This review is for the Tier 1 adventures. I'll be following it up with the Tier 2 and Tier 3 adventures. I was going to just do more of an overview, but I needed to spent more time on each one.

Honestly, I haven’t seen all the Studio Ghibli films and I certainly won’t get all the references, but I’ve seen more than enough to know that the otherworldly awe, wonder and happenstance essence of the Studio Ghibli films captured and woven into these wonderful adventures and truly inspired ideas. You absolutely do not have to have seen a single frame to enjoy these sumptuous and shockingly beautiful tales. You will love the references, inspirations, cameos and homages to the films of Hayao Miyazaki, but at their heart these are simply phenomenal adventures.

The fact that many of these glorious adventures comes with a recipe for an unbelievably tasty treats from Cinderling cake pops, tarts fit for a Cat King and éclairs that make me weep for being dairy free, is an unbelievably awesome bonus, and a truly inspired idea! Perfect to bake for your game group or as an ice-breaker/ to give you advantage on convincing friends, family and fans of the Studio Ghibli films to play these amazing adventures.

Tier 1

Cinderling Herding by Tineke Bollemon

I found it genuinely hard to start reading because the artwork for this adventure is just so beautiful and freaking adorable! I just found myself staring and getting lost in it!

“Cinderlings are small, roughly round balls made from the soot and ash left in chimneys, fi replaces and furnaces of old and abandoned houses. When moving about, they leave a little ash in their wake.

If the place the Cinderlings reside becomes inhabited, they observe the new residents. If the new inhabitants are nice, the Cinderlings leave. If not, they cause mischief, hoping to drive the inhabitants away.”

Opening with a magical and gorgeous description of Cinderlings, who cannot verbally communicate with other creatures for their voices are just too high, which leads to much cute, animated and amusing interpretative dance, this adventure is essentially a caravan guard mission in which the caravan are adorable little soot motes in need of a new home and protection as they travel through the forest to the ruins of a mansion. This will be the perfect new pad, once the fire spirits that guard the hearth have been vanquished.

Cinderlings are easily distracted and a list of possible reasons why a Cinderlings might wander off or get distracted included, which absolutely melted me, including, becoming “Fascinated by its reflection in a puddle, Hitched a ride on a snail, Conversing with a mouse” and “Found a shiny rock they want to keep but it’s too heavy to carry, slowing them down.”

Throughout the forest are all manner of encounters from creatures, terrain and weather features/ challenges to magical moments. The layout of random encounters with all manner of options, allows for a brief jaunt through the enchanted wood to an entire Odyssey of a trek, with the magical encounters adding weird wonders, including all manner of cameos and spiritual presences, my favourite being, “a scarecrow with a turnip for a head follows the party for a little bit. It quickly hops away on its stick when the adventurers try to confront it.”

These encounters not only give great variety for the adventure, but act as a fantastic resource and inspiration for further magical anime adventures

Wonderful advice is given for handling Cinderling Peril, depending on your group makeup and dynamic:

“Having a Cinderling die due to failure on the adventurer’s part might be hard to cope with for younger players. Having a Cinderling be ‘injured’ instead is a better solution. Healing cinder lings can be done with magic, or for younger players, a kiss could also work. Of course, kissing a Cinderling better gives a soot stained face.

For older players the death of a Cinderling might sting, but serves to drive the consequences of failure home.”

Don’t let anything bad happen to the little cutie patooties, especially as the fire spirits will try to nibble and consume them to heal in the final confrontation!

The adventure concludes adorably with magical candy rewards with d50 random effects and “the Cinderling [consecrating] their new home by dancing, singing and gladly [inviting] the adventurers to participate in their celebrations.”

I cannot express how beautifully written, conceptualised and presented this adventure is! It perfectly captures the childish Ghibli magic and wonder, as well as having a solid adventure frame with all manner of thoughtful, fun, mechanically and thematically sound encounters and moments.

This is already worth the cover price!

The Cinderling Cake Pops looks sensational and have my mouth watering!

An Unfamiliar Court by Bridie Dutton

Feywild felines and a Faerie Dragon full of fibs!

The theft of a precious amulet by a wily weasel (illustrated beautifully) sets off a chase through busy, horizontal streets, ultimately leading to the Feywild and a reflection of the town the party were in only moments before...in the vertical form of a cat tree. This new town is presided over by a cat King. Celebrations and festivities are in full swing for the coming of the coming Summer Court.

The attractions are plentiful as the party movies through the city from fire-breathing rats with dubious aim and a crotchety cephalopod in a barrel selling tarts (because why not?) to weasels and snakes tumbling and “contorting their bodies to form the shapes of monsters such as umber hulks and displacer beasts” (who quite literally take a tumble at the surprise of seeing the party) and an illusionist raven with an invitation to dinner further up the tree, as well as a system for gaining evidence to uncover the trickster Faerie Dragon among the crowd throughout the adventure.

At a feast for the Cat King is an interesting affair with all guests performing. “An owl reads poetry, a rat performs acrobatics, and there’s an a Capella band of frogs”, so it is all the more amusing when the characters find it is their turn, while they are under the random effects of fey food, which could really give them the edge impressing the royal kitty...or they could end up belching noxious gas with every word uttered... So, swings and roundabouts.

Unless the party wish to be bounced back to the prime material plane by a lizard and floating sea house, it’s time to leg it again, in a section I cannot but stand and applaud the creator for their exquisitely forced pun on the name of the town, “You Can’t Stay Eleut-here-ia”. Pure poetry.

Reunited with the illusionist raven, the party learn of the Faerie Dragon’s rouse, together set out to gather evidence and expose them. Advice and means to conduct the investigation are provided, with the conclusion depending on whether the party want to throw down with the fanciful fey and their pixie pals, convince the king of the deception or turn the tricker into the trickee with a prank worthy of an A-Team and MacGyver crossover! It just so happens that the town members and entertainers can form like Voltron in to the illusion of a dragon dragon!

This is an incredibly well thought out adventure full of fun antics coming together at the end in an American Tale ending extravaganza, which can actually turn the mercurial Faerie Dragon into an ally of the town and the party...or send them off with their tail between their legs! Whatever happens, the town should be friendly and the Amulet can be returned with a possibly even more meaning addition for the mage.

Seeds for fourth adventures are included with the party having the chance to act as envoy for the town and simply as a springboard in to more adventures through the veil.

This adventure comes with a recipe for Eleutherian Jelly Tarts, which look fit for a king!

Delivery Witches Apply Within by Brittney Hay (@FNDungeonMom)

This adventure sees the homely Kat and Cake Bakery (KaCB) [and delivery service] facing a smear campaign from their competitor, The Purple Stove Outfitters (TPSO), and can be worked into any city, such as Waterdeep, Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter, etc.

The characters could find themselves witness to notice board vandalism! Actually, see with their own eyes, a representative of TPSO tearing up flyers, while promoting themselves; unseemly. Or the gentler way in is at the behest of a cute kitty. Rarely have I seen such different ambient hooks for the same adventure, but I love it!

All I needed to know was: “the Purple Stove has steadily lost business for various reasons, like missed deliveries and damaged packages due to careless workers boycotting low wages.” PAY YOUR WORKERS MORE! EAT THE RICH, BUT NOR THEIR BAKED GOODS! [I wonder if I’m allowed to be overtly anti-capitalist in reviews, when you can’t be on the cover of adventures? Anyways, if I’m breathing, reviewing and Hyping please understand I am exuding anti-capitalism from every pore, pun and palliteration!]

Climbs unsteadily off soapbox

The owners of KaCB, Kirsa and Minima are two lovely, badarse middle-aged married bakers, co-owners of their business and, honey, they are most definitely two or above, because they are not the one.

The party join KaCB and there is an incredible array of deliveries to make and delays/ challenges as they shoot about all over the city delivering wonders and over facing adversity as they go. The deliveries range from a delectable delicate cake that must be kept horizontal and safe using a Ring of Tenser’s Floating Disc, through Bath tokens with the possibility to aid a polluted water spirit (Water Weird), which is just straight up glorious scene from Spirited Away converted to D&D, to delivering tea leaves to a delightful Duke with magical tea and healing tea cakes. All deliveries come with one or suggested delay, which can be things like an out of control cart, strange enchanting mist or running into the BBEGs (Bad Baking Evil Guys) from the TPSO smearing KaCB’s good name! My favourite, which gave me another huge grin, after the Water Spirit, is Cabbages! I believe to be a reference to Avatar: the Last Airbender. There are more than enough here to really have fun with this, stretching it out and expanding or just running a couple and having many more for replayability.

If the party are successful, they are rewarded with Brooms of Flying to truly live out there Kiki’s Delivery Service fantasy (and whoop some TPSO arse if necessary).

This brilliantly fun adventure also comes with Baby Mimic stats and a whole host of trinkets and magic Items, including, "A pink scabbard that feels lighter than it actually is, A gem that adheres to the holder’s forehead like a third eye, and Magic Sugar Cubes with Enlarging/ Reducing effect.

Kirsa’s Fish Chowder Pot Pie just looks so homely and filling! This book is really testing my willpower and making me salivate!

Honestly, I haven’t seen all the Studio Ghibli films and I certainly won’t get all the references, but I’ve seen more than enough to know that the otherworldly awe, wonder and happenstance essence of the Studio Ghibli films captured and woven into these wonderful adventures and truly inspired ideas. You absolutely do not have to have seen a single frame to enjoy these sumptuous and shockingly beautiful tales. You will love the references, inspirations, cameos and homages to the films of Hayao Miyazaki, but at their heart these are simply phenomenal adventures.

The fact that many of these glorious adventures come with incredibly bright and tasty recipes for sumptuous treats from Cinderling cake pops, tarts fit for a Cat King and éclairs that make me weep for being dairy free, is an unbelievably awesome bonus, and a truly inspired idea! If you’re anything like me, you've always wanted to eat the food from a Studio Ghibli films, and this is about as close as you're going to get! Perfect to bake for your game group or as an ice-breaker/ to give you advantage on convincing friends, family and fans of the Studio Ghibli films to play these amazing adventures.

This anthology is filled with breathtaking art that grabs you by the lapels and sends you soaring into the air and into fantasy worlds of dream and imagination! This alone is worth the asking price for truly one of the most exquisitely gorgeous TTRPG supplements or all time.

We become something more when we work together, something more elevated and beautiful than we can imagine, and this is certainly true of the anthology projects on DMs Guild, such as the unbelievable Uncaged and Unbreakable anthologies, the Books of Seasons, the Princess Project, Eat the Rich, Odyssey Anthology, Through the Veil and Wisdom Under Fire to name but a handful. Eyes Unclouded easily counts itself among top of these other breathtaking projects, showcasing the boundless inspiration and talent in these creators who harness the inspiration of these phenomenal films and weave them. Into their own wonders!

Producer’s Notes

“You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side, but vow instead to preserve the balance that exists between the two.”

– Hayao Miyazaki

“We may be biased, but we feel comfortable stating that the works of Hayao Miyazaki have an above average density of lessons for how to be a better human being. Regardless of the age you’re fortunate enough to experience them, these lessons form a sort of curriculum. This curriculum shows us that it’s noble to have respect for your planet and sometimes you need to step up and defend it. It says that women can do anything, and that nothing is as important as believing in yourself. It says that magic is everywhere if you know where to look, even if tanuki are straight up terrifying. There is wisdom in taking those lessons with us wherever we go...”

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/322733/Eyes-Unclouded?affiliate_id=1507682

Credits

Narrative Design: Anthony Alipio, Tineke Bolleman, C. Michael Chase, Bridie Dutton, Brittney Hay, Kat Kruger, Jacky Leung, Amber Litke, Sadie Lowry, Collette Quach, Toto Joe Sullivan

Cover Art: Auri Cavendish Original

Art: Auri Cavendish, Cammielle Gwisdalla, H. “Ink” Kugler, Xan Larson, Amber Litke, Sadie Lowry, Morgan Madeline, Megan McCurdy, Lessie Nieves-Paugh, Mars Skiff

Art Direction: Megan McCurdy

Cartography: Auri Cavendish The maps used in A City in the Mountains are a modified version of maps created by Dyson Logos.

Editing: C. Michael Chase, Remy Cortez, Bridie Dutton, Brittney Hay, Miguel Guerreiro Lourenço, Kai Linder, Echo Roanoke, Toto Joe Sullivan

Layout: Bridie Dutton and Lydia Van Hoy Production: Bridie Dutton and Toto Joe Sullivan Additional Art: Pixabay, Robert Bruce McDougall (Public Domain), Daniel F Walthall (CC BY 4.0 license), Lucas Marcomini (Unsplash), Ales Krivec (Unsplash), Damien Creatz (Unsplash), Deva Williamson (Unsplash), Dmytro Tolokono (Unsplash), Eberhard Grossgasteiger (Unsplash), Some artwork © 2015 Vagelio Kaliva, used with permission. All rights reserved, Some artwork courtesy of WotC for use in DMsGuild Publications

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/322733/Eyes-Unclouded?affiliate_id=1507682

Shape of Folly by Eugene Marshall (@ArcanistPress)

“A Lost Dwarven Mine Reshaped by Malfunctioning Modrons! A four- to six-hour adventure for three to seven 1st to 4th level characters, with tips for higher level play With guidance to set it in the Sword Coast, Undermountain, or your own campaign 32 rooms of mind-bending encounters Three levels, each with beautiful, detailed custom maps”

This is a brilliant adventure using concepts and creature not so often seen in 5th edition, handled with flare and aplomb. A combination of so many great ideas, nice touches, wonderful writing and attention to detail to make something truly elevated and finely wrought.

Adventure Primer

“The Shape of Madness, a DM’s Guild adventure designed for three to seven 1st to 4th level characters, with guidance for parties of higher level. Though this adventure could be set in a variety of locations as the DM may choose, the default setting for this adventure is the Savage Frontier of the north Sword Coast, in the Forgotten Realms. Specifically, it occurs in the Starmetal Hills, just west of the High Road, half-way between Triboar and Longsaddle.”

Adventure Background: The Tale of Karandor Blackhelm

Three centuries ago, a shield dwarf wizard, Karandor Blackhelm discovered a deposit of starmetal adamantine, a rare ore found only in meteorites. Unfortunately, this cursed find was brought about a paranoid greed in Blackhelm.

The Planar Fissure

This starmetal vein’s source was a tiny extraplanar portal from which planar power emanated into the surrounding rock, thereby creating adamantine deposits.

Through ceaseless planar experimentation and ritual, he managed to summon, and ultimately, corrupt Modrons, the lawful scions of Mechanus as his indentured labour.

Modron Labor

The new workers were remarkable, but Blackhelm was already becoming corrupted and fabricated an orc invasion to get rid of everyone, so he could have the mine all to himself.

Over the years the Modrons built him an underground realm worthy of a king, but then they kept building...

No Motherlode at All

With all the ore mined, Blackhelm sought to make his fortune in Waterdeep, only for the Adamantine so impure as to be rendered almost useless. Certainly, worth far less than in his fantasies...

After climbing in and out of the bottle, and with time away from the maddening energy, he made what money he could for his family, enough to buy the manor they still live in today.

Karandor’s End

Returning to the mine, Blackhelm found the Modrons out of control, building ever elaborate and dangerous works. Even more concerning, a new being had appeared in the mine, a Beholder! “The creature introduced itself as Gyaximus Arnesondratus and proceeded to disintegrate the poor dwarf.”

The Eye of the Beholder

Over the years Blackhelm was forgotten, the Modrons continued their ever more paranoid and eccentric work and the Beholder dove deeper and deeper into their research. The corrupting influence of the Planar energy made Gyax ”power-hungry and obsessed with immortality”. To this end they undertook dark rituals to attempt to become a Death Tyrant... Only to become a mindless zombie, haunting these accursed halls to this day.

A helpful box provides advice for changing the setting to Waterdeep, the mine being moved to the Undermountain beneath the city, though this could very easily be set anywhere.

Adventure Overview

“The adventure’s story follows the three levels of the mine and takes six to eight hours to play.”

Call to Action: The Blackhelms’ Map. The Blackhelms hire the adventurers to travel to the lost mine of Karandor, claim it for them, and clear it of threats. The mine lies hidden in the Starmetal Hills.

The First Level: Monsters and a Magical Door. The open air level has been taken over by local flora and fauna (although I suppose oozes are somewhere in between?) that must be dealt with, or at least explored to gain access to the necessary items to unlock the magical entrance (although information is provided for extreme success or clever casting, for those tricksy players).

Second Level: Modron Madness. The second floor is where the Modrons truly went into extreme free-form jazz solo solo-isolation with only Minecraft for company mode. Traps, tessellation and shapes, like all the shapes! To open the next magical door the heroes must traverse “the Platonic solids – or, as we might know them, the 4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 12-sided, and 20-sided dice” shaped chambers and intriguing, strange and amusing elemental trials.

Third Level: Beholder’s Lair.

The final level is the Beholder Zombie’s, lair. Built by the Modrons in the shape of a Beholder to honour their presumed new master, one of the “eye-stalk” chambers hides the fissure in reality from which all the mercurial energy has flowed.

Helpful information on adjusting the adventure for varying size and levels of groups is provided, along with a tabling breaking down and referencing encounter by encounter.

Adventure Hooks

Various hooks involving the Blackhelm family, their discovery of information, tales about or interest in the disposition of the mine (which could be potentially very profitable for the characters) are provided, steeped in the established lore and easily fitting with any party will to do some exploring and potentially make a lot of gold to boot!

The quality of writing throughout is rich and engaging, making it a pleasure to read for the DM and helping to create a vivid picture for them and their players. A part of this is the truly evocative descriptions of various features and loot, which make things feel fresh and unique, including “a rusted sword. The sword is worthless, but its pommel contains an easily removable emerald” and “an entirely rusted bronze inkwell and crumbled scroll and map cases, their contents rendered as dust” as well as letters and accounts that hint towards the events of the past. These descriptions and treasure are given the care and attention they need to be a part of the rich narrative and help tell the story, a far cry from randomly rolled loot.

The encounter by encounter suggestions of what to include are incredibly helpful for DMs wishing to run this with groups of varying size and fortitude. There is such a clear understanding of the game in every aspect, but this helpful box displays it perfectly:

“There is no need to adjust the encounter with the swarms of rats. Not every combat need be of Medium difficulty! Besides, the rats’ presence here in this complex accounts for the presence of the giant toads and giant spiders, which in turn can provide food for such predators as the black pudding or the Ettin. Combine that with the source of (admittedly diseased and stagnant) water, as well as the fact that this complex serves as shelter from the elements, and you have an explanation for the (fictional, fantasy) ecosystem found on this level. The second level, however, lacks a naturally balanced ecosystem due to its unusual builders, as your players will soon discover.”

This is one of countless insightful, informative and helpful textboxes that pop up where relevant and showcase the understanding and high-quality engagement of Marshall, and experience of the reader. These range from the encounter advice and modifiers, and the introduction of sewer plague to a discussion on Passive Perception, checking for dangers and the finer points of sliming the oblivious, as well as the unique Crumbling Stone Golem.

The change in the artistic and functional aspects of the second level are described wonderfully with the gradually changing architecture. This gradual aberration is also evident in the extremely sad, angry and apathetic Modrons as the party descend deeper into the mine.

Modrons show up throughout the dungeons and really bring a level of wonder and sadness, as well as joy and silliness. This line about the Modrons “If one dies, it gets a look of relief on its face” is incredibly sad and makes me realize Mr Meseeks from Rick and Morty are chaotic blue Modrons. Also, I just love this: “There is no way to cure them of their malfunction except by this means – unless the DM decides that the party should have a rogue Modron companion, of course!” Specific Modron Sidekicks as well as a Modron race are available in Rogue Modrons, which is essentially a companion supplement to this adventure. There are also moments of pure joy and bizarre wonder if the players fulfil a need of the corrupted Modrons, such as assisting an obsessed Quadrone finish its tiny Clockwork Modron it “claps and dances in joy” before belching cogs and starting the finickity work of building another, or a Monodrone who “begins hopping around excitedly” and repeating the number of the party in Dwarven, but only if it is a prime number!

There’s a knowledge and understanding of Modrons and their nature, as well as a real affection for their strange, quirky personalities on display that handles the corrupted ones with care. There’s something awfully sad about the fate of these organised organisms, and something strange and unsettling about how the characters discover them, but Marshall manages to keep the bizarre and comical nature of the Modron in the joyous and silly moments of pure happiness.

The final boss encounter with the late Gyaximus Arnesondratus, which takes places on a whole dungeon level created in the appearances of a Beholder (which is glorious), comes with extensive encounter guidance for various levels and party makeup, with the possibility of all manner of different Beholder family with possible undead dwarves for company (and all with either story or mechanical observation added). There is a clear wish for this to be a fun and flavourful finalise for all, and it’s this kind of intention and consideration that emanates through this adventure like radiation from a tear in reality...but in a good way!

In the end the fissure is ultimately above the pay grade of the adventurers and seeking assistance and knowledge plant seeds for further adventures. A formula for weight of adamantine ore that can be carried by the party is included for those who need the shiny, evidence and/ or the Gyax’s treasures somehow weren’t sufficient, although they are varied and plentiful, including a number of strange tomes the Beholder was seemingly using in their failed attempt at becoming a Lich, which could serve as great places to begin new adventures too. Among these books the final journals of the Blackhelm and Beholder can be found telling the dwarf’s tale in fragments, as well as the last entries of Gyax that tell the definitive end of both of their tales.

Rewards

There is a full accounting of all combat and non-combat XP, a breakdown of all valuables, as well as the details of all the included magic Items, including the Clockwork Modron and Blackhelm’s Enduring Spellbook, among a trove of more familiar items.

Finally, the statblock for the unique Crumbling Stone Golem is included.

This is a brilliant adventure using concepts and creature not so often seen in 5th edition, handled with flare and aplomb. A combination of so many great ideas, nice touches, wonderful writing and attention to detail to make something truly elevated and finely wrought. The lore is rich and meaty, the dungeon levels are fun, fraught and funny, and it’s clearly made with love! Marshall finds a wonderful line and vacillation between tragedy and comedy, often in a single vignette.

Just a bloody brilliant advent!

I would also like to acknowledge Marshall’s choice to move from the working title of Shape of Madness to Shape of Folly, which is not only more jolly and fun, but also moves away from the stigmatisation of mental health. Taking this step and reflection before posting is recognised and appreciated by this neurodiverse reviewer. The artwork and maps are also a wonder to behold. Absolutely bloody brilliant!

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/316773/Shape-of-Folly?affiliate_id=1507682

Credits

Adventure: Eugene Marshall (@ArcanistPress); Written Summer 2018, revised Spring 2020

Layout: Amy Bliss Marshall

Cover Art: Bad Moon Art Studios; Cartography: Alida Saxon

Interior Art: James Denton and art made available under the Community Content Agreement for the DMs Guild by Wizards of the Coast

Rogue Modrons! ‘Race’ also by Arcanist Press https://www.dmsguild.com/product/320719/Rogue-Modrons?affiliate_id=1507682

Rogue Modrons! by Eugene Marshall (@ArcanistPress)

"Haven't you always wanted to play as a rogue Modron or adopt one as a sidekick? Well, now you can!"

This is a beautifully put together Rogue Modron 'Race' packed with lore, flavour and fun!

"Modrons are biomechanical constructs created in the plane of Mechanus to serve Primus, the One and the Prime. Most Modrons operate entirely according to the metaphysical programming issued by the great machine and Primus’ masterful mind."

Sometimes mistakes or happy accidents happen (or as DMs call them, Players) serve to corrupt a Modron from their mechanical conformity, setting them on the path of wacky hijinks and almost certain annihilation (the annihilation is certain, it's just the when and the how that make up the almost t).

Rogue Modron Names

Free from the shackles of conformity into screaming self-awareness, Rogue Modrons are the only Modrons with more than a literally functional name. To that end a bunch of names are suggested to give you an idea, broken down into three categories: the 'ridiculous', such as "Cubey" or Adorabox, the 'conceptual', such as "Gadget", or Absolute Unit, and finally 'novel names that speak to them', such as "Poly (short for Polyhedron, of course)" or Gearmo Del Phono.

Rogue Traits

The traits for the Rogue Modrons are laid out with their diverse range of possible ability scores increases. A Rogue Modron stand between four and five feet tall, which somehow makes these marvellous machines all the more adorable and terrifying!

Amongst the usual vital statistics, Rogue Modrons come with a variety of weird and wonderful subroutines that are just a little off-kilter compared to their lawful siblings!

Intermittent Truesight "Without the orderly logic of Primus to guide them, rogue Modrons can no longer reliably trust their senses, leaving them as fallible as any other mortal being. They can still tap the laws of the planes if they exert themselves, however."

I love the idea of this from a lore point of view and from a mechanical point of view it is a great and powerful ability with a drawback. Brilliant.

Biomechanical Form "Your mostly metallic body is a delicate mechanism, but it is nevertheless more resilient than flesh."

This makes perfect sense as these are hardy little clankers.

Place in the Hierarchy.

Rogue Modrons come in three distinct varieties reflecting their place in the hierarchy.

Monodrone. You are spherical with spindly arms and legs, a single large eye, and biomechanical, feathery wings.

The classic big blinky, flappy Modron who has their eye on you!

Duodrone. You are shaped like a cube divided with a turning gear in its middle, which serves as a neck.

Always on a swivel, these Modrons stay alert as mechanical owls.

Tridrone. You are shaped like an inverted pyramid, with six legs and three arms.

These Modrons armed to the gear teeth!

Rogue Modron Sidekicks

The three Rogue Modron Sidekicks included reflect the three archetypes found in the Sidekicks of the Dragons of Ice Peak Adventure: "Expert, Spellcaster, and Warrior."

Poly is a newly rogue Duodone Warrior who enjoys "doing people things!”

Orbo is a grizzled and jaded Monodrone Expert who has "seen things you people wouldn’t believe.”

Weirdamid is Tridrone Spellcaster who is the result of a Warlock's experimentation full of wonder, most often thinking, "Ooh! I wonder what would happen if I do …this?”

This is a beautifully put together Rogue Modron 'Race' packed with lore, flavour and fun! All the parts fit well together and the cogs and gears him along nicely to make not only an enjoyable to play character with amusing and useful abilities, but one that even Primus would have to sign off on!

Credits

Written By: Eugene Marshall Layout: Amy Bliss Marshall Cover & Interior Art: Bad Moon Art Studios

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/320719/Rogue-Modrons?affiliate_id=1507682

Odyssey Anthology Volume 1: In Callaphe’s Wake from Frederic Walker (@korartificer) et al

Odyssey Anthology Volume I: In Callaphe’s Wake includes 10 islands that can be found when sailing the Theran seas, as well as a collection of rules for ancient Greek ships to carry adventurers on adventures between islands.

The Odyssey Anthology Volume 1: In Callaphe’s Wake is an unbelievably impressive achievement, which adds absolutely boatloads of new content for Theros and beyond! Each one of these ten islands are brought to vivid life, filled with people, places, monsters, trials, ordeals and secrets. Not to mention the new ships, crew options, items, creatures and lore! This truly is an absolute need for anyone who even considers running a game on Theros or anyone who appreciates beautiful world building and wonder!

Sailing

Four new ship types, the pentekontor, trireme, quinquereme, and trade ship are detailed in this section, as well as optional rules for ancient Greek-style crews, and rations—the need for which will motivate a crew to land at many of the islands

Great system for foraging or bartering for enough rations to keep your crew fed, watered and happy.

Six alternative Ancient Greek Crew Roles with appropriate skills and proficiencies, as well as the relative changes to Hazard Checks.

Ships of Theros

Detailed descriptions of the four boats with example crew with specific creature references, as well as a good-looking grid map of their deck/s and a full unique statblock for each ship.

Therosian Upgrades.

Eight mechanical sound and full of Therosian lore and flavour, including the Godly Figurehead with the 15 different gods as an option, each with their own signature spell befitting their portfolio

The Islands

Each of the Island is presented with artwork, beautiful descriptions, inhabitants with stunning artwork of significant NPCs, locations, history and adventure ideas, as well as a mix of items, rules, original and existing creatures as appropriate, all coming together to truly bring these poetic peninsulars and rambunctious reeds to life, packed with Therosian flavour!

Ánokáto, the Upside Down Island

“Somewhere in the Theran Sea, there is a small floating island which appears to have been flipped upside down— its bleached coral reefs sticking far into the air like the roots of an uprooted tree.”

A fascinating island with an affable merfolk city below and the undead servants of Erebos above among the Bone Reed with shipwrecks to search and trinkets to be discovered to barter with the inquisitive merfolk below.

Long ago a forgotten pirate captain’s hubris led them to steal from one of Erebos’ temples in the underworld has earning them eternal suffering and warping the Island, both at the hand of Erebos, God of the dead. Woe betide any hero who takes any of this treasure for themselves, which is just waiting among the wrecks to be taken...

Phaistyn, the Isle of Splinters

“Esmeralda, the harpy witch queen roosts amid the Isle of Splinters, a scattering of spire-like crags protruding from the sea.”

A bleak island of a cruel harpy witch queen and her clamour of harpy daughters with stone spurs that cover it like spines, catching unsuspecting passing ships like burrs.

Among the dark rookeries and dank prisons hoarded treasures glisten with five new magic Items included.

“At the heart of the island is a natural bay where ships find themselves after emerging from the surrounding stormy seas.” Here Esmeralda communes and makes blood sacrifice to Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath.

Whether wrecking here or mourning a rescue (and wrecking here) this spiky spiteful island holds treasures and torments aplenty.

Triandría, the Island of Three Sisters

“Triandría, the Island of Three Sisters, is a rocky, crag-covered land cut by wide, green valleys that are lined with sandy beaches as white as fresh fallen snow.”

Centaurs, Satyrs and Leonine make this, largely Nyxborn, island paradise their home along with eyries of pegasi, all watched over and fiercely protected by the eponymous Nymph sorority: an oread named Galatea (she/her), a nereid named Iphigenia (she/her), and a dryad named Thalia (she/ her).

This is a bigger island with three biomes as diverse as their guardians, which folx are welcome to explore as long as they are on their best behaviour. However, four adventure seeds, one four each tier, are provided putting this paradise in peril ranging from pirates razing, pillaging and pinching pegasi, a herd of stinky-death-face-beasties being belched up from the underworld, big ole stormy souls threatening the sister’s sacred sanctum and cranky kraken cultists.

Amvenitos, Seat of Affliction

“Amvenitos is a tall, circular island that rises out of the center of a monstrous whirlpool like a glittering column.”

A merge mile across, this bizarre, beautiful island is raised up and circled by fearsome waterfalls, with skill challenges included for overcoming the defences and dangers of the Island, as well as modifying creatures to reflect the local fauna, as with the Ironclaw Hydra.

Amvenitos is home to medusa (gorgon) priestesses of Phasa. In their poisonous rainforest paradise, they keep bees, experiment and splice flora, and create all manner of potions, poisons and poultices. The sisters will share their knowledge of the ingredients involved in brewing these alchemical creations with those with the aptitude and willingness to learn. Tables for the potions, checks, components, collecting and complications are provided.

Aramos, the Island of Thread and Dye

“A solitary, rocky outcropping jutting out of Thassa’s domain, the island of Aramos is a rugged but bountiful place known for its well-spun thread, quality dyes, and impeccable fabrics.”

This is an island dedicated to garments creation and all the elements involved in the processes from the keeping of sheep to obtaining dyes from all manner of flora and fauna. The daughter of the King and most lauded weaver, Lady Spindol, looks like a Wonder Woman fashionista, and plays a dangerous game of weaving thy pure Nyx of dreams, attempting to change the Island’s fate through her artifice to the utter horror of Klothys, god of destiny.

Random encounter tables are included for fields and sea shelf, where elements for dying and weaving can be acquired, showing the diversity of the fauna and folx that can be found there. My favourite of these are, and I freely admit this is my own interpretation but it’s the only way I can see it...a Merro surfing on the back of a Killer Whale!

Aramos even comes with its own full adventure into disappearances with a Nyxborn Mage private investigator (who I’ve mentally cast as Thomas Jane as he is in The Expanse with a wig on under the hat) with advice on connecting this to the mainland and your other adventures/ campaigns. The investigation culminates in a hidden workshop within a tapestry where the missing are being drained of Nyx and the heroes are forced to face off with Lady Spindol her(stylish)self with unique Nyxweaving lair action capabilities!

Dece, An Island on the Brink

“The island of Dece has an arid climate and hilly terrain. It boasts a population of roughly 2,500 people; mostly humans but a handful of tritons and minotaurs live among them.”

The Island boasts its own folk hero goddess in the hoplite, Lasthena, who freed the Island from the bond age of Peritas, the archon tyrant. The Island is split between bartering settlements and a pirate cove, which is haven to far more than just cutthroats, having their own shrines to Niakea the Lady of Shadows, pirate turned goddess “infamous during her own time, having plundered more ships than any pirate in the history of Theros.”

An adventure is provided with different hooks depending on the backgrounds and persuasions of the party, leading them to fall to aiding the soldiers or pirates, potentially learning an advanced alchemist’s fire recipe or harvesting the poison glands from the fearsome Terástios Boar. The various quests culminate in a pitched battle the heroes have the option of joining on behalf of their chosen side with a system for determining results and a table of modifiers based on the actions and results of the previous quests, as well as champions from both Factions for the heroes to face in on the field of battle.

There are even seeds for further adventures folding in elements of Therosian lore, questing got a mystical panacea for the ailing queen.

Robaetys, Bacchanal Bloodbath

CW: Enchantment Magic, NPCs with agency removed having been used in cruel sport and frivolities with lingering injuries, Memory Loss, Possible Loss of Player agency, Encouraged Drinking of Alcohol, Ritual Sacrifice, Burning (of Bonfire) and Cooking of Humanoids (on Spitroast), Inability to Vocalise Pain.

“An idyllic, hoof-shaped island measuring nearly eleven square miles, Robaetys is considered by many to be a paradise. And why should they not? Its shoals are soft, its seas tranquil, and its people content—or, rather, they were before the satyrs sailed in.”

The arrival of Satyrs and their increasingly raucous bacchanalias have been getting out of hand, especially with the island’s Oread, thought to be myth by many, taking this opportunity to let her hair down. Unfortunately for the locals, this means savage revelry and real danger rarely seen outside Skola Vale.

Amendments to statblocks to account for Leonin characters are included.

A very bloody and confronting rollicking good time is had by the Satyrs in the bloodiest beach party since The Beach (2000). This is a very extreme and violent affair that could be a lot of fun for the right group with Safety Tools and a lot of trust, helping to aid the island thwart the Nymph and Satyr’s manic Bakkeia, but you’re definitely going to. Want to know your group and give them ample warning that things are going to take a significantly dark turn!

SherydIs, the Slumbering Maw

CW: Being Inside a Digestive System, Bodily Fluids, Ulcers

“Appearing occasionally above a deep trench in the Theran sea is a whirlpool of such magnitude that entire fleets get sucked below and dashed on the exposed rocks of the ocean floor. Those that survive the descent find only a humid, craggy cave opening at the base of the whirlpool that is reminiscent of a great maw.”

That’s no island! ...It’s a dormant Kraken to explore! Complete with Parasitic Cleaners (like Mynocks from Star Wars), an acidic bile lake to go makeshift boating on and horrifying Wights of those who died in this fabulous AirBnB, as well as all manner of fleshy-cave-dwelling equivalents such as Digestive Enzyme Acid Elementals.

Inside this hellish hotel there are various “compression chambers” with “weeping ulcers”, an “intestinal luge”, crushing peristaltic corridors and a roomie from Ravnica to lamb your escape with.

The options for escape are climb back through the hellish fleshy caverns and hope this thing opens its gob again, or wait for your new Biomancer friend to finish building a vehicle to roller-coaster away, which reminds me too much of Elon Musk’s terrible plan to get the stranded children out of the Cave in Thailand to not consider the climb....

Illion, the Archipelago of Eternal Night

“Beyond the Dakra Isles and away from the watchful eyes of the gods the archipelago of Illion hides under a shroud of endless night. Its crystalline waters reflect the eternal night sky, alluding to the mysteries and dangers that lurk within.”

This auspicious archipelago is home to the ancient archon palace of Zominthos, hidden from gods and mortals by Kruphix, god of horizons. So hidden away from the gods and Nyx is this place that many god-given abilities may be cut off in this place of strange creatures, outcasts and refugees from the gods’ ire.

This benighted place holds many secrets and wonders including, the mystical Master of Stars in the Twilight Lagoon, Zaminthos, the Eternal Night, last surviving Archon city, all but impenetrable to those without Kruphix’s blessing or the Nyx-fleece of the Unseen, and the strange things kept inside its secret-shrouded border. Inside a Champions of Thassa and an Ironscale Hydra remain locked in an eternal battle, rising to fight again no matter who slays whom.

A random table of potential events for those lost wandering Illions’ darkness from starving to a cheerful Triton merchant with magical wares all the way to stumbling across an Adult Nyxborn Dragon, as well as the best named encounter ever: Hungry, Hungry Hydras!

Navagos, the Isle of Wrecks

“The coral reef of Navagos first grew among the ribcage of an ancient kraken—salt-bleached spires that reach out of the water like a titan’s finger bones.”

This island, created by Thassa, of the ship wrecks as a protective barrier around the mythical Callaphe’s ship the god of the sea kept as a treasured memento. This labyrinth of broken boughs and rotted lumber fester with undead and fetid elementals drawn from the detritus of wood and bone.

The Labyrinthine Wreckage is a dungeon with features, suggested skills used to navigate its stygian depths, and the undead and monsters that fill its bowels, including the uniquely warped Returned Siren, Rotted Hulks and the very labyrinth itself trying to trap those that falter in its damp, splintered embrace forever.

Success leads to a treasured rest among beautiful, glowing starfish and ultimately, to Pentekontor, Callaphe’s ship at the nexus of Navagos. Lovingly preserved all these years by Thassa, the ship contains a veritable cornucopia of magical goodies.

Appendix A: NPCs and Monsters

This opens with an incredibly helpful table listing every NPC and creature contained in this Odyssey Anthology with its source, whether from a previously released book such as the Monster Manual or Mystic Odysseys of Theros, or from this supplement.

This is unbelievably helpful and saves so much back and forth between pages and books, which can be a nightmare. Let’s. Make. This. Standard. Practice. Please!

The is followed by the 20 unique statblocks from Archer and Aste’rion, the Master of Stars, through Polemarch and Rotted Hulk to Terastios Boar and water6 Elemental Myrmidon, many with their gorgeous artwork, which is an impressive bestiary on its own.

Appendix B: Equipment and Magic Items

This contains the eight unique items included in the anthology, including the Enhanced Alchemist Fire, which is some nasty napalm, Golden Apples, which are rare, sacred fruit that stay ripe for 30 days and can convey a wide array of random bonuses when consumed, and Artefact, Nyx-fleece of the Unseen, which conveys all manner of incredible, subtle and secretive powers upon those who have Kruphix’s blessing.

Appendix C: Spindol’s Workshop

This contains the battlemap for Spindol’s workshop from Aramos, the Island of Thread and Dye, showing the various Nyxweaves that spider web her lair.

I truly don’t know what to say about this unbelievable anthology of awesomeness!

The Odyssey Anthology Volume 1: In Callaphe’s Wake is an unbelievably impressive achievement, which adds absolutely boatloads of new content for Theros and beyond! Each one of these ten islands are brought to vivid life, filled with people, places, monsters, trials, ordeals and secrets. Not to mention the new ships, crew options, items, creatures and lore! This truly is an absolute need for anyone who even considers running a game on Theros or anyone who appreciates beautiful world building and wonder!

The way Greek myth, existing Therosian lore and new ideas merge and gel seamlessly is breathtaking. These creators clearly know and care so deeply about this subject, channelling that into truly spectacular writing through inspired vision!

The wondrous words are supported throughout by absolutely gorgeous Greco-Therosian illustrations, along with incredibly beautiful NPC full body portraits and, exquisite creature and island artwork.

If you’re not already convinced of the heart and soul going into this anthology, just read these extracts from the Foreword:

“When I was first introduced to Magic: The Gathering in 2013, the thing that drew me in was the game’s rich fantasy worlds, drawing on real-world mythologies and cultures to create something new...Theros, a world inspired by Greek mythology. Playing with these cards of mythological heroes, gods and monsters, my childhood interest in ancient Greek myth and history—fuelled then by dozens of books and museum visits—was rekindled...an opportunity to collaborate on projects like this one, driven by shared interests in Greek mythology and history. With my previous experience in maritime history contributing to my ideas, I turned to the Odyssey for inspiration, the most famous seafaring adventure of Greek myth. With the rules and islands created by each of the writers in this volume, a DM can take inspiration from Homer, and with their players weave a tale of an epic voyage across the wine-dark seas of Theros.”

• Frederic Walker, Project Lead, Odyssey Anthology

This passion, understanding and craft reverberates through every aspect of this anthology like the shockwave from the Hammer of Purphoros. I played Magic at the time of Theros’ release and I felt this as well. Reading though this anthology brought every feeling of loving Theros and Greek mythology flooding back and I am truly left invigorated and absolutely desperate to start a game on Theros using this supplement and these islands!

Honestly, it’s ridiculous o’clock in the morning when I’m writing this and all I want to do is break of the book and start mapping out a campaign, I’m that pumped. And, the wonderful thing is, I don’t really even need to do that because the way the Island are laid out in tiers in this supplement means, with a tiny bit of work this is a full four tier campaign ready to go, as well as a brilliant world building supplement to support the official books and other fabulous Theros adventures and campaigns like the spectacular Masks of Theros (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/316107/Masks-of-Theros)

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/323488/Odyssey-Anthology-Volume-I-In-Callaphes-Wake?affiliate_id=1507682

Credits

Frederic Walker, also known as Kor-Artificer, is a disabled game designer from London, and the project lead for the Odyssey Anthology series. He is the writer of the Sailing on Theros rules and Navagos, Isle of Wrecks. You can find his work on DMs Guild, and find him on twitter as @korartificer Stephanie Farrow, also known as StickyHunter is the art director for the Odyssey Anthology series, a freelance artist with a Bachelor’s degree in Games Development you can find their work on DMs Guild, DriveThruRPG, and on Twitter as @TheStickyHunter. Zeke Gonzalez is a queer scientist who infuses science and horror into his fantasy TTRPGs. He wrote Amvenitos, Seat of Affliction for this volume of the Odyssey Anthology and he has written many other adventures & bestiaries at the DMs Guild. Find him geeking out over #ScienceDnD and indie horror in equal parts on Twitter at @FantasyEcology. Ashton Duncan wrote Ánokáto, the Upside Down Island, for this volume of the Odyssey Anthology. Her previous work includes project management on the Princess Project anthology, writing on Exit Pursued by Owlbear, and editing on projects like Jinkies! And Baldur’s Gate: City Encounters. Submit warlock pact applications and dog pictures to Ashton on Twitter @ashtonnduncan. Fil Kearney is a visually impaired illustrator that has created the island art throughout the Odyssey Anthology series, and is also the creator of 5 Color Mana Spell Point variant rules for use with Theros, Ravnica, and other MtG settings available at DmsGuild.com alongside this publication. Stay current on upcoming creations through twitter @filkearney and www.filkearney.com Anja Svare is the graphic designer and layout artist for the project, and has played D&D for longer than most of you whippersnappers have been alive, so get off their lawn. They are constantly creating new D&D content, designing layout for cool supplements, and generally having a blast working with the awesome people in the TTRPG community (when they’re not building and DMing the homebrew Chronicles of Arkata campaign for their incredible players out in the wilderness of NEPA). You can follow them @anjaproductions, or Anja Svare Productions, and see all the cool projects they have either created or collaborated on at DMsGuild. New projects and collaborations are always welcome, subject to how awesome the project is, how awesome you are, and how awesome they feel, which is always. Olobosk is an RPG writer, designer and layout artist who wrote Phaistyn, The Isle of Splinters. They also publish other short RPG adventures such as The Will of Rot and The Forgotten Abbey which you can find on DriveThruRPG and Itch.io. You can follow them on twitter @Olobosk_ to keep up to date on any new releases. Bayley Gillier, sometimes known as Bakure, is a space policy fanboy from Canada and writer of Aramos, Island of Thread and Dye. He has contributed to such TTRPG projects as Artifacts of the Guild and Sterling Vermin’s Infamous Adversaries, both available on the DMs Guild. You can find him on twitter at @baygilly. Wyatt Trull is a forever-DM that’s fleeing his responsibilities at home by teaching English abroad. Currently, he is languishing in the South Korean countryside. He’s the author of the best-selling Daerdan’s Class Feats and the Dungeon of the Mad Mage Companion. You can check out his work and ramblings by following him on Twitter (@Wyatt_Trull), periodically checking his website, and watching him on DMs Guild. Carlos Cisco primarily works in the TV/Film space but cut his teeth writing an adventure for the Eat the Rich Anthology, followed by one for the Princess Project Anthology. He wrote Sharydis, the Slumbering Maw for the Odyssey Anthology series. You can follow him on Twitter (@carlos_cisco) for updates on future releases, both in and out of the TTRPG space. Kaleton Martinson wrote Triandría, the Island of Three Sisters, for the Odyssey Project. This is their premiere work for the DMs Guild. You can follow them on Twitter (@ChaosMorning). V.J. Harris (they/he), also known as Vic Harris, is a Black queer (bi & trans) disabled freelance creator, streamer, and d&d product reviewer. They wrote Dece, An Island on the Brink for this anthology. They are also the creator of Restless: A Guide to Laying Incorporeal Undead to Rest, Through the Kraken Reef (The Lonely Scroll Adventure Contest: Saltmarsh) on the dmsguild) Visit their website or follow them on Twitter (@victhhe) for updates on future releases. Nemo Bueno, also known as Awkward Bard, is a freelance writer and student of Psychology. Writer of Illion, the Archipelago of Eternal Night, they have also contributed to other TTRPG projects such as Uncaged Anthology vol. I and IV; Friends, Foes and Other Fine Folk; and Book of Seasons: Solstices, all available on DMs Guild. You can follow them on Twitter (@AwkwardBard). Sheax is a freelance artist assisting with character designs for Volume One of the Odyssey Anthology. This is her first time working on a DM’s Guild project, as she is relatively new to D&D as a whole. You can find her on twitter @sheax, or check out sheax.co.uk. She hopes this is the first of many projects for the TTRPG community! Joshua Barbeau is a Canadian neurodiverse freelance writer, editor, game designer, content creator, streamer, actor, professional dungeon master, and all around nice guy. He’s the lead editor for Volume One and Three of the Odyssey Anthology, so if you found a typo in either of those, blame it on him. He’s been fortunate enough to contribute to a few cool books on DM’s Guild, as well as published some of his own. When not busy doing too many things at once, Joshua is spending time at home with his special-needs dog, trying to forget about the scary world outside his doors for just a little while. He invites you to reach out to him on twitter @joshuabarbeau, or you can hire him to run D&D games for you through his website at dmondemand.ca.

The Brewski Jubilee by Kari Jo “Kage” Freudigmann (@RageKagexRugger)

A Downtime Adventure – Please imbibe responsibly.

Content Warning: Alcohol Consumption, Drinking Competition

This is a standalone adventure that can also be used as part of a downtime session in a larger campaign. It is a level 5 adventure for three to four players, but can be adjusted for different levels of play. This adventure has an estimated 2-3 hours of playtime

This is a brilliant Brewski Jubilee Hopstacle Course Jamboree! A great downtime adventure in a town full of rich characters and their varied, silly and fun harvest ritual. Perfect as a fun one shot or dropped into any campaign, especially as a bit of downtime and/ or sidequest action, regardless of experience!

The adventurers come across a small, pastoral town and their celebration event, The Brewski Jubilee, to commemorate the tapping of the first keg of the season. In town they will find potential sponsors for their entry into the event in which they may compete together or separately against the reigning champion, Olga the Obliterated, who has won the Hopstacle Course for the last eight years running, as well as a variety of additional provided entrants as needed.

Chapter 1: The Town (Exploration and social)

The scene is set beautifully:

A small town lies amidst fields of grain on the outermost boundaries of a well-travelled kingdom. Crops extend as far as the eye can see in all directions, except to the south where a large rocky outcropping disrupts the endless horizon. Unseen from this distance, a small stream rushes from this jagged pile of earth, nourishing the lush forest at the hill’s

This picturesque place is also home to a vibrant market where the party can pick up information and rumours relating to the town’s celebration of the “Brewski Jubilee, a century-old celebration of the season’s harvest—namely, beer.”

Rumours of information

Beginning with flyers covering “every vertical surface of both the marketplace and the town” to various potential patrons and punters, the adventurers learn of the Brewski Jubilee, the Hopstacle Course and the formidable Olga, the Obliterated, throughout the town all laid out with easy to reference bullet points.

The chapter ends when the party have enough information.

Chapter 2: motivations (Social)

Evening descends like a leisurely poured pint, bringing folx to congregate at the pub, allowing further opportunities for rumour gathering and specialising.

The appendix contains information that truly bring these characters to life!

The various prospective patrons and challengers are here to be met and deals made.

Chapter 3: The Hopstacle Course (Exploration and Combat)

3 simple rules

ONE: Participants shall stop at each drink station. TWO: Participants shall not veer off the designated path in any direction. THREE: Participants shall not make attempts on another competitor’s life.

The rules for the Hopstacle Course are clearly laid out with handy tables for the NPCs tactics and exhaustion to reference. This is a really nice touch and more adventures that have more bizarre and confusing statuses and effects should have information like the on hand.

The challenges involve all manner of elements and approaches, from the drinking, hair of the dog (Gnolls), spelunking in the dark, kicking a door in, finding a way across a river, avoiding traps and dangerous drops, and legging it to the finish. Again, all options, prompts and suggestions are clearly laid out.

The tactics of all NPCs are clearly laid out at each stage of the challenge.

Whomever wins the Hopstacle Course is hailed as a champion with a variety of results from sponsors, local shops and the party’s wallets, as well as the coveted half price pint amulet.

Further adventures with connections and allies the party may have made in town are suggested.

Appendix I

This contains the diverse NPCs in the adventure, each with a deeply flavourful bio and back story, as well the NPC statblock they use with all the specific changes neatly presented in a box. This is unbelievably helpful and inspired! I can’t count the times I’ve had an NPC and been called out for just using the basic statblock without features and traits, so it’s brilliant to have it right there. Plus, this full background approach is given to the optional additional NPCs, which is just a lovely piece attention to detail.

Appendix II

This contains the Player and DM maps for the Hopstacle Course. These maps are well laid out and colour-coded with clear labelling on the DM map.

This adventure does the impossible in creating a situation in where the players actually have fun, while suffering exhaustion! ...although the DM in me also sees this as a deliciously evil place to unleash something nasty on your drunk and exhausted party. Mwahahaha! (I’m actually a total kitten of a DM, but I can dream lol).

This is a great downtime adventure with availability of places to explore, shop and money (and half-priced drinks) to be won in a nameless town that can be easily incorporated anywhere, as well as a fun challenge and flavourful NPCs to socialise and compete with.

The helpful DM Notes, helpful layout and inclusion of information within the text are a huge aid to staying on track, making this easy to pick up and play. This extremely accessible nature also makes this an option for a first time DM and/ or a new group wanting to play about with D&D and get to grips with the rules. The adventure provides a relatively safe and certainly lively and fun place to play about with the social and initiative challenge aspects, as well as the Gnoll Corner providing the opportunity for combat. I do like that this is one of those adventures in which violence is not at all necessary, though it is optional.

This being a downtime jaunt with the quality of guidance throughout make it a perfect option for a session the DM can’t make or for someone else to take the helm so those forever DMs out there get to drink and cavort for a change.

This is a brilliant Brewski Jubilee Hopstacle Course Jamboree! A great downtime adventure in a town full of rich characters and their varied, silly and fun harvest ritual. Perfect as a fun one shot or dropped into any campaign, especially as a bit of downtime and/ or sidequest action, regardless of experience!

I reached out to Kage to find the inspiration for their adventure and they kindly provided me with this quote:

It was just something I’ve been thinking about doing for over a year. I love the idea of conflict that isn’t just hack and slash combat. And I do love myself a good brew so they just sort of combined. As far as actually getting it down on paper and published, I cannot thank the RPG Writer Workshop enough for helping me make this adventure a reality.

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/323223/The-Brewski-Jubilee?affiliate_id=1507682

The Wayfinder’s Atlas from David Markiwsky et al (@DavidMarkiwsky)

This is just a place holder until I have the time to give this the full in-depth treatment it deserves.

This is one bumper jam-packed jamboree of gorgeousness!

Beautifully locations, wonderful writing, lore, hooks, creatures, inspiration! This has all that and a bag of chips, plus a Mojito and concierge service with an Elven chocolate on the pillow!

Credits

Writers: Allen Johnson, Ashton Duncan, Collette Quach, David Markiwsky, Jacob Segal, Jay Davidson, Nemo Bueno, Nichole Wilkinson, Noah Grand, Paul Keiter, Tule Woodson Artists: David Markiwsky, Gwen Bassett, Kari Kawachi, Nichole Wilkinson, Sara Rude-McCune Editors: A. Kelly Lane, Ashton Duncan, David Markiwsky, Nemo Bueno, Noah Grand, Stephanie Lee Layout: David Markiwsky, Nemo Bueno Project: Lead David Markiwsky

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/322166/The-Wayfinders-Atlas?affiliate_id=1507682

THIS IS MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND I WILL BE DOING THE FULL IN DEPTH REVIEW THIS CAMPAIGN DESERVES IN DUE COURSE

I have to say when I saw partial inspiration/ adaptation from an old, almost certainly sketchy adventure I was a bit concerned, but the opening letter from the author shows good faith & understanding.

This looks to be a fantastic sequel to Curse of Strahd, perfect as an addition to the collector’s edition recently announced, or any higher-level party or campaign fancying a dalliance in the Domains of Dread. With the abundance of hooks and its own Tarokka system for determining many important elements, the variety and possibilities of replaying are immense.

Phantasms of Sri Raji takes us to an old domain with a whole new coat of paint (literally in the gorgeous artwork of Mel Williams) with something truly remarkable new ideas with problematic aspects addressed head on and removed. The lore is rich and fascinating, presented with the various faction and players, some entirely new, in the ‘Don’t tell them your Naga Pike’ Osphlanders, a secret Yuan-Ti faction “inspired by the British Raj” who I long to play with posh English accents with extended esses.

There is just so much flavour and so many wonderful moments throughout, from an extremely litigious cult whose teachings are so vast and bizarre they much be regularly posted everywhere and egregiously contradict themselves, a bizarre bazaar possibly more strange and haunted than the Insane Clown Posse double album of the same name and a music shop with its own pocket. Dimension inside a pocket dimension, a Honey I Shrunk the Kids moment in an apiary (honey, get it?), a Beholder made of magic books, a. Bookholder, just an average Gorgon (Medusa) Lich and their pet dragon, a lucky 7 of 13 Lamia fight party, and a genuinely cool and badarse Rakshasa Maharajah (which is just lots of fun to say) Dark Lord who is putting Strahd to shame and doesn’t have the whole stalker things going on. I mean he and his tiger army are stalking you, but in a more bloodthirsty, less creepy way. Plus, his Warlock Sisters beat down their enemies with spectral tiger paws, which is awesome!

This is a breath of fresh air in the Domains of Dread and a truly exciting campaign So exciting that I was literally kept up until gone 5am this morning to get as much of it as possible in my eye holes!

Credits

Written by Dr. Jason Bowers

Illustrated by Mel Williams

Copyediting by Schuyler Vilar

Art Direction by Dr. Jason Bowers

Additional Art: Kate Gunther Bowers and DM’s Guild Creator Resources

Additional Copyediting: Joe Baldoni Karlik, Elizabeth Minton, and Ashley Peters

Playtesters: Chapell Brock, Steve Burham, Bryan Hahn, Jake Hunsaker, Joshua Housman, Joe Baldoni Karlik, Amanda Lee Morris, Nate Morton, Kelsey Purcell, Timothy Swanson, Brian Trovillion

Special Thanks: Schuyler Vilar

Contact: PhantasmsofSriRaji@gmail.com

Extraordinary Locations: Drumeplaw from The Underground Oracle (@UOPublishing)

“One’s garbage is another’s treasure, but many’s garbage is a village.” — Drumeplaw town motto

Drumeplaw is an inspired little spot, despite being nought but a wee hamlet laying in the space between two large cities. Still this sparkling second-hand silverware of a suburb is definitely a diamond in the rough. “Drumeplaw – which roughly translates to “junk” in orcish” is a little, odd please “with the energy and atmosphere of a flea market.”

Natural and Recycled Beauty

The surrounding lands and their beauty given sumptuous descriptions, but it’s Drumeplaw with its ‘peasant brick’ roads made from a variety of ‘leftover stones and bricks from the cities that flank it”. The very soul of the village can be felt in this peasant brick, “a perfect representation of the ethos of Drumeplaw”; Recycilstion Nation.

New Lives from Old Things

Kerndan McKeel, a ruggedly handsome older half-orc, saw the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free and built a new colossus. McKeel aided the humanoid detritus cast out and rejected by the shining ridge cities, collecting things the cities threw away and teaching any who would listen how to fashion them into new wonders.

The Monument of Junk

Welcoming folx to Drumeplaw is an 18-foot statue made from all manner of discarded and broken objects, setting the tone for this reclaimed marvel.

The Porthole & Kerndan McKeel

This repurposed houseboat is the home and business of Kerndan McKeel, town elder, founder and leader of the caravans to collect more items for Drumeplaw to salvage.

The Iron Cauldron & Old Ryndalla

A place of good grub, grog and company with a speciality “warthog and white bean chilli” and some off menu alchemicals of the salty, sweet and spicy varieties run by an intriguing proprietor who does nothing to quell the rumours of their witchcraft.

Slightly Used Weapons and Armor & Yurgan and Yurgon Millstone

A well-stocked weapons and armour emporium run by two lively, jocular dwarves.

The Misplaced Writ & Garland Ray

You would be surprised the things that can be learnt from discarded books and paper, Garland Ray on the other hand is well aware. She is the information broker and proprietor of the apotheosis of second-hand bookshops. (I need to visit! There was a place in Chichester I just loved exploring that was a pale reflection of this!)

The Lottery and Auction House

The heart of Drumeplaw, aside from McKeel, is its one air auction house, which brings in folx from all around to see the eclectic treasures on show. A weekly lottery for the locals is an end of week tradition with all manner of prizes chosen by McKeel

Rumors and Plot Hooks

Five inspiring hooks are included for adventures within Drumeplaw or including Drumeplaw in your game, from illegal trafficking to a band of thieves stealing the lottery prize. All wonderful jumping off or in points for this extraordinary location!

Drumeplaw is a sensational and inspired settlement absolutely brimming with life, flavour and character. It’s like Bitsa (a kid’s TV show I’ve just been absolutely blasted into the past thinking of and feel so old! https://youtu.be/0A80BPJ8r-M) and Scrapheap Challenge came together and became and fantasy town! The locations, lore and NPCs are vivid and tangible, even in their fantasy larger-than-life nature.

Each NPC comes with background information and full personality traits, and each location is rich in its description, with a number of fascinating text boxes with additional information, as with the ‘Off Menu Menu’.

I absolutely love the ethos and that the half-orc people even reclaimed the derogatory name given to them my orcs for their home. The aesthetic, mien and soul of Drumeplaw speaks to me on a serious level and I thoroughly look forward to working it into my own world, Obaith.

The Underground Oracle continue to release spectacular supplements, each one giving us a peak at their wonderful world and rich worldbuilding. This is up there with the best of their offerings! It’s a crime than such value and wealth of lore and flavour is on offer at such a low price!

Credits

Written by Keith Pendley (@UO_Keith) and Jess Pendley (@JessPendley) Designed by Keith Pendley and Jess Pendley Art by Yorsy Hernandez (@YorsyHernandez) Editing by Jess Pendley

My Affiliate Link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/320755/Extraordinary-Locations-Drumeplaw?affiliate_id=1507682

The Island of Endless Fog by Christian Zeuch (@czeuch1) & Weighill (@diceaveragejack)

TRIGGER WARNING: Mental Health Issues, Depression, Disassociation, Self-Harm, Suicidal Ideation, Human Experimentation, Drugging and Abduction, Cannibalism, Murder of Civilians and children, Abusive Priest

I think it's important to say up top that there are some seriously dark and disturbing elements to this adventure. I want to be very clear that I mention this for folx to be appropriately informed, rather than in judgement, as a great deal of it fits this oppressive and corrupting setting and situation, as well as the stories being told. I think it's doubly important to mention this first as, unfortunately there isn't this kind of warning at the opening of this awesome adventure and bleak setting. I look forward to Trigger/ Content Warnings becoming more of a standard practice.

With that said, the right group, going in open and honest with trust and safety tools, this will be a real journey into, and hopefully out of the heart of darkness of this island besieged by insidiously warping ancient evil spirits. Let's get into it!

This is a beautifully bleak hexcrawl around an island smothered in oppressive darkness and fermenting wickedness. The Sluagh and their foul fog and maddening miasma are inscrutable and unknowable, but you must investigate the Island; discover the secrets buried within and without. Collect the scraps of information and open your heart and help these people tearing each other apart and worse, or become dark and hard as flint; indulge the mercurial machinations of men lost to madness of the mists and consent to cruelty. Worser still, lose yourself completely in the blanketing fog of yore; stumble blankly into the eternal night of truly annihilating nihilism...

There is still faint hope that your investigation can illuminate the mist's mysteries, lifting Man to the light, but it's not for the fainthearted.

This adventure "is an expansion from the Fallen Camelot setting focusing specifically on the Isle of Man." As someone from the Isle of Wight, an island with a name perfect for undead hijinks, ruined castles and attitudes concurrent with Arthurian time, I thoroughly look forward to getting my hands our adventure. Not that I'm pouting or showing off, but did you know we have these supernatural wonders to inspire your stories: "Lake" where there is no water. The "Needles" you cannot thread. "Ryde" where you walk. "Cowes" you cannot milk. "Freshwater" you cannot drink. "Newport" you cannot bottle. "Winkle street" where there are no Winkles (They were really scraping the barrel with this one!) "Newtown" which is very old/ "Newchurch" 900 years old. Not to mention the prettiest of coloured sand at Alum Bay!

Say bitter much, much?! Lol

Introduction

The introduction does all the introduction stuff we know oh so well with the overview, a great note on removing the survival elements, assuming PCs always have enough food and drink, if this tension-adding element doesn't suite your group. This is one of those truly divisive things from group to group, and I can see the merits of both, but I don't really track ammo or supplies unless survival is essential to the story being told (not to mention a Druid or Ranger with Goodberry makes that aspect of survival rather redundant anyways).

Cornish giants, exploring in their colossal longships, were the first to come to the Isle of Man, which they found covered in insidious fog produced by the foul spirits of the Sluagh. Being mighty warriors, the giants managed to contain the Sluagh at the top of a tower, sealed with the blood of their shaman. However, as is so often with these ancient tales, this was forgotten and man found a beautiful island to call home. Man's hubris and greed have unleashed the corrupting mists and choking fog.

This is a sandbox adventure designed to take characters from level 1-4 with a variety of levelling options and criteria, from XP to a milestone system compromising of various combinations of Story Objectives and Settlement Conflicts. The chapters of the adventure cover Exploration, Settlements and the Tower, with the latter being the Tower of Eternity, the source of supernatural goings on and the endgame of adventure.

Two detailed hooks are provided with NPCs, background and boxtext that set the party on a collision course with the adventure, whether they are aiding a merchant for moneys or investigating a town beset by bandits the local guard captain is dismissing as a false flag.

Chapter 1: Exploration

"The group wakes up on the shores of the Isle of Man, having travelled through a planar rift caused by the hungry Sluagh." The oppressive, creepy tone is soon set as they beset by Sluagh Spawn Husks, the beefy, biting, smothering Sluagh-kin to the common house or garden zombie.

This chapter covers the exploration and movement around the island between the settlements outline in the second chapter.

Exploration Objectives

The different types of these and how they relate to this section are layed out at the at the beginning with a variety of optional rewards depending on the levelling system you use and how generous you are feeling; Prominent: Passing through the Rocky Path Plain Sight: Reaching a Settlement and Hidden: Find Galehaut’s Tomb. This makes prepping and referencing in game nice and easy.

The optional rewards have some really interesting variety, going beyond the usual with some great short-term buffs, those that need certain parameters have to be met to unlock and familiar items given more flavour. For example, "Each explorer gains +1 AC until they finish a long rest", what is not to love about a relatively short boost to AC or any attribute or skill for that matter? Rewards with requirements are worked in with such flavour, "If the group transmits confidence and evokes goodness by telling the old King’s spirit that they want to help this land, he tells them that he was buried with some special bracers that made him a great hunter. These are bracers of the bow master" and, instead of just finding a potion there are unique and intriguing details, "The group finds a healing potion after they cross the path. The vial contains a small fissure, but the red liquid inside hasn’t leaked."

The Mist

"The whole island is covered by a dense blanket of fog. The mist originates from the Sluagh, falling from their backs onto the land, spreading and corrupting." The mist covers the island...endlessly, released by the foul Sluagh.

The Sluagh

"Also known as Corruptors or Mistbringers, Sluaghs are angry spirits made from the materialized souls torn from the bodies of the dying." These foul undead corrupt the land, with actual mechanical effects we'll get to shortly, as well as using their insidious will on the living, tainting their very souls to create their various Sluagh Spawn minions.

Sluagh originate from Celtic folklore as the spirits of the restless dead with their name, translated from Gaelic meaning "horde crowd".

You're probably wondering how to pronounce Sluagh, I know I am. I couldn't seem to find a lot of concrete help, though the best I managed and could listen to with the top votes appeared to either be: 'Slewer' as in skewer with an L instead of a K, or 'Sloola/ Slewla' as in the combination of Slew and La.

The number of Sluagh and where they are is set at the beginning of the adventure, but as the PCs explore and the land is corrupted by other Sluagh more and their direction of travel can be randomly generated. However, advice is given on not unleashing these unclean undead right away as they are likely to stomp low level parties.

Denizens

All folk have been effected by the Sluagh in various different ways, which is broken down from the Humans and Half-Giants are starving and thirsty, the corruption killing their crops and tainting their water, though a lone Druid is round their best keeping folx fed and watered, while the Giants a few having fallen bravely battling the Sluagh, and the Fae are equally weakened by battle losses, those that remain wandering the island doing what they can.

A note is provided about Non-Albion races, those not found in the Fallen Camelot setting, and the locals might react to them.

A simply gorgeous map depicts the island in three-mile hexes.

Navigating the Island

This section breaks down the hexmap, the levels of Sluagh corruption and random encounters.

The Sluagh-corrupted land are measured in a three-tier system from minor to overwhelming corruption. With each level the amount of sustenance, the way in which and what kind of creatures are affected by the corruption. For example, the sustenance provided for a minor-corrupted area is halved and Beasts, Monstrosities and Plants gain the Aberration type as well, along with bonuses to Constitution and negatives towards Intelligence, whereas consuming food or water from overwhelmingly-corrupted areas has serious poisoning and potentially exhausting effects. Additionally, at overwhelmingly-corrupted all creature types take on the Aberration type, as well as a list of increasingly potent buffs, resistances, immunities and additional poison damage.

Random Encounters

These are rolled on for each new hex without a present Sluagh with increased chance depending on travel speeds. Separate D8 tables for Plains, Forests and Hills/ Mountains, including appropriate existing creatures, the various new Sluagh Spawns I'll get to in the Appendixes (and one creature from the Fallen Camelot setting, which could easily be substituted if you lack access to it), and various geographical features. Each result has its own entry with Boxtext, description and bullet point information where appropriate, ranging from Brown Bears and Cornish Giants through Sluagh Spawn to Trampled Corpses and Wolves, with a variety of likely combat, social and utility or danger encounters.

There are 20 named locations on the map, each provided with a brief description.

Four Special Events are given further details, including joining up with a group of Satyrs to attempt to take down a horde of Sluagh Spawn, encountering the leader of some of the last surviving Pixies on the Island who can share information and become an ally to call upon, a foul-cursed giant berserker, and a colossal horde of Sluagh Spawn to deal with in a skull challenge with various information and suggestions.

Chapter 2: Settlements

This chapter contains the Exploration Objectives, as well as the details of the settlements on the island, including all relevant information and special events.

Exploration Objectives

Once again, the Prominent, Plain and Hidden Objectives are provided, along with the bullet pointed information and details. These consist of finding shelter, locating Galetess, the Uncrowned Queen, the stoic ruler of the island, and Discover the Source of the Sluagh by deducing the timeline of events, acquired through roleplay and/ or Intelligence checks as they visit the various settlements.

An overview of the government, culture & society, economy and the four settlements are provided, before the settlements are broken down individually.

Throughout the adventure small advice, explanations and information are provided in helpful, pretty purple boxes, such as the information that PCs can attempt to avoid Sluagh Spawn encounters by ducking into settlements with group Stealth, or discussing the spell Create Food and Water and whether or not you would wish the NPC Priests to have access to it, before the PCs reach level three. This centres around the level of survival you wish to go for in the game, as discussed in the Introduction. These purple boxes do a great job of already answering questions that may arise.

TRIGGER WARNING: Mental Health Issues, Depression, Disassociation, Self-Harm, Suicidal Ideation

One little purple box I actually found rather shocking, and think it really should come with a content/ trigger warning due to the sensitive and extreme nature of the elements discussed. This is regarding "Cotard's Delusion" a rare mental disorder affects people who then hold the delusional belief that they are dead, do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or internal organs". This being the result of malnutrition, corruption and /or being constantly surrounded by death and despair. The note included states, "feel free to add these features to any NPCs you choose. Some deny their existence, whilst others will perceive themselves as some kind of immortal shell of humanity." It then goes on to list a number of extremely confronting and distressing symptoms that, despite the general gloominess and pervasive darkness, frankly comes out of nowhere. While I understand this could an understandable element in this setting, the lack of appropriate warning, coupled with the sensationalizing of the condition's manifestations, raise the issue of this being problematic. Including extreme health, particularly mental health, in a supplement is something we should be turning to appropriately experienced sensitivity readers as a standard.

The Four Settlements

The settlements are presented with background information and history, current situation, detailed Information of prominent NPCs and encounters, map and locations with so many rich and varied NPCs of the supporting cast, scenarios, plot and flow, broken down into bullet points, where appropriate, allowing for ease of referencing, as well as the staggering ability to account for and work with so much without filling pages with endless options is seriously impressive.

Douglas

The largest settlement with stone walls, having benefited from being the home of the Uncrowned King and an active City Hall, all described in full with statblocks, spells, personality, etc. Resources are being affected, but as yet not too corrupted, though Sluagh Spawn still mid be rolled for during travel through the streets. However, things are balanced on a knife edge at City Hall, with the PCs willingness to help carry water, and if they insert themselves into a dark situation or see how quickly a captain can coup an Uncrowned King if that's a thing? I'm making light of a dark situation, which is so impressively and effortlessly laid out in bullet points with such impressive robustness to cover so many possibilities.

The dark deeds are not confined to City Hall, Eye of the Sage, the only public library on the island and a cerebral cathedral is a place of enlightenment, but one person's enlightenment is another fellow’s aberrant experimentation, abduction and cannibalism. Can the party solve the pre-murder mystery, uncover blasphemous truths and save a soul? Dare they face the Sluagh Spawn to get better equipped and precious water? Can cool heads prevail over paranoia?

Trigger Warning: Abusive Priest, Suicidal Ideation, Self-Harm

Ramsey

The second biggest berg finds itself thoroughly corrupted and needing saving. Two Sluagh roam the outskirts looking for prey, while inside the church the High Priest preys on his flock. A family cower in a basement bellow a swarm of Sluagh Spawn, but the melancholy malady has already got its claws into one who's family are imploring you to give him a hand.

Gansey

A small fishing village infested with Sluagh Spawn and penned in by two of the foul spirits, while inside a congregation are restraining and praying for Sluagh Husks, unwilling to face their souls having gone off been as warped as makes. No difference by the Sluagh. A group of consument cannibals in the deliciously apropos named Rotten Tooth Inn.

Derbyhaven

The smallest and most corrupted settlement, all but abandoned, save for the mayor and the last of the villagers hoped up her husband, as well as a to a trio of Sluagh and their Spawn.

Chapter 3: The Tower of Eternity

The Tower is ancient (over a millennia) and ominous, reaching 80-foot into the grey sky at the top of a 1000-foot Cliff. The tower has only been visited by the giants that trapped the Sluagh and the greedy fool who unwittingly unleashed them.

Exploration Objectives

The final three consist of Reaching the Tower (Prominent), Finding the Portal (Plain Sight) and Access/Destroy the Portal (Hidden) with up to a maximum of a tantalizingly brief +3 AC bonus being available among the rewards.

The soupy fog is thicker here and the PCs must face a Sluagh and its Spawn, emerging screaming from the nearby pond, before they can ascend the stygian steps.

The general features are clear laid out, we as the chilling information that the PCs may rest, though the Sluagh know they are here and are all converging on this point and will surely attack if given the chance to catch up, before the classic dungeon-style room to room descriptions.

The tower is filled with archaic statues, jump scare combats, hidden secrets and creepy accoutrements, including cryptic letters about human test subjects and failed experiments. The nature of the tower and its history slowly unfold becoming more unsettling and disturbing with each successive floor and discovery. Shadows converge as the Library, Labs and prion, figuratively and literally, and with them whispers of profane secrets and perfidious darkness.

Piles of inert bones become a horde of swarming skeletons when the hidden dark heart of the Tower of Eternity, the Portal Room is uncovered. In that heart the canker waits:

Thin wisps of reddish smoke spool from his back, tethered to the magic of the four swirling portals. As his eyes open, glowing white orbs stare into your very soul. As his mouth opens, a thousand voices speak: “The prey sees itself a predator. It shall know pain in its failings, suffering in its death, and eternity in our mist. We are Beaynid, Myriad Quintessence. This hold shall be its grave.

The Lord of the Sluagh is a horrifying, legendary CR 5 embodiment of chaos and a true test of the PCs' resolve, as well as being a testament to the wickedness of the corruption on the Isle of Man, the Sluagh and the deliciously evil writers.

Victorious, anything but leaves them as nothing more than wisps of night handing from the tails of Beaynid's coat for all eternity, the bounty of the poor fool who wrought such blight on this land are theirs for the taking, as well as the chance to return home. The altruistic may wish to destroy the portals, saving the Island for further incursions of the Sluagh, but also trapping themselves here permanently and in desperate need to get as far away from the towers as possible, before the remaining Sluagh finish the job - a sure thing in their weekend state after the bids battle. The Arcane-minded may even be able to race against the clock and the converging Sluagh to reverse the portals, potentially vacuuming up the Sluagh and mist and putting that thing back where it came from or so help me, destroying the tower in the process!

Whether trapped on the island with the remaining Sluagh and people permanently altered by their experiences and actions, returning home or taking the leap of faith into the reversed portals to wherever your devious mind wishes to take them, the character and depth of this adventure certainly inspires the telling of further tales.

Appendix

Appendix A contains the 16 unique full statblocks, ranging from the specific NPCs, like Beaynid, Myriad Quintessence and Galetess, the Uncrowned Queen, NPC archetypes, such as Card Shark and Chorister to new creatures in the Poisoned Water Elemental, as well as the Sluagh and their myriad Spawn.

Appendix B contains treasure, the masterwork, but not magical, bow and arrows, and nine magic items, including the Pixie ally calling Bell of Hope, Heroic Elixir Potion, an uncommon cousin to the Potion of Heroism, and the Stone of Heightened Senses, granting greater Insight.

The Mike Zairos Pifano (@zairosartworks) cover, "A Sluagh, an evil spirit composed of materialized cloud with many faces and arms, among some trees, with a dark tower looming behind under a night, full moon sky, with three adventurers sneaking behind a rock, watching the Sluagh" sets the tone for the whole adventure, which is gorgeously depressing; professionally laid out to the highest quality with seriously sumptuous maps and aesthetics that are anything, but awfulness...while depicting it so well.

This is a beautifully bleak hexcrawl around an island smothered in oppressive darkness and fermenting wickedness. The Sluagh and their foul fog and maddening miasma are inscrutable and unknowable, but you must investigate the Island; discover the secrets buried within and without. Collect the scraps of information and open your heart and help these people tearing each other apart and worse, or become dark and hard as flint; indulge the mercurial machinations of men lost to madness of the mists and consent to cruelty. Worser still, lose yourself completely in the blanketing fog of yore; stumble blankly into the eternal night of truly annihilating nihilism...

There is still faint hope that your investigation can illuminate the mist's mysteries, lifting Man to the light, but it's not for the fainthearted.

The true strength of this adventure is the depth of the setting, the quality of the writing and the stories, as well as the care given to each area and NPC, but above all else it is the divine balancing act, which allows every moment to play out as small Rube Goldberg machines that are all cogs in a much larger contraption, which doesn’t even exist until the game is played. Despite my personal bias, the Isle of Man is a perfect sized sandbox for this adventure to play out, with the variety of exploration, random encounters, settlements, story encounters and the NPCs. There is the rare thing of mindful restraint; rather than there being a never-ending cavalcade of places, encounters and people there is always three or four significant elements. These elements are all approached with such care as to make them perfect for the job. This balance of elements coupled with the golden ratio of plot points and options truly give the impression that anything could happen, providing the equipment needed to respond and roll with improvisation. Besides absolute chaos, and frankly many of us have been at that table, the gods help any material or DM attempting to conduct it, the writers have considered the various ways players and their characters might react to the various situations carefully, thereby giving the DM almost all they need to have the confidence to feel covered and be ready for any situation. This zoomed-in, honed craft has not gone unnoticed and it truly elevates this above a grim, gory sandbox of doom.

Credits

Author Christian Zeuch (@czeuch1) Co-Author Jack Weighill (@diceaveragejack) Editor Jack Weighill Publisher Realmwarp Media Cover Illustrator Mike Zairos Pifano Interior Illustrator Mike Zairos Pifano (@zairosartworks), Bruno (b.wolf art), and art under CC0 license; Playtesters Bas van Diepen, Basil Arnold, Leandro Alves Duarte, Marcos Sillas, Matheus Pires da Silva, Thiago Longatti, Yuri Paludo, Sergey Special Thanks Adam Hancock (@AdamDMsGuild) for his inspiration on NPCs used in this module GMBinder Ryan Langr (@RealmwarpM)

An Elf and an Orc Have a Baby

“An Elf and an Orc Had a Little Baby addresses the bioessentialism by emphasizing upbringing alongside heritage and largely decoupling skill bonuses from parentage.”

“in this supplement, instead of choosing one monolithic “race,” you have three decisions to make: two birth parents and an upbringing.”

“You are a sentient individual with agency to make your own choices. Your alignment is not confined by your parentage, upbringing, background, or class”

Reading the introduction truly raised a wave of goosebumps and hairs all over me in an undeniable physical and emotional reaction to the beauty of the words and their true understanding of the complexity of what makes us who we are. My biological father has never been a part of my life, I am forever warped and moulded by the family who raised and, in many ways, rejected me, and my friends, chosen family and myself have all added to the mix of who I am today; a character!

Working from a sensible base of the prospective adventurer’s all existing equally in the aether before creation, this supplement works through a phenomenal 35 potential Parentages, covering all possibilities of D&D from Aarocka to Yuan-Ti, with background to each potential birth parent and the traits (or traits as some have various sets of traits to choose from) they add to the character’s genealogical background, with a number of wonderful example characters along the way, and a whopping 82 potential Upbringings, which cover all many of settings, situations, temperaments, careers, creatures, religions, etc., and the features and traits they convey.

Also included are 12 Dragonmarks from Eberron with the features and Spells these marks confer.

If all of the above were not enough to create the apotheosis of the character you have in mind, a full breakdown of features and traits with assigned scores by Parentage with the variance of totals the Parentages as presented in the main body of this supplement. The same is provided and broken down for each Upbringing. Together this allows for total control of all aspects of Parentage and Upbringing for ultimate customisation within balanced parameters, allowing for the most specific, nuanced and perfect mix for you and your characters.

Whether you use the super simple and simply brilliant base system as presented or the optionally exquisitely specific one, this supplement is truly an informed, aware and inspired step forward in continuing discussion about who, how and what makes up a D&D character, and how to create them just how we envision them.

Unbelievably gorgeous cover! On the cover, Atornii depicts a loving couple holding a future adventurer in their arms

Creators: V.J. Harris, Adam Hancock Editor: Ashton Duncan Cover Artist: Atornii Artists: Adela Quiles, Vagelio Kaliva, Roselysium, William Armstrong, Albert Bierstadt, Boxiness, John Wilson Carmichael, Leonardo Coccorante, Robert Scott Duncanson, Adrianus Eversen, James Kinnear, Thomas Moran, Grigoriy Myasoyedov, Raphael, Joseph Wright, DMs Guild Creator Resource Art

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/321845/An-Elf-and-an-Orc-Had-a-Little-Baby-Parentage-and-Upbringing-in-DD?affiliate_id=1507682

The Warden Class (5e) by Steve Fidler (@vorpaldicepress)

“Wield the elements as a Warden, a brand-new class for 5th Edition. A powerful mix of martial and magical prowess, influenced by nature and the world around them.”

“The Warden Class has been in development and playtesting for over 4 years, and this is the definitive version, ready for your game!”

Warden

“No matter their duties, no matter their creed, a warden has honed their skill in battle and attuned to their innate elemental power into a force of nature. Each warden has a different perspective on the natural order of things, but they have in common a natural-born command of the elements and an aptitude for adventuring.”

The Force of Nature

“As you grow stronger, you develop a deeper connection to the elements, and the world in which you live.”

The Warden is a “distant cousin” to the Druid and Ranger, harnessing the raw power inherent in nature and a wielding it as a tool and weapon to their own ends; commanding the innate, raw potential in nature to work for them, opposed to giving themselves over to its service.

Elemental Awakening

A table of inspiring suggestions as to why your Warden came to be able bend the element to their will, including my favourite: “On each of my birthdays, year after year, a local natural disaster occurs”, which is gloriously tragic, as well as being a stellar reason to be adventuring, whether to try to atone, discover the cause or simply to keep moving, hoping it won’t happen again. This is also a wonderful thing for a DM to have knowledge of for devastating future plans.

Place in the World

Unlike Druids and Rangers, Wardens can be more comfortable and competent in urban environments, though a table is provided to help discover your Warden’s true feelings. I’m particularly fond of: “Whenever you travel to new places, you wish to help the disenfranchised”, which is a truly wonderful sentiment we could all have a bit more of. It also gives a better idea of your Warren’s character and gives a DM an idea of areas and NPCs that work with this, particularly with contacts, information and even adventures and jobs that fulfil their drive to aid the outcast and downtrodden.

Creating a Warden

Great advice regarding building tour own Warden is provided, especially with regard to their personality and drive, considering the 1st level discipline and prime elemental core at 3rd level. I thoroughly enjoy character and outlook being discussed and integral the building of a character, so it’s lovely to see it here.

Quick Build and Optional Rule: Multicasting information are provided. This includes “if you gain the Pact Magic feature from another class, your levels in that class combine with your warden class level to determine what level your spell slots are”, which makes experiments with Wardens and Warlocks could be a lot of fun. There is a natural fit, both mechanically and from a flavour perspective with both classes drawing power from a source and wielding it to their own ends.

The base class features are comparable to the Ranger for hit dice, proficiencies, though the Warden is limited to simple weapons, relying more on their elemental abilities. With the saving throws of Strength and Wisdom, rather than Strength and Dexterity, with Arcana and Intimidation now being on the table, instead of Insight and Stealth, the Warden’s mien really asserts itself in its own right; more of a solid, imposing presence, while at the same time having a greater connection to the magic and knowledge thereof, compared to the Ranger’s unfulfilling Jack of all trades, master of none approach.

Equipment

While comparable to the Ranger again, there seems to be more room to become a greater force upfront or any position really, with leather armour or scale mail, two simple weapons or a martial (if proficient), a shortbow or shield, explorer’s pack and component’s pouch. Impressively, their appears the prospect of greater range and utility granted by the relative specificity and studied choices.

Discipline

These combine the Fighting Style with a subclass, beginning to truly start seeing your Warden come to life as they balance magic and martial prowess. There are four Disciplines included with absolutely sumptuous WarmTail artwork, which I’ll get into later.

Natural Awareness

The Warden may not be the reverent servant of nature, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t learnt a few things from some time in they have picked up a few things from camping trips “honing [their] skills has given [them] an acute sense of danger...while in a natural environment”, as well as having an innate ability to “unerringly identify if environmental phenomena are natural or unnatural.”

I’m a real sucker for ridiculously thematic, lore backed and genuinely useful features, naturally.

Natural Power

The Warden’s channels the power of nature on their strike, represented by a pool of Power Dice, which increase in number and die type with experience, and can be expended to add the corresponding elemental damage to their Draconic Influence. These Power Dice can be expended in conjunction with Natural Powers to grant additional abilities in a similar way to the Battle Master’s Superiority Dice.

Glamour (Level 2)

This allows the Warden to “create a harmless elemental sensory effect originating from your body” with the examples of “water dripping from your hands, a fiery glow in your eyes, or your skin appearing mottled and earthen”, which is a very cool aesthetic effect. I now have the need for an Aasimar water-attuned Warden who is permanently her best 2015 perfect slick back wet look moment of all time, personifying GLAMOOOUURRR!

You can also use your powered of Glamour to add a Power Die to Charisma checks.

Source Magic (Level 2)

The Warden is granted spell casting, drawing on natural magic with many great new elemental spells, which I’ll touch on later. There is also a full Warden Spell List full of many of the new Spells and some old favourites! There is a definite crossing of the steams from the Druidy to Wizardy and the new spells to create a most potent brew. While not having an abundance of spell slots, not being a primary caster, the ability to regain all expended spell slots on a short rest makes them more feasible. I definitely see many Wardens holding onto their spell for the truly epic Hail Mary situations.

Prime Element (Level 3)

The core of the Warden is their Prime Element, which come in a variety of flavours and abilities they grant initially and at higher levels, including the relative set of cantrips on offer, this choice having a huge impact on the type of Warden you want to play, and should definitely be considered when choosing a Discipline. Together these two elements are the core of the character mechanically and otherwise.

Earthen Bulwark

This grants the ability to take your enemies to the mat in a grapple when you use your Natural Power, as well as being able to shove foes away from you.

Flaming Bravery

When you use your Natural Power your attack sears, dealing the additional fire damage at the start of the targets next turn, as well as being able to summon a bulwark of fire, similar the Shield spell linked to your Charisma modifier.

Putrid Corrosion

You can use your Natural Power feature to deal extra acid damage, the target can’t add their modifier to weapons attacks until the end of their turn, as well as giving your saving throw spells the ability to “add a corrosive element” causing ongoing damage.

Stoic Chill

Your Natural Power causes your enemies disadvantage on their next weapon attack it makes before the start of your next turn. Additionally, you can use you Power Dice to boost your saving throws, if you let it go “all surfaces in a 10-foot radius of you become covered in enchanted ice” causing foes to slip and slide.

Unrelenting Storm

Using your Natural Power feature to deal extra lightning or thunder damage, causes the target to get hot with additional thunder or lightning damage if they have the temerity to move on their turn. Additionally, you use power die to boost an attack roll. If the attack hits, you let out a concussive blast that can push back enemies around you.

Prime Elemental Shield (Level 7)

The Prime Elemental energy is always with you and you can call upon it to protect you from an attack as a reaction, with details relating to your attuned element. For example, Earthen Bulwark gives you the ability to “kick up a cloud of dust and rocks, imposing disadvantage on [a ranged] attack or granting advantage on your saving throw”, or Stoic Chill “can create a thick barrier of ice between you and the [attacking] weapon, reducing the damage dealt by the attack...”

Nature Sense (Level 10)

This bizarre, but super handy surveillance ability allowing you to gain a new viewpoint, based on a touched surfaced, for a short period, while still and losing sight and hearing to see from your natural CCTV.

Natural Power (Level 12)

A natural surge of power can be released with a weapon or cantrip attack, dealing additional damage of your attuned element.

Channel Power (Level 15)

You are so full of raw mako energy you are pumping straight from the planet into your veins that you can sacrifice a bunch of Power Dice for a Spell Slot!

Master of Elements (Level 20)

You can live the full Dragon Ball Z fantasy releasing your very own Kamehameha, “a torrent of magical energy in a 30-foot radius cantered on you...infused with primal magic”. You’re fully charged and elemental resistant in this raw power zone, which does the most awesome and ridiculous thing I’ve seen in D&D in a while: “As an action, you can have the area itself come alive and attack. Make a single weapon attack against any number of creatures within the area, dealing damage against each creature you hit.” This image is freaking awesome, even if the explanation seems to lack what the hit and damage would be, which I’m sure will become clearer in revised editions, but let’s be honest this is level 20 stuff and you’re basically a god drawing on the very soul of the plane you’re on, so do whatever you want! But if I had to guess, it would probably be a proficient attack dealing your Improved Natural Power damage with your element or you just draw on the latent power in your enemies’ bodies and dehydrate and obliterate them!

Disciplines

These are the four awesome Warden archetypes:

Guardian

This is the beefy, up-close and personal Warden with Martial Weapons, Heavy Armour and choice of Combat Training, which is very similar to Fight Styles. Many of the spells are new and offensive and abilities maximise damage, as well as offering protection of others.

Fanatic

Needing nothing save for their fists to unleash their elemental wooparse, these Wardens use magic to ward and charge themselves, and wield the elements for empowered pugilism. These elemental Steer Fighters learn later features comparable to Dhalsim’s reaching punches (without the hyper combo of problematic stereotypes) with Extension Stance and the archetypal Hadouken with Exploding Elements.

Sage

These Wardens are truly one with the magic of nature with an impressive array of spells, access to extra casting on subsequent turns to utilising their Natural Power, and even combined with melee attacks. The natural energy aids their studied steps around enemies and flows through them with such potency they can eventually master a second prime element.

Dragon Guard

There unique Wardens revere, protect and emulate dragons, seeing them as the apotheosis of the raw elemental energy of nature physically manifested. Their spells encapsulate the aspects of the dragon, while their Draconic Influence grants them a skill and a damage type associated with their chosen dragon colour. This influence can be wielded as a blast of energy from the Warden’s mouth, as well as eventually physically manifests itself on their hardened skin and granting a unique Fury of Dragons ability unleashing a portion of the power of their revered dragon type.

The only negative thing I can say about this quadruple of archetypes is that I’m just not going to be able to play them all right, stat, now and I NEED them all. How am I supposed to choose?!

Appendix – Spells

This is a full set of 21 original elemental spells ranging from cantrips to 5th level spells (which is where the Warden tops out as only a secondary caster). All the Spells have the appropriate tags for the various classes’ spell lists they would be available for, and to be honest this repository of spells is worth the asking price on its own, without the phenomenal class and eye-meltingly beautiful art.

The spells range from cantrips like Braise and Douse, which follow the conventions of cantrip damage/ range and the higher level damage adjustments, but with the added awesome elemental flavour of extra damage of the target is wearing metal or outside where the clouds can get them, respectively, through Spells like Entomb, a 1st level evocation spell that attempts to freeze an enemy, giving them levels of Entomb, slowing to stopping them in their tracks if they can’t pass their saves, and Manifest Elements, a 3rd level evocation that imbues your next attack with extra elemental damage of your choice, each with their own added effect such as, “Acid. One piece of nonmagical metal equipment that the target is wearing or wielding immediately corrodes and falls apart, rendering it useless”, which is simply brilliant! All the way to Toxin Well, a 4th level transmutation, which truly messes up a body of water up to 120 gallons, with different effects for contact, dip, submerge, drink or steam – do not drink from the Toxin Well! Lightning Recoil is the 5th level evocation that turns you into a lightning powered live wire dealing massive damage of anyone gets within hugging range.

These are a seriously a well thought out and exciting array of spells for far more the just Wardens!

I just need to take a moment for the Caio Santos cover art, which is simply divine! Truly beautiful and encapsulates the Warden so well!

“The Warden Class has been in development and playtesting for over 4 years, and this is the definitive version, ready for your game!”

This is the quote Fidler has attached to this supplement and let me tell you, the love, care, time and effort gone into making this something unique and simply needed; it existing has absolutely proved it’s need. The elements and time are a flat circle and we’re discussing it now, but it’s surely always existed, right?

“Print and PDF options available! Premium soft cover booklet, ideal for bringing to your DM during session zero and saying “I’m playing this shit.”

This is the other quote, which made me laugh the first time I read it, but honestly I’m reminded of the words of the unfortunately, now right-wing philosopher, who still spoke the truth of this matter: “People say I’m cocky, and I say, “what?! It ain’t bragging mtherfcker if you back it up” (Rock, Kid. “Cocky.” Cocky, Lava/ Atlantic, 2001.)

I’ll be honest with you, I’m always a little hesitant when going into a third-party class or any beyond the standard set. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so often proven wrong, but I do see the various stores absolutely full of extra classes with sketchy reviews, but this. Is. SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY!

The ability to have a truly distinct and original core that is intrinsically consistent all the way through, but with the versatility to be utilised in so very many different ways, all the while true to its original conceit; now that’s the true mark of a distinct robust and worthwhile addition to the roster of classes. As far as I’m concerned, it’s canonised and always has and always will in my worlds!

Credits

Lead Designer: Steve Fidler Design Consultants: Andrew T. Ha (Leuku), Israel Moreira, Laura Hirsbrunner, Nicolo Dela Merced, William Hudson King Editor: Laura Hirsbrunner Layout and Graphic Design: Steve Fidler Cover Art: Caio Santos Interior Art: Matt Forsyth, Alozo Emata, nyothep, warmtail, Lars Rune, Patrick Langwallner, Pete Linforth, Bob Greyvenstein, Dennis Saputra, Pixabay, Vecteezy, Adobe Stock Additional Graphics: “5e Classes” cover graphic by Nathanaël Roux Some artwork © Louis Porter, Jr. Design, used with permission. All rights reserved. Elite Design Elements ©Rising Phoenix Games Some artwork by www.critial-hit.biz Some artwork used under the CC0 license or Public Domain.

Special Thanks: My thanks go out to the many playtesters over the years who have provided meaningful feedback and championed the Warden class as a worthy addition to their campaigns.

“Print and PDF options available! Premium soft cover booklet, ideal for bringing to your DM during session zero and saying “I’m playing this shit.”

My Affiliate Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/317044/The-Warden-Class-5e?affiliate_id=1507682

Awakened Blades by Conor Higgins (@HigginDazs) & Darren Kenny (@DeleniaCreation)

This is an incredible collection of 50 Awakened Blades: magical weapons with extraordinary properties and abilities flowing from the power of the soul contained within and the strength and experience of their wielder, sometimes harbouring their own machinations and insidious influence. These blades contain great power that evolves with the players with inspired rules and guidelines which allow for a weapon to be granted or discovered by a player during tier 1 or 2 of play, with greater abilities unlocking during tier 3 and tier 4, allowing for bonds (figurative and literal), to be made with these singular arms. These evolutions can be tied to events of true significance, creating some seriously epic and memorable moments at the table!

Speak their words of power if you dare, and unleash the elements, become a gargantuan avatar of strength or an armoured bulwark, summon a giant spectral chimera or hordes of dragons, wield phenomenal cosmic powers, and gain your own genie who will make your dreams come true…with only a small chance of having your soul torn apart!

Each one of these eldritch edges comes with their history, personality, awakening phrase, which, along with their sensational powers and abilities, are so full of flavour that they could inspire adventures and even whole campaigns; quests to discover the resting place of fabled swords and arcs discovering the secrets, motives and machinations of the awakened blades and whether the wielder and weapon become united in purpose or become embroiled in a struggle for dominance.

However, they are used, Awakened Blades add might and mystique to the game with their magical weapons and brilliant mechanics!

Seriously, I cannot accurately describe how much I love this supplement and eagerly await a follow up! I’ve even been so inspired as to start experimenting with creating my own Awakened Blades!

Bestest magic blades are bestest!

Credits Written by Conor Higgins (@HigginDazs) & Darren Kenny (@DeleniaCreation) Cover Art by Matthew Riley Interior Art provided by Wizards of the Coast, AoE Art, SwartGuy and PoxArt

My Affiliate Link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/306310/Awakened-Blades--A-5th-Edition-Magic-Item-Collection?affiliate_id=1507682

Yeet! A Guide to Throwing by Sven Truckenbrodt (@SvenWrites)

> In here, you will find: > • Comprehensive rules (with examples!) on how to throw stuff in a balanced and fun way. > • 3 subclasses for the discerning thrower, one each for barbarian, rogue, and monk. > • 3 feats to bring you the YEET. > • 5 magic items (including me, BOB!) that let you throw stuff in style.

You might be asking yourself why there is a supplement dedicated to chucking stuff, but in a cool way? I’m definitely asking myself why I went down an Internet rabbit hole looking for the origin of the word ‘yeet’? The first can easily be answered: There previously were no rules regarding stylish slinging and this book positively hurls the joys of chucking chums or otherwise. The second is much harder to truly answer, but I have a cool new dance to show all the young people that I’m still cool.

“5E made an effort to streamline rules and make the game more accessible. But additional mechanics can also be a benefit—who hasn’t been disappointed by being told by the DM “err, that isn’t really in the rules…”

This gives me painful memories of the first time I DM’d and all someone wanted to do was throw a giant rat into a fireplace. I got the sweats and wanted to cry. This supplement will help good people like past Sebs, and I’m going to take what I learn here and make an encounter just so after all these years Steve can finally yeet that rat into the hearth to his heart’s content.

Truckenbrodt talks a lot of shot, which actually makes an incredible amount of sense and shows how much effort has been put into this ridiculous and awesome supplement. Like did you know a 20 Strength Character performs at roughly two thirds of professional athletes? I like to imagine them with a tape measure and lab coat in the sand at a long jump event, facing a terrifying series of large metal balls being thrown (Sorry, yeeted) their way, and brining this data, a PHB and a ruler into laboratory conditions in the name of the science of Yeet! And, guess what the science is sound! Your 20 Strength Barbarian needs to git gud™ to ever dream of being the shot putter they always dreamed of.

Throw is a new action Yeet! Adds, which I think we can all both commend and condemn Truckenbrodt’s restraint in not going full yeet. This new action is dependent on strength score, and the size of the thrower and the throwee (whether object of creature). This action and its used are broken down, compared and explained with illuminating examples, which really make this potentially complicated appearing mechanic (although no more complicated than jumping) digestible and relatable, along with directions towards further information where necessary.

Tables for the damage to and by creatures and objects, including how to determine size category by various dimensions, weight, etc.

Great section on Sensitive Throwing covering Safety Tools and ensuring everyone is comfortable with the throwing of creatures, willing or otherwise, and to not perpetuate the ridiculing of little people through throwing or any other means. This is certainly something to be discussed within Safety Tools for in a session 0 and to make time for discussing with your group when bringing these rules to them.

Subclasses “Say Yeet!”

There three subclasses for the Barbarian: Path of the Yeet, Rogue: Missile Expert, and Monk: Way of the Yeet are designed to make the most of and work with the new Throw action and the concepts discussed in this supplement.

Path of the Yeet maximises the potential of Throwing with a Rage ability, which gives targets less chance of avoiding the Barbarians projectiles, proficiency with the Throw action, greater efficacy with bowling opponents over, greater ease throwing unwilling objects and, eventually the ability to throw as a bonus action in addition to a regular action in a turn.

Despite seeming silly, Path of the Yeet perfectly encapsulates and validates the Throw action by exemplifying the maximised use of Throwing, whilst at the same time showcasing how the Throw action is far more than a novelty action. It definitely looks like a hell of a lot of fun!

Where Path of the Yeet focuses on chucking big things and folx hard, Missile Expert turns yeeting into the subtle art of Throwing. The Rogues Throw more missiles weapons further, doing damage in a line, bamfing projectiles back to your hands after throwing (SO FREAKING COOL!), and ultimately hurling a whole storm of missiles.

Way of the Yeet uses a Monk’s Ki to Throw their projectiles further, harder and more accurately, as well using it to Throw objects up to gargantuan with enough Ki Points, and become the world’s greatest Yeetskeetball player with a monumental running jump throw!

All three subclasses may have novelty names and puntastic features, they show how naturally the Throw action has its place in D&D with such variety and specificity inherent in it that it is genuinely hard to cast my mind back to a time before I was introduced to it and these classes. They truly done feel like they already been for forever. It simply feels they right and natural.

Feats to Yeet

Throwing is a great addition and could definitely pique some folx’ interest without wanting to go for a directly for a yeetified subclass, so these allow for some extra fun too, beyond the basic yeet. These include the Abominable Yeet-ee (somehow a pun simultaneously offensively brilliant and wonderfully awful) and Humanoid Cannonball, which finally gives something special for the yeeted, before I start my change.org petition for a dedicated subclass for those who do not ask what they can yeet for their party, but how their party can yeet them! As well as Yeet-Meister, which reads as natural as any other star-bump and extra focused features feat.

Magic Yeet

A collection of magical weapons made for the modern yeeter on the go, including an almost upsettingly awesome Glove of Daggers, which holds blade in special pockets between fingers to be hurled at enemies when needed (the blades not the gloves), an effectively Belt of Giant Yeet, the always awesome weapon-that’s-not-a-boomerang-but-still-comes-back, some pretty and further flying and effective darts, and...Big Old Boulder Bob “This roughly shaped 2-foot boulder looks nasty. Maybe it is all the dried blood, maybe it is the dirty grin roughly carved into its surface. It feels particularly hefty when picked up and you could swear you can hear a rumbling cackle where it impacts.” A bloody big bloody scary magic boulder!

This supplement is absolutely jammed to the gills with gorgeously cartoonish and gloriously silly art, from the truly beautiful Fastball Special on the cover to the twisted brilliance of Bob. Don’t let the cute art and funny names fool you, the ideas and mechanics here are super cereal. It’s also truly wonderful to see some disability inclusion with the Way of the Yeet Monk having an awesome prosthetic leg. This representation is incredibly important and heartening for disabled players everywhere (there’s a lot of us).

Come for the silliness, stay for the seriousness. This supplement somehow manages to balance the crunch of a new mechanic, clearly researched and presented with real life and fantasy physics, and justified by genuinely filling a niche, with absolutely ludicrous concepts, puns and cartoon buffoonery! How has Truckenbrodt done this? How has it worked and why is it so bloody good? I enjoy a new situational mechanic in an adventure, a cool new spell or what have you, but I’m a harder sell on adding something so fundamental as a whole new action to the game, but frankly I’m offended that this wasn’t already a thing. I feel like this is some kind April Fool’s Day joke supplement because surely all of the wonders contained within feel like they have always been in the game! It’s this kind of concept and synergy that show Truckenbrodt’s understanding of this game, its mechanics and what we have all somehow been silently screaming for every time we’ve ever tossed, thrown, held, or even, yes, yeeted something. Time might be a flat circle, but Truckenbrodt’s is on the other side with Matthew McConaughey yeeting love and gravity back to us that we might use them and this in our games.

Credits

Design: Sven Truckenbrodt (@SvenWrites) Design Consultant: Stuart Broz (@zorbtrauts) Editor: Kai Linder (@Paradoliak) Layout: Sven Truckenbrodt Cover Illustrator: Fran Bianchi Interior Illustrators: Hefestus Cave (@hefestuscave), Jeshields, Brett Neufeld, Dean Spencer, Vagelio Kaliva, Christian Janke

My Affiliate Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/320937/YEET-A-Guide-to-Throwing-5E?affiliate_id=1507682

Coach Kruzzlak’s Guide to Sports by Lucas Anderson (@BetterMindSnot)

From Thwacker to Free Fishing, this collection of competitions will bring the excitement of sports back. Are you a coach, a retired athlete or even a fanatical fan? In this book you will fi nd something for everyone who likes sports.

The sports featured in this book are exciting alternative encounters which you can drop into any adventure or even build an entire campaign around.

This is a fun and flavourful collection of 10 new sports to be added into your games, along with their rich backstory and history, rules and mechanics for playing, as well suggestions for NPCs and teams to compete against or join. Whether for some diverting downtime action, as an alternative encounter, a new staple of your settings and world building, or even the focus of a sports-centred game or tournament, Coach Kruzzlak has something for you! Ranging from conventional Jousting (or unconventional depending on the mount), organised and regulated bare knuckle boxing, grappling and the like of MMC (Mixed Martial Combat) and the Infernal Race-A-Thon, to the familiar yet fantastically altered, Celestial Rings, the spiritual (get it?) successor to the Mesoamerican ballgame with a spot of flying for fun and balance, Dungeon Brawl, a game with its roots in the questionable theft of dragon eggs and rugby, Thwacker, which is big on ball, not so much on base, and Free Fishing, a game about catching fish bare handed or absolutely anything else in less official contests, to games with far more magical artifice such as Magic Flag, a spell-slinging game tied to memories of The Last War and laser tag capture the flag with preloaded wands and a regal set of armour players must don and get back to their base to score, Power Pong, an all altogether more arcane and dangerous table tennis with troubling origin and Elegantics, combing pageants, talent shows and the imagination of those with access to the Eldritch, Arcane and/ or Divine (so basically it’s Drag); there’s surely something for every one and any situation! Also included are sports-flavoured backgrounds covering the four types of sporter, Fanatic, Rookie, Jock and Coach. These are all amusing and insightful with genuinely useful features. Coach Cant is one of my new favourite things ever! Coach cant (used to express messages to your players and fellow trainers when verbal communication is not possible) I feel very called out by the Fantatic Some people focus on their own accomplishments and think they’re the center of the world, but your worldview has always been the opposite. You’ve been a passionate fan of a sports team, a band of heroes, or even a particularly charismatic bard. You know their accomplishments and shortcomings better than they do. You’re ready to fi ght to defend their honor at the drop of a hat. Inspired by them, or perhaps just to follow after them, you’ve decided to forge your own path as an adventurer, but in your heart you’ll always be a diehard fanatic.

Equipment: A set of artisan’s tools (one of your choice), a cheering costume, a cheering sign (cloth or wooden), reference book of knowledge (regarding your fandom), a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp I just need the 10 gp!

Credits Lead Designer: Lucas Anderson (@BetterMindSnot) Editors: Joanne Loader (Planar Crossroads) Lead Designer/Author: Lucas Anderson Co-authors: Joanne Loader (Planar Crossroads), Brian Barfield Editor: Joanne Loader (Planar Crossroads), Brian Barfield Playtesters are: René Loader, Sebastian Röpstorff, Mathias Heller Cover Illustrator: Lydia Van Hoy Interior Illustrators: C. Thorne, Glynn McCuiston, Joel Congi, Lydia Van Hoy, Stephanie Farrow, Will Ballendorf. Layout: O. R. Seghir

My Affiliate Link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/320584/Coach-Kruzzlaks-Guide-to-Sports?affiliate_id=1507682

Animal sidekicks from Adam Hancock (@AdamMakesTTRPG)

If you want animals to be a significant part of your game and/ or party there is nothing better than this! Plus, don’t forget this is a veritable manual of monsters of various levels that can be wielded by DMs too!

This is one of the most important supplements on DMs Guild, and not only because it has “40 Beasts and Fantastical Creatures Ready to Join Your Adventuring Party”, but because it brings together a “team of 33 writers, 4 artists, and 3 editors” in the relatively early days of Sidekicks being officially added with the Essentials kit, widely published September 2019 (which truly seems like a lifetime ago – I had to check the date several times [and yes, for you huge fans of unnecessary specificity and Target, they got an early release in June]). They say never work with creators or animals...

This is a serious undertaking and Hancock’s first project lead, which makes wrangling that many creators and the menagerie of critters all the more impressive! This is progenitor of the truly glorious ‘Adventure Sidekicks’, which continues to give new creators the opportunity to work on a big project. It’s important to acknowledge the work that goes on behind the scenes and being a project lead. Look at the names in the credits and you’ll see many now recognisable names who were relatively or completely new when this project came together all those millennia ago in Q4 of last year...

The animals themselves are fun, flavourful and actually useful sidekicks with everything you need to know, plus some options for “more realism” aka makes talk harder, because at the very least it’s assumed the animals can understand common, if not speak it.

These 40 fantastic beasts (plus Celestial, Dragons, Fey, Monstrosities, and Plants) each have a page with artwork, unique statblock, table of personality traits/ quirks to give them some character and progression up to level 6 with gloriously on brand and highly amusingly named traits and abilities. Just look at the Sea Horse’s Under the Sea (aiding underwater communication), Life is the Bubbles (creating a water bubble that sustains it out of water), Just Keep Swimming (helping allies with bade rolls) and Part of Your World (transforming into the coolest temporary tattoo ever!). These are awesomely appropriate, amusing (I grew up with the name Sebastian, I know all about Little Mermaid jokes eye twitches), actually useful, and would almost certainly be ground for a lawsuit if a Flounder was used instead of a Sea Horse!

All the Monster Manual Beasts are here with the obvious creatures from Badger through Octopus, all the way to Wolf, but don’t forget Allosaurus (a Dino-buddy mm), Flying Snake and Giant Goat! As well as the Beasts, other types ready to be your new super bestest friends are, Hollyphants (Lulu, being the best-known positive pachyderms starring in To Hell and Back Again [https://www.dmsguild.com/product/288363/To-Hell-and-Back-Again?affiliate_id=1507682] and Descent into Avernus), Awakened Plants, Blink Dogs, Displacer Beasts, Dragon Wyrmlings, Griffons, Owlbears and Phase Spiders. This allows you to have the perfect partner you’ve always wanted on your journeys with those classic D&D monsters. Haven’t you always wanted a Phase Spider Pal? The people having been crying out to sojourn with Steeders!

These are also wonderful partners for younger gamers who will definitely get a kick out of having their own Pseudodragon Pala or Mychonid mate to adventure with!

If you want animals to be a significant part of your game and/ or party there is nothing better than this! Plus, don’t forget this is a veritable manual of monsters of various levels that can be wielded by DMs too!

Help me get a campaign going for additional volumes of Animal Sidekicks with more levels and more creatures!

Also, be sure to check out the ‘Adventure Sidekicks’ series to find competent crew collected by campaign!

Credits

Writers Jackson Adams (@JacksonInACup) Erik Arthur (@TheErikArthur) Kayla Bayens (@JustThinkingKay) BornToDoStuff (@BornToDoStuff) Cindy Butor (@babble_drabble) Lauren Campbell (@GrammarForHire) Kristy Dalangini (@glassflippers) Orla ní Dhúill (@NaturallyOrla) Fernando A. Dolande (@Dulenheim) Melissa Doucette (@melliedm) Jeffrey Gerretse (@gerretse) Zac Goins Adam Hancock (@Adammakesttrpg) Brittney Hay (@FNDungeonMom) Michael Jacobson (@Mike_makes_Dino) Rory Jordan (@The_RealZin) Ryan Langr (@RealmWarpM) Ellie Lynn (@ellielynnz) Ken Marable (@KenMarable) Paul Metzger (@metzpaul) Marco Michelutto (@marcomiki) C. M. Millar (@ccmoira) Olobosk (@Olobosk) Allison M. Reilly (@agnesamurphy) Amit Sarkar (@AmitSarkar0) J. M. Scalercio Noah Simpson (@Noah20243425) Tessa Simpson (@MiscKlaire) R. Morgan Slade (@rmorganslade) Trevor Traub (@DungeonHunters) Daniel Vitti (@Arcanum_Press) James Welch Jos Wijchgel (@DiceyGamesNL)

Producer Adam Hancock (@Adammakesttrpg)

Artists David Barrentine (@DavidBarrentine), Dana Braga (@danaxbraga), Bronze Halo (@BronzeHalo), Anne Gregersen (@AnneofManyNames), Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

Editors Adam Hancock (@Adammakesttrpg), Ryan Langr (@RealmWarpM), Paul Metzger (@metzpaul)

My Affiliate Link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/293883/Animal-Sidekicks?affiliate_id=1507682

My Affiliate Link for the Adventure Sidekicks Bundle: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/304654/Adventure-Sidekicks-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=1507682