Dungeon Crossing by Matthew Jarmak (@aryxymaraki)

“Welcome to Dungeon Crossing! Have you ever wanted your TTRPG character to just settle down, maybe on a nice little farm, and relax? Have you ever wanted to play a solo version of relaxation and farming games that takes place entirely in your mind? You might like Dungeon Crossing, then.

Dungeon Crossing is a combination system-neutral supplement and standalone game.”

This is a genuinely fascinating and adorable supplement that absolutely succeeds in its goal of porting Animal Crossing into Dungeons and Dragons!

I’m going to admit to being someone who has never played Animal Crossing and those kinds of video games have never really appealed to me. I just wanted to be open about that. I’m not sure what it is, but I also know if I ever did get into it, I would lose myself entirely. So, it doesn’t seem a wise avenue for me to explore. This on the other hand is something else entirely, while taking so much inspiration from what is at the core of AC – passing time in a creative, fun and relaxing way.

This both ports many beloved elements of the game and expands on the way down and leisure time can be spent as a solo endeavour or part of an ongoing game. In this there is still a heck of a lot in it for someone like myself to enjoy and benefit from.

Introduction

“There is no combat in Dungeon Crossing. There is no stress. Time passes like water in a river.”

The introduction is written so beautifully and makes the core concepts of creativity and imagination, and how the elements from AC will work with D&D, with explanation of the terms for dice rolls, simple.

“In the end, Dungeon Crossing is as much a way for you to explore your imagination as it is anything else. We can tell you what the home you build with it has in it, and what it’s made of. We can give it a body. But only you can tell us what it looks like, and what it feels like. Only you can give it a soul. We hope you enjoy finding the soul in the homes that you build with Dungeon Crossing.”

How to Play

There are four tiers of play for Dungeon Crossing, just as there are with regular D&D, each of these come with their assumed “starting package”, which consist of the dwelling with a number and type of rooms, plot/s and starting gold to provide what you need to begin your DC experience.

For example:

“Starting At Tier 1: A character who begins their journey at tier 1 begins play with a dwelling that has three poplar rooms and one tier 1 plot, along with 200 gold pieces to spend.”

Pick a tier if you’re playing solo or work out with your group and DM about the tiers and starting packages if you’re working this into an ongoing game.

The basics of DC are the players spending time performing activities in units of time beginning with a seven-day week broken up into the number of activities that can be performed in that unit. Once per week an NPC, Jon Look (he/him) or his cousins Jane Cook (she/her) and Bain Rook (they/them), will visit for an inspection. This inspection is an examination and evaluation of progress, which I’ll get into in the Appendix.

Activities

The available activities are:

Decorating is sprucing up and placing items around your home to affect your Decoration Rating.

Shopping is the buying and selling of items, as well as checking the Pear Price and, buying and selling pears. The Pear Price is generated once a day with a specific roll and provided table.

Farming allows the purchasing and planting of crops “for fun and profit”. Crops have a Purchase Price, a Farming Time, and a Sale Price, which are provided in tables by tiers.

Gathering is foraging for materials using specific tools with rolls and tables provided for material types, tiers and amounts.

Fishing allows you to catch fish using specific fishing poles and tiered tables provided with variable sizes.

Monster Husbandry is the taming and rearing of monsters “for fun and profit”. These come with tiered tables containing the monsters, the product monsters produce, the purchase price and the variable product value. “It must be specified that no monsters are harmed as part of this activity.”

Building and Decorating

“Activities may be the primary source of money in Dungeon Crossing, but how do you spend money? You spend it by building and decorating things.”

When shopping, rooms, plots and Objects can be purchases for your house, and when taking the decorating activity, you place, arrange and rearrange your goodies.

Objects are broken down my size into Major, Minor and Trivial Objects with a limited variety of the larger Objects fitting into a room with more of the increasingly smaller Objects fitting in a room in greater amount. Rooms Types are denoted by either the Major Objects or the combination of Objects, such as a bed for a bedroom or a pan and stove for a kitchen.

The various materials and combinations of Objects in a room effect the Decoration Rating during inspections. The various tiers of materials and the prices for the various Object types are laid out on tables, as are examples of Objects and their type by room.

Clothing and Decorations

Decorations come in the wall and floor variety, such as tapestries and rugs, and add to the Decoration Value of a Room.

Tiered tables of materials are supplied for use in both clothing and decoration.

When it comes to clothes and accessories there’s all manner of things that can be created with many suggestions for the head, upper and lower body areas, as well as rules for accommodating clothing that covers two areas. Accessories can also be made of both building and clothing materials.

Simple rules for purchasing dyes are also included.

Expanding your Dwelling

More Rooms and Plots can be obtained with pricing relative to materials and available tiers.

Plots are needed for Farms, which make farming available, Gardens add to the Decoration Rating and can be tended to, Barns are required for Mobster Husbandry, Lawns are “an empty area of grass cultivated for no purpose other than to show off”, Groves allow for the planting of trees and harvesting Fruit Bounty (not just coconuts), Sheds house Objects when not in Rooms, and Quarries, which allow the extraction of a Metal or Stone Bounty.

Calculating Decoration Rating of Rooms and Dwelling

A simple questionnaire gives you the Decoration Rating per room, which are added together to get your Decoration Rating for your Dwelling.

A table of ratings with a Look family member’s comments and rewards are provided from “You’re just starting out, keep at it!” to “Truly astounding! I almost can’t believe my eyes!”. Based on the rewards, it can definitely put the profit in “for fun and profit!”

Appendix: What Are All These Things?

“Dungeon Crossing includes a significant number of fantastic items that don’t actually exist, alongside a variety that do exist”, so the appendix gives a little explanation of all the things throughout the supplement.

It should be addressed that this supplement itself, while bristling with potential, is a number of systems, tables and explanations because it is an engine for creation that needs imagination to fuel it. I only mention this to clear up that this isn’t an Animal Cross inspired adventure.

This is a genuinely fascinating and adorable supplement that absolutely succeeds in its goal of porting Animal Crossing into Dungeons and Dragons! In doing so it has created a solo game that doesn’t need a console or cartridge, as well as bringing in an expansive, but not overwhelming, crafting and hobby system that will really add some lovely projects, collaborations and competitions between adventures, as the characters and parties build, craft and pass the time creatively “for fun and profit”.

Credits

Dungeon Crossing copyright 2020 Matthew Jarmak. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material contained herein is prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owners.

This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, places, events, or organizations is purely coincidental.

Use of art in this product does not constitute an endorsement by the original artists.

Cover art by Eon Cire, available at https://opengameart.org/content/concept-art-studies-bundle-1. Released to the public domain under the terms of CC0. Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games. http://www.fatgoblingames.com.

Some artwork copyright by Roselysium – https://twitter.com/roselysium - used with permission.

Some artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

Some art used under the terms of Creative Commons BY 3.0, license located at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Pease Scene by Sourav Dhar, https://opengameart.org/content/peace-scene http://souravdhar.foliohd.com, Special thanks to Markeus B. Used under the terms of CC-BY 3.0.

Fantasy Tomb Scene by zonked on opengameart.org, available at https://opengameart.org/content/fantasy-tomb-scene. Released to the public domain under the terms of CC0.

Hidden Canyon by Glondo on opengameart.org, available at https://opengameart.org/content/hidden-canyon. Used under the terms of CC-BY 3.0.

My affiliate link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/331085/Dungeon-Crossing-Dragon-Home-Designer?affiliate_id=1507682

Palms Passing Parcel & Logistics Guild by Ryan Hennessy (@rdotwrites)

What you have here is an entire mail, delivery and logistics guild with a storied history, ranks cut from a different cloth than your regular postal workers, august members and exploits across various planes, specialised equipment to ensure the job gets done right and a whole bundle of well thought-out, wittily named adventure seeds with advice and hooks that link them to various official campaigns, including a number for Rime of the Frostmaiden, as well as Lost Mines of Phandelver, Dragon Heist, Descent into Avernus and Curse of Strahd! They even have a professional logo!

This is a clearly a labour of love; so well designed and described as to be utterly ingrained in Forgotten Realms and Sword Coast lore as to have truly convinced me Palms Passing Parcels & Logistics Guild have always been in the canon, it just took this document to shine the light on their dedicated work!

Introduction

“The package takes priority no matter what and getting it to its destination requires a certain mentality.

By any means necessary. Do you have what it takes?”

We are introduced to the Palms Passing Parcel & Logistics Guild who are a guild of postal workers, couriers, who travel the length and breadth of the Sword Coast (and have even made deliveries to the Underdark, Shadowfell, even the Elemental Planes, and lived to tell the tale) that “are known to deliver anything requested of them and when they say anything, they mean, any thing.” This means they operate by their own charter and they dedicated members with flaunt laws and do some park our to ensure things get delivered.

Humble Beginnings

The rich history of the guild established by Kartuffeus “The World Climber” Spritelson, in response to the need for the transportation and delivery of any and all things after the Spellplague necessitated the need for mundane means, entrenches the guild in the history and lore, as well as telling a fascinating tale of perseverance and tenacity.

Calling of the Courier Organization

The organisation and operation of the Guild is laid out in great detail, much of which could easily be cribbed and shared with the players as an in-world artefact due to the way it is presented.

Each rank presented with description, duties and examples, as well as notable members, director of the order, and delightful descriptions of the colours and patterns that denote them - From the Paisley Pageboys to the prestigious ranks of the Damask Deliverers who don’t flinch in the face of wartime communication and the Chinoiserie Channelers whose discretion would be legendary if their circumspection wasn’t beyond reproach.

Insightful DM tips are dotted throughout the supplement providing advice on everything from bringing the Guild to life, getting the players involved to creating quests and sowing seeds in seminars and assignments.

Principles of the Courier

The creed and operation are clearly laid out with the golden rule being to “ensure that the package is delivered in superb condition by any means necessary” with an insistence that “teamwork makes the dream work!”

Tools of the Trade

Eleven new items with the rank at which the guild makes them available to its members are included to ensure the job gets done, from the “Telescoping Ladder” which reaches a maximum height,"50 feet” and “can even be used as a makeshift bridge to cross over gaps and difficult terrain”, a “Vault Rig...for you, your friend and the other guy who will eventually travel your path” allowing the installation of a magical vault that is opened with the Command Phrase “By Any Means Necessary”, the “Egghead Monocular”, a fancy eyeglass that “allows the user to chart or survey their locations accordingly”, “Arrow Driver Pitons” when, “perhaps a delivery chit requires you to deliver a document discretely to a young noble in a highly secure compound unbeknownst to the prying eyes of his controlling parents? Now, no one is saying that you should scale the walls of their villa, circumvent the roving security guards and climb into the noble’s private bedroom via his balcony, but… by any means necessary, courier”, and many more with storied origins.

The Life of a Dungeon Master & Their Mailmen

“To breathe life into an occupation otherwise treated thanklessly in a world of god slayers and dragon tamers is quite the endeavor. I have no doubt that you will hit the mark every time - even though some couriers need to be reminded of what can be done to help their fellow guild mates!

There’s always another package, always another path undiscovered…”

Random Effects Tables

Four tables of d10 random effects for Forest, Snow/ Tundra, Jungle, and Desert, with all manner of fascinating encounters, including getting attacked by awakened trees that are" timid and attempt to hide as a tree”, connecting with operatives from the enclave for assistance, natural hurdles to master like a “600ft tall vertical sand bowl that stretches about 1 mile around, and signs from previous PPP&L peoples such as finding a “ rolled up parchment in a bottle reads, “Rest here, you’ll thank me later.”...signed by a Niloc Dawnstrong” under a particularly restful spot.

Adventure Hooks

Thirteen well thought-out, wittily named adventure seeds with advice and hooks that link them to various official campaigns, including a number for Rime of the Frostmaiden, as well as Lost Mines of Phandelver, Dragon Heist, Descent into Avernus and Curse of Strahd, with appropriate rank suggestions are provided.

Glossary of Terms

This is seriously something special, crafted with love and care that will only enhance your game with an entire guild and so much more. It’s rare to see this kind of supplement that adds something whole cloth and made of such fine material.

About the Author

Ryan Hennessy has been roleplaying since before he even entered double digits. From text-based forum roleplaying to MMOs and JRPGs, it was only a matter of time before he threw his first d20. It just happened to be a little later than most during 5th edition. Now, his life seems to have taken a different turn, finally embracing what he’s always wanted to do – creating great content for great games. When not writing like an absolute maniac or hanging with his super cool family, he and his friends have finally decided to take the plunge by streaming their D&D sessions on Twitch via their group, Ante Up! Bringing an especially different take to the world of streaming D&D while attempting to keep to the fantastic source material of WoTC and Ed Greenwood, Ryan and his friends are going to be doing this for quite some time. Might be a good idea to say you bought his first supplement now?

You can find their stream at https://www.twitch.tv/anteupdnd You can reach Ryan at his email rdotwrites@gmail.com You can reach him on Twitter as well under the handle @rdotwrites.

Special Thanks Special thanks to Rebecca, my partner in crime and the one who pushed me to finally take the dive into doing what I truly care about. Anthony, my best friend, who constantly put down everything he was doing to review and edit whatever I put in front of him. My brother, Colin and my mother, Regina, who constantly cast bardic inspiration on me when I roll less than ideal in life.

A little monkey named Lola helped me with the Random Terrain Tables too.

If anything goes wrong or I get sued because of this supplement, you can reach out to the four of them.

Special Credit Everything realized from my mental state to the page formatted is thanks to the geniuses over at Homebrewery.

Thanks for making this dream reality for me.

The cover art was created by the magnificent JLODESIGNS. You can find his work here: https://www.fiverr.com/jlodesigns?source=gig-cards

The Palms Passing Logo was created by the great USAMASALIM. You can find his work here: https://www.fiverr.com/usamasalim

Any additional art sources were pulled from stock images and creative commons I believe to be copyright free. If I have made a big-time no-no mistake, you can reach me at my email REQUEST From conception to realization, this supplement has taken a significant amount of time and effort to design, write and produce. I respectfully ask that all readers refrain from making it available online for free. The only legal market place to obtain this content is the DM’s Guild, where for the price of an old school Blockbuster movie rental, you can access all the information within. If you have been 1337 and enjoyed this guide without paying for it, please consider being super chill, going to the market place and paying the author his due, so that he can dedicate more time to rolling dice and making killer content than punching in at his job. You all are the best.

COPYRIGHT DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, the dragon ampersand, and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademark of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for the Dungeon Masters Guild.

All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by Ryan Hennessy and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Master’s Guild.

Any distribution, reproduction or unauthorized use of the material contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast and Ryan Hennessy.

© 2020.

My affiliate link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/328724/Palms-Passing-Parcel--Logistics-Guild?affiliate_id=1507682

Awakened Blades 2 by Darren Kenny (@DeleniaCreation) & Connor Higgins (@HigginDazs)

Truly astounding stuff that is so much more than another supplement of magic items!

I make no bones about the fact that the first volume of Awakened Blades holds a pride of place within my pantheon of my favourite supplements I’ve ever had the pleasure of reviewing. I absolutely love the originality and epicness of the concept of awakened blades and the incredible variety, inspiration and lore woven into these magic marvels (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/306310/Awakened-Blades--A-5th-Edition-Magic-Item-Collection?affiliate_id=1507682). The supplement made such an impression on me that I started designing my own awakened Blades to fit the stories and characters in campaigns, gleefully giggling inside when my players would finally get their hands on them and pulling out my hair as I had to wait for a later session than expected to have the weapon awaken and evolve! So when I saw there was a second volume coming down the pipeline, I was beside myself with excitement, shortly before my face was melted by the indescribable awesomeness of jadtart’s cover art!

Believe me this is a whole other bundle of fabulousness! Awakened Blades are 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!

Ways I have implemented these blades in my games are as a simple magic sword discovered at a secret shrine that revealed itself as a powerful weapon of the god in question once the member of my party of that faith wielded it causing a seriously awesome and memorable moment. Another time, I had a player multiclassing into Warlock in Avernus while playing through the brilliant To Hell and Back Again (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/288363/To-Hell-and-Back-Again?affiliate_id=1507682), so I had the blade they had been gifted by the shade of a knight they swore an oath to become an awakened blade tied to their patron unbeknownst to them, which evolved in the presence of a member of the knight’s order once their tale had been told. These moments are so wonderful and precious and this book is absolutely chock full of countless opportunities for your own epic moments, phenomenal magic weapons, and so much lore amen awesome ideas to inspire your games!

Frankly, there are far too many of these nearly 50 wonderful weapons to get into every one I want to share and show, coming in all shapes and sizes from daggers to spears, mace and shield to quarterstaff, so I will pick out some that stand out to me and have me foaming at the mouth with excitement.

First up, it isn’t possible to talk about this supplement without mentioning the first blade that kicks things off a serious bang and is captured beautifully in cover artwork, Aiko, the Soul Reaver. “A blade containing an Onryo, a powerful and vengeful spirit. With the power to command the dead, split the soul of its wielder and summon spectral weapons, the one who wields Aiko is one to be feared.” This ghostly blade can take the form of any weapon its wielder is proficient with and can send a phantasmal duplicate of yourself by “[splitting] a fragment of your soul from your body”, which is freaking awesome. As the blade awakens the phantasms increase in strength and number, finally become a solid, undead copy of the wielder. True awakening also grants the ability to have a horrifying vision of Aiko appear above the wielder to scare the pants of your enemies. This is a seriously awesome supernatural blade that kicks this supplement in style! What’s not to love about a spectral weapon that makes spooks and can scare crooks?!

Let’s talk about Dokuchi, Venom’s Bite a wild, virulent dagger: “The apothecary Dokuchi was equally respected for her alchemical skill as she was feared for her madness. Ethics and morals had no meaning to her, as she would use whatever or whoever she could coerce into testing her newest potions and poisons. Her soul lingered after she was killed, as she still had not completed her life's work of completing the deadliest poison.” This poisoned blade has a lively and eager personality described as “Inquisitive, experimental. Insane, always wanting to test itself against new foes.” As it awakens the wielder can mark and slow your foes with its toxic sting, but with true awakening the wielder can summon an Avatar of Dokuchi. This is a “giant semispectral spider, that has clawed human hands on the end of its legs” with “a number of large cysts/vents on its back, which is bloated and bulbous”, and one large, nasty elemental font of venom!

So, you wanna be a dragon? Get your hands on Tyrignis, Tyrant of the Flame: “A drake as old as time itself, banished to the plane of fire for daring to take rise up against his Chromatic Queen. He wandered the plane hundred of years, searching for a way to return. A trickster approached the drake and made a deal, he would give the dragon a weapon that would let him cut his way back into the world. When the dragon agreed he was bound to Tyrignis and trapped within the blade. After hundred of years, his wrath has not tempered.” This angry, angry blade grants all manner of flaming abilities, before finally giving the wielder the ability to become a freaking adult red dragon!

How about, Uminaga, Ocean’s Reach, on cold, cold dagger?: “Deep beneath the waves, where the boundary between the plane of water and the material plane grows thin, monstrous krakens roam. These titanic beings are lords of the sea, wielding unfathomable power, and hungering for conquest. Imagine the destruction that could be caused if such a such a being's essence was contained within a weapon and unleashed upon the world...” This edge brings the crashing, choking power of the sea...and then gets into some “spectral tentacles made of sea foam" growing from the wielder’s back as icy whips, before finally granting the ability to summon young krakens!

Not all these weapons are so apoplectic, hateful and destructive. Some have some thoughtful and interesting abilities, which I would be doing a disservice not to share a couple in this review. Ittarikitari, Back and Forth, are a longsword and shield that are “happy and encouraging” when together, but become “anxious and frightened” when apart, which is an adventure hook if ever I saw one! “Ittari and Kitari, were twin elf researchers, who were always fascinated by magic. They trained to be artificers, in order to better understand the nature of magic items and spells. It was tragic that the accident took both of their lives at the same time, but fortunately the result of the experiment was successful; their souls, linked for eternity, trapped in a sword and a shield.” Together these arms and armour add to the magical acumen of their wielder, allowing them to analyse your opponent’s weaknesses, as well as being able to absorb and return spells back to their sender. Ultimately, these spells come back much more powerful and the wielder gains the ability to use your reaction to hit back against an opponent that has damaged you with an ultimate retributive strike, which I had to read a couple of times and actually said, “whoa” out loud. Truly the most perfect gift for the spellsword in your life!

Finally, Sakushi, Blooming Rose, a “composed, Peaceful” longsword: “Imbued with the power of an ancient Fey Lord who lived in the Verdant Grove, this Fey Lord was killed by a broken heart when his love was unrequited. Sakushi has all the devastating power of the ancient being while retaining his indescribable beauty. The flowers which grew on his grave now emanate from the blade when blood is spilled and battle begins.” This blade uses the power of petals and blossoms to deal extra slashing damage and reduce damage, awakening with the beautiful description: “When you Awaken Sakushi beautiful pink flower petals will drift off the blade until. The blade of Sakushi completely dissolves into a swarm of vibrant white, pink and red flower petals that drift around you. You can mentally command these petals to move and slash your foes.” The image of petals drifting off the blade is gorgeous and the fact they can create a beautiful, deadly vortex around the wielder, before finally Sakushi’s True Awakening, “the entire swords dissolves into flower petals which begin to duplicate into a massive swarm that engulfs the battlefield.” Sumptuous, glorious exquisite carnage!

This is another absolute triumph of magical weapons that are far more than they seem, each filled with lore and soul that will either bring your players untold joy, give your big bad evil folx truly terrifying power and have almost 50 items with enough character to inspire quests, adventures and campaigns! Truly astounding stuff that is so much more than another supplement of magic items!

The Team Designers: Darren Kenny & Conor Higgins Cover Art: jadtart Layout: Darren Kenny Editing: Conor Higgins Interior Art: jadtart, LDP Design, WPX, Vros the Smith. Playtesting & Feedback. Emmet O Connor My Affiliate Link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/331821/Awakened-Blades-Volume-2--A-5th-Edition-Magic-Item-Collection?affiliate_id=1507682 Awakened Blades Volume One: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/306310/Awakened-Blades--A-5th-Edition-Magic-Item-Collection?affiliate_id=1507682

Heart of the House from Brittney Hay (@FNDungeonMom)

Content Warning: Horror Themes, Child Death (Referenced)

“Once upon a time, an old house sat perched upon a hill, its crumbling facade overlooking the town. Weeds grew in the yard and gardens, overtaking what once was beautiful flowers and a stunning landscape. The wrought iron fence creaked when Mother Nature sent gusts of wind to play, and shutters slammed against the rotting siding. The house had p assed through many hands throughout the years. Now, decades after the last owners left under mysterious circumstances, it stands destitute and alone. But that is not the end of our story; It is only the beginning”

The first thing I have to say about this adventure is that for how dark and spooky it is, which it is, the whole thing is a work of art! From Henar’s gorgeously chilling cover to Mackenzie’s beautiful cartography that brings the house to vivid life with isometric and regular battlemaps, all underpinned by Hay’s glorious design, using Roux’s fabulous template that gives so many supplements a professional base, choice of the smorgasbord of sourced artwork, and an array of sensational handouts! This really is a feast for the eyes!

As with any responsible work dealing with sensitive content of allusions to potentially triggering elements, the Themes, Expectations, and Safety are discussed right off the bat, which is so concise, yet effective that I want to include it in full, aside from their link to the phenomenal TTRPG Safety Toolkit, which can be found here (http://bit.ly/ttrpgsafetytoolkit), as a brilliant example: “This adventure tackles abandonment, memory loss, and neglect, and brief l y touches upon a child's death. Please make your players aware of these topics before playing through the adventure. Horror is a lens through which themes such as these can be explored safely, and it is the responsibility of the Dungeon Master to see that the exploration of these topics is not harmful or triggering for the players. While social contracts differ from table to table, no one wants to walk away from a game feeling hurt or let down.”

This knowledge, understanding and empathy make it clear that you’re in good hands.

Introduction The adventure background provides the inspired premise of the adventure, an old house has “gained sentience throughout the years of ownership and abandonment.” It somehow lures people in with its allure “like a siren’s call” to the point where local parents warn their children “not to “get too close.”” Once ensnared and inside, the house refuse to let them leave, tormenting its victims and “feeding off the memories of the life that they bring with them like a vampire.” You had me at sentient house, but sadistic, memory-vampire sentient house I am already getting my bags packed! A handout in the appendices goes into more detail of the recent history, I’ll get into that later. There is a very cool piece of prep work for the players ahead of the game, recording a number of positive a d negative memories of their character’s for the DMs use during the game, particularly in the climax, which is a thoughtful and effective element. A number of hooks are provided, from strange dreams that find the characters awakening in the foyer, to following up on people going missing, or character getting a mysterious letter informing them of their inheritance of this singular manse. However the characters find themselves invited into the malevolent mansion, they must find their way deeper inside to discover the secrets within its rotten core if they ever want to escape.

Part 1: A House is Not a Home The house has some very interesting mechanics to confuse those within its walls. The layout is constantly shifting and moving, so a door could lead anywhere with players rolling each time they open one. “It is entirely possible for them to be on the second floor and open a doorway to the garden outside or be in the freight elevator, pulling themselves up, and find that they enter the basement.” Doors left open stay connected to their rooms, though if too many are left open the house will send thraws, its previous victims and current minions to start closing doors, or worse, terrifying presence of the Hand of the House. Resting in the house is dangerous with saves, essentially to keep their memories, so they don’t become thraws themselves. To defeat the Heart of the House and ultimately escape, the party must acquire three seemingly random items linked to previous persons involved with the house. These items and the entities linked to them are scattered the house randomly when the DM sets up the game, or can be placed specifically for quick play. This approach to placement of the items ensures a get deal of replayability.

Part 2: A Maze of Rooms There are 19 rooms it is possible to roll when traversing doorways with the 20th room bed the Heart of the House. These 19 rooms are detailed with their features, NPCs, events, puzzle clues and treasure, as well as the glorious art and cartography form Mackenzie, from the Foyer: “...the only truly “safe” rooms in the mansion. With seven doors—eight including the front entryway—the house keeps it non-threatening in order to draw prey in further....” Through the Living Room with swarms of ravens in the roof and a puzzle that involves having a nice sit down with the thraws, playing games with ghosts in the Games Room, possibly nabbing the singular chess set whose “marble board folds up into a polished wood carrying case, and the pieces are carved from milky white quartz and obsidian”, dealing with a fascinating variety strange plants and a dangerous gardener in the Greenhouse, an unsettling polite and bizarre collector in the gardens-come-graveyard, run afoul of some of the conservatory plants, which are “deadly if not properly tended, and they have not been properly tended for many years”, play an uncanny symphony on an orchestra of animated armors, while two tattered thraws waltz in the Ballroom, discover the dangers of the hors d’oeuvres in the Dining Room, beware the negative space in the Gallery, get a hand or five in the Kitchen, uncover magically hidden secrets, a horrifying and glorious yearbook, and survive the sword wraith in the Servant’s Quarters, find some solace in, “ironically, the only truly safe place in the entire house”, the cellar, play hide and seek with a ghost in the Child’s Bedroom, but beware the rooms wrath if you break anything – it will throw everything but the kitchen sink at you and it has tactics! – share dream fast memories with a vast array of chilling options, battle paper mummies and search for secretes in the mulching Library, brave the Bedroom’s Malodorous Miasma and mouldering maggots, try not to awaken the vampiest-named vampire and in doing so the seismic anger of House or make a dream entry in Main Bedroom, find an Infernally frigid altar and glass prison in the Attic.

Let me be clear, this is just the slightest impression of the Rich lore, mystery, puzzles, combats, flora, fauna and thraw-na, across this beautifully crafted haunted house.

Part 3: The Heart of the House “This is the final room, the moment where the characters face the entity plaguing them this whole time: the “spirit” of the house. Unlike your typical bosses, the House cannot be killed by whacking away at its hit points, so no stat block shall be provided. Instead, the combat in this room is broken into three phases.” The First Phase: Blast from the Past pits the party against four sets of chosen or randomly selected creatures/ groups from the provided table with any restored fighting at their side. The Second Phase: The Power of Memory is an opportunity to run the party through the memories they provided or memories from the thraw they have come across. Depending on what has been provided and/ or discovered this could be a short, sharp set of big vignettes, or could be a series of bleak scenes that truly test the party. The Third Phase: Sacrifice gives the characters a chance to sacrifice happy memories they have in order to save the remaining thraws and heal the house. This sacrifice leaves “a gnawing emptiness where that memory once was.” Whatever was given up the party are free to leave, though if “he house isn’t healed, the thraws remain trapped, those that were revived are unable to leave, and any future attempts to permanently destroy the house are more challenging.” Due to the immense and variable nature of the house, this definitely leaves the option for future attempts that could well be entirely different each time.

The Appendix contains statblocks for animated furniture, animated plants and the hefty, Hand of the House, as well as five magic items, including the unique Book of Holding, filled with awesome magical goodies, and the Pristine Holy Symbol, which keeps you sparkly a clean like Mr Muscle in a bath Listerine. This is a monumental adventure that has a creepy feeling that it could fit into any time or setting and still work. The amount of work that has gone into this is evident on every page. The quality of writing, the ideas and tales, combining with the art, design and handouts is something else! This is the kind of adventure you buy and can play again and again, with the same or new players and have fun and have them find and experience new things every time. It’s also absolutely crammed with ideas and elements that will inspire and can act as a toolkit for creating or populating your own horror tales or mysteries. There’s just too much in here for me to adequately express and get into or that will even be seen in multiple playthroughs, it’s just that jam-packed with awesome.

Perfect for Halloween. Perfect for any horror or mystery game you have going. Could be a weird, old place in any setting, but would be perfect in Ravenloft, Gothic Earth, or anywhere else or in between. This is one of those projects full of phenomenal creators and that quality shines through the murky windows of this malign manse. Credits Project Lead: Brittney Hay Writers: Brittney Hay, Cat Evans, Kristina Sisto Kindel, Riley Gryc and, VJ Harris Editor: Ashton Duncan Sensitivity Reader: Riley Gryc Cover Artist: Sonya Henar Cartographer: Saga Mackenzie Layout & Graphic Design: Brittney Hay Layout Template: NathanaËl Roux https://www.barkalotdesigns.com Additional Interior Artwork: Sonya Henar, pixabay Myaffiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/331842/The-Heart-of-the-House?affiliate_id=1507682

Ravnica Pride 2 Queer Adventures in Ravnica

These are beautiful, important adventures! Their wonders and simply gorgeous gay artwork have been melting my soul with joy and I can’t wait for more folx to experience their awesomeness!

There are reasons why this pair of adventures about these pairs of characters to the backdrop of the City of Guilds, there’s a good chance you know what they are and, if not all you need to know that there need to be more cheerful queer stories and adventures. That’s it.

“Ravnica pride adventures includes 2 adventures set on Ravnica, focusing on queer couples in the city of guilds. In The Perfect Date, characters will help the pyromancer planeswalker Chandra Nalaar, arrange a date with the elven animist Nissa Revane, despite any of the potential setbacks that the chaotic city life of Ravnica could put in the way. In Labors of Love, characters will help the heavily overworked viceroy of the Izzet League, Ral Zarek, in completing the tasks on his schedule to make time for a date with his boyfriend, Tomik Vrona. At the same time, characters will face a bitter Orzhov debtor, who could throw Ral and Tomik’s plans into jeopardy with a plot of revenge against the Izzet League.”

The Perfect Date by Beatriz T. Dias (@BiaTDias19)

This was a really hard adventure to review...I was going to do a whole sarcastic bit riffing on the general awfulness of the description of Chanda’s crushes in War of the Spark, but it just made me too nauseous...so after meandering back to the punchline which is I found this adventure so hard to review because of the artwork of Chandra holding Nissa in the pink-purple cloud above the skyline, which is truly one of the most beautiful, gorgeous and gay things I have ever seen and I. am. HeRE. FOR. IT!!! Stickyhunter has absolutely knocked it out of the park in such a spectacular be gay, do crimes fashion that they will be eternally hounded by the Azorious Senate. Seriously though, I hardly make a secret of how much I adore Steph’s art, but this is them at their heart-stopping, breath-taking best.

“In this short adventure for all levels, a group of adventurers is asked to help out planning the date between Chandra and Nissa. The pyromancer is the one asking for help, and she wants nothing less than the best for her girlfriend.” Honestly, I made my attempt and bailing out on a joke up top, about this being a really hard adventure to review, and then I went and read through the adventure again, and I’m not ashamed to say that I broke down in tears and had myself a little sob. This is the kind of loveliness queer folx rarely get to experience, especially in fiction and pre-written TTRPG adventures. It truly floored me and this old queer enby felt truly touched and emotional reading this.

So, you have the hopeless romantic Chandra wanting to plan the perfect date for her girlfriend, Nissa, who hires a party planning company to make the date go off without a Hitch... Unfortunately, the vedalken she’s hired, Loofan, is shorthanded and desperately needs a handy ground of adventurers to lend a hand.

The adventure surrounds the party coming up with the perfect date and dealing with complications as they come up to ensure the ladies can have the time of their lives together.

There are a variety of suggestions from Chandra at Planning stage, from “dinner flying above the city on “some invention thingy”...A walk around some private woods near Vitu-Ghazi, to dinner at “some of the pools tended by the Simic”. It’s the party’s job to look into these ideas and come up with the details, food, drinks, etc to make the date just right. From here they just make it happen and roleplay, guided by the DM, in what could be a whole involved thing shopping up and down the Central District, or simply coming up with a plan and moving on to the Execution.

The Execution is the date itself happening, while the DM throws setbacks at the party for them to overcome to keep the date going swimmingly (possibly quite literally if they go to the Simic Pools). The DM can come up with their own inspired by the party’s specific plans and/ or they can use the three random tables provided.

One table is for general setbacks, including dealing with Gruul anarchs, convincing Nissa not to head back to Zendikar without spoiling the surprise or even finding party planning duties for Vraska, who doesn’t want to be left out. Another table is for cooking setbacks, including dealing with a “scummy Orzhov Merchant” taking advantage of the scarcity of an essential ingredient, and the genius “The chosen cutlery is made from a very weak metal. If Chandra is holding them, and gets even mildly flustered, the cutlery will definitely melt in her hand.” The last table is for building setbacks, including a drake swooping by and flying off with something essential, and an old lady with poisoned sleep muffins! Between them there are a great many suggestions and combinations to inspire your own, which could have characters running around, fighting, fixing, filching and fu-riously making sure everything goes as planned!

Love Wins and, victorious, the party head back to Loofan to spill the tea on everything that has gone down and get paid in some shiny new magic items, and even more importantly an adorable note from Nissa that gave me the warm fuzzies and goosebumps.

This is a ridiculously fun and wholesome adventure and I love it!

Labors of Love by Frederic Walker (@korartificer)

“Ral Zarek hasn’t had a chance to see his boyfriend, Tomik Vrona, in two weeks. Work for the Izzet League has reached a boiling point...Ral still has a large workload left to complete today, but if he can find a party to help him finish his duties early, then tonight would be the perfect opportunity for a date with Tomik before the new workload hits tomorrow. But, with an unknown agitator stirring trouble in both Ral and Tomik’s guilds, aiming to create a conflict between the Orzhov and Izzet, a lot more could be at stake than the Advokist and Lightning Mage’s date.”

A wonderful summation of Ral Zarek and Tomrik Vrona, their relationship and their respective roles and duties in their guilds, is provided for anyone needing to be caught up to speed. Ending with this beautiful line: “The two keep an apartment together, far enough away from each of their guildhalls to give them a semblance of peace, or at least, as much peace as can be found outside of Selesnyan gardens.”

The rich backstory of “Vilkov...this adventure’s antagonist, a former member of the Orzhov, who lost a large amount of money by way of the Izzet League” is also provided.

The adventure comes in three chapters: • Chapter 1 - Morning in Nivix: Helping Ral and possibly getting blown up. • Chapter 2 - Across Town: Survive Azorius bureaucracy and find the boys somewhere to have a date. • Chapter 3 - Interrupted Dinner: Defend the construction site and battle Vilkov and his army of thrulls.

Hooks are provided linked to the two protagonists and their guilds, which lead you to Ral, becoming his helpers and getting to play with his lightning accumulator.

Chapter 1 - Morning in Nivix

This chapter really bring Nivix to life, as the party get to work charging up batteries for Ral, until the sabotaged battery overloads causing a dangerous skill challenge.

Chapter 2 - Across Town

This is a chapter of applying heist movie antics to admin and clerical situations...like a boss!

Ral needs planning permission so that means a lengthy bit of queueing...but this Ravnica and even in the Azorious side of town there are ways and means. Will you pay a “professional queuer” for a sweet space or use your various skills to take matter into your own hands?

Even more important and certainly more dangerous is trying to get the guys a booking in their chosen restaurant, despite it being fully booked. Do you sneaky beak and change the bookings, harass the doorman, get caught and rumble with the cops in the streets? Or do you give up and try to find somewhere else, despite their tastes being almost impossible to simultaneously satisfy?

A table of eight Ravnican restaurants are provided, including: “Krevgore’s - A chaotically loud Rakdos club, all patrons are guaranteed a good show, with some of the best food in the area.” “Lizrog’s Lounge - A Simic-run fish restaurant, where every seafood dish combines fish with something else - usually while it was alive! The food is beyond tasty, though its popularity means the restaurant is loud.”

Chapter 3 - Interrupted Dinner

Explosions at the Orrery Construction Site signal Vilkov is back up to his tricks trying to blow stuff up. He has a whole bunch of thrulls with him and it’s up to the party to hold him until the arrive and can help blast the guile and guildless goon into the Blind Eternities. This shakes out as the party needing to last a certain number of rounds against the attacking forces. This includes the new eviscerator thrulls, which are included in the appendix:

“formidable, weaponized variety of thrull, set aside by the Orzhov to typically only see use in open combat between guilds. They are quadrupeds with a pair of scythed limbs on their backs, capable of huge sweeping slashes that catch multiple enemies.”

As long as the party succeed, Vilkov is taken away by the Orzhov, corporeally or otherwise, they get paid, and the boys will get to spend the rest of the night together, walking off adorably in the rain with Ral making a magical umbrella. The Appendix contains the statblocks Chandra, Ral Zarek, Tomik Vrona, Vilkov and the eviscerator thrulls, which is a pretty awesome set of impressive NPCs and a new creature for Ravnica capers and beyond.

This is a fun adventure that allows to explore some of the city and get involved in a rivalry – nemesis situation, which is always fun. Plus, boyfriend date night!

These are beautiful, important adventures! They are also fun, silly adventures that work on their own or as part of a larger Ravnica or other big city game. Perfect for playing with a partner and just having some good, clean, queer fun! Their wonders and simply gorgeous gay artwork have been melting my soul with joy and I can’t wait for more folx to experience their awesomeness! I simply must take one last moment to absolutely gag at the perfection of StickyHunter’s art for this project. Good gods!

I cannot express just how much joy it brings me that these things exist, and I still can’t help getting all choked up writing this. Thank you.

Credits The Perfect Date was written by Beatriz T. Dias (@BiaTDias19) Labors of Love was written by Frederic Walker (@korartificer) Editing: Bace Jeleren (@BJeleren) Art: Stickyhunter (@TheStickyHunter) Layout: Anja Svare (@AnjaProductions)

My Affiliate Link https://www.dmsguild.com/product/331624/Ravnica-Pride?affiliate_id=1507682

Slime Cave of Norwal by James Introcaso (@JamesIntrocaso)

Content Warning: Threatened Violence to a Helpless Homunculus

“The farm village Norwal attracts a few tourists annually with the ruins of Orthive’s tower and the famous Slime Cave. The ruins are just the foundation of the semi-famous conjurer’s tower that blew up in a mysterious accident...”

So there’s the explodified ruins of a kinda well-known conjurer and a slime cave with a river of glowing ooze running through it, can you think of a better place for the “Cult of Slugidor, the ancient deity of oozes” to visit and try to succeed in summoning their sludgy master with the advice of the spirit of the guy who spectacularly blew themself and their tower up trying to do the same thing. If at first you blow yourself up become a ghost and advise a cult to find a “worthy sacrifice” and try again, oh and terrorise the town with minor oozes to get said worthy sacrifices to come running, as the famous saying goes.

The hooks range from witnessing gooey carnage in person, seeing the melty remains of an ooze attack, to the classic escapee from the viscous violence begging for help.

Introcaso favours Descriptive Bullet Points, a method of adventure writing becoming popular “ to help DMs parse information the first time the characters enter a new area” or generally give an overview of a place, person, information they may have, things they might say and so on. It is a style I personally favour for the reasons above because it really does make prepping and parsing in the moment easier as everything is easier to see at first glance, and I also find that this layout makes it easier for me to take in and/ or use the information in my own way, through my own words, rather than feeling beholden to the exact phrasing of boxtext (not to write off boxtext, as I do love a great bit of descriptive or narrative boxtext too – personally, I think they can be successfully used together).

The village of Norwal is Introcasoduced beautifully with an overview of the notable premises, their proprietors, and their goods and/ or services, such as “Orthive’s Tower of Pancakes, Extra Oozy Eggs, and Slime Pea Soup” available at The Oozing Inn and Tavern or Wizardly Gifts, which sells “small pots of slime for 1 sp each”. The village really lean into the slime tourism market, and who can blame them?

Once hired by the constable, it’s a case of tracking the oozes down the “astringent trail back to the entrance of the Slime Cave” (which is a gorgeous phrase) and getting gooey for their troubles as they head towards “the sound of bubbling and an eerie glow come from the gaping mouth of a cave”.

Everything you could want to know or express to your players about the cave and its denizens are broken down in handy bullet points. The cave is a small dungeon filled with tricksy cultists, all manner of aggressive slimes, secret treasures, dangers, an imprisoned ghost, a slime pool forge, and a meditation room, repurposed as a temple of Slugidor, complete with this glorious feature, “green slime bubbles from four stone gargoyle heads, creating a grotesque fountain”.

This is one of those situations when violence appears to be the only answer, as the cultists will attempt to sacrifice the party to their oozy demonic overlord. I mean I’m sure there are many different ways folx could come up with, but as written and as most players will do, if the cultists aren’t killed or at least sent packing then ole slimey is a-coming and the very least they’re going to do is make everything sticky. Honestly, it’s quite tacky (badum tish).

While this adventure is written for a 4th level party, scaling advice is included throughout to cover levels 1-3 and 5, which is a nifty touch. As is the multitude of suggestions for continuing the adventure, including cleansing the caves, more cultish crudeness and even turning the caves into a zoo...

This is simply one of those really fun and rather silly adventures that everyone is going to have a great time with. There’s a bit of everything, slime, an amusingly named village, slime, a gorgeous map, slime, unbelievably beautiful art of said slime, slime again, cultists, good times and slime. Did I mention there is slime? Like a lot of it! Oozes and jelly too!

Credits Writing: James Introcaso Cartography: Toby Lancaster (Dark Realm Maps) Artists: Dante Ezio Cifaldi Layout: Alan Tucker Editing: Christopher Walz

My Affiliate link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/328631/Slime-Cave-of-Norwal?affiliate_id=1507682

You can find my review of a larger preview of the adventures from Adventures from the Potbellied Kobold Kickstarter here:https://ko-fi.com/post/SebsPreview-Adventures-from-the-Potbellied-Kobold-R5R22DACW

You can find the Adventures from the Potbellied Kobold Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/587512440/adventures-from-the-potbellied-kobold-for-5e/

Scientific Secrets of Icewind Dale from Zeke Gonzalez (@FantasyEcology)

“It is often instinctive for many people to separate science and fantasy, but when we incorporate the two together, we create richer worlds, more dynamic encounters, and powerful motivations for characters, monsters, and NPCs alike.”

The ‘Scientific Secrets of’ series is back again with a chilling new edition serving fantastical creatures with roots in science and papers to prove it! Gonzalez et al return to entertain, educate and elevate your game with over 30 new creative creatures cooked up in their Icewind Station Zebra laboratory.

This is an unbelievably awesome, strange and thoughtful collection of creatures, exploring and inspired by science, existing creatures and sometimes strange amalgam of the two to produce some of the most of original and exciting creatures filled with fun lore, fluff and flavour as. Well as all manner of weird and wonderful abilities and traits.

From a monstrous feline with eyes that shine like candles in the night, an elemental that will steal your last breath and use your asphyxiated “corpsicle” to kill your friends; a beautiful, deadly veil of slicing fey diamond; a tremendously terrifying tardigrade that takes my adorable water siblings and warps into a nightmare of tentacles and teeth that uses your own hit dice against you; salt spray, poison on the crawler, frilled shark inspired a land worm, swallow you whole in the cold*; a soul-stealing winter weasel, a hallowed aurora of happy static from the sky; adorable reindeer-hares big enough to pull a sleigh, representing the mammals that live and adapt to the snow, a floaty swarm ‘brinicle’ beasties that deals with dangers using “the dense and more salinated mucus [to trigger] a freezing reaction in the water that surrounds it (which doesn’t seems simple if pleasant); a legendary eel spider, or spider eel, which either way is horrifying; an orchid so beautiful it will leech the heat from you; a funky elemental that takes over and powers corpses in a variety of different flavours for your needs inspired by the eternal wriggle of the dead salted frog legs; psionic land belugas; a creepy crawler with the cast of a dragon that becomes a CR 24 moth as pretty and woolly, as it is absolutely deadly; a floating angelic vision that turns out to be a tangle of paralysing tentacles and toothy maw; a big ole frozen undead mammoth and template to make it lots of frosty friends; A FREAKING PUFFIN-BEAR!!! MY HEART CANNOT CONTAIN THIS JOY! And you can use them as emergency tauntaun flesh tents; a icebound orca big splashy breaching polar bulette; tricky, Inner Planes-hopping arctic fox evee elemental absorbing adorable vulpes let’s-go-pus!; harder, better, faster, stronger golems covered in trippy, enthralling patterns; sneaky, little cousins of the remorhaz, their adorable babies and tasty little eggs; frost horses! The perfect mount for a chilly Paladin out on the ice; unbelievably gross coral mucus ooze that can string itself around things and make its own armour, but it’s hard to take much in after seeing the words mucus and ooze together; super cool ice constructs that wherever they go they always take the weather with them, bring down the temperatures and casually manifesting weapons from suoercooled water droplets on the wait, which is such a freaking awesome image; the result of starving stirges entering into Highlander combat until the last flapping absorbs the rest to form a big, scary hive mother capable birthing a cloud of stirges when threatened; a gargantuan heron with hypnotising mirage wings to attract prey, as in “an inviting log cabin with puffs of smoke emanating from the chimney” STOMP! Surprise giant birb attack!; and finally, the malignant, calcified remains of experimentation on the dead are uniquely formed with freezing stone flesh and a petrifying touch.

Whether you want to really surprise and knock the socks off your players, or you just want to read up on these fascinating fauna and the science behind them, I can’t recommend this more strongly! And if you’re running Rime of the Frost Maiden, Storm King’s Thunder, anywhere in Icewind Dale, or even somewhere it only gets a bit chilly sometimes, you need to check this out! Along the way there’s a few little hooks and insights dotted about the pages, along with a range of beautiful artwork, old, new, borrowed and icy blue. Reading through this and glancing over the referenced papers, flora, fauna, locations and effects from our own world has been an unbelievably eye-opening and rewarding experience! I’m now cold, scared and UNBELIEVABLY HYPE and excited to surprise my players with all manner of creature from this cool catalogue of curiosities!

This is one of those phenomenal, inspired projects absolutely packed with talented creators and original ideas; something really special and unique, most certainly worth you time and coin. There’s too much thought, talent and feeling in here than many monster manual and folders of fauna, for folx to miss out!

I also want to add my admiration for Gonzalez and the team for delaying the release significantly to ensure the appropriate sensitivity reading and amendments could take place. It’s not something a lot of folx would be aware of without a peek behind the scenes, but it should be recognised as a necessary element of creating the best work possible.

*to the tune of Salt Sweat Sugar by Jimmy Eat World

Credits Authors: Andrew Kornblatt, Chris Parsons, Eugenio Vargas, Kor-Artificer, Jacky Leung, Joe Raso, Jonathan Kennedy-Ellis, Kai Linder, Kirsty Kidd, Leon Barillaro, Maxine Henry, Mellanie Black, Nemo Bueno, Robert Cain, Sam Dillon, Teos Abadia, Tim Eagon, TK Johnson, Vic Harris, Willy Abeel, Zeke Gonzalez Production: Zeke Gonzalez (@FantasyEcology) Editor: Zeke Gonzalez Cover Art: “Orc Huntress” © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved. An orc huntress and her animal companion track a terrible monster through the ice and snow of Frozenfar by Dean Spencer (@DeanSpencerArt) Interior Art: Erin Anderson, DMs Guild Creator Resources, Frederic Edwin Church, Nils Adolf Erik & B. Geelmuyden, Sebastian Münster, & 1 million cats (@Sketchport) Layout: Anja Svare

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/331050/Scientific-Secrets-of-Icewind-Dale?affiliate_id=1507682

My Short Sweet Review of Matthew Whitby’s (@whtibyWrites) Waterdeep Items & Encounters

> Welcome to Waterdeep: Items & Encounters, a collection of 45 encounters with unique magic items attached set in the city of splendor, Waterdeep. > This encounter supplement for adventuring around Waterdeep is perfect during any Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign or as a prelude to Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage! > These 45 encounters are designed for characters of 1st to 5th level! Whitby writes with an obvious passion for the City of Splendour and a finely honed knowledge of D&D with a quirky perspective that allows him to create an impressive range of silly, sweet, serious and insightful encounters, as well as magic items that feel so obviously useful and perfectly natural in the Forgotten Realms. These talents continue to make his work read as canonical and essential for anyone playing in Waterdeep, or any city of your choice.

Laid out in nine separate chapters for each of Waterdeep wards for ease of reference, this is a masterwork of encounters and items surely to enhance any visit to the City of Splendours, acting adding so much to bring each ward to life with their own organic feel. Whether used in preparation for inspiration and adding characters, moments and goodies, or on the fly to add some extra excitement or diversion, this is one of those supplements you really can’t be without. Truly evergreen and eternally useful. My Affiliate Link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/330813/Waterdeep-Items--Encounters?affiliate_id=1507682

I recently reviewed Matthew Whitby (@whtibyWrites) and Ginny Loveday (@GinnyLoveDay) spectacular and incredibly original Waterdeep Adventure, Tyche’s Torment, which draws on fascinating old lore to create something new and explosive! https://www.dmsguild.com/product/328075/Tyches-Torment?affiliate_id=1507682

I had the absolute pleasure of playing in a game and cannot wait to get to give the in depth review treatment it deserves of Whitby’s magnificent and inspired Waterdeep murder mystery, Volo’s Guide to Getting Murdered, which has variety and replayability built in with different murderers and elements based on the seasons! https://www.dmsguild.com/product/308990/Volos-Guide-to-Getting-Murdered?affiliate_id=1507682

For those of you exploring Baldur’s Gate or want more goodies to populate your, perhaps less upstanding, or at least with a starker contrast between classes and the variety of dirty jobs and golden opportunities, Baldur’s Gate Items & Encounters has you covered! https://www.dmsguild.com/product/296807/Baldurs-Gate-Items--Encounters-5e?affiliate_id=1507682

Whitby’s Adventure Anniversary [BUNDLE] is a truly impressive collection absolutely chocked full of awesomeness that will keep your game going for a long while in style!

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/312350/Whitbys-Adventure-Anniversary-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=1507682

My Review of Underground Oracle’s (@UOPublishing) Spooktober 1 [BUNDLE] on DriveThruRPG (@DriveThruRPG)

What can I say other than this is the most positively spooktacular and spoopy bundle of goresomeness of top quality Six Feet Underground Horroracle supplements!

There is something for everyone with bone chilling cults and subclasses, creatures to bring terror to the table and a festival celebrating this auspicious and awesome all Pallow’s Eve of it all! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream, you’ll die!

In all seriousness this is a seriously impressive bundle of great stuff that will enhance the pumpkin-spiced season of spoops, while actually remaining relevant, fun and inspiring the whole year round.

This is a seriously ridiculous deal! I have had the pleasure of getting to play with a bunch of these subclasses and factions in a number of games, and feel so incredibly torn by how cool the Cult of Broken Bone is and a few my recent character’s swearing allegiance to the Order of the Sentinels, diligently shining the Sentinel’s Light on the face of evil and otherworldly corruption!

Credits Jess Pendley (@JessPendley) Keith Pendley (@UO_Keith)

My Affiliate Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/329545/Spooktober-1-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=1507682

(This is a placeholder until I can give this epic bundle the time and can direct reviews to the specific adventures)

Whitby’s Adventure Anniversary [BUNDLE] is a truly impressive collection absolutely chocked full of awesomeness that will keep your game going for a long while in style!

For those of you exploring Baldur’s Gate or want more goodies to populate your, perhaps less upstanding, or at least with a starker contrast between classes and the variety of dirty jobs and golden opportunities, Baldur’s Gate Items & Encounters has you covered!

(This is a placeholder review until I can give it the in depth treatment it deserves)

I had the absolute pleasure of playing in a game and cannot wait to get to give the in depth review treatment it deserves of Whitby’s magnificent and inspired Waterdeep murder mystery, Volo’s Guide to Getting Murdered, which has variety and replayability built in with different murderers and elements based on the seasons!

Tentacles & Dogs: A Horror Bundle [BUNDLE] by Isaac Mandagie (@IsaacMandagie) & Cita A F (@dancingberry)

A creepy cool bundle of awesomeness from the creepy cool couple who have burst onto the scene like tentacles from a swirling eldritch vortex!

I have reviewed And When the Dogs Start Barking in depth and this is one of the most chilling tales in the frozen North. https://www.dmsguild.com/product/327449/And-When-The-Dogs-Start-Barking-An-Icewind-Dale-OneShot?affiliate_id=1507682

I can’t wait to give When Madness Calls the in-depth cosmic Lovecraft it deserves.

Grab these weird wonders more than worth their full price at an ice-cold discount.

My Affiliate link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/330647/Tentacles—Dogs-A-Horror-Bundle-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=1507682

Justyn Johnston (@dnd_JJ) & Phil Beckwith’s (@PBPublishing) Bigby’s Tome of Creative Spell Use

This is over 70 pages of magical marvels and mechanical magnificence that magnify the multitude of manoeuvres multiplying their magnitude and moreover making you the master of masses of mega manhandling of mana to mesmerise, magnetise, mystify and massacre!

A truly original idea is a rare thing to find, so a whole supplement that both is one and then is absolutely full of this is positively mind blowing! I’ve never come across such original takes on the use and combination of magic and abilities for a wide variety of spectacular results. These results range from the surprising and strange to the powerful and shocking through insightful and inspired. This isn’t a glorified min-maxing thread, though some of these techniques will appeal to the more munchkin or power gamer, but so many more speak to the creative, cool and genuinely fascinating weavings of the weave.

The bulk of the supplement is Bigby’s Brilliant Spell Techniques, which does exactly what is says on the tin and is the handy heroes’ historic hymns to magical machinations as described above with an easy to comprehend layout that lays out all the elements and stages to achieve the special spell effects. There are some thoughtful and detailed combinations here, but the formula for how they are enacted are clear and relatively simple to follow, each with their pithy, punny and on point monikers for each technique from Artful Dodger and Chestnuts Roasting, through Mazed and Confused and My Pet Elemental, to Trojan Horse and Unseen Mule.

The last few techniques come from Bigby’s Laboratory of Latent Wonders where things get a bit more strange, esoteric and need a bit more DM, “whereas others are just too obscure in their interpretation to be easily explained by RAW. Others still, have meanings that could be interpreted in one of a multitude of ways.” These include my very favourite name and technique of the whole supplement, “T-Rexcellent Pixies”, which details how to have you and your friends to become bigger, scarier and have more teeth, essentially on tap!

I’ve truly never seen anything like this and cannot wait to get the chance to try out each and every one of these wonders, as well as being intrigued to see what antics these shall inspire and what new techniques will be divined going forward!

Project Lead: Justyn Johnston (@dnd_JJ) & Phil Beckwith’s (@PBPublishing) Writing: Justyn Johnston, Phil Beckwith, Micah Watt, Haggard Clint, Deanna Adams, Joshua Boys Editing: Justyn Johnston Cover and Page Background Art: Dante Cifaldi Layout Design: Andrew Chirgwin Artwork: Dean Spencer, Brett Neufeld

My affiliate link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/330258/Bigbys-Handbook-of-Creative-Spell-Use?affiliate_id=1507682

Darkness Beyond Reason by Jackson Lewis (@HoneyBadger349), E.R.F. Jordan & Tessa Klaire (@MiscKlaire) This is a fascinating selection of creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky subclasses that showcase the altogether ooky imagination and originality of Lewis, covering everything from curses and carrion through disease, devils, ghosts, and ghouls to patrons drawn from historical murder and knowledge, forbidden and forgotten, and much more.

There's something for everyone here, whether they are playing bad or going full evil, though many have ways in which these dark archetypes can be interpreted and played, if not pure of heart, at least somewhat goodly, as well as providing abilities and inspiration for the villains in your game.

The Druids of Circle of the Joiner, receive information and corruption from the influence of other planes, through unsettling dreams and hallucinations, and truly stand out as one of the most imaginative and twisted concepts I've ever come across, taking existing lore and abilities, but splicing them together to produce something so much stranger through the granting of totally unique wildshapes combining existing creatures. This leads to so much more variety, as well as keeping wildshape fresh as other combinations can be experimented with through the template provided, rather than falling back on the same few critters per CR bracket that clearly stand out on terms of HP or damage output.

Credits

Writers: Jackson Lewis (@HoneyBadger349), E.R.F. Jordan & Tessa Klaire (@MiscKlaire)

Editor: KathLeen Harrington

Layout: Jane Hermiston

My affiliate link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/329471/Darkness-Beyond-Reason?affiliate_id=1507682