#because homebrew

[thechekhov]

Can you share more funny moments from your DnD campaign please

I’ll do you one better.

For context: This happened during our Curse of Strahd game, which is now leaning into Homebrew territory because my players refuse to go to Ravenloft. 

Not pictured: The unicorn, immediately after taking falling damage, also got electrocuted into oblivion because one of the players is cursed, courtesy of the Amber Temple. 

Needless to say, I was thrilled concerned about how much I packed into the dungeon crawl to wear them down, only to realize they were fully capable of doing it themselves. 

[heroes-feasting]

haven’t seen this posted here yet

the ‘dragons’ part of dnd got me interested originally, but it was the fan creations like taz and critical role that really drew me in and kept me around

what a god awful decision

[brewerssupplies]

Howdy! Here's the goodest blade to have ever been forged! I had the idea for this item the other day and wanted to make it!

[jet-teeth]

"The Raven King"

[fidgetspringer-art]

✷ Archmage Tethry Ikos ✷

[smellslikebot]

here's my first custom 3DS theme: a SLARPG theme with looping music, SFX from the game, and bottom screen animation! you can download it by scanning the QR code with Anemone3DS, or get the .zip here and put it in your Themes folder :]

art by ponett & audio by bumblequinn

(you must have custom firmware on your 3DS to install this)

[squishyowl]

Midnight Scars Hierarchy

probably done? hopefully? still working on appearances and background information for these dudes but otherwise I've got the organization/hierarchy down

some small tidbits for them:

(for context, any and all neophytes and newly made astartes develop physical and/or mental defects from the geneseed being warped from extreme/extended warp travel)

-Ailsun Ixix is the son of a lower hive gang leader the warband works with. his geneseed defect caused all of his hair to fall out. all of it. (tattoo goes from top of head and down to the small of back)

-Acoryphion hated Xaxius coming to power and refused to tattoo himself like the others, believing himself to have been a better option. the subsequent fight ended up in Xaxius' victory

-Vit and Yharek are close friends. Vit is currently apprenticing to become an apothecary to help reduce the workload on Yharek (tattoo is three spikes along left eyebrow ridge)

-Yharek was the son of an upper hive medicae on Nostramo. his surgical skills at such a young age drew the attention of the legion. he was inconsolable for weeks after learning of Nostramo's destruction (tattoo is NL icon on back of head)

-Orrik was an orphan they found hidden away in the underhive. his geneseed defect caused him to take on a gargoyle-like appearance, forcing him to wear his armor constantly when interacting with the public (tattoo is the tip of ears)

[dungeonsandblorbos]

whenever we're playing Curse of Strahd and the DM (my husband) decides it's time to introduce a NPC who is either morally dubious or straight up obviously evil but describes and voices them in such a way that they're clearly super charismatic and/or hot:

[dice-n-antlers]

Thinking about Astarion (because of course I am) and the spell True Resurrection.

There’s been some debate over the dates on his headstone and how long he’s been dead and how old he was when he died. The dates are listed kinda weird, but the general consensus is that he’s exactly at or just under 200 years (un)dead.

It is true that, as written, the creature must be dead “no longer than 200 years” for the spell to work.

However.

I think you can argue that in Astarion’s case (and for vampires in general) that it doesn’t matter.

Of course, to work within the confines of the game, the spell has to be written with specific rules and limits. However, rules can be bent and in a tabletop setting, this would be up to DM discretion. As you can see in the spell description, the soul of the creature must also be free and willing to return to life and their body must not have died of old age. So, why the 200-year restriction? To answer that question, let’s talk about souls in the Forgotten Realms.

In general, when an ensouled creature dies, the soul moseys on over to the fugue plane over the course of a few days or even up to a month. This is why there are different resurrection spells that have to be used within a minute or ten days; because the soul is still sorta hanging around.

Once on the fugue plane, the soul just kinda hangs out. Waiting. After about a tenday-ish, a divine postal worker from the soul’s chosen deity comes to pick up the soul and deliver it to its final resting place on the home plane of their deity. The soul can’t be forced or tricked into following the wrong mailman. And there are exceptions to this rule as well. For instance, a soul who wasn’t particularly faithful might end up waiting centuries before someone shows up. If they wait too long, the soul may fade out of existence or Kelemvor may judge them before then.

Once the soul has been prime-delivered to their deity’s planar doorstep, they become a petitioner and their form and the nature of the afterlife can vary wildly depending on who they follow. Some exist in bliss or anguish. Memories of their life on Toril may fade. In the case of elves, they tend to retain their individuality and identity and may eventually be reincarnated in a cycle seeking perfection.

(Note: non-elven petitioners of the Seldarine pantheon of Arvandor could appear as elven or with elven features in death even if they were not elves in their mortal life. Same goes for drow, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings and their respective gods and planes. So you could even make the argument that a non-elf could then enter the elven reincarnation cycle and be elven in their future life if they worship Sehanine Moonbow or Corellon Larethian, etc. Consider also that the Reincarnation spell has the potential to change a dead creature into almost any race without effecting their soul; therefore reincarnating an elf into a tiefling but not removing them from their normal elven reincarnation cycle.)

(But I digress)

The point is, when you are raising a creature from the dead, you are pulling them from somewhere in that natural process. Depending on how long they have been dead, they may no longer exist, or may have little to no memory of their mortal life, they may not want to come back, they may have already been reincarnated into another life, or you might be pissing off some deity. In fact, once a soul is a petitioner, their deity has to approve of their return to life as well. Not to mention, for most souls there may not be much worth coming back to after 200 years; there is likely nothing remaining of their former life and loved ones.

Again, the soul must be both free and willing.

So what about Astarion? To bastardize his own quote: his soul is RIGHT THERE.

He died, sure, but his soul didn’t go anywhere. If you didn’t ascend him, you know his soul exists intact. It’s not on the fugue plane or any final resting plane and hasn’t been reincarnated. His body is dead(ish), but didn’t die of old age. Not to mention, the Monster Manual specifically lists (re)killing them and bringing them back to life as a potential way to cure a vampire.

Assuming that Astarion is willing to return to a full, mortal life, I see no barrier to True Resurrecting him… except that you might need to kill him first… and you need a fuckton of diamonds.

In short: think of the 200-year thing as more of a guideline than a rule. Alternatively, consider that Astarion may have been un-dead for a good long time, but he has not been dead-dead for 200 years.

Now, go forth Tavs! Go kill and resurrect your vampire boyfriend!

[villainihavedonethymotheronao3]

Throwing my hat in the ring, I think Sam is going to (not should, going to) most likely come back with some sort of paladin, Most likely ancestries, imo, are dwarf, kenku, or a very small tabaxi. One of the moon people would be fun but it's harder to justify them with good healing abilities, short of some sort of bioengineer themed artificer. Either he utilizes the jail break that was concurrent with the split-party mission to bring in a paladin of a Betrayer god (very juicy potential that brings in god-loyalty from a new direction) or throws a lawful good paladin from Vasselheim at them and watches everyone cringe.

In conclusion: I think they should let Sam play Teven Klask's daughter.

[rukafais]

not a dnd canon stan or a dnd homebrew stan but a secret third thing (desperately trying to figure out whether any given thing about "dnd lore" or the rumors about the writers involved that people circulate has any credible source or it's a telephone game of He Said She Said all the way down at best or something being severely misconstrued/Someone Just Fucking Lied Or Made It Up at worst)

[nailsofvecna]

This apple was supposed to be a blessing. When the gods offered it as a trophy to the world's most beautiful person, however, the immediate outpouring of envy from those who thought they deserved the prize caused the apple to become saturated with negative energy, corrupting its enchantment into a curse.

[thatcerealkiller]

I HC that Tav and Astarion quietly embrace the fact that Tav will grow old and die and Astarion’s made peace with life after Tav being a big unknown…only for Tav to gain “immortality” through completely different means and it puts their relationship in a spin because now they could be together forever but what if they become different people over time? Can they close this centuries long chapter in their lives amicably?

[arcadewonder]

with a rainy spring comes greenery back to the harbor.

[malevolententity]

sometimes i wonder if m a dnd elitist and then i remember no. i actually just enjoy a wide spread of ttrpg systems indie and mainstream. and just get very annoyed that everyone else in the world is seemingly too allergic to shopping around for systems so instead of finding an indie system that does what they want. theyll just break dnd to the point where it doesnt even resemble dnd anymore. like oh? youre playing dnd 5e but youve changed half the stat names and all basic mechanics? and the only dice you roll is d6s?? GO BUY MONSTER OF THE WEEK. THAT IS THE SYSTEM U WANNA PLAY IT ALREADY EXISTS AND IS VERY FUN. YOU CAN PLAY OTHER GAMES ITS OKAY I PROMISE

[pirateprincessjess]

Are there any niche pinball table designs? Like typically a table is a rectangle on a slant with different obstacles. Are there any circular tables or other fun shapes?

There are some odd shaped pinball machines, but most of them follow the classic rectangular shape.

A few cocktail table pinball machines exist and they are pretty neat, but if you play them you’ll understand why pinball machines are usually all the same shape. The classic rectangle just kinda works