PurpleLizardMan

Slimes and Ooze

In modern RPGs, there are few monsters as iconic as the humble ooze. Enjoying a recent surge in popularity thanks to That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime, a light-novel and anime of the same name, and their inclusion in dozens of popular titles, slimes have never been more prominent RPG and mainstream culture.

 On a recent project, I’ve had the odd privilege to journey down the short rabbit hole of the ooze’s origins. It was a fun journey learning about the myth, history, and culture behind oozes, but the best journeys are shared. I hope you will enjoy The History of Slimes as much as I have enjoyed researching it.

What is a Slime?

The ooze or “slime” (used interchangeably) is usually a weak monster in RPGs. It is characterized by an amorphous, ooze-like form, and is generally of low or non-existent intelligence. It almost exclusively attacks by ingesting its target, swiping with tentacles, or (rarely) using magic.

Slimes are unique in that they do not derive from classical mythologies. They are recent phenomenon in storytelling and one that’s gaining traction at a surprising rate. Before we uncover their origins, let’s take a journey backward through time.

Slimes in Popular culture

Slimes are prolific in popular culture among the RPG crowd. They are featured in dozens of games, including the ever popular titles:

Dragon Quest 

Dungeons and Dragons

Minecraft

Mother Series

Final Fantasy

Not to mention, anime, manga, sci-fi, and fantasy novels.

The modern tradition of dewdrop, almost amicable slimes in RPGs dates back over three decades to the release of Dragon Quest in 1986, where it was so beloved that it became the series’ mascot. 

In all likelihood, Dragon Quest borrowed the idea of slimes from other RPGs such as “Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord” (1981) which was a part of a wave of RPGs inspired by the famous “pen and paper” rpg called “Dungeons and Dragons”.

In 1977, the original Monster Manual hit store shelves and in it was one of the most iconic creatures of Dungeons and Dragons: the “Gelatinous Cube.”

Gary Gygax included this cube-shaped monster was mostly a joke: a transparent cube that fit perfectly into the 5x5x5 hallways of the grid-paper dungeons, travelling along and sweeping up anything in its path. It was a magical, monstrous Roomba, before Roombas even existed.

But Gary Gygax did not conceive of oozes in a vacuum, he had a little help to come up with the idea.

Slimes in Movies

There is no more iconic slime movie than the “The Blob“ a 1958 cult sci-fi horror classic, The Blob tells the story of a mysterious thing that falls from the sky and begins devouring everything it can find. As it eats, it grows. Then a group of plucky and unfortunate youths stumble into its feeding ground while on vacation.

At a runtime of 86 minutes, and with special effects that solidify its place as sci-fi cult classic, it’s well worth a watch.

But even Hollywood wasn’t original enough to invent the idea of a slime monster out of thin air.

Slimes in Sci-Fi

Before the cinema, slimes had a far more literary legacy in science-fiction.

One of the most iconic and disturbing representations of slimes was the Shoggoth from H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos. The Shoggoth first appeared in publication in 1929 and is a disturbing monster with the ability to shift its form, imitate speech, and wield its large strength to crush enemies. Perhaps unique about the Shoggoth, was that it was the first time slimes were presented as beings of higher intelligence than humanity.

Despite being a truly terrifying iteration of the slime, the shoggoth is far from its origins.

As early as 1926, we see the slime appearing as villainous monster in The Malignant Entity, published in the renown pulp magazine Amazing Stories. 

During the early 1900s, the slime made a slew of appearance across pulp magazines. In 1923, it even made it to the front cover of Wierd Talesin the story “The Ooze.”

But the earliest recorded usage of slime as an antagonist seems to be in The Odyle a short story published by Charles Edmond Walk in 1907 in The Blue Book magazine.

It’s a story about a scientist who brings life to cells that start growing and just don’t stop. 

At last we arrive at the origins of the humble slime: the amoeba. 

Born in the early 1900s out of an intersection of rapidly growing medical knowledge and human fear of medical science, the humble slime is the embodiment of human hubris gone awry. It is the crystallization of the fear that we have waded too deep into the unknown waters where only gods and darker things dwell and that we have used that forbidden knowledge to make the device of our own undoing.

At least, that’s what the slime was and what it would still be, had not Gary Gygax and pulp movies from the 1950s taken an otherwise intensely threatening concept and transformed it into the humorous, lovable slime we all know today.

Notably, the slime still appears in its amoebic form in many space sci-fi iterations, including the popular turn-based strategy game series Masters of Orion and an episode of the original Stark Trek series: The Immunity Syndrome.

Unique to the space sci-fi version of the slime (amoeba) is that it is almost always large enough to engulf entire ships and sometimes even pose a threat to planets. It always represents an unending hunger and primitive, malevolent intelligence, such that negotiation is never an option.

Conclusion

The humble slime has enjoyed many interpretations during its short life. From the small, but dangerous amoeba, to adorable animated dew-drops, to dungeon cleaning roombas, the slime has been it all.

Outside of space sci-fi and space fantasy, the modern slime enjoys a whimsical feel due to the representation of the slime in 1950s cinema culture, and then again in the pen and paper game “Dungeons and Dragons” which enshrined its position as an iconic and somewhat silly monster.

How will slimes be in the future?

It’s hard to say, but there is a growing slime presence in modern media which, in the past, has lead to exploration and even humanization of mythic creatures, and the humble slime is no exception. Look for representations of slime that push the boundaries between humanity and ooze in a lovable and relatable way.

Happy sliming to you all!

  Do you have additional information about the history of ooze as a monster? Do you have a link to an online-readable version of The Odyle? If so, please leave a comment below.

Slimeoids

Yesterday marked the official release of “So You Want to be a Slime?” on DMsGuild. I am proud to announce that it has achieved over 200 downloads in 24 hours! 

This effort would not have been possible without the support of the great D&D community. Thank you all for making high-quality content creation possible.

There is also a free version if you want to check it out.

Below you’ll find the original intro (prior to publication) to “So You Want to be a Slime?”  The published version features original artwork and over 10 pages of additional content.

Please enjoy.

Playable Slimes

So, you want to play a slime? The humble ooze has been a staple of RPG gaming nearly since its inception, but our favorite, gooey creature has remained oft-overlooked as a playable option.

Contained in this document you will find rules for introducing the ooze as a playable race called “Slimeoids”. Oozes have brought humor, joy, and occasionally terror to the table of RPGs for decades and now you can bring that to the table as a player.

The following race, subraces, spells, feats, and monsters should provide you everything you need to get started.

Slimeoid

“Where’s Theren?”

“She ate him!”

“You mean that lil’ halfling cut ‘em down?”

“I mean SHE. ATE. HIM. WHOLE.”

      –Last exchange between unfortunate roadside bandits, expert from the journal of Sasha Twigleaf.

  In the last century strange creatures of animated slime emerged. Called “oozes” or “slimes”, at first they were merely a nuisance. Some even called them “gross”. But at least slime infestations gave amateur adventurers something to do.

Then it was discovered they could be put to use: cleaning dungeon corridors, trash disposal, removal of unwanted guest, etc… It was no time at all before all manner of mages, wizards, and demons took an interest in them.

Slimes of all colors and shapes began to emerge: monstrous slimes, slimes that devour the dead, slimes that eat metal, slimes with magical affinities, psychic slimes, even a Demon Lord of slime.

Then came the humanoid slimes. No one knows what magic or crazed experiments created them, but a few adventurers have discovered the truth: intelligent slimes now walk among us.

A new race of slimes, called “slimeoids”, maintain a humanoid guise as they travel, trade, and live amongst the humanoid races. Exploring the world with a passionate exuberance, open minded adventurers have learned to welcome them and the curious perspective they bring.

  Hiding in Plain Sight

Slimeoids are intelligent oozes who have gained the ability to take on humanoid form. They use this form to explore the world and interact with humanoid creatures.

Each slimeoid has both a slime and humanoid form that they switch between at will. This form is, for all purposes, identical to a humanoid form of flesh and bone. Much like real humanoids, most slimeoids have little control over the appearance of either of their forms.

  Wanderlust

Slimeoids are more intelligent than most other oozes and often find the monotonous life of a slime to be rather dull, instead choosing to strike out and explore the world. Unlike many intelligent oozes, slimeoids do not have a natural tendency toward evil or even carnivorous behavior, making it easy for them to interact seamlessly with humanoids.

From an early age, slimeoids have a strong drive to explore and immerse themselves in new experiences. They tend to be passionate about their physical forms and will frequently seek out jewelry, clothes, or accessories to adorn themselves.

  Slimeoid Names

Names are a very new concept to slimeoids. Their slime ancestors have no names at all.

Some slimeoids will give themselves names to blend in with the humanoid race of their alternate form. Other slimeoids hold a naming tradition where a name must be imparted to the slimeoid by a close mentor or friend.

Sometimes a slimeoid may even choose to have two names: one for each of their forms.

Slimeoid Traits

Your slimeoid character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Age. A slimeoid is usually mature after a few weeks, when they gain their humanoid form. Their maximum lifespan is unknown, but their humanoid form does not age naturally.

Alignment. Charged with passion, slimeoids have a slight tendency toward chaotic alignments.

Size. When in slime form, a slimeoid is a Small sized creature. As a slime they weigh between 5 and 40 pounds. When they are in their humanoid form, they have the appropriate size and weight for that form.

Speed. When in slime form a slimeoid has a 15ft base walking speed. For humanoid form, use the movement of the humanoid race for that form.

Humanoid Form. At character creation, you may choose a humanoid form. The form can be from any medium or smaller race approved by the DM, though player races are recommended. The details and appearance of the form are set by you at character creation.

Your humanoid form may look like a typical member of the humanoid race and subrace you choose, but it is not uncommon for slimeoids to manifest a few atypical features such as unusual and striking colors of hair and skin, exotic eyes, an odd number of fingers, etc.

While a slimeoid in humanoid form is physically indistinguishable from a normal humanoid of that race, the slimeoid has none of the abilities of the race. Your humanoid form, however, does have the perception (vision and hearing) of the race and subrace you choose.

While in humanoid form you are considered a Humanoid.

 Slime Form. Every slimeoid has a natural, amorphous slime form. When resting, this form tends to hold the shape of giant dew drop. Your slime form can be any color as long as it is not fully transparent.  Your slime form lacks a mouth and is incapable of speech. Additionally, your slime form lacks hands entirely and cannot hold objects or perform the complicated gestures required for somatic spell casting.

While in slime form you are considered an Ooze.

While in Slime Form you have the following abilities:

Blindsight. You have Blindsight out to 15ft.

Amorphous. You can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.

Engulf. You move up to your speed. While doing so, you may enter the space of a Small or smaller creature or object. When you enter the space, the creature must succeed on a dexterity saving throw with DC equal to 8 + your strength bonus + your proficiency bonus.

On a successful save, the target is pushed back 5 ft. On a failure, you engulf the target. You may have no more than 1 Small creature or object, or 2 smaller creatures or objects engulfed at a time.

While a target is engulfed it is cannot breathe and is restrained. Your slime is not acidic enough to harm engulfed creatures or objects.

An engulfed creature can escape at any time by taking an Action and succeeding on a dexterity saving throw vs 8 + your strength bonus + your proficiency bonus. If it succeeds, it exits your body at a location of its choosing within 5ft of you.

Form Change. At any time, you may use an Action to switch between any of your available forms. Any gear you have equipped merges into your form and reappears when you change back to that form.

Expel. At any time, you may expel an engulfed creature or object with a bonus action. The creature or object appears in your hand or within 5 ft of you as you choose. You may expel engulfed creatures or objects even when in humanoid form.

 ——————

  If you like what you’ve seen, you can purchase “So You Want to be a Slime?” and in addition to supporting the release of future high-quality products, you gain:

5 unique and creative subraces

11 feats

5 spells

6 monsters

NPCs

and a full-color art spread

Get your slime on!

If you’re reading this, you’re probably like me: nerdy. 

That means you have really good taste and you want to get the most bang for your buck. But you also don’t want to waste a lot of time wading through spammy deals to find the perfect, nerdy gifts.

Fortunately, I’ve done that last part already!

These are the best and most affordable finds of this year’s Cyber Monday from Amazon. 

AMAZING JEWLERY

‘Cyber Monday’ is getting better all the time. Show that special someone that it’s dangerous to go alone and make them take this to remember you by.

  <- Amazing Legend of Zelda style ring

    SUPER CUTE TEA DIFFUSER

If you’re like me, you enjoy tea. A lot. Maybe you also like cats. Normally teas and cats are a BAD combination, but not today!

  <- THIS TEA DIFFUSER IS ADORABLE!

      Indiana Jones’ Bag

Help that special person in your life look how they’ve always secretly wanted to look: like Indiana Jones.

*Hat not included and, let’s be honest, you probably own the whip already.

    A fez

Because they’re awesome and that Doctor Who fan (yes, you know the one I’m talking about) will love you for buying it.

    *Time travelling phone booth not included due to temporal paradox in return policy.

    AMAZING BLACK-WOLF Playing cards

These playing cards have a distinctly ‘Witcher’ type of feel to them. Which is good because they’re waterproof and they come in their own custom case. No more worries about monster blood ruining your cards!

Unfortunately, they’re not Gwent cards, but that never stopped Geralt of Rivia, don’t let it stop you!

      All of these goodies are on sale for Cyber Monday at the time of posting. Just click the images above and show those people you care about:

“Yes, I really am that nerdy and you love me for it.”

So … I have a confession. I got sidetracked again today and I made these.

                Then I got sidetracked again and put them up on tspring.

How do you feel when you roll a natural 20? What if you could wear that feeling ALL THE TIME?

Unleash your Super Critical today!

For those of you who prefer the better saiyan, you can find his Super Critical TShirt here.

  Happy gaming to you all!

As often happens in the D&D Twitter community, today I saw a great idea on Twitter and I decided to help make it a reality.

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

For the Excel-savvy, you could also take it a couple steps further and make a macro that would color-in the cells with the marked color as you move through the sheet with the arrow keys!

— Origami Goblin (@OrigamiGoblin) October 1, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Result

After a little bit of tinkering I came up with the following:

https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/Doc7OzFV4AAfa_8.mp4

Now you can paint and draw dungeon maps in Excel and print them as if they’re on graph paper! Just select a color and use the mouse keys to move around, painting as you go.

You can add as many colors as you like.

Paint with the arrow keys or by clicking.

Columns are automatically sized to grid paper format (except the first two columns).

If the first four columns (A:D) get in your way when printing, just select them and hide before printing.

Conclusion

It was a short, fun project and there’s a lot of room to grow it i.e. applying colors to a selection, toggling paint modes, etc… While my schedule won’t allow me to keep developing it, feel free to take it, modify, and share it to meet your needs.

Requirements

To run it you will need:

Microsoft Excel with macros enabled

The template file (linked below)

ExcelDungeonMapperTemplate

  Good luck out there and happy dungeon creating!

I often receive compliments on the character backstories that I write and the DM never skims my backstory. It wasn’t always this way: I used to just think of a cool character and write about it.

But then I’d get into the writing and before I knew it, I had multiple pages about this REALLY COOL character. 

The DM would skim it and none of the backstory would really come up, much to my disappointment.

When you hand the DM your 4 page backstory.

Over time I developed a method to save myself from writing backstory that would go unread and, consequently, save the DM’s time.

A good backstory is:

Brief

Relevant

Connected

If you can write a backstory that does all of these you’ll be in good shape. 

Brief

“Brevity is the soul of wit.” -Shakespeare

People are busy: you and the DM. Be considerate of your time and the DM’s and don’t put a lot of extra detail into the backstory. Instead, crystallize it down into the essential points and let your character’s personality and backstory be revealed through roleplaying. 

Backstory gained at the table is worth 100 times backstory written on paper.

Reducing backstory down to its essentials also serves as the first gateway of quality: if your character backstory cannot be expressed in 3 short paragraphs or less, then your character concept is not well defined.

Don’t believe me? Let’s try a few examples:

One of the Maiar of Valinor, came to Middle Earth to oppose Sauron. Came to Middle Earth as part of the Istari, taking the guise of an old man in the hopes that the kings of Middle Earth would listen to his counsel. Bearer of Narya, the Ring of Fire.

Strained relationship with Saruman because of the gift of the Ring of Fire. On a quest to destroy the one ring and prevent the return of Sauron.

Refuses to be bound by any authority except the Valar who sent him to Middle Earth. Like Hobbits.

That was Gandalf right up until The Hobbit.

Let’s try another one:

Brother was kidnapped and tortured by gods who feared he would one day be their undoing. During the kidnapping, he received a scar from the War god, Aries. 

Was the youngest captain of Sparta’s armies. Received the (super cool) Blades of Chaos from Aries and became his champion, before Aries tricked him into killing his wife and daughter.

Now on a quest to redeem himself by killing the rampaging War god, Aries. Really likes breaking things and yelling a lot.

That was Kratos up until God of War 1.

The examples go on and on. If you cannot reduce the concept down to 3 short paragraphs, then you need to further define your concept.

This leads us to the second part of the method:

Relevant

Everything that appears in your backstory needs to be relevant. This means that it:

Ties the character to other characters, events, or places in the world. -OR-

Develops the characters ‘feel’ either via aesthetics (keep it minimal) or personality and disposition

That’s it. Describe where your character came from, an event or two of significance, their general disposition, and their motivation for adventuring. 

Protip: It’s often helpful to your DM to provide a few ‘hooks’ on the side. A hook is something or someone that your character will pursue. No DM is offended if you hand them three hooks and say “Here’s three things my character REALLY wants and will leap for every time.”

This brings us to the last part of the method:

Connected

Tabletop RPGs are a social game: don’t have an anti-social backstory. Write in events and reasons for your PC to be connected to the others in the party.

DO NOT write a “lone wolf” backstory that gives your character nothing to care about and no reason to adventure with the group. While great roleplaying may allow such a character to develop at the table, that’s rarely how this backstory unfolds.

Instead the lone wolf often makes it difficult for the DM and other players to motivate their character, resulting in bogged down sessions and the character frequently being left out of decision making.

Instead, incorporate the other party members even if it’s just a brief sentence “Likes hobbits” “Values friends” “Unusually enthralled by warforged” etc…

Lastly, if your character is entering the game after level 1, make sure to tie in some motivation that is relevant to the current plot. This could be a reason to pursue the big bad evil guy, a desire or need to seek the plot McGuffin, or (if the others players are OK with it) even a close, personal relationship with one of the other Player Characters i.e. friend, cousin, sister, etc…

  Troubleshooting Tips

Writing is messy work and tabletop games can make it more messy. If you’re having trouble applying this method, here are some tips to make it easier:

What if I can’t write just 3 paragraphs?

Tabletop games are imaginative games and sometimes we can’t constrain our imagination to a mere 3 paragraphs. That’s OK!

When that happens, write your full story and keep it for yourself, think of it as the “Detailed Version” of the backstory that has the details you need if the DM or the other players ask for more information. Then take one sheet of paper and the Detailed Version: you’re going to use it to write a few things on that one sheet of paper:

Appearance – No more than 2 sentences describing your character’s appearance

Demeanor/Outlook/Personality – No more than 2 sentences describing  their personality and alignment

Backstory – No more than 6 sentences describing backstory

Adventure hooks/goals – Write 3 adventure hooks or character goals: things the DM can use to motivate your character

Relationships/contacts – Write 1-3 contacts or relationships that are important to your character. It could be another PC or it could be their mother, sister, best friend, teacher, etc…

If you are still stuck at this part, approach it kind of like writing a dating profile: keep it light, make it interesting. Save the detailed backstory for yourself and use it to build your own character knowledge.

A sample 1 page backstory sheet (click for download)

When you are done, format your 1 page document so that it’s easy to read and hand it to the DM. No DM should consider it too much and most will be thankful to have all this information clearly described on one page.

What if I don’t know who I’m playing with or the major plot?

This is a common problem with new people joining a group or creating a new group. In this case, first work with your DM to discuss what a good character motivation would be, they will usually be able to give you a vague idea without giving away too much of the plot.

If you’re still having trouble, talk to another player and consider having your characters acquainted i.e. friends, cousins, adventured together before, went to wizard school together, etc… this can make it easier to build party cohesion and make character introductions flow smoother.

  A Real Play Example – Zan Zalladar the Insane Mystic

Below is an example of a backstory used in a real game. It was for a character being introduced into a higher level campaign. My previous character had been violently murdered and the party was in the far reaches of the arctic, meaning that the new character would have to come from one of the crew that was manning the expedition along with the PCs.

The character joined up right before the “planar exploration” phase of the game and I wanted a backstory that really reflected the heroic aspects of high-level play. While this is a bit on the longer side, it fit really well into the campaign and provided solid motivation for the character to stick with the party: he was a spy and the party was pursing leads straight to the doorsteps of the gods.

  Zan Zalladar was the oldest son of a wealthy merchant until his vessel met misfortune and sank during a long voyage. Seven years later, Zan emerged from a harbor in the human lands to find that his father had passed and his three younger brothers had taken control of the entire inheritance after presuming Zan to be dead. Eerily calm, Zan chose not to fight his brothers for the inheritance and, instead, enlisted in the navy. He has been serving on various ships ever since.

If you ask Zan Zalladar what happened during the seven years he was away, he will tell you that he was taken to the kingdom of the god of the ocean and there it was that Zan fell in love with his daughter. The god of the ocean did not think him worthy and so, to prove his worth, each day he was given a task to perform; each day Zan Zalladar completed his task and was allowed to stay another day. Love flourished between Zan and the goddess daughter of the ocean. However, no living mortal is allowed in the domain of a god for more than seven years and so at the end of those years Zan was sent back to the surface with the blessing of the ocean god and a promise of betrothal to his daughter should he ever return.

Zan knows there is only way to be reunited with his love: to become a god. Each day Zan works to prove himself, to grow and master and exceed himself. He will be reunited with his love or he will die trying.

  The DM really liked the backstory and ended up tying it one with one of the major antagonists of the campaign (an aboleth). The big reveal, worked out between myself and the GM as the character progressed, was that the character was actually insane and working for the Aboleth who he believed to be a god.

This is one of the longest backstories I’ve used in a long time, but it was worth it to capture the mythic feel as of our campaign. Practicing brevity is difficult and it takes time to master, but if you keep honing your writing skill you will save yourself and the DM a lot of time and unread backstory.

    For more writing tips, custom traps, NPCs, and encounters used in actual play or for more advice about building memorable characters and worlds, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

XXXX: “So… who’s gonna be my second?” [pause] Yuri: “…It would be my honor.” XXXX: “Guess yer stuck doin’ a job nobody much wants.” Yuri: “You too.” XXXX: “Heh. No kidding. Yuri. I was lookin’ forward to watchin’ ya go places. I’ll make sure to save you a spot in hell.” Yuri: “I don’t think they’d let me into the hell you’re going to.” XXXX: “Hah. I won’t forget that attitude, boy.”

-Yuri, the main protagonist of Tales of Vesperia (other name censored to avoid spoilers).

If you’re a fan of RPGs you should play Tales of Vesperia and with the Definitive Edition now available for order on Switch, XBone, PC, and PS4 (with remastered graphics and ALL the bonus content) there’s never been a better time to play than now.

The unique thing about this RPG is the exceptional quality. Aside from being one of the best titles of the titular “Tales of” series and therefore one of the best titles of the one of the most popular RPG series in Japan, it manages to break from a large number of entrenched RPG stereotypes with characters and a story that are still refreshing today, 10 years after its initial release.

People like RPGs for various reasons, but if you like RPGs for ANY reason, this game is for you. If you enjoy the:

Characters

A badass with a good heart.

Tales of Vesperia sports an unusual cast. The main protagonist is a disillusioned thief who’s savage burns cut as sharp as his sword. 

But there’s so much more to the character!

This dog has seen some things.

Right from the get-go, we see him paired up with his faithful, knife-wielding dog companion. It’s hot in the slums where they live and the water has gone out.

You instantly build up a love for the character’s relationship with his dog and the people of the slum as he ventures into the unfriendly upper areas of the city to retrieve (steal back) the missing part they need to restore running water to the slum.

What sets him truly apart from most RPG protagonists is that he fundamentally wants to be a good guy and do the right thing. No matter how jaded he becomes, his better nature shines through. This conflict between the reality of his world and his desire to do good leads him to make some tough decisions and makes the character memorable and believable.

At times you want to root for him, at times you want him to see a little bit of light, for something good to happen to him and for everything to turn out alright.

Throughout the course of the game, you’ll discover his backstory, how he came to be so jaded, and you’ll watch his character grow as he witnesses the consequences of his own choices.

Pink and innocent.

Keeping him in check along the way is Estelle, a naive and good-hearted princess. Their dialog is magnificently written with Yuri’s palpable jade countered by Estelle’s undefeatable optimism. 

She gets a lot of jokes played on her throughout by various members of the cast, but it’s all in good fun and you get to see her really grow and develop from a two-dimensional rich, naive princess into a true world-traveler with a more enlightened perspective.

You’ll meet an intriguing cast of characters, each with their own goals and perspective and you’ll watch each of them grow on their journey to save the world. Even some of the villains are incredibly well-written.

Dialog

If you like humorous dialog, or dialog that is just well written, then this game is for you. Here are just a few out-takes from the game:

Skit (Estelle and Repeede)

Estelle: Hey, why is he letting Judith pet him?

Raven: Maybe the little pup’s a fan of pretty girls.

Estelle: B-But I’m a pretty girl too! [Repede moves away from Estelle as she moves towards him.]

Judith: My, my.

Estelle: Why doesn’t he like me?

Skit (Yuri can cook)

Karol: Yuri’s croquettes are the BEST!

Rita: How strange…They’re just balls of mashed potatoes, but..

Judith: There must be a secret ingredient

Raven: Oh yeah? What’d you put in it Yuri?

Yuri; Love

Rita; Agh..*Hack* *hack* Ick, blech!

Karol: Wh-who are you and what did you do with yuri…?

Raven: My hearin isn’t what it used to be. What’d you say was the secret ingredient?

Yuri: Love! The lady who ran the inn I lived at always said cooking was all about love. I put as much love in them as I could. So eat them with care, okay?

Karol: Yuri’s loved filled croquettes….

Rita: Ugh

Raven: I wish they weren’t so good.

Judith: A secret ingredient is a cook’s greatest treasure. You did not want to tell them did you?

Yuri: Actually I didn’t put anything special in there at all.

Skit (We know what Raven likes)

Estelle: This figurine is lovely!Yuri: A figurine? Id say its more of a toy, really.

Karol: You must not of seen many things like this in the castle , Estelle.

Estelle: Id like to see more of these figurines.

Yuri: and thus a figurine collector is born.

Judith: Oh some people are just more interested in aesthetics than others Yuri. Its not all that unusual.

Rita: Yeah, I really don’t have any other inrests outside of blastiea.

Karol: ive always been a fan of cool guild emblems myself.

Estelle: What about you Yuri.

Yuri: Huh? Ive never really given much thought to artistic sorts of things. I never really looked at anything in art.

Raven: ask me, ask me! Ask me what I like

All: girls

Raven:…Th…that’s right….

Rita: We know that’s right.

All of this optional dialog that brings out the personality of the characters, reveals their self-conscious tendencies, their likes, and even surprises you wouldn’t have known.

I’ve chosen this dialog to avoid spoilers for anyone who has not played game, but it goes without saying that the best moments of the game are tied closely with developments in the plot. Even as they face down a great threat to their world, the characters are always growing and learning about each other.

By the end of the game, you really feel like you know all the characters and the dynamics of relationships well. It feels like playing a game where your friends are the main characters.

Gameplay

The gameplay is on-point for Tales of Vesperia. The controls are easy to learn and the party dynamics are easy to change.

What I like about the Tales Of series is that their combat is always energetic and involved: you control a character and move them around the battle while using special moves, attacking, or casting spells. You can even switch between characters if there’s one you really like playing or you need to control directly.

Trying out different party combinations is rewarding for the in-combat dialog alone, but your characters will also deepen their bond as they fight alongside each other, potentially unlocking more side quests and dialog options so can really get to know your favorite characters.

Inventory management is also pretty trivial. I recognize that a LOT of modern RPGs make this aspect kind of a pain, especially with resource gathering and item forging mechanics, but (fortunately) Tales of Vesperia ins’t bad about it! The only place where it gets kind of hairy is with weapons: always keep at least one of each weapon, you never know when you’ll need it again.

You can quest for better items or get them from enemies, but it never feels like a grind and you’re never waiting for that one drop with a 1/50 chance that hasn’t dropped in the 150 times you’re been farming this one monster. Instead the emphasis is always on the developing the story, the characters, and the world and even the item side-quests reflect that.

Summary

Each quest will deepen your experience of the world, characters, or the story while enough humor is seamlessly blended in to make it feel light-hearted between touching moments of deep emotion and characterization. 

The characters are well-written, their development and interaction makes each of the main cast, and some of the villains, feel real and alive. Throughout the game it’s a true joy to feel their relationships change and develop as the characters learn about each other and overcome their own pasts. 

The world is interesting and unique and you really get a feel for each region and city with it’s own ‘personality’.

The gameplay is fluid, easy, and energetic with very little inventory-management non-sense to bog down the game.

This game deserves a 5 out of 5.

If you like RPGs at all, for any reason, you owe it to yourself to give Tales of Vesperia a try. With the updated graphics and content of the Definitive Edition, there’s never been a better time to  play.

  If you enjoyed this article you may also like Roleplaying Exercises to Get Into Character and The GM’s Easy world Creation Kit.

A tattoo covered elf saunters by, swaying unsteadily from side to side. Clothes in tatters; the smell of booze emanates so strongly from the elf that your eyes begin water.

The dingy tavern falls silent as the elf bumps into a mountainous half-orc, spilling his ale. The half-orc turns to face the elf and the tavern grows silent as a tomb.

Towering over the drunken elf, the half-orc bares his teeth and growls. He throws his cup to the floor with a loud CLUNK! and reaches for his weapon.

In a flash, the elf has got him: a single delicate hand around the half-orc’s throat. Almost without resistance, the hulking warrior gasps and collapses to the floor: dead. 

It was over so fast you barely saw the elf draw a single shiv from the folds of its tattered clothes. The single, fatal strike was so quick that, for just a second, you question if it was only your imagining.

As onlookers stare stoopified, the elf picks something off the body of the half-orc and disappears through the doors of the tavern.

  In yesterday’s article I explored how to build the best grappler. In today’s post I’m going to present “The Elven Shank” a build that uses grappling to be a highly potent force in combat.

Before we get into the specifics, I am going to use a dagger for this build purely out of flavor. There’s no reason you couldn’t use a rapier or other one-handed weapon for higher damage, but something about this build says “I’ve done hard time, and I’m going to shank you with my toothbrush.”

The Elven Shank

The elven shank has 4 elements that make up the build:

The Grappler feat

The Elven Accuracy feat

Multiple (at least 2) attacks

Race: any type of elf or Half-Elf (required by 2)

For the race, any type of elf will do though I’d recommend Wood Elf for the WIS and movement increase.

The core concept is pretty simple:

Use first attack to grapple an enemy. You now have advantage on attacks against that enemy (thanks to the Grappler feat).

Pump as much damage into the second attack as possible. You will not miss, you will crit. A LOT.

The Rogue class fills most of our need by itself; however, we will need to multiclass to get a second attack. Our options for that are:

Fighter (5 levels)

Bard – College of Swords or College of Valor (6 levels)

Barbarian (5 levels) 

Paladin (5 levels)

Cleric – War Priest (1 level)*

Warlock – Pact of the Blade with Thirsting Blade Invocation (5 levels)

Monk (5 levels)

*The War Priest allows a character to make a bonus action attack with a weapon as long as they use the Attack action. While grappling uses the Attack action, the limit on the bonus action attack is  once per WIS bonus per long rest and therefore is not very desirable

I decided on Fighter (Champion) 5/Rogue X

We’ll be starting with a DEX score of 17. At 4th level it will get bumped up to 18 when we take Elven Accuracy. 

Pick any Rogue sublcass you like. Assassin is nice for automatic crits in the first round of combat. Swashbuckler will make you into the best possible grappler with its 13th level feature to grant advantage on STR (Athletics) checks. The Scout, at 13th level, will get you (and your allys) advantage on all attacks against a single creature for the first round of combat.

All of them are good choices.

Let’s take a look at the build at  9th,15th, and 20th level:

9th level (Fighter 5/Rogue 4)

Core features: Improved Critical,  Attack(2), Expertise(Athletics), Elven Accuracy, Grappler, DEX 18, 2d6 Sneak Attack

Assuming a measly 13 in strength we have a +9 Grapple bonus. When we attack with advantage we have a 27.1% chance to land a critical, dealing 2d4 (shank damage)+ 4d6 (Sneak ATTACK!) + 4 (DEX) + 2 (Dueling FIghting Style) = 24 Damage.

While this isn’t great output for this level, it is output we can manage every single round, indefinitely since it uses no resources. If we find this output is too low we can still fallback making two attacks per round and using our allies to gain sneak attack damage.

The damage trade-off is not for nothing though: our Fighter features i.e. Second Wind and Action Surge make us significantly tougher than a typical rogue.

Let’s see how the build progresses:

15th level (Fighter 5/Rogue 10) 

Core features: (Everything from last time),  5d6 Sneak Attack, DEX 20

Now with our measly 13 STR we’re looking at a grapple bonus of +11, the same 27.1% chance for a crit on advantage and dealing 2d4 (shank) + 10d6 (sneak) +5 (DEX) + 2 (Dueling) = 41 damage, nearly double the damage output of our 9th level build.

20th level (Fighter 5/Rogue 15)

Core feautes: (Everything from last time, reliable talent, 8d6 Sneak Attack

Our grapple bonus is now up to + 13 and we can never roll lower than a 23 thanks to reliable talent. When we crit, which we will be doing at least every third round, we will be dealing a respectable 2d4 (shank) + 16d6 + 5 (DEX) + 2 (Duelling) = 59 damage.

Keep in mind that an enemy has to use its action to break our grapple and, thank’s to Reliable Talent, that is likely to never happen.

This frees us from having to make repeated grapple attempts and we can just focus on doing what the Elven Shank does best…shanking. We can even use our Action Surge to sneak in an additional two shanks per short rest.

There are certainly higher damage builds, but this one is pretty well rounded, having a nice mix of:

Durability

Fighter HD

Second Wind

Evasion

Uncanny Dodge

STR, CON, and WIS prof (thanks to Slippery Mind)

Fey Ancestry (Adv vs charmed, can’t be put to sleep)

Damage

Sneak Attack

Improved Critical

Elven Accuracy

Action Surge

Mobility/Utility

Cunning Action

Fleet of Foot

Proficiency in 6 skills (Perception, Athletics, +4 others)

Expertise in Athletics

Expertise in 3 other skills

Customizing /Improving the Elven Shank

What’s neat about this is that if you want to emphasize one category over another i.e. more durability, more damage, or mobility/utility you can swap out the 5 fighter levels for the following:

More Utility

Monk – Drunken Master/Open Hand/ Shadow will all increase your Mobility/Utility and get you access to the powerful Stunning Strike ability. You may be able to ditch armor entirely, but most importantly of all, the monk increases your shank damage to a d6. Very important. Also, the Drunken Master just fits the theme perfectly.

More Durability

Barbarian – Advantage on all Strength checks, and a little bit of extra damage while raging, is probably worth it alone. Path of the Zealot will add an extra 1d6 + 1/2 of Barbarian level to the first attack you make each round, increasing your average damage output. Meanwhile a Bear totem barbarian will have greatly increased durability thanks to having resisting to all damage, except psychic. 

Mostly just a Rogue

War Cleric – If you want to be mostly just a rogue who uses grappling as a fallback option, a single level of War Cleric will allow you pick up 10d6 sneak attack and the Elusive feature. This is a good option if you can almost always count on your allys to grant you sneak attack, but you want a back-up option just in case.

  Conclusion

While there are other grappling builds that can deal a lot of damage, most of those builds are even sillier than this one and require the use of strange items, high level spells, or a LOT of team-work with your casters.

If you’ve ever wanted to play a durable, shank-wielding, damage dealing elf who has probably done hard time, then this is the build for you. 

If you enjoyed this article you may also like A Fistful of Dice or the Eldritch Sniper.

If you watch any of the manifold streams of D&D and other role playing games, it may seem pretty easy to get into character.

They just do it and it looks so easy.

But as you play you find it’s a bit harder than it seems: scenes rarely play out as cinematically as they do in the podcasts, opportunities to roleplay come so suddenly and go so fast, the scenarios you find your character in are rarely the shining moments of triumph you expected, etc…

Let’s face it, getting into character can be tough, especially if you’re new to the genre. Video games and books provide you with characters with well defined personalities, often developed by an entire writing team. In comparison, most roleplay feels a little … flat. 

And that’s OK! It takes years to become good at roleplaying and improv and even veterans need practice sometimes.

One of the best ways to “warm up” is to try to get into character: imagine how your character would act in a variety of situations to get a good feel for their personality. That way, whenever an unexpected situation crops up during the session, you already know, intuitively, how your character would act.

Ask yourself the following questions:

A day in the life.

Your character is at an inn, waiting for someone: what do they do while they wait?

Your character is running an errand, it was supposed to take 20 minutes, but they’ve been in line for an hour now. Someone cuts in front of them in line. How do they react?

When arriving at the front of the line, the clerk is extremely bureaucratic and dispassionately informs your character that the paperwork has been filled out wrong and she will not be able to help. How does your character react?

Your character just failed a task given them by a friend or relative. You know the task was important to them: how does your character handle the failure? How do they break the news to their friends/relatives/lovers etc…?

  Your character has fallen gravely ill and is bed-ridden for weeks.

What do they do during this time? Visitors are scarce, how do they handle the long, lonely hours? Who comes to visit them the most?

How do they handle facing their own mortality, knowing that each day may be their last and they may die in bed?

  Your character comes into an enormous fortune that cannot be spent on magic items, potions, scrolls, or equipment.

What do they buy? Do they spend like there’s no tomorrow?

Do they try to start a business or invest the money? Do they write a will?

Are they ‘showy’ with their money? Are they generous or miserly?

  Your character is lost in the wilderness for weeks.

Suddenly they come upon a stranger only to discover that stranger is also lost and has no meaningful survival skills; they may even be a liability.

Does your character stick it out with the lost-soul? Do they try to rob them? Do they try strike out on their own to increase their chances of survival?

After some time with this lost-soul, your character begins to suspect that they are hiding a secret and that they came out into the wilderness with a purpose. How does your character react to their intuition? Do they interrogate the lost-soul? Do they mind their own business?

  What is your character’s biggest blind-spot?

All people have flaws that they cannot or choose not to perceive, what is your character’s biggest personality flaw? Can you think of two example scenarios that display this flaw?

What is the one thing your character desires most in the world: is it love, friends, money, redemption, power, or revenge?

At what point would they be willing to sacrifice their friends to get it? At what point would they be willing to sacrifice their money, love, power, or chance at redemption to gain the object of their desire?

    For additional warm-up exercises try to place your character into real life situations of disappointment, frustration, or awkwardness. How a person reacts to these situations speaks volumes about their general personality and will help you to get a holistic view of your character.

The better you know how your character reacts in these circumstances, the easier it will be for you roleplay them in the impromptu flow of the game session.

    0If you enjoyed this article, you may also like 5 D&D Character Ideas and the Paragon of Luck [D&D 5e Build].

Looking for ideas for your next D&D character? These ideas will inspire discussion, encourage roleplay, and make your character memorable.

  The Song that Never Ends

A bard who has been cursed to play only one song forever. The party is on epic quest to save the world and is growing seriously tired of the song. Meanwhile this bard just wants a Wish spell to break the curse.

How did you become cursed? Perhaps you offended a god or a powerful wizard. Or perhaps you aren’t really cursed at all, you simply have no talent and can only play one song well.

Whatever you decide, pick a song that the other players can love to hate on so everyone can get into it at the table.

  The Socially Awkward Lore Bard

A Lore Bard who is excessively polite. In combat their cutting words are often sincerely mumbled apologies and ‘excuse me’ along with half-bows and apologetic nods. This is so off putting that it causes enemies to miss and feel generally uncomfortable with the whole idea of combat.

  The Herald of the Gods

A Zealot Barbarian with a deep spiritual connection to the gods. Every time he’s revived it’s a different god and he has a different personality, complete with all the motives of a devout agent of the new god.

Make sure to roleplay the different personalities that reflect your perception of the Barbarian’s current god i.e. prone to quick and violent action when following Grummsh, cold and disinterested when aligned with Boccob, proud and righteous when following Heironeous, etc…

  R-0-11-Bot

A warforged bard who’s vocalization is a bit off. Communicates with beeps and robot sounds and all their songs are Nintendo and Sega Genesis era 8-bit tunes streamed from their vocal matrix.

Throw in some Zelda or Golden Axe tunes to play during combat at watch everyone get into the rhythm.

  Too Close to Home

A wizard who had to take out extensive loans to afford wizard school. Unfortunately, the wizard market is saturated and now he has to become an adventurer, risking life and limb to pay back his wizard college loans. 

To avoid making this a little too depressing, play up the debt part as a source of comic relief. When you’re in town for long periods, your character should be picking up temp jobs to pay back their debt.

Work with GM to use the Carousing Table and re-flavor the results a little bit: you’re not receiving gambling winnings, you’re getting a bonus for being an excellent worker. You’re not just making an enemy, you’re offending your boss or coworker. You don’t just have a romantic fling: you’re caught up in a powerful office romance that is probably as ill-advised as it is exciting.

    If you enjoyed this article you may also like Teleportation Master [5e Eliatrope build] and a Sneakmage (Magical Ninja) [5e Build]

There’s a lot low level abilities that grant limited range teleport effects in D&D5e. This got me wondering: how much short range teleport can we pack onto a single character?

Unfortunately, after doing the research, the most effective way is to achieve this is to be a Wizard or (Shadow) Sorcerer and use spell slots on teleportation spells.

But that’s boring, so I changed the goals a little bit and decided to build a character based loosely off Eliatropes from the show Wakfu.

If you play D&D, you should give the show a watch: it feels like watching a D&D party with some good chemistry and great improv skills.

That aside, I identified a few key Eliatrope traits from the show that I wanted to capture with the build (In order of importance):

Short range teleportation – a LOT of it

Laser – We need a laser

Speed – gotta be fast

Teleportation in D&D 5e

There’s a few different ways to add teleportation to a 5e character. This list isn’t comprehensive, but it’s pretty close:

Spells

Misty Step (level 2)

Blink (level 3, only sorta counts)

Dimension Door (level 4)

Teleportaion Circle (level 5)

Tree Stride (level 5)

Arcane Gate (level 6)

Transport via Plants (level 6)

Teleport (level 7)

Etherealness (level 7, only sorta counts)

Warlock Invocations

Relentless Hex

Feats

Fey Teleportation (Xan’s Guide, requires high-elf)

Classes

Warlock/Archfey Patron – Misty Escape (level 6, costs Reaction when taking damage teleport 60ft away)

Shadow Monk – Shadow Step (level 6, costs Bonus Action teleport 60ft from shadow to shadow)

Ranger/Horizon Walker – Ethereal Step (level 7, sorta counts, but not real teleportation)

Ranger/Horizon Walker – Distant Strike (level 11, teleport up to 10 feet before each attack)

Shadow Sorc – Shadow Walk (level 14, as Monk’s shadow step but range 120ft and no advantage on next attack)

Druid/Circ of Dreams – Hidden Path (level 10 teleport up to 60 ft as bonus action 1/WIS bonus per LR can also teleport others 30ft feet instead, but costs an action)

All in all, the list turned out to be significantly less than I was expecting. I have some hope that MORDENKAINEN’S TOME OF FOES will provide some more teleportation options, but I haven’t got my hands on it just yet.

  Mandatory Disclaimer

This build is not optimized for combat, merely for short range teleporting. It is a theory build and will not be top tier performant in combat.

  Putting It Together

Out of all the teleportation spells available to us, Misty Step fits the bill pretty well for what we want: it’s short range, low level (spammable), and it uses a bonus action so we can attack after using it.

If we start as a high elf, we can pick up a 1/short rest misty step via the Fey Teleportation feat. 

If we pick up 6 warlock levels we can Blink and Misty Step (2 spells on our list) and we gain the ability to use a reaction on taking damage to teleport up to 60 feet away and turn invisible (once per short rest).

To recap: with just 6 levels, the PHB and Xanath’s Guide to Everything we have:

A High elf

With the Fey Teleportation Feat

Who’s a level 6 Archfey Patron Warlock

Who can Misty step up to 3 times per short rest

With an additional, reaction triggered teleport per short rest

Use Relentless Hex to teleport to a target we’ve hexed

That’s not a bad start and we can also pick up the Eldritch Blast cantrip to add some lasers onto our eliatrope. At a basic level, we’re already mostly there.

If we want to take it father and go full eliatrope, we have a couple of options:

10 levels of Circle of Dreams Druid

This option gets us the best short range teleport ability in the game: we can teleport ourselves or other (willing) creatures 1/WIS bonus per long rest. In other words, we have an ability that is better than Misty Step (longer range and more versatily) and we can use it up to 5 times per long rest.

The downside is that combining it with High Elf (our race) and Warlock (our other class) has very little stat synergy. Add in the Fey Teleportation feat and we’re looking at a character whose stats are a hot mess. If we still go with it though, we have a character who can:

Misty step 3 times per short rest (from warlock and feat)

Misty step an additional 11 times per long rest (from Druid spell slots)

Hidden path Teleport 3-4 times per long rest (from lvl 10 Druid ability)

Reaction teleport 1 time per short rest

On top of that we can pick up Blink thanks to the Archfey Patron, and Tree Stride thanks to our Druid levels, giving us a variety of teleportation options.

At this point our build can teleport A LOT, shoot lasers, and pick up a few other cool tricks from the Druid spell list. It’s really good at short range teleportation and not much else.

We’re now level 16 and don’t really have anything to do with the last 4 levels except take more levels of druid to gain access to better spells.

We may be able to take 10 levels of druid instead of the warlock, but it becomes a little more difficult to retain the eliatrope flavor.

Instead of druid we could take:

7 Levels of Horizon Walker

 If we take 7 levels of Horizon Walker instead of druid, we can teleport up to 10 feat before each attack. This leaves us 7 more levels to fill in with 6 levels of  Shadow Monk and one final level of Ranger for the Ability Score Increase. We’re level 20, but we can:

Shoot lasers (pew,pew)

Misty Step (3 times per short rest)

Misty Step (3 more times per long rest)

Reaction Teleport

At will teleport in shadows

Teleport 10 feet before every attack

Use Etherealness without a spellslot once per long rest

Notably, this won’t make a very combat effective character due to how jumbled the stats are. But it certainly achieves a kind of anime feel, becoming the fighter archetype that zooms and teleports around the battlefield on a whim, punching things, hitting them weapons, or lasering them at will.

This could be a really fun character to play in a lower-power level game. Or even a fun antagonist: the PCs will have a difficult time pinning the character down, making them a great villain who doesn’t really engage so much as run from the PCs.

  If you enjoyed this article you may also like A Fistfull of Dice and The Eldritch Sniper.

As a GM, one of the most fun and daunting tasks you can undertake is the creation of worlds.

New gods, myths, legends, artifacts, heroes, villains, history, kingdoms, cultures, religions… there’s infinite room for creativity and no shortage of fun to be had!

The problem is that there’s literally infinite room for creativity. 

Knowing where to start can be tough and when rushing in head-first it’s not uncommon to find that you’ve wrote yourself into a corner. When this happens it’s easy to lose enthusiasm for the world you’re creating.

It’s a problem I’ve encountered many times during my 7+ years of GMing. For each campaign I would create a new world and eventually I developed a set of methods that makes the world creation process fast and fun while producing vivid, consistent, and imaginative worlds.

It all begins with the first step:

Choose the Gameplay

Worlds in RPGs (both tabletop and otherwise) are not stand-alone constructs: they are meant to be played in.

The first step to creating a vivid and interesting world is to decide what type of game you want played in that world. 

Ask yourself the following questions:

What does the typical session look like?

Is it straight combat? Very little combat? A mix of puzzles, riddles, combat, and social encounters?

Are the players classical, good adventurers or are they mercenaries, space pirates, or planar pillagers, etc..?

Where do I see these encounters happening?

In dungeons? In cities? In spaceships? In temples built out of bones of decaying gods?

In locales that span a wide range of heavy metal album covers?

In all of the above?

How do I want to guide story progression?

Is the game entirely player driven or will NPCs and world events drive most of the plot?

Do the players exist within a command structure, fulfilling orders? If not, are they free agents on a mission, mercenaries for hire, or a rag-tag bunch of outcasts that gets into mischief?

Is the progression driven primarily by exploration, social encounters, or pre-determined events?

Choose Central Conflicts and Environments

Once you’ve answered the previous questions you should have an idea of how you see gameplay and plot unfolding in a typical session, in other words: the assumptions of your game. 

Now that you have a clearer idea of the assumptions you’re working with it’s time to build a world around them. 

Worlds are meant to be played in, so start with the environment: create a reason for the environment to be the way you envision. Give the players incentive to explore the environments that you’ve chosen.

This ties in closely with the central conflict or theme of your world: if it is a war time campaign, the environment should be blistered with the signs of battles, cities will be impoverished, nature will marred by weapons of war. If an eternal winter has spread across the continent, everything will be cold and harsh, but nature may yet struggle on.

If the primary method of story progression is exploration, define a few interesting locales with good backstories and a home base, for example:

The material plane has been shattered to thousands of pieces. The players begin on a shrinking shard of the plane (a single kingdom), drifting through a dark sea of stars, gradually breaking into smaller pieces. On their journey they will likely encounter the Volcanic Stronghold of the Fists of Hextor, the Sunken Kingdom of the Drowned God, The Impossible Tower of the Mad Mage, etc…

In 3 short sentences we have defined: a central conflict/theme (the material realm being shattered), provided the players motivation for exploring (their realm is literally falling to pieces), and formed an idea of 3 interesting places for the players to visit.

A second example:

The gods could never agree on how the world should be, so they made two worlds and separated them by a thin veil. Now the veil is weakening and new, bizarre cities, towns, and kingdoms are popping up everywhere along with dangerous monsters in unexpected places. If it’s not stopped the players will lose everything familiar to them and their entire world. The players will probably visit the Crag of the Crab King, the Industrious  Imperium of the Formic Hive, and the Brain Bakery run by Granny and Grandpa M’Flayer.

We’ve outlined a central conflict/theme (two worlds colliding), provided player motivation (anything they know and love could be destroyed or swapped with something at any moment), and 3 interesting places.

Entire articles can (and will be) written on how to flesh out interesting locales and encounters. Once you feel you have enough interesting locales and a strong enough central theme to create new environments throughout the campaign, it’s time for the next step.

Create NPCs and Flesh out the Backstory

The environment implies the backstory of your world as your descriptions of the environment reveal the world illuminated in the light of the central theme. Yet it is the NPCs who will ultimately become the face or even the very personification of your world, it’s backstory, and its central theme. 

When writing NPCs it is important to flesh out the backstory of your world. The central conflict of your world is going to have 3 main facets:

Cause – How did the conflict come to be? i.e. creation myths, political events, a wizard did it, etc…

Resolution – How is the conflict resolved (the ultimate goal)? Gather artifacts, dethrone a mad king, etc…

Factions – Who’s on what side of the conflict and why? Doomsday cultists, angry gods and their followers,  bellicose Kings, devious dragons, the merchant guild, a rogue sect of angels, etc…

Define the factions you’d like to see in the world and the cause for their conflicts, then create the NPCs that will be agents and eventually faces of the faction. 

Most important of all: make your NPCs interesting! Not every shopkeeper needs an important backstory or a quirk, but important NPCs do. Make the backstory related to the central conflict, but keep it personal so that your players will be motivated by it. 

Define a few NPCs for each faction that the players will interact with early on. At a minimum you should define a leader, a high-ranking officer, and one or two low ranking people.

You can get by with a short description of a name, personality/mannerism, and a sentence or two describing them and how they act.

For example:

Iara Tsun, the unusually tall dwarf who owes a life-debt to the King. She is never seen outside of her formal armor and never uses a word when a nod will suffice.

Zorc the Mad, a half-elf mage with a dragon facial tatoo, obsessed with the summoning of demons. He wears a cocky expression to match his attitude and truly believes that summoning a powerful demon may allow him to free his son’s soul from hell. 

Auren the Keeper of the Gate, an immortal former-human who is mostly made of glowing blue stone; his former knightly robes hang off him in tatters. He speaks in a loud booming voice that sounds like it comes from far away; he has guarded this portal for ages and will allow only the worthy to pass and receive the truth contained beyond.

Rog Horf the disgruntled half-orc cultist in charge of new recruits. He keeps his cultist robes pristine and is mindful of prejudice, choosing to annunciate each word carefully, but feels he is woefully underappreciated for his talent and intelligence.

The best part about using the short description method is that NPCs can be inserted into nearly any role we need on the fly: their role in the game is only set in stone once they make an appearance on the stage.

This saves prep time and makes the game flow smoother, giving you a pool of NPCs to work with for when your players do something unexpected.

After you’ve defined the key factions and some interesting NPCs, spend some time fleshing out the myths and lore: this will make your factions and NPCs more believable. 

CAUTION!!!

A lot of GMs fall into a trap at this point and end up developing extensive lore, legends, religion, etc. While this is fun, you should finish out the “party facing” aspects of your world first i.e. develop the starting local, it’s NPCs, factions, and environment. The PCs will definitely see this part of your world, but there’s a chance they will never delve deep enough into the lore to learn the deeper and more obscure parts of your world backstory.

Focus on the parts the players will see first then, if you have time, feel free to circle back around to lore and flesh it out even more.

Finishing Up

At this point, you’ve identified your assumptions about the game, you’ve defined a central conflict, a motivation for players, the environment with several interesting locales, NPCs, and the backstory of your world.

All that’s left is the quests, plot hooks, and encounters. 

By now these should flow very naturally, but if you’re having trouble just look back at your NPCs and factions and ask “How would they get the party to help them? What would they do that would harm/hinder the party?” For example:

Would Zorc the Mad use an alias to post a reward for the retrieval of a magical artifact from a dangerous dungeon?

Would Rog Horf send the PCs out on his personal errands where chance encounters will surely alter their fate?

Would Iara Tsun require the PCs to prove themselves against an encampment of orcs that suddenly appeared in the lower quarter of the city?

Start with at least 3 potential plot hooks and get a feel for which one you think will be most impactful to your group (which one they will like or at least remember best). 

At this point: you’re done!

You’ve made a consistent world built around a central conflict, interesting locales, memorable NPCs, and enough plot hooks to start the adventure. Add more interesting NPCs, locations, plothooks, and factions as needed.

    If you enjoyed this article you may also like Active Player Agency – A Crash Course or A GM’s Guide to Communication

It has been one hundred years since dragons disappeared from the kingdom and a curse fell upon the land. The guard of the Mad King fought you every inch of the way, but the last egg of the dragons looms ahead. Will you free the dragon and break the curse?

Combat in tabletops can be fun, but every once in a while its nice to mix things up with some traps.

Looking around, most ‘simple’ traps I saw were also boring: make a skill check, you pass and nothing happens or you fail and take some damage.

Instead, I’ve decided to share 5 traps that I used in my run of the Demon’s Maw module. These traps are designed to get the players involved, build intrigue, and bring fun to the table.

These traps encourage collaboration, excite the emotions, and take limited time to solve, allowing you to fit many other encounters into a session.

The Timer

Description: Non-lethal, psychological. Has more impact the cheaper the character/player is. Best handled in real time. EST completion time varies from 1-10 min.

Setup: The players are transported into this trap.

This trap is a simple setup: an enclosed room with no obvious exits. In the center of the room is a rune-inscribed device with a single gold-coin-sized slot in the top.

Above the device looms a giant, ominous timer of red magical light. The timer begins counting down at 1:00.

The players have 60 seconds until the timer runs out. Every time they insert a gold coin into the device, the timer resets back to 60 seconds.

If you need a timer you can find one here, just have the player’s click ‘reset’ every time they insert a gold coin.

Play:  The players will begin asking questions about the room and searching for a way out. During this time, if possible, display the countdown timer on a big screen in front of the players.

The walls, ceiling, and floor are made of the same are boring, featureless stone. If they manage to deal enough damage to break any of the stone a green substance begins oozing out of the hole and filling the room.

Escape: When the timer runs out, a portal appears in the center of the room. Stepping through the portal transports the character out of the trap.

  Three Blocks, a Cake, and a Potion

Description: Non-lethal, magic, puzzle. EST completion time 2-15 min.

Setup: The players are transported into this trap. 

They find themselves standing atop a 15×15 foot platform (actually a 15′ cube) in the center of stone room that is 50′ on each wall.  The top of the platform is covered in intricate colored drawings giving it the appearance of stained glass.

There are two 5 foot by 5 foot blocks on top of the platform and in front of each block is a recess that it can be pushed into.

There is also a fanciful, white tea-table.

On top of the tea table is a slice of cake, next to it a bottle of blue liquid, and a note. There is tag attached to the bottle that says “Drink me” and a tag on the cake that says “Eat me“.

The note on the table reads, “The first block readies the release, the second brings the haze, the third shall set you free.”

Play:  If a player drinks from the vial they shrink down to 3 inches tall. If they eat some of the cake they grow to Gargantuan size. 

The blocks on top of the platform are (relatively) easy to move: with a DC 15 Strength check they slide and click into place.

When the second block is pushed into place an eerie, purple gas begins to fill the room. At the end of each round it rises 5 ft. Anyone breathing in the gas must succeed on a DC 14 CON save or fall unconscious.

The players tend to figure this out very quickly or else they struggle and panic when the gas enters the room.

Escape: When a player is gargantuan they may make a DC 15 Strength Ability Check to push the platform into forward 15 feet. When the players push the third block into place (the platform on which they are standing) there is a loud ‘click’ and one of the 3×5 inch stained-glass tiles near the tea-table swings open, revealing a portal.

If the players drink the shrinking potion and escape they are returned to normal size when they exit the portal. 

  Mirror of Unending Undead

Description: Straightforward, combat trap. EST completion time ~1 difficult encounter.

Setup: The players enter a room; the door locks magically behind them. The room is a 60 foot cube with no features of interest except for an elaborate, 10 foot wide oak-bound mirror that stretches to the ceiling. The oak frame of the mirror is covered in polished skull carvings. The door through which they entered has a peculiarly shaped keyhole.

When looking through the mirror the PCs see everything you would expect to see in the mirror, aa well as 2d4 animate skeletons (see Player Handbook or Monster Manual for stats) crowding around the mirror. When looking into the mirror, a DC 16 Perception check reveals that there is a key hanging on the far wall.

Curiously, this key is not actually in the same room as the mirror; rather, it is hanging on the far side of the wall in the room inside the mirror.

Play: To reach the key on the other side of the mirror the players must first shatter the mirror, collapsing both rooms into one. The skeletons cannot break the mirror, though they will try to attack the PCs if they get too close.

When the mirror is shattered, combat begins. The mirror shatters like a normal mirror, but the very fabric of space ripples within the room as skeletons (and the key) are shifted into the room from the mirror-world. 

At the start of each round after the first, 1d4 additional skeletons crawl out of the shards of the mirror into the room, acting on the lowest initative in the combat.

Escape: If the PCs manage to open the door behind them, as with a knock spell, they find only a wall. 

The skeletons will continue to spawn infinitely.

To escape the room, the PCs must grab the key, which fits the peculiarly shaped keyhole of the door, and use it to open the door to the room. 

The skeletons will pursue beyond the room, but once the door is shut the mirror reforms, pulling all the skeletons back into the mirror world.

When they exit the trap, the PCs should find themselves in a hallway on the other side of the chamber as though they had walked through the chamber.

For bonus fun: Use this as an inversion point of a dungeon. Introduce a change in the seemingly familiar dungeon environment that now makes it possible to solve puzzles that could not be solved before: the map is now reversed, certain NPCs now have their alignment flipped, doors that opened inward now open outward, etc… 

Over the years I’ve seen a lot of discussion about in-game and out-of-game issues at D&D tables.

One of the players is telling someone else how to play their character.

My DM made an unfair ruling, PLEASE HELP!

A player decided to play Murder McStabbins in our Heroic fantasy game.

I feel like my character is useless.

etc…etc…

Most of these issues have one root cause: poor communication.

Fortunately, there’s a tried and true method for preventing and fixing these problems when they occur. A DM that uses these methods earns player respect and keeps the players invested in the game.

To understand these methods and why every DM should employ them, we first need to look at the role of the DM.

The DM Facilitates the Game

In a cooperative storytelling game, the DM serves as the primary facilitator. The DM’s primary duty is a noble and honorable one: making sure everyone is invested and enjoying the game!

Welcome to the game!

This means the DM issues rulings on how certain actions and spells resolve/interact in the game world, providing montsers/antagonists/traps/dungeons/plot twists/etc….

But it also means making sure that communication is healthy at the table!

When communication is poor, in the best case the players end up on ‘different pages’ and begin to get confused by the actions of other characters and the stroy, in the worst case misunderstanding breeds animosity and the group begins to dissolve.

There are 4 skills the DM needs to do to have good communication at the table: Openness, Regard, Clarity, and Consistency.

Openness

Openness is the ability to recognize potential problems and bring them into the discussion.

Overcoming the social anxiety of dragging something out into the open is not easy!

But the alternative is to let issues fester, unspoken until they embed themselves in the fabric of a group and become passive (or not so passive) aggression.

Openness is a preventative measure that dispels future conflict. By seeing the potential underlying conflicts and bringing them into the open you can address the issues while they are still small, before they cause harm to the group.

This may be as simple as a DM issuing a ruling on a spell, disclosing a house rule, or pausing to explain something important to the plot that the players might have missed.

It may be something more charged like discussing in character actions with a player or certain habits that have lessened the enjoyment at the table.

When having these discussions it’s import to practice regard.

Regard

Regard is respect and active listening. This is the most important skill in communication and DMing.

Regard comes into play once you, the DM or the player, have decided that there is an underlying issue which needs to be addressed. This is both regard for feelings of the individuals and the entire group.

When no one listens

When raising an issue, first consider if it needs to be before the entire group (as with a rules decision) or if it is better to have the discussion privately (‘bad’ player behavior). 

Then it is time for the most important aspect of regard: to listen. 

Entire books have been filled with tips on how to listen well and earn the respect of your audience. In short, after you’ve raised the issue in a non-confrontational way, stop talking and try to understand the other person’s perspective.

Often you’ll find that there are a few assumptions you have that don’t match up with the assumptions of the other person i.e. “we’re playing a traditional fantasy game” “intra-party conflict is fair play” “we’re playing a magical-realism game” etc…

Mismatched assumptions about the game, the setting, characters, and even about the players at the table manifest as conflict. By listening to others you should identify the underlying assumptions causing the conflict and state them clearly.

Clarity

When resolving a conflict it is important to be clear and consistent!

If you’re not clear, group members become frustrated when they discover that their assumptions about the game didn’t match up with yours. i.e. If a player creates a fire mage and the setting plunges the group into the depths of the ocean where fire magic is less than effective, then that player is going to be disappointed.

As a DM: state your rulings and expectations for the game clearly and explain the reasons for them.

Even if you’re not certain, even if this is a temporary decision that you may change later: that’s OK! Just state:

“I want to see how this pans out: so for this session we’re going to do it this way. I’ll revisit it at the end and decide if we want to keep it like that or change it.”

Consistency

After you’ve made a ruling, stick to it. Do not change it in the middle of combat or game session without good reason!

Every time the DM makes an unannounced change to the rules, the confidence of the players is diminished. Do not rule against the fun of table without good reason and be generous in compensation to the players when you do. 

Don’t retcon without good reason.

If at all possible, discuss any rule changes before a session starts and give players a chance to modify their characters if they’d be unduly affected. This way players won’t feel cheated and you don’t lose time discussing rule changes mid-combat.

Conclusion

Don’t let potential conflicts fester and turn into aggression at the table. Hone your courage and bring conflicts out into the open in a non-confrontational way.

Be respectful and listen to everyone, identifying mismatched assumptions during the discussion. 

When resolving a conflict be clear and consistent.

If you practice these techniques, and I emphasize the word practice because it will take years to master them, you will have the respect of the players at your table and be able to transform potential conflict into healthy discussion at the table.

  If you enjoyed this article you may also enjoy Active Player Agency – A Crash Course and  The 5e GM’s Guide to Travel.

This is part 4 of a 4 article series on some useful techniques for making a RenPy game. We’ll show you how to implement a simple inventory system and build an intelligent menu for a shop/vending machine that reacts and responds appropriately to player inventory and stats.

The other articles are listed below:

Stats/Inventory system

Dynamic menus and dialog based off

Stats

Event Triggers

Recursive menus that continue until all options are exhausted

Theme music

Credits

Scrolling Credits in RenPy

In my first RenPy project, scrolling credits was undoubtedly the most difficult problem I faced.

Googling it lead me to a very verbose and seemingly complex, but powerful solution in of about 40 lines of code.

Unfortunately, after playing around with the proposed solution I didn’t get it to work and, being in a time crunch, decided to develop my own technique which uses just 4 lines of code in total.

You can see this in action in the credits for my RenPy tutorial game Dwarf Arte Online (android, PC).

Step 1 – Grab an Image Editor

The first thing I did was open up an image editor, my preferred weapon of choice is the free and powerful GIMP.

I created a credits image with a transparent background, adding the text to the image exactly where and how I wanted it displayed.

This had the added benefit of allowing me the option of embedding images and stylistic designs into my credits, though I ran out of time to do so.

Step 2 – A Few Lines of Code

Once I had my credits image saved in the images folder of my RenPy project, I simply had to create a credits label with the following four lines of codecode under it.

label credits: $ credits_speed = 25 scene black show credits_image at Move((0.5, 1.0), (0.5, -1.0), credits_speed, xanchor=0.5, yanchor=0) with Pause(credits_speed+10)

That’s it!

First we set a convenience variable called “credits_speed” which will be the time in seconds that it takes our credits to scroll.

Then we turn the scene black.

Then we load in our credits image (called “credits_image”) in the center, but just below the screen. Our credits begin automatically scrolling up once we reach this line of code.

Lastly, we tell RenPy to wait for 10 seconds after the credits have scrolled.

While you don’t need to make the Pause that long, the Pause prevents PenPy from moving further down our script file, so it needs to be at least as long as credits_speed or you will cut your credits off in the middle! 

Conclusion

This is a quick, easy, and reliable technique for producing good looking and highly customized scrolling credits in RenPy.

The inclusion of credits as images has no impact on performance and gives the creator total control over the presentation. 

Found a better technique? Let me know in the comments below!

    Looking for more RenPy tips? Want to find good, royalty free music for your games? Looking for quality, royalty free art for your games?

Find all this and more in the Friendly Neighborhood Newsletter.

See you soon!

This is part 3 of a 4 article series on some useful techniques for making a RenPy game. We’ll show you how to implement a simple inventory system and build an intelligent menu for a shop/vending machine that reacts and responds appropriately to player inventory and stats.

The other articles are listed below, links will be added as the articles come out.

Stats/Inventory system

Dynamic menus and dialog based off

Stats

Event Triggers

Recursive menus that continue until all options are exhausted

Theme music

Scrolling credits

Add music to your game

Adding theme music to your RenPy game is pretty easy and the documentation is very helpful.

To add music you should first create a music folder inside of your game folder. Then you just drop your music files in.

Fortunately, RenPy is pretty smart is A-OK with .mp3 files as well .ogg files.

The next step is to tie these files into your code.

The easiest way to do this is to register them with a define statement. For example:

define audio.tavernmusic = "music/Crunk Knight.mp3"

What we’ve done here is tell RenPy to register “Crunk Knight.mp3”  as “tavernmusic” with the audio system. 

We can then play the music at any time:

play music tavernmusic

That’s it!

Anytime you want to switch music, just tell RenPy to play another song.

Next Steps

RenPy’s audio capabilities go way beyond just playing music. It has support for multiple channels i.e. voice, sounds, etc…, fading in and out, looping, and more!

Each of these features is as easy to use as adding an argument or two to the play the documentation command. Check out and find what works for your project.