dmwisdom

[dmwisdom]

hi! it looks like it's been a couple years since you posted anything but if you are still answering asks, i hope you can help me out real quick!

i joined a second campaign and tonight was session 0! everyone seems to be super excited but we kept getting distracted and cracking jokes and interrupting each other- even during combat, on someone else's turn. after combat, we still couldnt keep anything straight either because everyone was doing something different.

despite all of that, i think the DM did really well and im surprised that this is his first campaign. but i was wondering what advice you might give him (or me as a player) to help reign it all in and keep everyone on track?

That’s definitely a session zero conversation to be having! It’s important for the DM and players to have an understanding of how they want the sessions to go.

Talk with your DM before your next session and let them know how you’re feeling. Perhaps that session zero could be extended and that conversation of expectations can still happen!

I hope I’m not too late in responding, I forgot this blog existed haha

[dmwisdom]

What are your favourite class/race/background combos? (Specifically for a Barbarian or Ranger?)

My absolute favorite combination is Eladrin Way of Shadow Monk. So many different ways to teleport. They synergize very well together. I played a Pirate-esque character using this combo for a one shot and it was one of the best times I’ve had playing the game. Though, my current Changeling Oath of the Open Sea Paladin is very fun as well. Those don’t synergize like the monk, but the RP for this character is incredible.

I don’t really play Barbarians (I’m not super into melee) or Rangers (I think they are underpowered in 5e, especially for how I run my games and the games I play in.) I’d probably make a Goliath or Firbolg barbarian, just to capitalize on the size difference. Also haha funny passive firbolg who packs a punch and has a temper if tested. For the ranger, I would probably go with Eladrin and Horizon Walker for that teleport synergy and options. Again, I have never really given much thought to rangers at all.

I hope this helps, months later lol

Did you eventually run a Ranger or Barbarian/ If so, what did your build end up looking like?

[dmwisdom]

Very useful information, thank you @bernesemountaindew​ !

Explain dwarves

smol

[dmwisdom]

Hi! I'm looking to start playing DND, would you say its easier/better to learn how to play in an in person session (if available) or online session?

It’s been a while since I checked this blog, so I hope you have already started your career in DnD! If you have, I’d love to hear how it’s going and how you like the game so far. 

If you haven’t, then I’ve got a few words. This ask is incredibly subjective and dependent on the person reading. Factors that might impact that are internet stability, neurodivegencies (or the lack thereof), group availability, computer hardware, and more.

In my case, I prefer running in person games over online games. My main group is comprised of old friends from high school, so we are all local and have the time to meet up. I’m also pretty bad ADHD (diagnosed since like 2005) so when I don’t have that in-person interaction, my ability to pay attention to the game in front of me plummets. I also just enjoy the in-person dynamic. With technology, in my experience, there can only really be one person talking at a time; you can’t get up and act out the scene; the non-verbal cues are harder to pick up; etc.

I realized as I was writing that this ask was probably sent pre-covid (which is really embarrassing) so some choices may be beyond your control. I know you didn’t ask this specifically, but if you’re looking for a way to run games online, I highly recommend Discord and Tabletop Simulator. 

So, since it’s probably been over a year since you asked, have you started playing? What are your major likes and dislikes? Tell me about your character. Are you running games yourself? Catch me up :)

[dmwisdom]

Not a DM, but I'm not sure where else to ask! I've been trying really hard to find online games, but I've had a string of... Well, really, really awful encounters with DMs, to be honest. Stuff like "all of your characters suck", etc. And while I'm really enthusiastic to play the game, and this point I'm just tired and defeated. So... Do you have any ideas on where to find a D&D group to join?

I haven’t checked this blog in AGES, which is probably a good thing in this instance. When this was (probably) sent, I definitely wouldn’t have had an answer for you. BUT now I do!

Some really good resources for you to peruse: - The Official DnD Discord Server! (Pretty self-explanatory, I think. They have a looking for group channel) - startplaying.games (A service that connects DMs with Players)

I hope this helps (probably years later)

[dmwisdom]

Yo, here’s an accent master post I saved in my main. Been a while, hope you are doing well!

Accents 101

So if you’re a dm like me, you probably want to be relatively skilled in some typical fantasy accents for your game to make things feel that much more real. So i’ve decided to throw together a little master post of “how to” videos on some various accents. This is mostly for my own reference, but if you’d like to save this for yourself too, go right ahead. Feel free to add on to this, as well!

General Accent Tips

How To Learn Any Accent (1)

How To Learn Any Accent (2)

How To Do 12 Different Accents

US/UK/Aussie English Vocabulary Differences

One Woman, 17 British Accents

How To Lose Your Native Accent

How To Learn A Different Accent

Fun Tour of American Accents

Scottish

Scottish In Under 2 Minutes

How to Speak With A Scottish Accent

HOW TO DO A SCOTTISH ACCENT

Speaking Scottish 101

Scottish Slang

Gerard Butler Teaches You Scottish Slang

Scottish Insults

English or “British”

How To Do A British Accent

3 Ways to Sound More British

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (1)

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (2)

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (3)

Henry Cavill and Simon Pegg Teach You English Slang 

French

How To Speak With A French Accent 

How To Do A French Accent In UNDER TWO MINUTES

Tips on how to do a French Accent

French Accent Tip

Irish

How to do an Irish Accent

How To Do An Irish Accent

How To Do An Irish Accent

Guide to Irish Accents

How To Do An Irish Accent In UNDER TWO MINUTES

Russian

How To Speak With A Russian Accent 

How to Do a Russian Accent | Accent Training

How to speak with a Russian Accent

How Russians Speak English

How To Do A Russian Accent 

German

How To Have A German Accent 

How to do a GERMAN ACCENT?

Get the Perfect German ACCENT

Me speaking in 12 GERMAN DIALECTS!

How To Do A German Accent

5 Steps to a perfect German Accent

Canadian

How To Do A Canadian Accent

All aboot Canadian accents

How To Speak Canadian, Without Knowing How!!

Is There A Canadian Accent?

The Canadian English Accent

[dmwisdom]

Explain dwarves

smol

[dmwisdom]

I have a character concept that I'm not sure is legal. The concept is that they've resonated with a holy symbol of an unknown god. Can a character be a cleric or paladin of an unknown god, or is that against the rules?

Can’t say I’ve heard of that happening before but if you can figure out a way to make it work (and your dm is okay with it) then I don’t see why not!

[dmwisdom]

In character creation, do I have to adhere to the "certain races inherently have certain personalities" thing that's on the official website, or can I do what I want in that regard?

Do what you want with your character! The personality stuff provided is just a base on which you can build or completely ignore! It helps some players get into character if they’ve never played and don’t know what to expect.

[dmwisdom]

Help play test this Ranger archetype if you get a chance!

Saboteur Ranger Archetype for 5E

Here’s a class I made a while back, I haven’t had a chance to really play-test it yet. I’d love any feedback! 

Saboteur Features 3rd- Saboteur Spellcasting, Guerrilla Training, Ambush Spotter 7th- Hit-and-Run Expert 11th- In Plain Sight 15th- Trap Master

Saboteur Spellcasting: Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Saboteur Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know

3rd- Find Traps 5th- Hallucinatory Terrain 9th- Entangle 13th- Confusion 17th-Freedom of Movement  

Guerrilla Training At 3rd level, you’ve become well versed in the art of camouflaging yourself. when making a stealth check, you add your proficiency bonus to your roll. At 3rd level, you’ve become an accomplished Guerrilla Fighter, and have gained the Saboteur’s Kit, which you are considered proficient in. Using this kit, you can take 10 minutes to set simple traps. the escape DC for your traps is 10 + proficiency bonus + wisdom modifier. The Kit’s contents are as follows:

50ft hempen rope 12 pitons 1 5ft spool of thin silver wire 1 10ft by 10ft net made of hempen rope 1,000 ball bearings 30 3-foot wooden stakes 1 Woodcutter’s hatchet 1 Shovel 3 Iron Bear traps 10 Small Bells 50 Caltrops

Trap Examples:

Stake Pit (20 minutes)- Player takes the time listed to set this trap. Set Up includes digging a pit of the desired dimensions, planting down the wooden stakes (each stake does a 1d4 of piercing, + 1d4 of bleeding) and covering up the pit with false terrain (via spell or natural terrain)

Live Capture Net Trap (25 minutes)- Using the 50ft of rope, a couple pitons, and the 10'x10’ net, the Player can construct a suspended net trap, to subdue any threats in a non-lethal manner.

Swinging Stake Trap (30 minutes)- using any number of the stakes, rope, and the silver thread, listed in the Saboteur’s kit, along with a few logs cut to the desired length, the saboteur can construct a swinging stake trap, which can be made to swing in from the left, right, from the ground, or even from above, given that its secured properly.

Sound Trap (35 minutes)- the Saboteur creates an alarm trap using bells, rope, silver wire, and a basket or cage to hold the bells. When a creature breaks the tripwire, the basket or cage falls to the ground, the bells’ jingling alerting the party

Rolling Log Trap (1 Hour)- Taking the same duration as a short rest, the player can spend this time to cut 1d8 logs (if they’re outdoors) and construct a tripwire that is connected to a makeshift log-stand. If an enemy breaks the tripwire, the bracing of the log stand breaks, sending a cascade of timber logs tumbling towards them. each log does 1d10 bludgeoning damage

Ambush Spotter You’ve honed your senses to a razor’s edge. You know an ambush when you see one; At 7th level, when you take watch at camp, any enemies have disadvantage on their stealth checks.

Hit-and-Run Expert At 7th level, you can take the Disengage action as a bonus action, after making an attack.

In Plain Sight You’ve become incredibly adept to hiding from foes using natural terrain; At 11th level, you can add twice your proficiency bonus to stealth checks

Trap Master At 15th level, you can now set more sophisticated traps, and can now incorporate black powder and fuses into your traps.

[dmwisdom]

I know it’s been a ridiculously long time since I last posted or answered any asks (life got in the way) BUT I’m back (briefly) to provide you guys with some content.

I’m currently prepping for Chapter 4 of Storm King’s Thunder. In the chapter, there are some runes - I’m not going to get into specifics bc spoilers, just know they exist. Since I couldn’t find the runes online (after a very, very brief search) I decided to draw them out myself. And since I’ve already taken the time to draw them out, I figured why not scan them in, edit them, and post them to tumblr and reddit.

The runes, from top left to bottom right, are as follows: 1. HAUG. God of the Hill Giants. 2. SKYE. God of the Cloud Giants. 3. ILD. God of the Fire Giants. 4. UVAR. God of the Storm Giants. 5. STEIN. God of the Stone Giants. 6. ISE. God of the Frost Giants.

If you want a link to the document for your own downloading purposes, you can find them here:  - Transparent background: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GCc7zeRu8P7JozgsoMN-TDXY7090oRI_  - White background: https://drive.google.com/open?id=16Plz0EOFW9lGE79PT4Kus--TRkiIOFYX

For those of you hoping this means I’ll be more active, I don’t mean to get your hopes up. Life is still super busy and hectic (#LivinThatFullTimeJobLife) and this was really just a “hey, why not” kind of moment. I’m also in the process of making the other giant runes, so I might post those once I’m done.

In the name of Ise, stay frosty.

Edit: lmao I did another search and immediately found the runes. Whatever, they’re made. I guess they’re better than the stuff ‘in the book’ if you’re looking for something that looks more hand-written.

[dmwisdom]

So the group I'm with we have one guy who likes to make asshole characters who aren't slightly likeable and it always seem like he's trying to the be "main character" all the time and it's pissing me off cause he kicked out someone who did the same and being an absolute ass to everyone in the group when he was a DM. I even told him in our game last night stop doing this it's getting old and annoying and try to work with the group this isn't your story ... But of course he didn't listen ...

.. He didn't listen and said "I'm just playing my character" theirs playing a character and being a self absorbed ass who just wants to show off :/

Talk to the DM, as it sounds like you’re a player. If you aren’t enjoying the game you’re playing, you also don’t have to play with those people. But start by trying to resolve it with the DM.

[dmwisdom]

Hi there I was just wondering if you knew about the rhyme for card suits that are for a story prompt? So for players sitting around a campfire they pick a card and hearts is a love story, diamonds are about getting wealth, spades is a sad story I think...? But I can't seem to find the post... No worries if you don't know it!

I can’t say I’ve heard of this, but I am interested in the idea. If you or my followers knows what’s up, feel free to hit up the replies.

[dmwisdom]

Some friends are leaving their soon to be ex-dm for me as a replacement due to power-tripping. Based on what I've been told about their experiences, I have two questions: 1. Is it possible for player characters to start with no armor whatsoever? 2. Is there a spell called Death Curse that would result in an instant death?

They can start with no armor if they choose, yeah. But most of the time it’s found in starting equipment.

I haven’t heard of Death Curse, but there’s Power Word: Kill that’s somewhere above 6th lvl.

Edit: it’s 9th lvl

[dmwisdom]

Hi I am working as a support worker for a man with cerebral palsy. He communicates by using a device called a dynavox which either has two options really you can either preprogram words or sentences into it or he can manually type out words (long. He has expressed interest in trying out dnd and to start him off I was thinking it would be simplest to do a one on one game. What should I preprogram in?do I just give him a couple options of what to do since him coming up with stuff could be hard?

I feel like this is a little outside of my domain, just because I don’t know what’s easy and hard for your patient/client. However, I can help by offering some commonly used phrases in DnD!

I would start out by programming in all numbers from 1-25 of 30. This way you have most roll outcomes taken care of. I would also program in “I roll to hit.” and the various weapons used or spells used. This should help with combat.

I would program in the various skills and a basic “I roll for...” then they can press the button for the appropriate skill.

Lastly, what you’re doing sounds incredible. The world needs more good people :D

[dmwisdom]

About mute characters. On the actual play podcast Dames and Dragons one of the main characters is mute. She used the somatic components of spells to make a sign language. That might work for you

Here, have a thing.

[dmwisdom]

Hey, so I know you probably get a lot of questions. So I'm new to pretty much everything involving dnd and I'm the DM. I have a player that wants to play a mute character and I'm not quite sure how to make this work for him? Do you have any suggestions?

Utilize notes? Your player’s character could always carry around a notepad or something. If writing actual notes is too tedious, your player can say  what’s being written.