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A magic item for use in Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition tabletop role-playing game. This is a homebrew magic item created by Cloaks and Capes.

This magic item was created as a 'Thank You' to the Buff DM for joining as a guest on the Cloaks & Capes D&D Podcast

Spell Slam Bracers

Wondrous Item, rare (requires attunement)

“These bracers are made from a special magic alloy and mineral that absorbs arcane energy. The mineral is rough and polychromatic, rising off the bracers in small jagged spikes.”

When you make a melee weapon attack or Unarmed Strike while wearing these magic bracers, you can use a Bonus Action to cast a spell stored within them. Your spell casting ability for the spell is Strength to determine the spell save DC or spell attack bonus, and you ignore the Verbal and Somatic components of the spell. The spell uses the slot level of the original caster and is treated as if you cast the spell. The spell cast from the bracers is no longer stored in it, allowing another to be cast into them.

Any creature can cast a spell of level 1 into these bracers by touching them as the spell is cast. The spell has no effect, other than to be stored in the bracers. The bracers can only hold one spell at a time, if they’re already holding one and another is cast into them, the spell is expended without effect. If a spell requires a material component, it is only required for the initial casting into the bracers.

Spell Slam. If you score a Critical Hit with a melee weapon attack or Unarmed Strike and then use the property of these bracers before the end of your turn, you can increase the slot level that the spell is cast at by 1d4. Once you have used this property you cannot benefit from it again until the next dawn.

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Hysteria & Mass Hysteria 3rd- & 6th-Level Enchantment | Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard (Optional: Cleric – Trickery/War Domain, Druid – Circle of Spores)

Need a little chaos on the battlefield? Hysteria and its terrifying big sister Mass Hysteria let you weaponize madness itself, compatible with both D&D 5e and D&D 2024 rules. The 3rd-level version sends one creature into a paranoid frenzy, lashing out at the nearest body, regardless it is friend or foe. But at 6th level, the madness spreads like wildfire, forcing entire groups into mindless violence.

Perfect for battlefield disruption, turning the tide of an encounter, or simply watching enemies turn on each other while you sip tea in the background. These spells ate great picks for Bards who thrive on manipulation, Warlocks with love for some psychological torment, or Circle of Spores Druids who want to infect minds as easily as bodies.

Would you add these spells to your spellbook and unleash mayhem in the nearest town square? Tag that chaotic player in your party that would LOVE these new spells!

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➡️ Follow Jhamkul’s Forge on Instagram for more D&D 5e content. Help me reach 10k before the end of the year!

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Flesh Gardener

CR 7 Undead

A corrupted druid and macabre artisan of marrow and roots, flesh gardeners cultivates twisted growths of living tissue, stitching life and undeath into grotesque harmony. Forcing nature to act in ways it wasn’t able to before.

💬 What would drive a soul to sow and reap the harvest of flesh?

Art by Midjourney

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Dungeon cross section from the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1st edition, TSR , 1977) by J. Eric Holmes.

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Monsterhunt: Duchess Sahvrina’s Boar 

Setup: Say what you will about the gods and their vagaries: when they’re upset with you, they’ll let you know.   

This is the lesson Duchess Irga Sahvrinna learned when at the most recent festival she was called upon by her station to make an offering to the gods that had blessed her lands and given gifts to her subjects. As prideful and petty as any in her station the Duchess deigned not to honor those gods of the old faith, who preside over the wilds and the beasts that dwell within them, as her most recent hunting expeditions had turned up a bust. 

Equally prideful and petty, the gods of the old faith decided to respond disproportionately to this snub by sending a swine of truly disastrous size to vex the Duchess and her lands. The boar attacks wagons carrying the Duchess’s goods, turns her fields into mudwallows, and marauds about the countryside wrecking buildings, bridges, and other bits of infrastructure commissioned by her family.   This justice would be less of a problem for the commonfolk if the Sahvrinna family wasn’t one of the foremost traders, landholders, and civically attentive rulers in the realm, as the boar’s rampage has increasingly calamitous knock on effects. 

Adventure hooks: 

Everyone wants the boar gone, but the Duchess herself is putting up the incentive to make it happen. She’s sent word out far and wide that she’s looking for skilled hunters who won’t balk at a little divine wrath if it means making a speedy kill.  Rumor has it that along with a princely reward for whoever brings her the beast’s head ( the skull’s weight in gold can’t be right, can it?) she’s planning on bestowing the victorious hunter with lands and maybe even a title. 

A player of a more naturalistic bent may attempt to seek out the old gods or their representatives in the hopes of pacifying the boar. They’ll find the hermits who speak for that ancient religion in some forgotten corner of the Duchess’s domain, finding great amusement in the beast’s antics and the vexation it causes the Impious ruler. 

Keep reading

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Pact of the Eldritch Blood by mathewfree123

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Do you know any solo RPGs that are about exploring an unknown world? Preferrably with some support for intriguing flora and fauna.

THEME: Exploratory Solo Games

Hello there! I have quite a few games here that are exploratory in some way shape or form. Some have creatures, some have plants, and some have something else! I hope you find something here that works for you.

The Verge, by Gordie Murphy.

You have found your way into the Verge, that edge of the forest beyond its edge. In the midst of the woods that stretch horizon to horizon, getting lost is easy, no matter how clearly the sun may seem to burn. The Verge doesn’t want you there, no more than it wanted me there. Whatever desperate hope you may hold in the Verge, once the sun has set it will be too late–without sacrificing more than you may be willing to sacrifice.

Heed me: the Ritual you must complete is intricate, and must be performed with precision. The pieces of this Ritual can only be found within the Verge.

Be cautious, as the Verge will surely tell you falsehoods. Walk with trepidation, for the Verge will seek to ensnare you. Fortify yourself, for the Verge will ask everything of you. But seek furiously, for the rewards are unfathomable.

The Verge uses the Carta System, which employs a deck of cards laid out in a grid, to represent a map that your character slowly explores. As you turn the cards over, you'll find new strange things in the forest you are traveling through: and in this case, strange plants and ritual elements will dot your path, in both beautiful and eerie ways.

Homeward, by rejamison.

In the After, hope has died out. The few of us left wander desperate and afraid. We scavenge and squabble over the abandoned scraps of a dead civilization. Can you light a spark of hope?

You were born in the After, you have never known a world full of people, but are daily reminded of Before by that strange world's artifacts strewn haphazardly across an endless wilderness.

A few, like you, remain…but feral. Scratching for survival, as likely to offer a fist as an open hand.

You do not know what came between the Before and After, does it haunt the world still? Survival in the wilds is test enough…what else lurks?

Homeward is not just about exploration. It's also about survival. To include the feeling of struggle and danger, you'll need to track time on a chart that represents a 10-month calendar, and also monitor a number of various resources that are meant to keep you alive. Your character will use a deck of cards to explore the world around them, coming across both opportunities and dangers, and then return to their settlement to build it up over time.

While you play the game solo, your character will also meet new folks and develop alliances, which are integral to survival. If you're interested, the title link is for the demo of the game; a more full version is available on Kickstarter.

Coiled.Space, by Aether Corp Games.

Coiled.Spæce is a solo journalling game for up to 4 players.

It's a none-too-serious, sci-fi game in which you Jump® around a deteriorating universe collecting energy from its inhabitants by rolling full sets of polyhedral dice to generate everything from your vessel & crew to star systems and energy emitting bodies (EEB).

Coiled.Space really gives you your bang for your buck. Buying the game on Itch gets you a training manual PDF, a log book to record your journey in, the console & scanner PDFs, bookmarks for easy reference, monochrome versions and spread layout versions, as well as a little list of all of the Easter eggs hidden throughout the game.

The game itself is a loop: generate a vessel & a harvester, jump to a star system, navigate between orbits, scan an EEB, harvest energy, and return home. You use different dice to generate your vessels, resources, and other prompts, allowing you to expereince the tactile joy of playing with as many different dice as possible.

Exploration is only a small piece of Coiled.Space. Just as important is your ability to manage resources, as you won't be able to make a jump across star systems if you don't have enough energy in your ship. You'll also need to watch your vessel stability, or your ship may fall apart and you may barely escape with your life.

Whispers on the Rails, by shadowcrunch.

Whispers on the Rails is a journaling game wherein you board a mysterious train, destination unknown. There are two included versions, one using a prompt table system, the other using a deck of tarot cards. As you travel through the train cars, you use the prompts or tarot cards to describe the interior and exterior of the next train car, and each train car will be its own journal entry, with the potential to be a completely different world or environment. As the prompts or tarot cards paint a picture of your surroundings in the train car, you should imagine yourself there, take a moment to reflect on how this train car makes you feel. Use your journal to briefly describe what you see, then your feelings or thoughts and how this new environment affects you.

I really appreciate the thought and effort the author of Whispers on the Rails put into the game, creating a way to play it with either tarot cards or dice. The prompts that you roll or draw for shape the interior of the car that you're in, as well as the world around you. Your character will have some kind of problem or obstacle to overcome, and as you write your journal entry, you'll be integrating the problem into the description of the environment around you.

While you are exploring the train that you've found yourself on, I think that Whispers on the Rails is also meant to be rather reflective; your character will be on a journey of self-discovery as well.

H.A.V.O.C: Extraplanar Escapade, by kumori.

Welcome to H.A.V.O.C.- the Habitat for Anomalous Vagrant Otherworldly Creatures! As the nonprofit's newest hire, you've been assigned an on-site training in the OuterPlane for a hands-on experience with capturing injured anomalies to receive care back at the facility. Do you think you have what it takes?

While the focus of H.A.V.O.C. is around things called anomalies, there's a number of elements that feel adjacent to the Pokemon game series to me. H.A.V.O.C. is a journalling game that has you exploring the "field", finding and capturing anomalies, and trying to keep yourself rested enough that you can make it back to home base in one piece. You'll need to monitor your inventory of capture orbs, treats, and other gear that will help you gain the trust of the anomalies you're attempting to bring medical care.

Watch the Whispers, by Galaxycryptid.

You play as a Park ranger who has just started working at the Whispering Pines Woods. After discovering the notes left by the previous Park Ranger, you realize that the woods are inhabited by something else: cryptids.

Roll to see what prompt you get while you work, make friends, explore the woods and meet cryptids.

You'll need a d10 and a d20 for this game. Each round of play represents a week of work as a ranger, in which you roll on a number of tables to discover strange signs and new cryptids roaming your park. Your ranger will balance their duties with new encounters, in different locations and with various NPCs. The game feels like a balance between a cozy nature game and an eerie surreal setting, as you can choose to befriend the cryptids in your park, or instead to capture them. Alternatively, you can ignore them - but choose this route and you're likely going to stumble across dead bodies, strangely quiet parts of the wood, and the smells of things long passed.

Untold Creatures, by oddpress.

Beyond the borders of civilization, there are places that hide unique, fascinating, and sometimes terrifying creatures. As a Explorer, your mission is to venture into the unknown, facing challenging journeys in search of these extraordinary beings. Pack your backpack, your notebook, and, of course, your supplies. The road awaits you—it’s time to explore!

Untold Creatures is a short eight-page solo journaling game about exploring a fantastical world in search of unknown creatures. You’ll journey through distant lands, encounter creatures never seen before, and record everything in your journal.

You can print this game on a single piece of paper and fold it into a zine, with a number of small d6 roll-tables that act as an oracle to generate prompts. This game is all about finding and learning about strange creatures, with an end-game determined by a list of goals for your character to complete. These goals include items such as documenting 10 different creatures, finding 3 artifacts, and forming a deep bond with at least 5 different critters.

Wanderer - Travels Through The Hidden Lands, by Beamesy

You move through a strange landscape, filled with things familiar and unknown, mysterious and mundane. You cannot say what brought you to this place, nor how or even whether you might be able to find a way home again. You have only the clothes on your back, a notebook and the few other items you carried with you when you came here.

What will the story of your journey be?

You find yourself in the Hidden Lands, a place beyond, or perhaps it is rather behind, the world we know. It is another plane of existence, but one to which many things can travel, if only by accident. A world in its own right, the Hidden Lands sits somehow adjacent to our own and is filled with places, things and even people that have become lost.

There's certain things I expect from journalling games, and Wanderer looks like it checks all the boxes: a deck of playing cards, likely to present you with prompts, a d6 for randomization, and the expectation that you'll be writing in a journal as you play. The setting feels a little bit like an isekai-style story: you find yourself in another world, and have to figure out how to get back home. I don't think the game specifically focuses on flora & fauna; in general the landscape is the primary focus.

Other Things to Check Out…

EZ.CARGO.T, by Garlickatsu.

Colostle, by Nich Angell.

Ruins of Dim Kalduhr, by Demon Toad Games.

Courier, by Sasquatch Games.

Salvager, by TEU Games.

The Land Beyond, by Cezar Capacle.

Wonderfall, by Catscratcher Studio.

Solo Worldbuilding Recommendation Post

If you like what I do and want to leave a tip, you can check out my Ko-Fi!

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186. Dave J. Browne and Don Turnbull - U3: The Final Enemy (1983)

Finishing out the U series of Saltmarsh based adventures, this is probably and unfortunately the worst of the three modules. In this one the adventures have to basically scout out a Sahuagin HQ, with the help of the allies rounded up in the previous modules.

If in U1 we discover a smuggling supplying Lizardmen with weapons and in U2 we confront those same Lizardmen only to realise that what they are really doing is trying to defend themselves against the greater threat of the Sahuagin, here we are basically sent by the Saltmarsh authorities with the Lizardsmen’s help to figure out how soon the Sahuagin will attack.

They are occupying the former Lizardmen home, so their help is invaluable. This module involves a bunch of underwater exploration and a huge number of NPCs to manage, not making it a breeze to run. Also, it ends after the scouting is done with most of the real action, including the Sahuagin attack on Saltmarsh happening “off screen” as it were. A bit on an anticlimax to a great series.

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"The Bait" crab coast shipwrecker 25x40

My latest work in date "The Bait" 25x40 A little map perfect for a side quest or a violent encounter along a lovely coast of blues meanders either for a little stroll along the beach or a fierce last stand in the middle of the night against horde of crabs

Somewhere in the nooks and crannies of the cliffs nestles a stone hut as black as the surrounding cliffs. a vestige of the archipelago's first settlers. few people know about this remote coast. the sailors simply call it the bait.

In the darkest nights and the fiercest storms, a flickering light shines from the top of this cliff. A providential lighthouse, say the young sailors. for the old sea dogs, the warning is clear. this little lighthouse is nothing other than a shipwreck fire.

Attracted by this pale light, you will break your ship on the rocky spurs of the coast. Cold and exhausted, you'll lose your strength contemplating this torch at the top of the cliff. the little hovel won't open its door until morning. in the meantime, get to know the other crawling guests of the shipwreckers' coast.

welcome to the rod, you are the bait.

created by Inocyde world builder

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Bright elves are a new subrace for elves intended to give players an option for radiant damage resistance, an option for a more celestial and cosmic-feeling elf subrace, and an option to just feel like you’re in one of the lens-flare elf scenes from the Lord of the Rings movies! The upcoming compendium The Elements and Beyond contains a number of new races and subraces alike, including the Bright Elf. D&D Unleashed is free and fanmade. See more (including the full article for this subrace) at dndunleashed.com, or follow @EvilBenevolent on twitter for the newest updates and answers to questions. You can also find this subrace in the homebrew section on D&D Beyond!

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High Tech weapons, for those times when generic medieval-ish OSR PCs loot a downed spaceship, extort a time traveller, etc.

Skerples on Bluesky (From their Treasure Overhaul project)

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DM Tip: My Time, Threat, Tension Method

Artsource

Inspired by playing the new updates to Blades in the Dark and a recent discussion on the best way to use information gathering skills like perception and investigation, I wanted to share a technique that's quickly become a fundamental part of my DM toolbox when it comes to designing scenarios in D&D and other TTRPGS.

This technique is useful for building individual encounters, but can scaled up to provide structures for entire sessions or adventures. It's the closest I've come to formalizing the supposed "exploration" pillar of gameplay that WotC is so fond of mentioning but never provided any rules for.

Here's the rundown:

Figure out what your party is trying to accomplish (gather information, rescue a hostage, get through a door to the next area of the dungeon)

Establish at least one or more threats that would impede the party trying to accomplish their goal (raising an alarm, getting attacked by a deadly monster, letting their rival gain the upper hand)

By and large the thing that's going to separate your party from suffering the consequences of these threats is going to be time: a resource they have a limited amount of because you're going to arrange circumstances to maximize the drama. You don't need to keep track of individual minutes, more of an abstract sense of "everyone in the party gets to do two things before I mention they hear footsteps approaching the door."

Players are allowed any amount of surface information they'd like and a bit of faffing about on the side, but if they want to get closer to their goal they're going to need to spend time. Some actions are going to cost a flat amount of time, while others (especially those that are up to luck when time is of the essence) are going to require the party to roll. As an example: finding a secret door in a room by noticing the lack of dust on a hidden lever vs. spending ten minutes tossing the room and bruteforcing the solution.

Place a few diversions in their way, whether they be outright red herrings or time sinks that get them something but not the progress they want. (emptying the villain's safe doesn't uncover the secret diary the party is looking for, but it's rewarding in a way other than progress).

You can also be a bastard and put some traps in, not just the type that spring up and deal daamge, but the kind that make threats happen sooner (alarms, surprise guardians) but the kind that introduce new threats (curses, lurking poisonous animals, evidence left behind that alerts their foes)

It's also a good idea to scatter some hints amid the initial setup/diversions to generate those delicious "AHA!" moments and reward players who are paying attention. When someone acts off a hint or guesses the right course of action there's no time cost or roll required. They solved the puzzle, let them move on.

Depending on the scenario you might swap out time with safety, influence, or limited materials as the "resource" being consumed for the sake of the goal.

You can use this method to plan individual escape room style challenges, entire wings of dungeons, or mysteries across towns. All that's required is for your party to know what their goal is and know where to look and you can build out the whole session from there.

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We made a Kenku paper miniature and some VTT tokens!

→ Grab the Printable PDF and the VTT tokens here!

If you like our work and want to see more consider supporting us for as little as $1 and get immediate access to 600+ minis and VTT tokens!

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At the top of this rocky hill is the mouth of a deep, deep shaft that descends into the bowels of the earth. The inhabitants of a nearby village have established cautious, tentative trade with those who live beneath - water, wood, and other surface commodities that are rarities underground in exchange for ores and gems. A crane has been constructed to transport freight, but the crew makes money on the side by providing adventurers a means to go below - safety not guaranteed. +++ This map is sized for a 30x30 grid. Supporters can download full size PNG/VTT files in day/night + grid/gridless variants.

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Feats: Resoled | More 5e feats adjusted to make more sense or to be useful

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I've also started making a new system based off of 5e, 6th Dawn! Become a patron and join the playtest.

Oh, hey! Feats. Didn't I do this one already? There are more that could use adjustment? Fine, I'll do these. Especially since there's room for some interesting improvement. Some like dungeon delver are perfect, so while I'll need a version of those eventually, I can't make an excuse to put them here. I also wanted to adjust Alert, but damn is it hard to not take from Observant (which I already modified)

Athlete

It's strange that athlete had nothing to do with athletics. In the previous one of these, I gave mobile the quick ups, which didn't seem particularly athletic. Shorter jumps is just good, so that stays

Meanwhile, why do you bypass climbing slowness but not swimming slowness? What do you have against swimming wotsy?!

And then this is one I borrowed from tales of the valiant from its far traveller feat, which seems well suited to a a lot of movementy exhausting difficult moving stuff feat.

Dual Wielder

The +1 ac while dual wielding was nice to make up for the fact that you aren't holding a shield was nice, but my thing against random +1 bonuses kind of got in the way here, so that got the axe. Nerfed the holding two non light weapons a tad, because dual wielding longswords, while amazing, is kind of silly. Drawing two weapons instead of one should be default for light weapons, but here we are, so it stays. And since I moved one part of polearm master into sentinel before, I decided to take the other one to give this some interesting appeal. Also, I like the double weapon property as a concept so woo

Elemental Adept

This feat was pretty good, I suppose. Treating 1s as 2s is… nice, I guess, but quite frankly, I think ToV had a better idea by giving you a limited version of the Transmuted spell metamagic, which is the best reason to get metamagic adept (until you remember that 2 sorcery points a day is really limiting).

Bypassing resistances? Oh boy, is this great if you're fighting primarily demons. I also, generally like the idea of downscaling immunity to resistance along with getting rid of resistance as an ability (I've done it a few times) and this may be because of the irritation I felt when I relearned that ice devils are still immune to fire the hard way.

Grappler

I took part of this feat and put it into tavern brawler. So I needed to give some stuff back. Free restrain was nice, but having it also affect you kind of sucked, so instead advantage to grabbing someone and yelling 'stop hitting yourself' repeatedly. That may or may not be why you deal free damage. YMMV

Linguist

This one has a few odd choices that don't make 100% in base 5e. The prerequisite is because I treat the History skill as a Society skill. Also, I don't think investigation should fit ciphers, that's too broad. And lastly, I'm going to make some changes to languages at some point based on how rare they are, which will affect spells like tongues and comprehend language

Martial Adept

So, this was an interesting one. Suffice it to say, the weapon and armor proficiency feats were kind of shit. And you could just multiclass into fighter to get them easier. So, I went with the philosophy behind the metamagic, eldrtich, and other martial adept feats. And made something you got from multiclassing a feat. In this sense, you get martial and simple weapons, light, medium armor and shields, but if you have those already, you get bonuses. IE the non +1 bonuses of medium armor master+ heavy armor proficiency for armor, and a fighting style for weapons. Make it more generally useful, regardless of class.

Skilled

My favourite feat. I chose to combine it with my other favourite feat: skill expert and make them repeatable. I don't have a problem, I can stop taking feats whenever I want.

Double Weapon Property

As I mentioned earlier, I like the double property, and the dual-bladed scimitar from eberron and the effects of the polearm master feat tell me I'm not alone. So I codified it, simple, but good, methinks

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $1 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Assassin: Rehired

Scout Roguishj Archetype

Poisons: Reapplied

Finding the Trail

I also have four classes, and two splatbooks over on DriveThruRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

The Beguiler. A spellcaster dedicated to illusions, enchantments, and general fuckery.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!

d'Artagnan's Lycanthrope Survival Guide. A book of lore, stats, and werebeast subclasses for lycanthropes.

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Animals Play RPGs - Disguise

This skill is used to alter your appearance, generally in order to deceive others.  The effectiveness of your disguise depends on a few factors;  what materials you have to work with, how different your guise is from your standard appearance, and how familiar the people you are trying to fool are with the identity you’re impersonating.

This is another check your DM should make in secret so that you’re not too sure how effective it is until you try it.  Some disguises are better than others.

I personally almost never use Disguise, but one of my players in my current Pathfinder campaign does it all the time.  He’s amassing quite a collection of costumes, and I gotta say his antics are pretty entertaining.  His favorite tactic is to disguise himself as the rival faction in battle (I let him take a feat that lets him do this as a Full Round action, in conjunction with the use of a Handy Haversack).  Great for setting up Sneak Attacks, making pickpocket attempts easier and causing confusion in general.