#HomebrewAndHacking

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Lots of gorgeous art and talking about what actually goes in the book which apparently drivethruRPG objects to. #A5e #5e #ToV #Free5e #WorldBuilding #CraftingHeritagesCulturesAndMore

[homebrewandhacking]

Revised, revamped and better than ever before...

What if you just wanted to customise everything about your world? How would you do that and be compatible with your favourite game? #A5e #5e #dnd #LevelUpAdvanced

I’m clearly not talking about the website, 🙂 instead I refer to my forthcoming release. Crafting Heritages and Cultures and More: World building The goal of this book is to allow you to create fully customised Heritages, Cultures, Feats and Backgrounds, including chains of feats, synergy feats, and transformational feats which will be compatible with the material in Level Up: Advanced Fifth…

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Combat Maneuvers: Traditions, Part I

Introduction So, I was poised, poised I tells ya, to dive into analysing each class individually like the berserker but then… In fine tradition, I decided that I probably don’t have all the bits. Since I’m not talking about basic DnD or even Black Flag but my beloved Level Up: Advanced Fifth Edition I expect the audience for this to be limited. If it turns out it’s not then I’ll just have to…

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A5e Combat maneuvers

You're having a normal one, fighting giant ants, but just attacking is getting samey. Then it hits you! Combat maneuvers! And then you hit the giant ants... with style! #Dnd #A5e #LevelUpA5e

Introduction So, since people keep asking me how to make characters in Level Up: Advanced Fifth Edition, I thought I’d take another stab at it. Most people don’t really appreciate the breadth of choice that adding cultures and destinies give you in making a really deep character at level 1, so I’m going to do some “nibbling round the edges” and talk about how to choose combat maneuvers. To talk…

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Classes and Classifications I: Definitions

This is an attempt to articulate what I see as the 6 roles that characters take in a D&D party. #HomebrewAndHacking #DnD #5e #A5e

Introduction So I was asked by @arms to write about the party roles and how each class would fit into them. As I am an enjoyer of Advanced Fifth Edition as opposed to other forms, I will be couching my discussion in such language, but I feel confident that you can work out who’s who very easily if your only experience is 5th edition. The class list of “official” classes is here. Originally I…

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Cantrips Converted V.

In my defence, I was left unsupervised... Converting situational cantrips into cool magic items. #TTRPG #A5e #DnD #5e #HomebrewAndHacking

Introduction So, the discerning reader will notice that I’ve been talking and thinking about cantrips. Part I discussed the opportunity costs of taking them. Parts II and III were kindly assisted by Purple Martin Games who gave me permission to reprint Manual of Adventurous Resources and Spells from the Forgotten Vault respectively. Part IV was an investigation into Black Flag to see if Tales…

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Cantrips IV: The Black Flag edit

Introduction As per the previous two posts, I’m looking at cantrips and the design space around them. Extracted from the Black Flag Reference Document by Kobold Press (Black Flag) here are some of the cantrips. I’m going to compare them with some of those that have come out of the Level Up: Advanced Fifth Edition by EN Publishing (A5e) design space. Several of these cantrips share the same name…

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The True Cost of Cantrips

What opportunity costs do you incur from cantrips and what does this tell us about the space?

A discussion of their ranking*, opportunity costs in taking them and how they affect design for classes. So, in Level Up: Advanced Fifth Edition we have a different set of cantrips available than the ones in Hasbro’s version of D&D. So, how should we rank cantrips? Well, cantrips are unusual because most spells you can swap out as you level up, but cantrips are hard to do that with as whilst…

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SRD for Crafting Heritages and Cultures

Crafting Heritages and Cultures SRD is available under creative commons!

I have decided to put some of my work into a Creative Commons licence. This means that all you need to do to use any of my released work is follow the instructions at the end of the document. 🙂 The idea is that as I work my way through my existing works, and their braille versions (Thanks to Wyrmworks publishing and Braille Blaster) then I’ll add them to this entry. I’ll be putting some more…

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You don't hate exploration, you hate survival

Turns out you don't hate exploration, you hate "survival" mechanics. And you hate them because they're bad. No one wants to starve to death, they want to solve problems and see ancient wonders. And that's ok with me. #A5e #HomebrewAndHacking #5e

A provocative title but true. Let’s define what I mean by these words and then we can both agree that I’m right and everyone’s day will be just a little brighter. 🙂 Fine, define exploration Exploration, especially in the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons, is everything that isn’t talking to or about people and everything that isn’t fighting creatures. However this is a negative space…

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Plans for 2024 and a little treat

I have returned bringing you information about books and Actual Play of my work (by some lovely people I have never met

In this essay: What my plans are (complex) So, it’s been quite the break! The Elysians was dogged by illness and technical problems (not me for a change, but worse, people I work with). However it looks absolutely gorgeous! Even now, I have just now managed to order a proof copy so I can get the book out to backers, it’s getting there! So, this book will be out on general release for 2024.…

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A logistical guide for the first time GM (3)

The third in my series in the logistics of running a game, focusing on the nuts and bolts of actually doing it. This time focusing on time budgets for your session. #A5e #DnD #TTRPG #HomebrewAndHacking

Welcome back! Or hello for the first time, whichever. If you’re reading this for the first time then you may wish to look at the first and second posts in this series. The first deals with the nuts and bolts of scheduling your campaign, key concepts from that work are: “Comfort breaks”, “Socialising Time”, “Table Talk” which for the purpose of this post will be grouped under “Game Admin”. The…

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Spellcasting Without Spell Slots - A Design Process example-I

Casting spells without slots. Part 1. Would you play a caster with these rules? I think I'd enjoy it but it's pretty savage. #DnD #A5e #TTRPG @Jackgiantkiller@dice.camp @ttrpg@a.gup.pe

So, I quite like Jack’s work at “Of Gods and Games Masters” and the article on spellcasting without spell slots, caught my eye! Jack has had a go, as have most designers, at spellcasting in 5e without spell slots. Jack is of course a much better designer than me with much more experience. However, he asked me to have a go at it in Advanced Fifth Edition, so let’s see what I can do with it. It’s…

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Worlds To-Go: The Elysians Kickstarter Pre-Launch

Worlds To-Go the Elysians. Get a lil micro setting that you can seamlessly insert into your games, or just grab the bits you want, as it's all modular and run! If you'd also rather be playing than prepping, this is for you! #a5e #LevelUpA5e #DnD

I’m delighted to announce the pre-launch for Worlds To-Go: The Elysians. Click through and sign up! So, as you know I love making Narrator’s lives easier. I wrote two books to let you customise your own stuff completely, but I was trying to get a game going using Level Up and I thought it unnecessarily hard. So my concept is to have a “microsetting” which is like a part of the world, rather than…

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Pre-generated Characters

When something is so good you have to post about it twice. #HomebrewAndHacking #A5e #Dnd

Anyway, I’ve decided to start doing pre-generated characters. Here is Loren Half-Elven, she’s a half-human, half-elf, level 1 fighter who was a Noble from the Eladrin culture. She is destined for Excellence. 🙂 In play she is very earnest and perceptive, having grown up in the Faerie Courts, she is a skilled negotiator and excels in the physical and knightly arts. When it comes to exploration,…

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Book release

Hey, I got a new book out! You should definitely have a look or just buy it without looking both work. ;) https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/422903/One-if-By-Land-Two-if-by-Sea-Three-if-by-Air #LevelUpA5e #TTRPG #DnD @ttrpg@a.gup.pe @dnd@a.gup.pe

Today, I’m able to announce the release of “One if by land, two if by sea, three if by air.“ After a successful kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, I have been able to finally complete this book. I’m almost reluctant to release it because I’ve devoted so much mental energy to it and trying to get it right and there’s been such a difficult time in my life associated with it. However, it is here…