newbiesanddragons

[newbiesanddragons]

Wizard but a criminal background? Is that like, a plausible thing? chaotic neutural, mayhaps?

Sorry if you sent this days ago because I haven’t had my computer on for a few days but, I say go for it!!!!

[newbiesanddragons]

So this is a cheat-sheet I’ve made for personal use to just have an overview over all the basic D&D rules. The first page covers most of the text rules. The color divides the sections more or less from one another.

The second page covers most of the important tables and stats, that you’ll probably need through the game. Hope you like it and find some use for this! Cheers.

[newbiesanddragons]

Hey, I don't know if anyone mentioned this before, but in the handout for creating a new character with explanations, in the blue part you forgot to mention the intelligence ability. I don't know if that was intentional or not, or if you already knew that, but I thought I'd mentioned it. Thank you so much for making it, it's been super helpful so far!

It’s mentioned it’s just not bolded. Or I forgot to hit enter? i can’t remember. In all fairness, I had a concussion when I made it. I want to revamp it, but I’m in classes rn and i just haven’t had the time! 

Sorry for the confusion! 

-Raelee

[newbiesanddragons]

Thanks for submitting this to us @zenos127!

Have all you Dungeon and Dragon players heard of Orc Pub? It allows you to easily and freely create a DND character. 

It informs you about each race, here you can see I’m remaking my Aasimar from a new game. 

It can calculate all of your abilities for you if that’s something you have trouble with. I certainly have a hard time. Or if you’re super awesome and can do it by yourself there is a manual way to do it!

Basically it just helps you go step by step figure out what feats you might want,  what alignment you might want, what comes items (weapons, armor, and gold etc) come with your character’s background and class. 

Did I mention its FREE?

Right now there is a kickstarter to help make a mobile app, but right now I can easily transfer this info onto my character sheet!

[newbiesanddragons]

What exactly is this file you can upload to orcpub to get everything working? I’d love to use it.

HI SORRY. You probably sent this in forever ago. I’m posting it to let you know we’re not ignoring you and let my compatriots know because one of them probably knows!

-Raelee

[newbiesanddragons]

I figured out a simple guide to the alignment chart last night

Lawful: Rules matter more to me than individuals. Chaotic: Individuals matter more to me than rules.

Good: Other people’s well-being is more important than my own. Evil: My own well-being is more important than other people’s.

Neutrals: My opinion of what is more important is determined on a case-by-case basis.

So a Lawful Good character’s guiding moral philosophy might be “I follow the rules because the rules keep people safe, even if they are sometimes inconvenient or harmful to me or other individuals.” A Chaotic Evil character’s guiding moral philosophy would be like “Screw the rules and screw you.”

[newbiesanddragons]

Is your combat boring?

Do you find combat the most boring part of d&d? Do you feel you hand slowly reaching for your phone when it’s not your turn in combat? Are you constantly having your mind wander? Well, this post is for you!

How to spice up your combat!

Describe what you’re doing! This applies to players and to DMs. Instead of saying ‘I hit him, I do x damage.’ Spice that shit up baby!! Be descriptive! “I draw my sword off my back, and with one hand I slash him across the chest to set an example out of him and scare his friends!’ Or if you’re a DM: 'The hobgoblin has nowhere to escape, he attempts to climb up over the wall but it’s too high, he knows you will catch him. So he jumps off the wall and flies in your face, clawing wildly.” Damn, see? That’s way cooler than 'The hobgoblin is trapped, he’s going to claw you.“

Use your environment! This will make for more interesting fights and perhaps get you extra damage. "I punch him” vs “I grab him by the hair and smash his face into the table, holding him down. I lift up a tankard and break it overtop of his head.” How cool!! Wow, are you an action star? ★

For DMs: its more fun to kill 10 small enemies than it is to kill 2 regular enemies. (Unless it is a boss)

DMs: player rolled a 1 or a 20? Let them describe what happens. It keeps the players engaged and let’s them be creative.

Describe deaths. “Your magic missiles have killed him” vs “you outreach your hand, the hot missiles of your spell form around you, collecting energy until they speed past you, straight towards the Evil Man. He knocks the first missile away but the others hit him with an intense force, sending him flying into the wall behind him. His body makes an awful 'crunch’ as the stone wall cracks from the impact. He slumps down, and does not get up.”

Hope this helps! Have fun playing.

[newbiesanddragons]

In dnd 5e, resurrecting characters is a walk in the park at higher levels, but it’s not something that I think should be taken lightly. I devised this table of possible consequences for resurrecting a character (please note that I intend for all of these to be curable or customisable within my own game). Thanks everyone who offered their feedback on earlier versions! I’ve added as much as I reasonably could from all your fantastic ideas, and it’s made this end result way better than I could’ve ever done alone. You can download the Word document here and make your own edits for your game: Consequences of Resurrection v1.3. This table was devised specifically for my dnd group, and I’ve consulted with the players to check their thoughts and feelings on each consequence. You’re absolutely welcome to use it and edit it as you need to make it balanced for your own games. For example, you might only wanted to use this table for spells attempted without the necessary components. This table does rely on having a reasonable DM, as I made it knowing my own style and that of my players. If your DM is just out to fuck you over, this mightn’t be a great addition to your games. Special thanks to @transjester for generously smoothing out my own ignorances, to @duels-of-infrno and the lovely anon for their great ideas, and a shout out to my best friend (and player) for her help smoothing out the rough edges and filling in the gaps.

[newbiesanddragons]

So my personal recommendation of the day? If you see a resource that you like– I highly recommend you save it somewhere that’s easy to reference while in game! Copy it down to your notebooks, your google docs, or what have you. Just set aside a certain folder (tangible or digital) filled with your own collection of homebrew rules and resources for easy reference. Don’t just save it to a tag on your blog, because you know you’re going to forget it’s even there when in the heat of the moment. And not to mention, searching through pages of blog tags is pretty time consuming and inefficient.

This is kind of how I like to organize my stuff through use of OneNote, if you need a template reference of what I mean:

I have everything from links, rules, resources, references, and tables for easy access right in my campaign notes. Often times, i’ll even recreate tables using the table tool in OneNote so it’s easy to search if I need to, rather than just pasting images. But you can still do that if it’s faster for you.

This is sort of a sneak peak at what each folder has, so you know what i’m talking about saving here:

Combat

Survival

Roleplay

Shopping

Spellcasting (This ones a lil barren right now)

Misc.

I’ve snagged pretty much all of these from the internet, namely tumblr and reddit. But hey! They’re for you to use, so you might as well make them easier to find.

[newbiesanddragons]

On Creating Characters- Six Points to Get You Started

As much as I like to complain about my weaknesses when it comes to writing, I’m happy to say that creating characters isn’t one of them. So for anyone who wants it- my quick guide on creating characters.

This list is for anyone who has a vague idea for a character but doesn’t have a plot or a role in the story for them to fill.  It’s for people who have a plot in mind, but lack characters to place in it. It’s for people who love those long, detailed character spreadsheets, but don’t have the patience (or know all the answers) to fill them out. The points I’ve listed below will probably overlap heavily and influence one another- for instance, “societal/cultural influences“ may inform both “philosophy“ and “defining relationships“. It pulls the character together.

Keep in mind that this is not everything you want to know about your character- you should continue to flesh them out as you write them. This is just a baseline, a starting point, an I-just-want-to-write-something-with-this-character-but-I-know-absolutely-nothing-about-them list so you can jump into writing with or without a plot in mind. It describes them as they are on a typical, ordinary day. As you continue to write and develop them, they will become more nuanced and take on a life of their own.

 Base Personality

Jot down some base personality traits. Don’t worry about getting an equal number of positive and negative traits down- or even which is which. Just feel out the character’s base personality.

Significant Historical Events

What events have had the greatest impact on your character (that you know of so far)? Again, don’t worry about getting everything- you can always add more here as they come to you later. Hit the major turning points in your character’s life.

Societal/Cultural Influences

What societal and cultural backgrounds do your characters have? Are they living/working/existing in an area where these influences are the majority or the minority?

Philosophy

What is your character’s default philosophy when it comes to right and wrong, or difficult moral choices? (I usually use the D&D alignment system for its simplicity- feel free to be as detailed or not as you wish).

Defining Relationships

What are this character’s defining relationships? Enemies, friends, and family are good places to highlight. Major conflicts and points of contention are great starting points for plots.

Goals

What does your character want more than anything? What are you preventing them from getting over the course of the story?  If any minor goals pop up while you’re writing, jot those down too.

[newbiesanddragons]

100 Warm Up DnD Character Questions

If your character wasn’t an adventurer, what livelihood would they lead?

Who in the party would your character trust the most with their life?

What are your character’s core moral beliefs?

What relationship does your character have with their parents and siblings?

Does your character have any biases for or against certain races?

What is your character’s opinion on nobility? On authority?

Describe your character’s current appearance: clothes, armor, scars they’ve picked up along the journey, etc.

What location encountered in the campaign has your character felt the most “at home” in, or just generally liked the most?

What deity, if any, does your character worship? What’s their opinion on other people’s worship?

If your character had time to pick up any artisan’s tools, game set, instrument, etc., what would it be?

Describe your character’s current relationship with the player character sitting to your right.

What is your character’s current goal, summed up in one sentence?

Does your character ever want to “settle down” with a spouse, children, house, etc.?

Has your character ever been in love?

What battle in the campaign has been most memorable to your character?

If your character wasn’t whatever class they are, what would they be instead?

What is your character’s favorite season?

What would your character’s Zodiac sign be, following stereotypical astrology?

Where in the world does your character most want to visit?

What is the biggest mistake your character has ever made?

Does your character have any noticeable scars? If so, what are their stories?

What animal best represents your character?

If your character could go back in time and change one thing about their life, what would it be?

Which other player character does your character find themselves having the most in common with?

Does your character regret any particular choice the party has made?

What would your character say their best trait would be?

What is your character’s greatest fear? Deep, irrational?

What is currently motivating your character to stay with the party?

What are your character’s hobbies and interests outside of their class?

What would most people think when they first see your character?

What stereotypical group role does your character play in the party? (The Mom, the Mess, the Comic Relief, etc. Optionally: What role would your character play in the “Five Man Band” structure?)

What is your character the most insecure about?

What person does your character admire most?

What does your character admire and dislike the most about the player character sitting to your left?

Why is your character’s lowest stat their lowest (the in-character reason, not “because there’s no reason for a wizard to have 16 strength, duh”)?

What would be your character’s theme song/favorite band/favorite genre of music?

What stereotypical role would your character play in a high school AU/if they attended a normal high school? (Nerd, jock, bully, goth, etc.)

What treasure/item/artifact that your character has collected during the adventure is the most important to them?

Is there any particular weapon, item, etc. that your character longs to find?

Where does your character feel the most at home?

Does your character care about how they’re perceived by others? How do they change themselves to fit in with other people?

What does your character think is the true meaning of life?

What is your character’s scent? (Bonus points for a description that sounds like it could be from a bad [or awesome] fanfic.)

Does your character think more with their heart or their brain?

What is your character’s most recent or frequent nightmare?

What opinion does your character have on [CERTAIN ESTABLISHED GROUPS/AUTHORITIES IN THE GAME WORLD]? (Dragonmarked Houses, royal crown, etc.)

How did your character spend their childhood? Where did they grow up/who were their childhood friends?

What aspect of your character’s future are they most curious about? (If they could know one thing about the future, what would it be?)

What colors are associated with your character?

Who in the party would your character prioritize rescuing, in dire circumstances?

Is your character the most swayed by ethos, pathos, or logos?

If your character was granted a single use of Wish, what would they use it for?

What is your character’s favorite spell? If they don’t use spells: what is their favorite personal weapon/combat maneuver/skill/etc.?

How does your character feel about keeping secrets from the rest of the party?

What type of creature in the world is your character the most intrigued by?

When they were a child, what did your character want to be, or think they were going to be, when they grew up?

The player character to your left admits that they’re passionately in love with your character. How would your character respond?

If somebody (an NPC, someone from their backstory, etc.) your character trusts/loves asked your character to do something against the party’s best interest, who would they side with?

Does your character value their own best interest more than the party’s?

What decision would the party have to make in order for your character to consider splitting off from the group?

How does your character imagine the way they will die?

What is your character’s greatest achievement?

Is your character willing to risk the well-being of others in order to achieve their goal?

What is your character’s opinion on killing others?

What is your character’s favorite food? Beverage?

How generous is your character? Especially to those they don’t know?

What is your character the most envious about, regarding anyone in the party?

The player character to your left and the player character to your right are both telling your character two different versions of the truth. Who does your character believe?

What is your character’s sexuality/relationship with sex?

What is your character’s biggest pet peeve?

Describe how your character feels about the party’s current situation/objective/etc.

Who in the party would your character trust the most to keep an important secret?

If your character knew that they were going to die in a month, how would they spend the rest of their life?

What makes your character feel safe?

If your character had the chance to rename the party/give the party a name, no questions asked, what would it be?

What memory does your character want to forget the most?

If your character had to multiclass into a class they currently aren’t the next time they level up, what would it be and what reason would they have for doing so?

What television/book/video game/etc. character would your character be best friends with? (Or: what media character is your character the most influenced by/similar to?

What unusual talents does your character possess?

How does your character feel about receiving/giving orders? Are they more of a leader, or a follower?

What does your character’s name represent to them? (Or: why as a player did you choose your character’s name?)

Is your character more of an introvert, or an extrovert?

How far is your character willing to go to pursue the “greater good”? Do they believe in a greater good at all?

What does your character want to be remembered by?

What would be your character’s major in college?

Does your character consider themselves a hero, villain, or something else?

What major arcana tarot card best represents your character?

Where does your character see themselves in 20 years?

What is your character’s relationship with magic? Are they scared of it, wish to know more about it, indifferent to it?

Who is your character’s biggest rival?

What is your character’s guiltiest pleasure?

What does your character hope for the afterlife?

Who in the party does your character trust the least?

What is your character’s biggest flaw?

How did your character learn the languages that they speak?

What is your character’s favorite school of magic/type of weaponry?

What is most important to your character: health, wealth, or happiness?

What advice would your character give to a younger version of themselves?

Are there any social or political issues your character feels strongly about?

What, currently, is your character the most curious about?

taken from here courtesy of @greyjediluke

[newbiesanddragons]

D4 Unusual Quests

Not every quest should result in spilt blood. Sometimes adventurers are tasked to do other things. Roll on the table for your next challenge.

1) Party Time: Have the characters plan and host a party for some unique event like a birthday or wedding. It can be harder than the heroes think when the flowers were delivered elsewhere, some of the guests show up drunk, and somehow the kitchen caught fire.

2) Last Request: A sphinx lies dying of old age. It’s last request is for the adventurers to tell her of their adventures and hopes. There is something bittersweet about sharing their absurd tales to a dying creature.

3) One Small Favor: The characters need a thing from an NPC. Well that NPC is only willing to part with the trinket if they can get one of Aunt Irma’s famous pies, but Irma can’t be bothered with that until she has taken care of setting up for a funeral but the caskets are late. The caskets are late because they only have the bodies but no clothes. The clothes need to be picked up from the families, but one family can’t find the suit he requested to be buried in because…

4) Matchmaker: One of the NPCs that the adventurers have adopted has fallen in love with a very unlikely suitor. Help them compose a love letter, set up a first date, and make sure their rival in love (who is a complete dirt ball) doesn’t win over the suitor first.

[newbiesanddragons]

Sharpen those axes and load your crossbows - It’s Time for a Monster Hunt! Available now on the DMsguild!

Populating a town or city and in desperate need of quick bounty quests?  Players asking the local tavern for rumors when you had nothing prepared?  Don’t Panic! Just head on over and grab a copy 100 Monster Hunts!  Each quest has been outlined with a bounty advertisement for your players, and additional quest details for the DM, including named NPCs, plot or objectives, loot and treasure rewards, as well as helpful page references for each item or monster used in the quest. Need something quick and don’t want to drag through all 100 hunts to find something? Just roll a d100 and consult the table to quickly whip up a sudden quest whenever you need it! So what are you waiting for? Give yourself a chance to flex those RP muscles and have your players ready their weapons - it’s monster hunting time!

[newbiesanddragons]

I have found this helpful guide on creating a character backstory. I have been struggling creating one for my character and there’s a PDF template that asks questions that helps get your wheels turning! 

[newbiesanddragons]

As an entry-level DnD player can someone explain to me in the simplest possible way how to differentiate wizards, warlocks, and sorcerers from each other?

[newbiesanddragons]

Looking for a random cause of death for a character? Click here.

Looking for a random city? Click here.

Looking for a random city that people have actually heard of? Click here.

Need a random surname for a character? Click here. (They also give prevalence by race, which is very helpful.)

Helpful writing tips for my friends.

[newbiesanddragons]

warlock of The Final Pam