#griffon's saddlebag

[dndtreasury]

Battery Shield

[dndsettingsinfo]

Mantle of Adapativity

[viva-la-topknot]

🎲 Hank  🎲 D&D and Other Tabletop Art here.  🎨 General art tag.   

[the-griffons-saddlebag]

💎 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺! Immovable Cat
Wondrous item, rare ___ This life-sized marble statue of a cat weighs only 1 pound when carried. You can use an action to speak one of its two command words while holding it, causing the statue to spring to life. The first command word causes the cat to immediately lie down and seemingly go to sleep. A creature within reach of the cat can use an action to make a DC 30 Strength check, moving the cat up to 5 feet on a success. The second command word causes the cat to run toward and pounce on a target that you can see within 30 feet of you. The target must then succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and restrained by the cat. The cat then lies down on the target and seemingly goes to sleep. A creature within reach of the cat can use an action to make a DC 30 Strength check, moving the cat to the nearest unoccupied space on a success. The cat returns to its normal weight, sits up, and ceases to be animated when you speak its command word again using an action, even if you aren't holding it. Only the creature that first spoke the cat's command word to animate it can end the effect by speaking the command word again; even if another creature speaks the word, the cat does not respond to it. While animated, the cat has AC 15, 20 hit points, and resistance to all damage. If the "mending" spell is cast on the cat while it has at least 1 hit point, it regains 2d6 hit points. If the cat drops to 0 hit points, it reverts to its normal weight and can’t be used again for 24 hours, at which point it regains all its hit points. ___ ✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon's Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!

[theoutcastrogue]

The ORC Alliance Grows

meanwhile, at Paizo Blog (published January 19, 2023) :

Over the course of the last week, more than 1,500 tabletop RPG publishers, from household names going back to the dawn of the hobby to single proprietors just starting out with their first digital release, have joined together to pledge their support for the development of a universal system-neutral open license that provides a legal “safe harbor” for sharing rules mechanics and encourages innovation and collaboration in the tabletop gaming space.

The alliance is gathered. Work has begun.

It would take too long to list all the companies behind the ORC license effort, but we thought you might be interested to see a few of the organizations already pledged toward this common goal. We are honored to be allied with them, as well as with the equally important participating publishers too numerous to list here. Each is crucial to the effort’s success. The list below is but a representative sample of participating publishers from a huge variety of market segments with a huge variety of perspectives. But we all agree on one thing.

We are all in this together.  

Alchemy RPG

Arcane Minis

Atlas Games

Autarch

Azora Law

Black Book Editions

Bombshell Miniatures

BRW Games

Chaosium

Cze & Peku

Demiplane

DMDave

The DM Lair

Elderbrain

EN Publishing

Epic Miniatures

Evil Genius Games

Expeditious Retreat Press

Fantasy Grounds

Fat Dragon Games

Forgotten Adventures

Foundry VTT

Free RPG Day

Frog God Games

Gale Force 9

Game On Tabletop

Giochi Uniti

Goodman Games

Green Ronin

The Griffon’s Saddlebag

Iron GM Games

Know Direction

Kobold Press

Lazy Wolf Studios

Legendary Games

Lone Wolf Development

Loot Tavern

Louis Porter Jr. Designs

Mad Cartographer

Minotaur Games

Mongoose Publishing

MonkeyDM

Monte Cook Games

MT Black

Necromancer Games

Nord Games

Open Gaming, Inc.

Paizo Inc.

Paradigm Concepts

Pelgrane Press

Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Raging Swan Press

Rogue Games

Rogue Genius Games

Roll 20

Roll for Combat

Sly Flourish

Tom Cartos

Troll Lord Games

Ulisses Spiele

You will be hearing a lot more from us in the days to come.

[source]

[utilitycaster]

OGL 1.2 summary

Finally have had a chance to look through properly. I do strongly suggest following people like Gabe Hicks and James Haeck, who are game designers with extensive experience working with WoTC but neither of whom are currently employed by them; Hicks also has done extensive design on other TTRPGs (as showcased in Dimension 20's Shriek Week; they are also a developer for Motherlands RPG and worked on the Uk'otoa tabletop game). Both have had pretty thorough and thoughtful criticism that is grounded in the facts of the matter.

Also: I am doing my best but I am not a lawyer. Please defer to verified lawyers if my paraphrasing is incorrect. Additionally, I am rephrasing things in simple terms, so do not jump to conclusions based on my word choice; if you are looking at the highly specific legal implications of a word you should refer to the actual OGL 1.2 document. And, most importantly, All of this can be commented on at this survey link.

In general:

The core rules, not including classes/races or specific spells, will be covered by a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license. This includes things like ability checks, saving throws, the core stats stuff, conditions (prone, exhausted, etc) and creature types (but not the creatures themselves). The full SRD 5.1 is available here if you want to check for yourself.

It affirms the fan content policy (never affected by 1.1, but worth mentioning given how often it came up; Actual Play is covered here)

D&D Beyond and DMs Guild are, also as previously, under their own standards that are available for review on those sites. (I think I may have made some errors regarding DMs Guild being a WoTC property with its own rules in the past, but it is and you can review some of their policies here.

The OGL 1.0 is deauthorized, which means that once the OGL 1.2 (or whatever version is ultimately finalized) takes effect, new works must abide by OGL 1.0 rules; however, older materials originally created under 1.0 are still valid under 1.0. The full revocation was perhaps the most problematic part of OGL 1.1, so this is a good step forward and means existing 3PP materials you have can continue to be sold as is.

The actual OGL 1.2 stuff

This applies specifically to commercial content using material in the WoTC SRD not covered by the CC-BY 4.0 license created after this license goes into affect. Again. Does not affect streaming or other fanworks including free homebrew; does not affect other games; does not affect material published in the past.

It also only applies to static published materials and to VTTs; VTTs have a separate section.

Third party works under the OGL 1.2 are owned by their creators in full (this means no possible claims from WoTC to royalties or the IP created by those third parties). There is a clause stating that in the case of unintentionally similar content (the "3PP creates a fire-based druid around the same time as Tasha's came out" case I mentioned previously) a lawsuit may only be for financial damages, not injunction (which I understand to mean things like emotional impact etc) and must rely on proof that WoTC "knowingly and intentionally" copied the work. This is, from what I am given to understand, extremely standard in copyright law because coincidences do happen and people do try to sue over them, and has been deliberately rephrased to affirm that WoTC does not own the third-party content provided the terms of the OGL 1.2 are maintained.

Works must also indicate they are derived from OGL content using appropriate signifiers as put forth by WoTC, clearly state they are third-party and not endorsed by WoTC (this is why Griffon's Saddlebag has been foaming at the mouth) and creators must be in a position to enter into the terms of the license (of age or has had a legal guardian review the terms as proxy), cannot infringe on material that is not in the SRD, cannot violate the law; and there is a morality clause regarding no hateful conduct, the decision of which is made by WoTC.

Additionally, the OGL 1.2's terms cannot be modified, other than the specific details of how to attribute, and some legal pieces at the end regarding notifying creators.

VTT Policy

SRD materials are permitted in VTTs these do not and have never included official images as the SRD does not have images. Fan images are permitted. This information must be static; stat blocks are permitted, but, per the example given, animations such as that of a magic missile are not.

My thoughts/editorial:

I will direct you to James Haeck about VTTs. I have said before I don't really like VTTs. I don't even have a D&D Beyond subscription. I went to cancel mine and found that I was actually just using the free tools (I've bought some books through D&D Beyond, to be fair but I have not subscribed to share them and I have under 6 characters). Personally, I find myself in the awkward position of "I love theater of the mind and imagination in TTRPGs and so I think having an animated magic missile is kind of stupid; honestly I'm not even into D&D Beyond animating the dice rolls" and also "you shouldn't disallow things at a business level solely on the belief that they are kind of stupid." So: worth providing feedback on that one! Also, more relevantly, is this only about licensed D&D content? Can you provide animation for your VTT if you're doing things in a different game, just, once there's SRD content in play on the field, you must stop? Can you provide animation in D&D as long as it's not material covered in the OGL, ie, can you have a sword swinging animation or can the player sprites move rather than just appear in a space, neither of which are unique concepts to D&D (vs. magic missile which is)? In summary: my feelings aside re: VTTs, clarification is in order and I will be providing the latter feedback.

Morality/Hateful conduct clauses are complicated. I absolutely agree that I do not trust a corporation to determine what's hateful. I also 100% do not trust the community either, and I 110% do not trust people who say the community will police itself. I've been open in the past about how I don't fucking trust the D&D community on Jewish depictions (spoiler: actually, non-Jewish people handwringing about goblins, golems, and phylacteries has often been extremely condescending and misinformed, and while obviously Jewish people are not a monolith, my primarily Jewish D&D tables have never taken issue with these things as presented within WoTC materials, but have taken issue with fan-created depictions, and I'm tbh hardcore side-eyeing the Hasbrodeus module for like 20 reasons, of which that is one). However, the same is not necessarily true for other minority groups, notably PoC, of whom there have been some quite harmful depictions; and I think most of us are aware that morality clauses have long been exploited to label queer depictions as obscene: I don't have a good answer for this other than "needs more specificity." A good start for the latter issue would be spelling out bigotry (ie, "discriminatory on the basis of sexual orientation or gender presentation") and providing a clear process for appeal. I do understand where WoTC is coming from given the whole issue with the new TSR but this is incredibly complicated and impossible to outline in a one-size-fits-all clause. Worth noting, however: DMs Guild, again, has separate and more rigid standards. This does not mean the horny gay vampire game that was removed from it would be permitted to be self-published under the OGL 1.2; it also does not indicate that it wouldn't, because, again, lacking in specificity on what "obscene" means.

I find the choice to make the core mechanics Creative Commons but not the class structure (which is under the OGL 1.2 proper) to be a really interesting one, and I mean this in a neutral-to-complimentary way. Not sure what the implications are, but excited to find out, because I think it might lead to more interesting indie games that can capitalize on the widely known core combat/ability check mechanics of D&D but develop wildly different class structures.

DnD Shorts continues to shit the bed in the extreme; for real, do not listen to this dude. His twitter is currently a wild self-contradictory mess, his journalistic integrity never existed, and he is literally a clickbaity mediocre white man who has probably been playing D&D for less time than you. I understand that not everyone learns how to determine trustworthiness of a source online but like...why would you trust a guy who has no reason to have insider information and every reason to want clicks and attention. He isn't even a creator affected by the OGL (unlike, say, Hicks or Haeck), and some of what he said was literally obviously false to anyone who's filled out a UA or OneD&D survey.

Honestly, in general, I think the end takeaway really has been "try to determine the motivations and concrete actions of people talking about this." Are they pushing a specific game (rather than generally providing alternatives for those looking)? Do they run channels that don't rely on the OGL 1.0 OR 1.1/1.2 in any way but do rely on clicks? Are they a creator genuinely concerned for their livelihood, or are they a person who thinks that when a game company gets sufficiently large (or even when they don't...see someone asking a tiny Native-owned TTRPG for their SRD) IP laws should no longer apply?

[daarka]

Fair enough!

Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast. Wizards of the Coast owns Dungeons & Dragons.

If you play Dungeons and Dragons (or really, have any exposure to it at all), chances are, you either use or are in some way influenced by D&D content created (and probably published) by someone who is not WotC. If you use hand-drawn battle maps made by artists like Czepeku, or VTT tokens drawn by ForgottenAdventures, or perhaps you use a spell or subclass created by KibblesTasty, or an enchanted item created and illustrated by The Griffon's Saddlebag. Or maybe you just use roll tables, adventure modules, virtual tabletops like Foundry VTT, or prewritten settings made by people who are not WotC. This includes the big names, like Tal'Dorei: Campaign Setting Reborn from Critical Role. On that note: Critical Role. Maybe you've heard of it. Dimension20, The Adventure Zone. The list goes on.

All of these things are known as 3rd-party creators. That means these people just happened to like the D&D franchise, and made content for or about D&D which they profit from. But they do not work for Wizards of the Coast and have absolutely zero ties to the official company.

This is possible through something called an OGL, or Open Game License, in combination with an SRD, or System Reference Document. In short: WotC wanted (initially) to allow their players to grow the community by making their own 3rd party content. To encourage this, they went through the core rules of D&D5e and selected bits of it to put in a System Reference Document. Then they created the Open Game License, which is a legal document that explains how anything within the SRD can be more or less referenced and used for anyone to profit off of (whereas things they built into D&D but did not put in the SRD were still off-limits to protect their intellectual property from being completely public domain).

The OGL1.0 had one small revision shortly after launching, which is known as OGL1.0a. OGL1.0a has been the active license for about the past decade, untouched beyond that initial small revision. This OGL allows all the aforementioned creators to do what they do freely and passionately without having to worry about things like lawsuits for using the D&D intellectual property.

Based on recent interviews, actions and choices made by WotC/Hasbro, I feel it's safe to presume that what has happened is that WotC/Hasbro have loved seeing the boom in popularity for D&D over recent years, but have found themselves restless about how so much of that success went into the pockets of 3rd party creators. They acquired a new CEO, who in an interview, declared D&D to be "under-monetized". Instead of seeking to rectify this by listening to the community and producing more content they wanted, their solution to this apparent ""problem"" (D&D as a franchise makes hundreds of millions of dollars per year, btw) was to move towards a new edition of D&D, and with it, establish a new OGL.

The new edition is, basically, D&D6e, but is being referred to as "OneDnD" during these early developmental periods. With the development of OneDnD/6e, a new OGL was drafted, because evidently, they very much regretted the OGL put in place for 5e, because it gave them no way of taking a slice of the pie that 3rd party creators had made into the gourmet dessert it has been. The new OGL they drafted is referred to as OGL1.1. However, despite the label as an OGL, it is not an Open Game License. It is anything but open. It creates not only harsh and predatory restrictions for all 3rd party creators, but with its release, it also renders the old OGL null and void.

In short, every single 3rd party creator has a choice right now that they are being forced to make on an extremely small time crunch: either sign on to OGL1.1, and in doing so, forfeit all rights you had under OGL1.0a that you based your entire business upon, giving WotC your soul and full ownership over all your creations, with freedom to use them however, whenever, and wherever Hasbro chooses without owing you any compensation at all, or cease publishing 3rd party content for profit. Or continue to do so and face a lawsuit.

To reiterate/sum up:

Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast is trying to develop the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and with it, they are TORCHING the old licensing system that has allowed 3rd-party creators to make their livelihoods around the D&D fandom. They are instead rewriting this license to force said creators to either sign on and comply, thus granting Hasbro total and compensation-free use of anything and everything the 3rd-party creator publishes amongst other predatory clauses--or else legally barring 3rd party creators from otherwise continuing to publish their work as they have been.

If you're wondering about the big names like Critical Role, they are no doubt under an NDA right now, as I'm positive WotC reached out to them well in advance to lock them into said NDA and OGL1.1 contracts as soon as possible. Due to their high earnings, WotC is now being payed 25% of their GROSS income as a royalty fee. Gross=Before expenses. So this is not 25% of Critical Role's profits, this is 25% of everything they make, before they spend any of that money on expenses--which undoubtedly cuts majorly into their profits, and consequentially, the new ventures they are able to pursue. If you don't care about CR, replace them with any similarly big-name D&D based company, like Dimension20, TAZ, Kobold Press, etc. Edit: Please refer to my original post for full details! To be clear, this 25% royalty applies only to creators making over $750k gross /year--but under OGL1.1, WotC can change (including lowering) that threshold to whatever number they want.

Hopefully that helps clarify some things! Full details of all the red flags I'm screaming about are in my other prior post. This is, unfortunately, not fearmongering, either. This is the cold and bitter factual reality of the matter. It really is this nasty.

[someotherheroes]

We are proud to introduce Brunhilda "Bruny" Bruins played by the fabulouse @rooneyrunes who will be joining Parshkikk's Chosen on their next adventure to retrieve Navara's Fang from the Scarred City.

What does this CottageCore Bun bring to the table? And given our friends history with Harengon how are they going to react to having one in their midst?

Join us this Sunday 3pm GMT live on Twitch as we carry on with our quest to save Rok.

A huge thank you to @topbanana-art for letting us use this wonderful character Art!

Amazing Hammer created by The Griffon's Saddlebag More on that in the episode.

[whoovesnassistant]

Skit Contest Entry 10

“Ogres and Oubliettes” - By MagnaFae

INT. - TARDIS LOUNGE The TARDIS door creaks open and then shuts. Hoofsteps sound at a trotting pace on a metal floor. DOCTOR (enthusiastic) Welcome back, Derpy! Are you prepared for a game night of unrelenting fun?

DERPY

I sure am! And since it's my week to pick the game, I have something new!

TICK TOCK

Did you procure a new expansion pack for Seekers of the Lunchbox?

DERPY

Good guess, but no. Let me show you!

A saddlebag is opened, followed by the clacking of dice, the rustling of paper, and the gentle thump of a hardback book.

DOCTOR

Dice? Character sheets? And a handbook...this couldn't be - ?

DERPY (interjecting) Ogres and Oubliettes! DOCTOR (to himself) Huh. No pony pun? I don't know whether to find this refreshing or disappointing.

TICK TOCK What manner of game is this?

DERPY

It's a tabletop role-playing game! We tell a fantasy story together and roll these dice to decide the results of the characters' actions. It'll be like an adventure with the Doctor, but with none of the danger!

DOCTOR (indignant) Oi! Can you really call it a proper adventure without a little danger?

DERPY

Sure, for a real adventure, but this is for game night! And there's no room for real stress at game night.

Sound of multiple dice bouncing on the table during TICK TOCK's following line of dialogue. TICK TOCK (fascination) Your collection of dice for this game greatly intrigues me, Derpy. You have cubes, tetrahedrons, octahedrons, dodecahedrons, icosahedrons, and even pentagonal trapezohedrons.

DERPY (hopeful) So you...wanna play? TICK TOCK

Affirmative. I simply must know how these various polyhedrons are implemented into the game.

DERPY (drawn out, pleading) Will you play too, Doctor? Please?

DOCTOR

Oh, alright! I'm not about to pass on game night with my companions.

DERPY (enthusiastic) Yay! Ogres & Oubliettes night is on!

INT. - TARDIS LOUNGE

DERPY

Alright! Let’s go around the table and introduce our characters. Starting with...Tick Tock! TICK TOCK (caught off-guard) Oh, um, okay. My character is a... unicorn stallion. DOCTOR

You're playing as yourself?

(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)

TICK TOCK

Not necessarily. His class is soldier, subclass artillerist.

DOCTOR (friendly teasing) Still sounds like you, Tick Tock!

TICK TOCK

And he's blue. DOCTOR

Blue?

TICK TOCK (sheepish at the end) Yes. A blue unicorn artillerist soldier named Blueprint. Apologies for my unoriginality. DERPY (encouraging) Actually, I think the name Blueprint is very clever! I'm excited to see how you use the mana cannons!

TICK TOCK (flattered) Thank you, Derpy. I am eager to roll all these dice for said mana cannons.

DERPY giggles in anticipation. DERPY Now you, Doctor! DOCTOR

Alright! I’m playing a griffon detective rogue. No one knows his real name, but he's a drifter, so everyone calls him "The Drifter". And he wears a Stetson! DERPY (friendly teasing) Are you going through another hat phase? Typical Doctor. TICK TOCK

On the contrary, I find these choices to be rather atypical of the Doctor.

DOCTOR

Really now? Care to elaborate?

TICK TOCK

Gladly. I hypothesized that you would create a red-haired unicorn character, in order to attain some form of personal wish fulfillment.

DOCTOR (incredulous) Wish fulfillment?! What for? No fictional gingercorn of mine could ever compare to the genuine article!

TICK TOCK (flattered, confused) You mean...me? Um, thank you?

DOCTOR

You're welcome. Moving along - Derpy!

DERPY

I'm playing Sugarplum the reindeer. She's an oracle mage who has visions of the future in her dreams.

DOCTOR (stifling laughter) And would you say these visions of Sugarplum's...dance in her head? The DOCTOR laughs at his own joke. DERPY sighs in exasperation.

DERPY (awkward, apologetic) Doctor, we can't understand your jokes if they're only funny in another universe. DOCTOR (grumbling, pouty) I swear, this whole blasted pony universe wants to make me the joke...

TICK TOCK

Incidentally, Derpy, that character concept is reminiscent of your historical alias from Neighers, Bright Eyes. Was that intentional?

DERPY (surprised) Oh wow, I didn't even make that connection! I guess we're all playing characters based on ourselves, huh?

TICK TOCK (amused) We have established that Blueprint is not me. He is blue. And fictional.

DOCTOR

Alright! Are we all ready to begin?

DERPY

Yep! Give me just a moment to find the right page, and I'll set the scene for our adventure. Ahem...

Sound of pages turning, which transitions to the sound of a winter wind blowing through dry leaves. INT. - TARDIS LOUNGE/IMAGINARY NEVERFREEZE JUNGLE

DERPY (dramatic) Blueprint, the Drifter, and Sugarplum are walking along a hoofpath, deep in the Neverfreeze Jungle. A sudden cold snap settles over the land, which is not normal for this tropical region. Night is falling, and so is the temperature. What do you do?

A short segment of copyright-free Wild West instrumental whistle music plays over the DOCTOR's next line of dialogue.

DOCTOR (Western accent) Rest easy, pardners. My torches will keep ya'll warm and shed light on the path ahead of us. The music abruptly ends.

TICK TOCK (confused) Doctor, why are you speaking like that?

DOCTOR

Oh! That's how my character talks!

TICK TOCK (discouraged) I wasn't aware that we had to change our voices to distinguish the characters from ourselves.

DERPY (reassuring) Oh! You don't have to do any of that, Tick Tock! You can just describe what Blueprint says and does without talking "in character". TICK TOCK

In that case, Blueprint accepts the Drifter's offer of a torch and examines his surroundings.

The sound of one die bouncing on a wooden table. TICK TOCK (cont'd) Seventeen on the Perception check. I think that is relatively high.

DERPY

It is! In the torchlight, you spot a nearby cottage. The windows are dark. Hmm...I wonder if Sugarplum has seen this cottage in a dream before.

The sound of bouncing thuds of two dice on a wooden table, followed by the sound of pages turning. DERPY (cont'd) That's a seventy-two out of one hundred on my Premonition percentage, which means...Yes! Sugarplum says, "We should knock on the door! I have a good feeling about this place and the zebra who lives here."

DOCTOR (eager, giddy) A zebra?! Oh, fantastic! I'm going to walk up and knock on the door!

DERPY

Drifter, you knock on the door and an old zebra in a nightcap opens it. She looks grumpy because you woke her up.

DOCTOR (confident) No worries, I can smooth this over.

A short segment of copyright-free Wild West instrumental whistle music plays over the DOCTOR's next line of dialogue.

DOCTOR (cont'd) (Western accent) Evenin', ma'am. We're a trio of humble travelers lookin' fer a place to bunk down. Can ya spare us a room?

The sound of bouncing thuds of one die on a wooden table.

DOCTOR (cont'd) That is...twelve total for the Negotiation check. DERPY

With a twelve...the zebra says she isn't accepting any tenants.

DOCTOR

Blast!

DERPY

But she'll answer our questions if we have any.

TICK TOCK

Blueprint asks the zebra what she knows about the sudden cold snap.

DERPY

Okay! The old zebra says...

Sound of turning pages as DERPY checks her session notes.

DERPY (cont'd)

...that last night, she heard some howling winds and then snow started falling early this morning! TICK TOCK

Does this account remind Blueprint of any local legends? DERPY

Hmm...you can roll a Lore check to jog your memory. All of us can, actually. Throw those dice!

DOCTOR (excited) Brilliant! I put seven skill points into Lore! C'mon, Detective!

The sound of three dice bouncing on the wooden table.

DERPY

Ten.

TICK TOCK

Seven.

DOCTOR (victorious) Twenty-three!

TICK TOCK (incredulous) How did you-? DOCTOR (interjecting) Detective!

DERPY

Sweet Celestia, that's a high roll! The Drifter recognizes this as the work of one or more windigos.

DOCTOR

You know, I've encountered the wingidos before. Does that mean my character knows their weakness?

DERPY (flatly) No, Doctor. That's metagaming.

DOCTOR

Meta-what?

TICK TOCK It means cheating. DOCTOR

Blast!

DERPY

But the Drifter does know that following the cold air upwind should lead to the windigos' lair.

DOCTOR

Fantastic! Let's be off then, fantasy companions! Avante!

DERPY & TICK TOCK

Avante!

INT. TARDIS LOUNGE/IMAGINARY WINDIGO LAIR Tense, copyright-free instrumental battle music plays over the following exchange of dialogue. DOCTOR

Alright, nobody panic, but the Drifter is out of HP. DERPY

Again?! Doctor, Sugarplum's gonna run out of spells at this rate.

DOCTOR

Well, you don't have to heal him! At least, not immediately. DERPY

I guess, but every turn he's unconscious with frostbite, the windigos get free healing.

DOCTOR

Oh...probably should've considered that before flying in with my daggers.

DERPY

Yeah Doctor, why do you keep running into melee? Just shoot your bow and arrows from the back, up in the air!

DOCTOR

Because all Sugarplum has are ranged spell attacks and Tick Tock -

TICK TOCK (interjecting) Blueprint.

DOCTOR (exasperated) Blueprint has spent the past three rounds not doing his job as the front-liner!

TICK TOCK (flatly) I already explained that I'm setting up my artillery.

DOCTOR (exasperated) We don't need three mana cannons! There's only two windigos! TICK TOCK (insistent) These are scattershot mana cannons. Based on the average damage output of each cannon, three will defeat both windigos in one round. Efficiently.

DOCTOR (shouting) Well, we could have beaten them without the cannons if you just - !

DERPY (shouting, interjecting) Everypony, time out!

The tense, copyright-free instrumental battle music stops.

DERPY (cont'd) (impassioned) We're supposed to be having fun - as a team - and we're not even listening to each other. Please, can we all just take a deep breath and...

DERPY, TICK TOCK, and the DOCTOR inhale and exhale slowly.

DERPY (cont'd) (calmly) Relax? Good. It's just...a game. I'm sorry for complaining so much.

DOCTOR

I'm sorry as well, Ditzy, Tick Tock. I suppose I got a bit heated there.

TICK TOCK

Apologies accepted, and likewise, I apologize for neglecting my duties as the designated melee combatant.

DOCTOR

No no, Tick Tock, I completely understand. You just wanted to use the cannons because you get to roll a lot of ten-sided dice if they hit.

TICK TOCK

That is...a correct assessment. But now that we're in this predicament, how do we claim victory?

DERPY (hopeful) Well, there are three cannons now, and three of us. Maybe we can...?

The tense, copyright-free instrumental battle music returns.

TICK TOCK

That's...yes, that can work. But first, Blueprint administers a healing potion to the Drifter.

DOCTOR (relieved) Thank you!

TICK TOCK

Then he will aim a scattershot mana cannon at the windigos and urge the Drifter and Sugarplum to do the same.

DERPY

Yep!

DOCTOR Done! Now what?

TICK TOCK chuckles in anticipation. The music fades out.

TICK TOCK We fire. Roll to hit.

A heartbeat sound quickens and grows in volume during the next two lines of dialogue. DERPY

I'm gonna shake my dice for luck...

DOCTOR (under his breath) C'mon, roll high, roll high...

The sound of three dice bouncing on the wooden table. TICK TOCK gasps, and then DERPY and the DOCTOR cheer.

DERPY (enthusiastic) All three of us rolled a natural twenty?! W-what?! That's amazing!

TICK TOCK (dumbfounded) That's...amazing is an understatement. There was only a one in eight-thousand probability of that outcome occurring. DERPY

Doctor, did you rig our dice with your Sonic Screwdriver? DOCTOR

And tarnish the sanctity of game night? Perish the thought, Derpy!

DERPY giggles.

DOCTOR (cont'd)

Tick Tock? Would you like to do the honors of rolling our total damage?

Sound of TICK TOCK's magic flaring. TICK TOCK (borderline euphoric) Three critical successes. Applied to three scattershot mana cannons. I get to roll...fifteen pentagonal trapezohedrons.

Sound of fifteen dice clattering noisily onto the table. DERPY and the DOCTOR cheer. TICK TOCK chuckles. TICK TOCK (cont'd) That was immensely satisfying.

DERPY

Guess we have to count it all up now.

DOCTOR

Or we can use a teensy-weensy sonic shortcut.

The Sonic Screwdriver buzzes.

DOCTOR (cont'd) Ninety-nine damage total. That's surely enough.

Sound of turning pages, followed by DERPY's excited gasp. Royalty-free victory music plays.

DERPY

It is! We beat the windigos! Victory hug!

Sound of movement as DERPY pulls the DOCTOR and TICK TOCK into a group hug. DERPY giggles. TICK TOCK sighs contently.

TICK TOCK (happy, mellow) I love game night.

[we-are-astronomer]

Highlighting Homebrew

From my recent poll, it seems people were most interested in some homebrew space related content, so I've scoured the interwebs for some neat content I feel fits the Astronomer class rather well. A few magic items, and a neat NPC with plot hooks! Take a look at all of these, they really are worth the time.

So first, something new from The Griffon's Saddlebag. Really, it's just a candle that gives you darkvision out to 60 ft (assuming you're a race that doesn't have it already, he's not real clear on whether that adds another 60 ft for races that have it), but the aesthetic is just too good.

Then we have something from Leidensygdom. It's a neat sword they drew called the North Star, it isn't given stats but the artwork is just so nice, they're very talented!

And next, a few swords drawn during Swordtember by Shmaba. Not all of them are space/celestial themed, but the ones that are sure would make wonderful weapons for a strength based Astronomer, or a Circle of Stars druid who didn't use strength as the dump stat.

The next one's a little different, and interesting. The actual art is done by Ninovecia on DeviantArt, but the NPC is made by the good folks over at Daily Adventure Prompts. To quote the post directly: "Where they once forged weapons for heavenly legions, the celestial Dhruva has spent several eons perfecting an art of capturing, channeling, and tempering light they refer to as “brightsmithing”, which they now hope to propagate across the multiverse." So, a celestial blacksmith that tempers light itself, eh? Wonder what kind of blades they make, what stories they have to share....

And lastly we have the Dungeon Strugglers with an arrow made from matter most dark. It's like shooting a miniature black hole, and personally I love it. Black holes are some of the universe's most awesome and terrifyingly destructive things, so to have an arrow that can mimic even a fraction of one's strength is powerful indeed.

[dndtreasury]

Fey-Touched Armor

[dndsettingsinfo]

Antronec, the City of Artisans by Griffon's Saddlebag

[educationaldm]

So how do you become a Bird Master? With this Avian Circlet, of course! Homebrew magic item from The Griffon's Saddlebag.  But with great power, comes great responsibility... and bird droppings. thegriffonssaddlebag.com

[ask-dcf]

My Christmas loot!

Pokémon violet

mandolorian pop

Kamen rider -Geats Desire Driver -Durendal Sword of time Kaiji -Vail’s Crimson knuckle

Dnd -Arcane Nordic Dice -Dice pad -Griffon Saddlebag magic items book!~

HELL YEAH IMMA HAVE FUN WITH ALL OF THESE!~

[the-griffons-saddlebag]

⚔️ 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺! Dragonbolt Blaster
Weapon, rare ___ This magic item is a unique, two-handed ranged weapon. If you are proficient with light or heavy crossbows, you are proficient with the "dragonbolt blaster". A broken piece of a blue dragon's horn is set at the weapon's center, releasing tendrils of shimmering electricity from its point. The weapon doesn't require physical ammunition, and it has a normal range of 150 feet and a long range of 600 feet. On a hit, a target takes 2d10 lightning damage. You don't add your Dexterity modifier to the damage of this attack (unless it's negative). You have advantage on the attack roll if the target is wearing armor made of metal. If you take 10 or more lightning damage from a single attack or effect while holding this weapon, roll a d20. On a 1, the weapon breaks, but can be repaired with 100gp worth of materials and 8 hours of work. On any other result, the next target hit by the weapon within the next minute takes an extra 1d10 lightning damage. ___ ✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon's Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!

[critrolestats]

Media References and Puns of 3-05 The Threat Between the Walls

Thanks to @triaelf9​ for this art piece!

Nya.

Media References

(0:00:27) Sam: Chris Pratt as Garfield? Weird flex, but no.

(0:00:47) Sam: Now is the perfect chance to prepare for your next adventure in Humblewood, or travel deep into the Islands of Sina Una with the campaign setting inspired by Filipino mythology and culture.

(0:01:10) Sam: Don’t forget to equip one of the many items and weapons from the famed Griffon’s Saddlebag…

(0:01:33) Travis: I hope Brittany’s living right now.

(0:19:21) Sam: Open Safari.

Read more at critrolestats.com