbot to bring Diath back from the dead.

Episode 11: Strahd shows up to take Ireena away.

* Episode 12: The Waffle Crew fight a desperate battle against Strahd.

Episode 13: Evelyn has become a werewolf and is now a danger to her friends.

Episode 14: Strix fights for control of an evil magic staff.

Episode 15: The group has a memorable battle against an evil tree.

Episode 16: Evelyn goes on a rampage in werewolf form and may have killed a baby.

Episode 17: The group travels with a man they don't trust and encounter some demon guardians.

* Episode 18: The Waffle Crew is nearly wiped out by the Amber Temple and has one of the darkest moments of the whole campaign.

Episode 19: Paultin is imprisoned in Castle Ravenloft.

Episode 20: Strahd tries to convince Paultin to join him.

* Episode 21: Paultin tries to escape Castle Ravenloft as the group explores the Amber Temple.

Episode 22: Strix is mortally wounded in a battle with vampires.

Episode 23: To save Strix, Diath makes a dark pact with an evil entity.

Episode 24: This is a special live show held at TwitchCon 2016. The group went to Van Richten's tower and got attacked by witches. Diath had an epic battle with a broom.

Episode 25: The heroes get a big surprise and go to find a lost little girl.

Episode 26: The Waffle Crew debates killing a little girl to defeat a greater evil.

* Episode 27: Diath does the unthinkable and the group sets fire to an entire vistani camp.

Episode 28: The heroes explore Argynvostholt and discover the Icon of Ravenkind.

Episode 29: The group teams up with Mordenkainen, goes to Castle Ravenloft and battles Rahadin.

Episode 30: Diath is cured of his curse and Lightfall is enchanted by Saint Markovia.

Episode 31: The final showdown with Strahd!

Click Here to go to the Season 2 Index

Favorite Moments

Here are some of my favorite moments from the show, in no particular order:

• A kid throws rocks at Diath while he is in the stocks.
• Madame Eva has had enough of the group.
• Diath's spirit is in a flesh golem bride and he makes a speech.
• Chris loses his connection and Jared takes over DMing duties.

Realms: The Roleplaying Art of Tony DiTerlizzi

I am a big fan of D&D art, so it may not surprise you that I finally bought Realms: The Roleplaying Art of Tony DiTerlizzi. I got it for the kindle.

Tony DiTerlizzi is the guy who did the bulk of the art for the Planescape setting back in the '90's. He's one of my favorite artists and I really get a kick out of making NPCs out of the people he draws.

I'm going to post a few of my favorite pieces and ramble about the stuff written in the book.

I think we should start with one of my favorites:

An ettin! This was never published. I love ettins. Once you do the "two heads don't like each other" gimmick a few times, it's hard to figure out other interesting things to do with them. Still, they're one of my favorite monsters.

We learn how Tony got his start. It's always weird when you hear about artists getting rejected. I remember reading that Todd McFarlane got rejected over 200 times before he got his first paid gig.

Tony sent material to TSR and they rejected his stuff. In the letter, they did say he should submit more stuff in the future. Tony decided to call them and learn what they were looking for. He sent more stuff, which was also rejected. He called again. The third submission led to a gig.

It really goes to show you that you should not give up. Even the most insanely talented people are rejected. I don't know why. The samples he sent are in this book. They are awesome!

Some of you younger people might be boggled by this. Back then, you didn't send art over the internet. You mailed it! Tony says that he actually sent his sketchbook to TSR as an art sample.

This is an unpublished piece of Planescape art. This book has a nice Planescape section, but it is not big enough for my liking. I'll work these two NPCs into my game. This piece is called "A Basher and a Cutter," so I'll try and squeak that in, too. My players love Planescape slang.

Tony mentioned in the intro that he touched up some of the art in here. This one in particular looks like it got a bit of a makeover. He talks quite a bit about tieflings in this book. TSR felt that his art had made tieflings extremely popular, and they actually told him that he had to do the art for the tiefling in the 3e monster manual.

Tony also mentions that he drew the tieflings "vampy" because he felt that they were the offspring of succubi or incubi.

I don't remember ever seeing this before. It's the cover of Dungeon Magazine #89. That's a harpy! That thing is really freaky.

I also never knew that Tony DiTerlizzi drew Lolth. This is from the 3e Deities and Demigods book. I really like the sort of carapace she has and the plating.

Tony mentions that when he gets ready to work, he does warm-up drawings of... D&D stuff. He says he has drawers full of these. Seriously, we need a 5e Planescape adventure full of DiTerlizzi art. Am I right? Not doing so is a crime against humanity.

This one is from a bunch of unpublished D&D drawings he did in 2014. He posted many of them on twitter, including a few that aren't in this book. I love his dwarves and how they're old and whiskery.

I have never really liked the xorn. But this drawing is so hilariously awesome that I am going to try to work this thing into my campaign as soon as possible.

OK! There you go. It's a great book, you should check it out.

I did another chapter of my Guide to Storm King's Thunder. I am trying to get this thing done, but there's so much information packed into each page! It is quite time-consuming to pull it apart. Deadstone Cleft (the stone giant dungeon) has a lot of cool ideas in it. It's probably worth lifting out and putting in your home campaign.

Dungeons & Dragons - Acquisitions Incorporated PAX West 2016

You can watch this on youtube here.

This is a recap and review of the big live D&D game that was held at PAX West 2016 and broadcast live in theatres. This show incorporates ideas from the new D&D adventure, Storm King's Thunder. I thought about going to a theater, but it was about an hour away and it didn't start until 10 PM. That was a little too much for me.

I love these animated intros so much. You could watch just the intros made for each of these events and catch up on the whole series in a very short amount of time.

We have some big, live introductions. Dungeon Master Chris Perkins seems a little buzzed. The players have entrances and get down to business.

There are a million jokes throughout this show. I didn't include most of them in this, otherwise this would be a mile long. Everyone is very funny and at times the quick wit of Scott Kurtz is astounding.

The Party

(Jerry) Omin Dran - Half-Elf Cleric
(Mike) Jim Darkmagic - Human Wizard
(Scott) Binwin Bronzebottom - Dwarf Fighter/Barbarian
(Patrick) Viari - Human Rogue    

Last Time: The group were betrayed by Wil Wheaton's old character and Binwin was killed. The group is involved in collecting pieces of the legendary Rod of Seven Parts. This was all chronicled on Acquisitions Incorporated the Series, which I made summaries of.

That's a heck of a set, right? On the table is a huge castle scaled for minis. It can be taken apart and everything. 

Binwin is dead and frozen. "Weekend at Binwin's." Jim is in a magical glade, combing his unicorn. Viari and Omin are on the airship.

Wow. It turns out that Jim is in Klauthen Vale. This is the home of Klauth, one of the most powerful dragons in the Forgotten Realms. Yikes. Jim convinces them it's safe. The airship flies there. Omin and Viari send Jim off and try to secretly thaw Binwin's corpse out. Viari has a special power - he's a chosen and he can request a favor of his god. But he can't remember the god's name.

He tries to use it anyway. Viari sings a song. The group wants Patrick to actually sing it at the table. He does, and it is incredible. He has a really deep voice and I don't think I can convey the resonance this has in me and the crowd. It's uniquely D&D, where a player gets to share his talents in such a special way.

It works! Binwin is brought back to life! Jim is none the wiser.

The group doesn't know it, but Klauth is watching them. Flabbergast feels bad for being associated with Dran Enterprises. The group sort of befriends him.

We learn some stuff. The pieces of the rod will be taken to a cloud castle. Dran Enterprises is working for Stratovan, the cloud giant also mentioned in the Force Grey series. In most Rod of Seven Parts campaigns, it is all about finding each piece in a dungeon or lair. Here, it is constantly trading hands among factions. I really like it this way. The traditional quest gets stale if not handled carefully.

The group realizes that Klauth is nearby, watching them. They see that he has wands strapped to his wings. They toss a bunch of treasure in the vale as tribute. It is accepted.

Jim scries Portentia. She's at the cloud giant castle. Scanning the castle, he spots griffons, dragonborn, and two dragonborn with wings.

Viari remembers those Zhentarim women he ran into at the dwarf fortress. He wants to scry them. He rolls a 20! He sees them having an "intimate moment"! The group starts fighting over the crystal ball.

Omin throws Jim the orb.. oh no. He fails his dexterity check. The orb falls out of the flying ship. Jim gets on his flying broom and tries to catch it. He passes through a cloud and runs into two silver dragons. Jim knows these dragons. One's name is Vandal.

Vandal says the giants have captured a silver dragon named Claria.

We do some extensive planning. The group is going to attack the cloud giant's castle! Viari is riding a silver dragon. Binwin is riding a beer golem/automaton full of greek fire. Jim is on his flying broom. Omin stays on the airship coordinating the movements. He is really fantastic at making plans and assaults like this.

They drop greek fire on a tower. Viari jumps down onto a frost giant's back.

Binwin rides Tipsy and has him pee ignited greek fire. He rolls bad. The giant Viari is riding is on fire! Viari does a complicated maneuver on a chain, frees a giant slave and recruits his aid (with a natural 20).

Viari ends up on a building far away. He asks the giant to throw him. The giant rolls poorly. Viari is heading for a glass solarium. He grabs the iron rungs. Viari is shot by two arrows.

Uh oh... here comes Isohedrus, the white dragon who pummeled the group last session. Jim tries to charm the dragon and fails. 

Omin remembers that white dragons are "fucking dumb." Viari pulls an arrow out of his side and throws it at the dragon. He drops out of view. He convinced the dragon that a giant did that.

Jim befriends a griffon. Jim gets on the griffon, Binwin gets on his broom. Jim flies into the huge double doors at the front of the castle. He wants to bash through them, but the doors don't budge and it is quite painful.

Binwin comes over and bashes the doors open with a natural 20! Chris opens up the castle and we get a look inside.

Inside the castle, there's a dragon transfixed by a stone in there and a cloud giant. The giant drops green flame on the group and does piles of damage. The giant has a high-pitched voice, which is unexpected.

Everything in this encounter so far was done with no initiative. Crazy. We finally roll init.

The dragon has runes painted on its scales. Above it, floating in tiny orbs are pieces of the rod. There are 6 of them.

Viari realizes that the stone transfixing the silver dragon is the Nightstone, which was originally located in his hometown. The Nightstone is stolen in chapter one of Storm King's Thunder. When the dragons see it, they are neutralized by it.

Viari runs over to throw his cloak over the stone, but the floor gives way under his feet and he falls. He is going to fall all the way to the ground far below! Jim casts benign transposition so that he switches places with Viari. Jim has his broom of flying, so he is safe and Viari is safe. That was very quick thinking.

Omin casts stone shape to cover up the nightstone. The dragon comes to its senses and attacks the cloud giant. Binwin runs up the back of the dragon and does a pile of damage.

Viari stabs the giant with the apocalypse dagger. The giant's flesh burns away completely. There's a blast of energy from the dagger that washes throughout the whole complex. Everyone succeeds on their Con saves except Viari! Viari's arm is burned off. He takes 48 points of damage. He has 1 hit point left.

Jim is down. The pieces of the rod fall. One is rolling toward the hole. Omin goes to grab it and rolls a 19. This is the rod piece that Jim stuck up his butt. It has healing powers. He heals everyone for 12.

Omin touches the rod to Viari's stump. His arm regenerates.

The group gets away on the airship. That's the end! Check out the standing ovation:

Are we living in a great time or what?

Then there's this weird rap/spoken word thing which I didn't get at all, but who cares.

Overall

I was thinking that we'd see either Force Grey or Wil Wheaton show up tonight. Or both! So in theory, you'd think I'd be disappointed. But I wasn't because this was really good from start to finish. Most of the time in these longer shows, I get pretty worn out after an hour and a half. But this was funny and entertaining from start to finish. It was really an amazing show and well worth watching. It really showcases how great D&D can be.

Rules: Chris was really, really loose with the rules on this show. That kind of thing doesn't bother me, but I imagine it might bother some people. The group gets all sorts of help throughout the entire battle. I didn't feel that it cheapened things because it kept things moving at a very fast pace and, really, would you want a TPK at this event? Do we want these characters to die? As long as I have the feeling that failure is possible, I won't feel that this was cheapened in any way.

Nentir Vale: I'd like to see the group return to the Nentir Vale, home of 4e, for an adventure. Chris could do whatever he wanted to the place. Everyone loves the Raven Queen, so he could use her and my favorite 4e NPC, Vorkhesis, Master of Fate.

This was a really special show. It's great for people who want to see what D&D is like, and it's great to just reaffirm why D&D is so much fun in the first place. I hope that this era continues for a very long time, and I honestly get the feeling it will.

Planescape - In Disarray

The Astral Plane

We just finished up another session of Planescape. We played through another scenario from Tales of the Infinite Staircase by Monte Cook. We've done most of the scenarios. They're good, but they don't have nearly enough detail for my liking.

I used a bunch of soundscape things. In the past I've tried background music during D&D games. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It seems like background music works better in long sessions, as people are able to get into a rhythm. In short sessions, by the time they get used to it, the game is over. It can actually be a distraction if you're not careful.

So I used the Syrinscape demo, which has music, atmosphere and a bunch of buttons that make spell noises, sword noises, and other fun little things.

I actually was able to use it with the free soundscapes from Tabletop Audio and Ambient Mixer. It was hilarious and added a lot. The group gave me the thumbs up, so we're going to keep using it.

The Party

(Jessie) Bidam - Platinum-Scaled Dragonborn Fighter
(George) Theran - Half-Dabus/Half-Elf Wizard
* NPCs - Fall From Grace (Succubus Paladin)

Each character has powers linked to the Lady of Pain:

• Theran can create buildings in Sigil and he can banish people to extra-dimensional mazes.
• Bidam can look at people and cause cuts to appear on their body and he can create portals in Sigil.

When they use one of these powers, they gain level four exhaustion. The only way to remove the exhaustion is to spend days pursuing their beliefs (belief is a big deal in Planescape).

The heroes own a cluster of buildings known as "Deadbook Square."

Last Time: The Iron Shadow, a 'negative reflection' of the Lady of Pain, is wiping out planes and is in the process of "erasing" Limbo. The group got split up. Bidam is in Limbo on a pirate ship looking for this navimas stuff that can defeat the Iron Shadow. Theran is in the Astral Plane fighting an earth genie. Their NPC friend Fall from Grace was "killed." For her, that meant that she appeared in the Abyss near her demon amulet.

So we started with Bidam and his devil servant, Nin. They saw that because Theran was gone, the river he created with mutability was coming apart. Nin used mutability to fix it. He declared that he was now the wizard of the party and that Theran was dead. Bidam didn't know what else to do, so he just sailed on to their destination.

In the Astral Plane, Theran battled Rav the Earth Genie. The earth genie assumed gaseous form, then went solid and hit Theran twice for a total of 40 points! Theran was down.

When preparing this, I realized this was probably going to happen and I was ready.

Theran awoke some time later. Renbuu, the slaad lord stood over him. Way back in the campaign, the group freed a time-traveling slaad for Renbuu. This time traveler warned Renbuu about this situation that would occur in the future. Renbuu needed to heal Theran so that he could make the navimas and save Limbo.

Theran realized that he was naked. Rav the genie had looted him! He took everything - Theran's robe of eyes, his wand of magic missiles, his wand of lightning bolts, his cubic gate.. everything!

Worse, Renbuu had changed Theran's color again. That's what Renbuu does. He made Theran a dusk elf - dark skin and black hair. 

Golden Slaad

Renbuu didn't like Theran, because long ago Theran used a slaad gem to control a slaad slave. This was extremely offensive to Renbuu and Theran tried to defy Renbuu's demand to free the slaad.

So here's what Renbuu did. Theran has this "pocket" in his side, which the group calls his "side vagina." In it is a ball of energy that contains Theran's memories, dreams and personality. Renbuu changed it out for a slaad gem. A golden slaad gem! Over the next few months, Theran is going to turn into a golden slaad.

So Renbuu directed Theran to a color pool that would bring him back to Limbo. Theran left Renbuu and flew toward it (you can fly in the astral plane). He came upon a wrecked githyanki ship and looted some clothes and items off of the dead githyanki.

Then he saw what destroyed the ship - an astral dreadnought!

It swallowed Theran! I used the weird 4e concept that when it swallows you, you go into a demiplane. In the plane were other victims - a dead githyanki and.. Seoni, the iconic sorcerer from Pathfinder.

I thought it would be fun to use this NPC and see what happened. She actually has a backstory and it involves weird dreams. Theran is a master of the dream well and he can help her. She was seeking the dream well when she got swallowed.

They escaped through this weird loophole in the demiplane.. you destroy a giant eye. They slipped out of the dreadnought and flew through the color pool.

Meanwhile, in Limbo, Bidam encountered some trouble. Red slaads! 2 of them attacked. Bidam killed one, but not before it clawed him and infected him with a tadpole.

Then 5 more showed up. Bidam's ladies have his special lady of pain slicing power. They cut up the slaad and killed them.

Then Bidam sailed past the giant spawning stone, which is where the slaad are attracted to normally. They met a githzerai NPC who urged them to hurry. The Iron Shadow was wiping the plane of Limbo out slowly but surely. The slaads were attacking the Shadow but could not harm her.

Theran and Seoni ended up popping out right where Bidam was headed. The group was reunited and ready to explore the Temple of Change. Seoni was immediately offended at the fact that Bidam had devil servants. She warned the group not to trust the devils.

Once I read up on Seoni, I learned that she was something of a control freak. I tried to work that in without being too overbearing about it.

There's no apparent entrance to the Temple of Change. It has no windows. It eventually turns from iron to molten metal. The group needed to find the secret entrance while it was iron. They did!

Inside was a railroad-y room where a carpet made of "woven space-time" sucked them into a maze of light and no gravity. With a natural 20 on his skill check, Theran lead the group through the maze.

They came to a room with a hovering gem. The way to escape this maze is very random. You have to touch the gem and think of chaos. That's pretty hard for players to figure out. I assumed I would need to have Seoni drop clues.

But Bidam cast identify! Boom. Strahd zombies were closing in on them, and they used the gem to escape the maze. The maze is the home of Phlegathor the Maze Master, a slaad once linked to the Slaad lords. I love his name.

So the group explored the temple. They went to every storage room, guest room and empty area before finally finding the main hall.

They met Cahm'fel, a githzerai who believed in change. He had changed into a female, three-foot tall woman with blue skin and red hair. Cahm'fel showed the group the altar of change. If you touch it, random things happen.

The group proceeded to go absolutely nuts with this. The results:

• Seoni has a quarterstaff that is 6 feet tall and one foot thick.
• Nin the Heresy Devil is 9 feet tall and has a tiny stool instead of a floating throne of iron skulls.
• Theran is now female! Also, 9 feet tall.
• Bidam is 9 feet tall, skinny, has a sword of sharpness that is as wide as a buster sword, gained two intelligence and lost two dexterity points. And Bidam is now.... a thief. The altar changed his class!

That was a bit much for me! I'm going to say that greater restoration can cure these things if the group wants to pay for it.

So after that, the group made the navimas in Cahm'fel's lab. There's a bunch of fun items in here:

• Potion of Extra Limbs: You have four arms for one hour.
• Salve of Silence: Coat yourself with it, you're super-quiet for 24 hours!
• Crystal Sword: You auto-crit with it one time, and then it shatters.
• Exploding Rations: The person who bites into these causes a fireball-like explosion!

With the navimas made, the group was able to do this whole thing where they found the forbidden secret slaads in the pandemonium stone, fed the navimas to the orange slaad and let the slaads feed on him so the navimas spread to them. Then they swarmed the Iron Shadow and she had to flee Limbo, greatly wounded.

Originally I was going to have next session be the one where the group has their "boss battle" with the Iron Shadow. But they really want to go get Theran's stuff back first before the big final battle.

That's fine with me, because I love the idea of running an adventure in The Great Dismal Delve - the home of the earth genies!

Good session! The music and the sounds made it hilarious. The random charts were too random chart-y, but no big deal. Next week should be awesome.

I read the section on The Great Dismal Delve in Secrets of the Lamp by Wolfgang Baur, and while it has a few interesting details it doesn't really give much in the way of actual locations and NPCs. I'll see if I can find more info on this place from other books. I plan on using a lot of Al Qadim concepts. I like the idea of the group sneaking into a harem, so I'll try and work that in. There's a specific type of Al Qadim genie that guards harems, so that should be fun.

The yakfolk are also closely associated with the earth genies, and that works out great because the yakfolk are in Storm King's Thunder, so I've got stats right there.

Twits & Crits Episode 1

You can watch this show on youtube here.

I heard about this show in Dragon Plus issue 9. It is only 20 minutes long, so I figured I'd review it real quick.

It's a product of Funhaus, which has over a million subscribers on youtube. They re apparently associated with Rooster Teeth, makers of Heroes & Halfwits.

This show is being rolled out in an interesting way. If you subscribe to their site for $3.33 a month, you can watch this whole season right now. Otherwise, it will be slowly rolled out on youtube in 20 minute chunks.

I don't know anything about Funhaus, so I looked at their other videos. Some titles include "Lord of the Cock Rings" and "Homo-Shrek-sual." So it's going to be like that.

The show is heavily edited, which I really appreciate. They cut out all of the pauses and rules stuff. They edit out so much that the show feels a little disjointed. I don't mind it too much.

The DM is named Dan. He was sort of the straight man. He just ran the game like a normal person and left the jokes to the players.

The Party

(Matt) Myriadus O'Probbels - Dwarf Paladin
(Adam) Racsan Bartooth - Human Fighter
(James) Dirik Benslorde - Human Barbarian
(Bruce) Shattercock - Tiefling Sorcerer
(Elyse) Grimo "G-Spot" Rudefellow - Halfling Rogue
(Lawrence) Decker Rootkit - Human Wizard

I love these shows that have art of the characters. It helps a lot. Decker is apparently from Shadowrun. He has a cellphone and a 1992 apple laptop book.

The group is in a bar. G-Spot has a really funny voice, he's sort of a greaser. We get some of that patented episode 1 awkwardness which seems to happen on almost every single one of these shows. Maybe it would help if they ran an off camera session first, so they can feel out how the game works and how to portray their characters.

The group is asked to help out. There's been a prison break. The heroes are asked to bring in two orc escapees known as the Moondog brothers.

They have a nice map. The group is using a flat screen TV for their map, which I really like. Myriadus is elected party leader. G-Spot doesn't respect authority.

The group travels for a bit through the woods. They are on the trail of the orcs when they run into some wolves. Myriadus tries to intimidate them. He's a new player and he is trying to figure out his bonus. It is really weird that they edit a lot on this show, but they don't edit this out.

The group attacks and misses the wolves many, many times. Shattercock shouts at the wolves. G-Spot hides behind a rock and smokes.

Myriadus prays to his lord and kills the wolf. The DM does that Critical Role thing where the player says how he kills it. I wonder if that will become the norm in D&D thanks to that show.

Myriadus rolls a critical failure. The DM rules that he actually hits another character.

Shattercock hits three wolves with magic missiles. Myriadus is rolling really, really bad. G-Spot kills a wolf in hilarious fashion.

That's it!

Timestamps

(18:19) G-spot takes down a wolf.

Overall

When this show first started, I was put off by the behavior of the players. I don't know how else to put it: I got douche chills. But once they settled in, I saw that the players are pretty likeable and fun to watch. I would say that G-Spot and Shattercock are instantly classic characters.

First Episode Awkwardness: The group doesn't seem to know the ins and outs of behavior at the table. They weren't sure if they were supposed to talk in-character all the time or what. Again, I think they would have benefited from a "practice session" before they did this. By the end of this episode, they seemed to be getting a feel for it.

Too Many Players: Six players is too many, in my opinion. They did a good job of not talking over each other and the heavy editing meant that combat wasn't slow. In fact, I am pretty sure they actually edited out entire turns.

All Star Games: The more of these shows that I watch, the more I like the idea of assembling "all star teams" for short sessions.

For example, Chris Perkins could run White Plume Mountain for Jonah from Force Grey, Gen from MissCliks: Seaborn, Steve from Dungeons & Dragonites and Erin from HarmonQuest. I would love to see that.

It would just be a couple of sessions and that's it. We'd get to watch them play through classic, awesome adventures. I would love... LOVE... to see people play through the Tomb of Horrors. I want to see it run as the meat grinder that it is. I think that would be really great to watch.

Anyway. Twits & Crits is very promising. It's only 20 minutes. If you like a D&D show that is heavy on jokes but still D&D at its core, you should check this out.

Dungeons & Dragons - Dragon Plus Issue 9

You can read this issue on a desktop here.

That was quick. Another issue of Dragon Plus! Apparently, this one is loaded up with Storm King's Thunder stuff.

I am about halfway done with the Guide to Storm King's Thunder. I'm not sure how I feel about the adventure yet. Chapter 3 is really, really weird. They went all in on the sandbox thing.

Editorial

Mike Mearls talks about how he's rarely used giants in his games. He used them once in an Eberron game. Mike says he is running a campaign right now based on the old gold box PC games (Eye of the Beholder and Pool of Radiance). You know, I would really like to read summaries of his campaigns and those of other D&D creators.

I would especially like to read summaries of Ed Greenwood's games. While he is celebrated, the guy does not get early enough credit for the volume and quality of D&D material that he has created. He basically invented Hell as we know it in D&D. He made so many infernal NPCs that there's still dozens of random Dukes that haven't been utilized in D&D continuity.

Anyway,  Mike says that he's always giants a bit boring but he thinks they've livened them up with this adventure.

Then we get a ton of links to apps, products and programs to assist in D&D. Weirdly enough, this ended up being one of the best articles of this entire issue. I learned about a bunch of stuff that could dramatically enhance my campaign:

D&D 5e Treasure Generator: This is very handy! Especially because in Storm King's Thunder, there's a ton of rolling on the treasure charts. I love rolling on those charts, but it can waste a lot of time at the table and kill the flow of the game. This thing also generates spellbooks, which is absolutely fantastic.

Donjon: This site has been around a long time and they are awesome. The site now has handy lists of spells, monsters and magic items complete with page numbers. Unfortunately, some of the stuff doesn't have descriptions.

Tabletop Audio:  has background sounds for your game. I tried some of them out. I am pretty snobby when it comes to music, so I was trepidatious going in. But the more I clicked, the more awesome this site was. I decided to click on the ones that would see the most use: The medieval town, woodland campsite, catacombs, dungeon I, mountain tavern.They are all great. Not good. Great!

This site is unbelievable and completely free. If you have any interest in using this stuff, definitely check it out.

That said, I feel the need to point out that I have never heard better D&D music than select tracks from God of War 2:

Typhon Mountain
The End Begins
The Isle of Creation
Colossus of Rhodes

Battlebards: This site is also awesome. The "orc war march" in the sample section is great. I also liked the "civilization during night" in the soundscapes section. In the monsterscapes section, "common giant" is pretty great and perfect for Storm King's Thunder. Sound Effects: "raise dead" is great too. Between this site and tabletop audio, you are set.

Syrinscape: I saw the other day that this site is one of the most highly-rated D&D things on the EN World reviews section. This site actually costs money, so I'm a little wary.

I decided to give it a try. You can download the player for free. Wow. Music plays and you can add effects - you can hit a "dramatic moment" button, use different spell sounds, sword noises.. amazing. There's a sad trombone noise. This thing is awesome!

I'm going to try it out in my Planescape game on Sunday and if my players like it, I'll subscribe.

My one question about this program is whether it can be used during online games like Roll20. I think it would add a ton to the session, but I'm not sure how those things work.

Critical Hit Dice Set by ThinkGeek: These were popular in the game store. They glow when you roll a critical.

The Bag of Holding Messenger Bag: This was legitimately one of the best birthday presents I ever got in my life.

A Brief History of Giants

Shannon Appelcline, who is maybe my favorite D&D writer, gives us a complete history of D&D giants. He mentions a book I don't think I have ever heard of, the Bestiary of Dragons and Giants. Apparently it has a bunch of lair adventures, which sounds pretty cool.

The Crumbling Hall of the Frost Giant Jarl is mentioned, which is a free download. Unfortunately the file is no longer there.

Edit: Commentor Buzzclaw found us a link right here.

DMs Guild

We get a free code for the Wizard in a Bottle adventure, which sounds pretty cool.

The author, MT Black, says this was inspired by Bottle City! He mentions watching a twitch stream where people were playing his adventure. That must be really weird.

There's a D&D stream... Twits and Crits. The first episode is only 20 minutes! That's now on my "reviews to do" list. They didn't plug Dice, Camera, Action. What's the deal with that?

In Sage Advice, there's an interesting note:

"I have a readied action. Can I stop readying to take an opportunity attack? Or is ready a full turn commitment?"

"If you have an action readied, you can make an opportunity attack, which causes you to stop readying."

Hall of the Fire Giant King

The Mockman walkthrough maps are one of my favorite things going in all of D&D. I want to see some of the areas in Storm King's Thunder. Hopefully that will happen!

Overall

I feel like this issue needed two more articles. I wanted at least one more piece on Storm King's Thunder. It could be material they couldn't squeeze into the book, extra items, expanding some of those chapter 3 scenarios, that kind of thing.

I think it would have also been cool if they had MT Black write a 6 page scenario connected to Storm King.

Can't Accept It: I am having a really hard time accepting that Dragon Plus is just an advertising vehicle. I mean, it works. At least, it worked on me. I am 99% positive I am going to subscribe to Syrinscape.

But I want to see more actual content for the tabletop game. I want magic items, at least one adventure, Demonomicon of Iggwilv articles, and information on D&D history and lore. I want profile articles that update an NPC or city.

More Storm King: In my opinion, if you have Storm King's Thunder coming out, we should see more Storm King's Thunder stuff in this issue. I want to see more art, I want to see bonus content that didn't fit in the adventure, I want to see tips and advice or expanded stat blocks, that kind of thing.

Streamers: I'd also like to see interviews with people from streams. Holly from Dice, Camera, Action has a long history with D&D (Planescape!) that I want to know about.

Writers Siting Idle: There are a lot of people who have been around for a long time that I think can contribute great things to this magazine. There's a billion of them. Off the top of my head: Derek Myers, Kevin Kulp, Mike Shea, Teos Abadia, James Introcaso and Merric Blackman. Matt Mercer wrote some of the most popular items on the DMs Guild, maybe he could provide some material. I recently read chapter one of the Hell's Rebels adventure path by Crystal Frasier and it was absolutely fantastic. If it's possible, they should get her to do some stuff.

Old Creators: I'd also like to hear from authors from old editions talk about things we didn't know about old products, campaign settings (this one is awesome) or ideas that ended up on the cutting room floor. I remember long ago at a convention, Jeff Grubb told me that TSR once tried to trademark the word "nazi."

In particular, ENWorld put up an absolutely fantastic article that has information on Lorraine Williams (the woman who may or may not have stolen TSR from Gary Gygax) that I have never heard before. I also didn't know about the raunchy corporate atmosphere at Wizards of the Coast before Hasbro bought them out.

I just had to get that off my chest. I feel like there is no reason why this stuff isn't happening. I guess if this app is free, there's no budget for any of it. I'm not privy to the inner workings of the company, so maybe there are all sorts of other hurdles that I am unaware of.