Over the years I've made several iterations of a Zelda TTRPG, and now I'm at a crossroads with which core mechanic I should go with.

The first option is 1d20 + skill + approach. You pick a skill and one of the three approaches, Power, Courage, or Wisdom, add both modifiers to the roll, and try to beat a target number. It's more familiar and gives skills and approaches their own numerical value.

The scond option is a d8 dice pool where you only use the highest die (My first zelda ttrpg was like this but with a d4). Your rating in Power, Courage, or Wisdom determines how many d8s you roll. Skills are binary, so you either have the skill or you don't. If you have the relevant skill, you roll with advantage and add one extra d8 to the pool.

The results would be:

So if you had 2 Courage and the relevant skill, you would roll 3d8 and use the highest result.

Which one would you prefer for a Zelda TTRPG?

One more time for the night crowd

Over the years I've made several iterations of a Zelda TTRPG, and now I'm at a crossroads with which core mechanic I should go with.

The first option is 1d20 + skill + approach. You pick a skill and one of the three approaches, Power, Courage, or Wisdom, add both modifiers to the roll, and try to beat a target number. It's more familiar and gives skills and approaches their own numerical value.

The scond option is a d8 dice pool where you only use the highest die (My first zelda ttrpg was like this but with a d4). Your rating in Power, Courage, or Wisdom determines how many d8s you roll. Skills are binary, so you either have the skill or you don't. If you have the relevant skill, you roll with advantage and add one extra d8 to the pool.

The results would be:

So if you had 2 Courage and the relevant skill, you would roll 3d8 and use the highest result.

Which one would you prefer for a Zelda TTRPG?

Eberron deserves a shit ton of praise for a lot of stuff but specifically props to it for just having the guts to outright say "Yeah magic works like completely differently for non-player characters".

Because like yeah, once you take a step back, memorizing three dozen different spells and being able to fully cast each of them within six seconds is an insane thing to ask of Joe Average who works at the telegraph station and just needs to cast Sending a bunch.

If your job is anything other than getting killed by gnolls for a living you don't fucking need Wizard levels. Just learn the one spell you need to do your job and you're set. The Esoteric Order of Aureon is a scam to sell you 50gp worth of rare inks per spell level

Trying to transcribe some of my homebrews to GMbinder, new warlock pact, Pact Of Shackles : https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-ODLIwtgn1zIneYJiSCH

Petreous Vestments Wondrous item, Very Rare

These robes are woven from stone-grey and earthy fabrics. While wearing the Petreous Vestments, you can draw upon the latent power of nature to fortify yourself. These vestments were discovered deep within the tomb of a duergar archdruid, entombed in stone but wrapped in robes untouched by time. Scholars say the archdruid, seeking to transcend the boundaries of flesh, communed with the primal forces of the earth itself. The vestments were born from that communion, imbued with the power of both living wood and stone.

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Thank you very much for checking out this new creation! If you want to see more of my content, feel free to visit my Instagram, where I ask for advice, post teasers, and you can vote for my future posts.

It's often remarked how D&D 5e's play culture has this sort of disinterest bordering on contempt for actually knowing the rules, often even extending to the DM themselves. I've seen a lot of different ideas for why this is, but one reason I rarely see discussed is that actually, a lot of 5e's rules are not meant to be used.

Encumbrance is a great example of this. 5e contains granular weights for all the items that you might have in your inventory, and rules for how much you can carry based on your strength score, and they've set these carry capacities high enough that you should never actually need to think about them. And that's deliberate, the designers have explicitly said that they've set carrying capacity high enough that it shouldn't come up in normal play. So for a starting DM, you see all these weights, you see all the rules for how much people can carry or drag, and you've played Fallout, you know how this works. And then if you try to actually enforce that, you find that it's insanely tedious, and it basically never actually matters, so you drop it.

Foraging is the example of this that bothers me most. There's a whole system for this! A table of foraging DCs, and math for how much food you can find, and how long you can go without food, etc. But the math is set up so that a person with no survival proficiency and a +0 to WIS, in a hostile environment, will still forage enough food to be fine, and the starvation rules are so generous that even a run of bad luck is unlikely to matter. So a DM who actually tries to use these rules will quickly find that they add nothing but bookkeeping. You're rolling a bunch of checks every day of travel for something that is purpose built not to matter. And that's before you add in all the ways to trivialize or circumvent this.

These rules don't exist to be used, that is not their purpose. These rules exist because the designers were scared of the backlash to 4e, and wanted to make sure that the game had all the rules that D&D "should" have. But they didn't actually want these mechanics. They didn't want the bookkeeping, they didn't care about that style of play, but they couldn't just say, "this game isn't about that" for fear of angering traditionalists. And unfortunately the way they handled this was by putting in rules that are bad, that actively fight anyone who wants to use that style of play and act as a trap to people who take the rules in good faith.

And this means that knowing what rules are not supposed to be used is an actual skill 5e DMs develop. Part of being a good 5e DM is being able to tell the real rules that will improve your game from the fake rules that are there to placate angry forum posters. And that's just an awful position to put DMs in (especially new DMs), but it's pretty unsurprising that it creates a certain contempt for knowing the rules as written.

You should have contempt for some of the rules as written. The designers did.

✨New item!✨ Shatterbolt Weapon (arrow or bolt), uncommon

This piece of magic ammunition is tipped with an accretion of brittle stone. The shatterbolt explodes into shards of jagged rock when it impacts something. Each creature within 10 feet of the explosion must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 3d4 piercing damage. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this damage is stable but petrified until freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic.

As if the earth itself were a quiver, the elementalist pulled an arrow from the ground. She knocked it and fired skyward, striking the harpy with an explosion of stone and elemental magic. Its petrified body plummeted to the ground, shattering at her feet. - 🖌🎨 Like our work? Consider supporting us on Patreon and gain access to the hi-resolution art for over 200 magic items, printable item cards and card packs, beautiful creature art and stat blocks, and setting pdfs with narrative hooks and unique lore!🧙‍♂️ Thank you so much for your support! 💖

📜 Credit. Art and design by us: the Dungeon Strugglers. Please credit us if you repost elsewhere.

Gelatinous Defender

Armor (shield), Rare (requires attunement)

Wrap it around your arm and that's it, it will protect you from hits for sure... This shield appears to be made entirely of a thick, semi-transparent, and viscous substance, possibly congealed from the essence of a gelatinous cube. When held, it quivers slightly, always ready to spring into action.

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Thank you very much for checking out this new creation! If you want to see more of my content, feel free to visit my Instagram, where I ask for advice, post teasers, and you can vote for my future posts.

Folk Magic

You, as a great wizard and an adventurer or explorer, know a great many spells. But your talents are bent towards your own ends, as are the studies in the great academies, and the roiling forces dreamt up by demons, gods, and dragons.

There are some magics you may not know. Ones that arose from folk tradition and have little use in great battles or exploration.

Minor Cleaning

Folk Magic Cantrip

Casting time: one action

A five foot cube of soiled clothes, objects, or surfaces is cleaned. You may deposit the detritus in any unoccupied space within 30ft.

Gentle Rains

1st Level Folk Magic

Casting time: one hour

Range: A ten mile circle centered on the caster

Tomorrow, starting at dawn and ending at dusk, it will rain. If it is winter, it will snow instead.

Sunbreak

1st Level Folk Magic

Casting time: one hour

Range: A ten mile circle centered on the caster

Tomorrow, starting at dawn and ending at dusk, the clouds will clear and the sun will shine out. 

Astronomical Orrery

2nd Level Folk Magic

Casting time: one minute

You learn the number of days to the next astronomical event of your choice (Such as the solstice, equinox, full moon, or eclipse)

Molin’s Closed Eyes

1st Level Folk Magic

Casting time: one hour

Until the next full moon, whenever a willing lifeform of your choice has a reproductive attempt (Whatever that may be), it fails to induce reproduction.

Molin’s Open Eyes

2nd Level Folk Magic

Casting time: eight hours

The next time a willing lifeform of your choice has a reproductive attempt (Whatever that may be for its species), it is successful. Nonsapient animals such as livestock are considered willing if they are very familiar with the caster or an ally of the caster.

Metallurgical Scrying

2nd Level Folk Magic

Casting time: one minute

As part of casting the spell, touch an object or small pile of objects that are all made of the same material. You learn what that material is, and if it is an alloy, what percentage of each component is included.

Greater Cleaning

3rd Level Folk Magic

Casting time: ten minutes

Up to 5000 square feet of a building are cleaned and tidied by a sweeping wave of force. Any people inside are disoriented briefly but unharmed, as their clothes are laundered on their backs. The detritus is deposited anywhere within 100 ft of the building.

Referendum

4th Level Folk Magic

Casting time: one day

Range: Unlimited on the same plane of existence

The caster specifies a group of sapient creatures (“All adults in the nation of Selar” or “All wizards on this world”), and asks a yes or no question. Everyone in that group is made telepathically aware of the question, and has six days to respond. At dusk on the sixth day, everyone in that group is made aware of the number of people who answered yes or no, and the number of people that did not respond for whatever reason.

Hearth Blessing

5th Level Folk Magic

Casting time: seven days

Range: A contiguous and enclosed home with a fireplace that is inhabited.

Duration: Until it becomes uninhabited

The home becomes protected. Creatures other than humanoids or beasts cannot enter without the permission of an inhabitant. 

If a humanoid who has been offered food or shelter harms an inhabitant of the home, they become cursed. In 3d10 days, they will be struck with a misfortune that has a high chance of being lethal (A powerful enemy happens upon them on the road, they are involved in a large accident, etc)

Bountiful Harvest

5th Level Folk Magic

Casting time: seven days

Range: A ten mile sphere centered on the caster

All plants in the area grow voraciously. Any edible parts (Fruit, crops) have twice the yield. 

It's often remarked how D&D 5e's play culture has this sort of disinterest bordering on contempt for actually knowing the rules, often even extending to the DM themselves. I've seen a lot of different ideas for why this is, but one reason I rarely see discussed is that actually, a lot of 5e's rules are not meant to be used.

Encumbrance is a great example of this. 5e contains granular weights for all the items that you might have in your inventory, and rules for how much you can carry based on your strength score, and they've set these carry capacities high enough that you should never actually need to think about them. And that's deliberate, the designers have explicitly said that they've set carrying capacity high enough that it shouldn't come up in normal play. So for a starting DM, you see all these weights, you see all the rules for how much people can carry or drag, and you've played Fallout, you know how this works. And then if you try to actually enforce that, you find that it's insanely tedious, and it basically never actually matters, so you drop it.

Foraging is the example of this that bothers me most. There's a whole system for this! A table of foraging DCs, and math for how much food you can find, and how long you can go without food, etc. But the math is set up so that a person with no survival proficiency and a +0 to WIS, in a hostile environment, will still forage enough food to be fine, and the starvation rules are so generous that even a run of bad luck is unlikely to matter. So a DM who actually tries to use these rules will quickly find that they add nothing but bookkeeping. You're rolling a bunch of checks every day of travel for something that is purpose built not to matter. And that's before you add in all the ways to trivialize or circumvent this.

These rules don't exist to be used, that is not their purpose. These rules exist because the designers were scared of the backlash to 4e, and wanted to make sure that the game had all the rules that D&D "should" have. But they didn't actually want these mechanics. They didn't want the bookkeeping, they didn't care about that style of play, but they couldn't just say, "this game isn't about that" for fear of angering traditionalists. And unfortunately the way they handled this was by putting in rules that are bad, that actively fight anyone who wants to use that style of play and act as a trap to people who take the rules in good faith.

And this means that knowing what rules are not supposed to be used is an actual skill 5e DMs develop. Part of being a good 5e DM is being able to tell the real rules that will improve your game from the fake rules that are there to placate angry forum posters. And that's just an awful position to put DMs in (especially new DMs), but it's pretty unsurprising that it creates a certain contempt for knowing the rules as written.

You should have contempt for some of the rules as written. The designers did.

- DM regrets not taking better notes

anyone have experience with making dnd character sheets? I’m new to dnd and i dont understand what i should put in the box that says name on my character sheet. (NOT the character name area on the top left- the box on the bottom right)

Blinking Edge (longsword or scimitar), Very Rare (requires attunement)

Day 21: Eyes / Prompt list by @faith_schaffer

This grotesque-looking weapon is a gift from the Far Realm that is always alert, waiting to terrorize those creatures it strikes. The sword's surface is covered in patches of twitching skin and rough fur, with dozens of blinking reptile-like eyes scattered across its length some large, others small, and one big eye embedded in the pommel. The blade's edge is formed from hardened cartilage, giving it a disturbingly organic feel.

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Thank you very much for checking out this new creation! If you want to see more of my content, feel free to visit my Instagram, where I ask for advice, post teasers, and you can vote for my future posts.

Remmy (rogue): Oh, rats! Tek (bard): ...Was that an exclamation or were you— Remmy (rogue): Giant rats!!

Subclasseptember Day 16: Celestial

I've not actually written many feats so far as a homebrewer. To be fair, 5e rarely made any after publishing the PHB, and the ones that do exist vary wildly in power level.

Divine Revelation. For when a normal revelation isn't enough to emphasize how screwed your enemies are.

Remnant of the Blood Hunt (greatsword), Very Rare (requires attunement)

Day 16: Tooth-Bone / Prompt list by @faith_schaffer

The Remnant of the Blood Hunt is a greatsword carved from the thighbone of an ancient dinosaur, with a bronze hilt and adorned with the bones and teeth of other creatures. The blade, flat and smooth, was once part of a larger tablet used by early humanoid societies during sacred hunts and dark rites.

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Thank you very much for checking out this new creation! If you want to see more of my content, feel free to visit my Instagram, where I ask for advice, post teasers, and you can vote for my future posts.

Subclasseptember Day 16: Celestial

I've not actually written many feats so far as a homebrewer. To be fair, 5e rarely made any after publishing the PHB, and the ones that do exist vary wildly in power level.

Divine Revelation. For when a normal revelation isn't enough to emphasize how screwed your enemies are.