Hook and Chance

Some monsters are meant to merely distract a party of adventurers, and some are meant for the spotlight. This monster is the latter. It combines elements of some of the greatest horror classics like The Thing and Body Snatchers. Its abilities are well-considered for horrific tension building, and it can mess with people's minds to no end. That's why we are super excited for this episode, where we get to dissect and put together the Oblex into a haunting adventure.

This episode gets real specific, then real broad. We started with the fact that meditation is unique to elves in the D&D world. and the most we've seen on the subject in our games has been "cool, I have four hours to kill every night while my party sleeps." Well, we wanted to get into what makes the minds of people in the real world that spend a lot of their time meditating unique, and apply that to elves. So we did just that!

Too often is this spell discussed only in relation to its conditions and mechanics. Immerse yourself in the inky blackness that is darkness, and make sure the next time you use shadow magic, it feels fantastic.

So here we are. You want to throw a combat at your party that's dynamic, overwhelming, strategic, and involves multiple waves of enemies that get increasingly harder. When pulled off properly, these moments can be among the most celebrated in your whole campaign. Join us as we talk about how to pull it off while avoiding all the mistakes we've personally made before, and leaning into the strengths of this particular form of encounter.

Fighters are unique in that they dont necissarily come from a particular legend or source, like Druids or Bards. A fighter is... a fighter, someone who fights. The whole of human history we could draw inspiration from has fought. Like a menu with far too many options, the choices of what to inspire you when creating a fighter can be so many, it's paralyzing. It's no wonder we end up making so many people that hit stuff with a sword, as opposed to characters we find compelling and unique.

These creatures have so much potential as villainous foes. Almost too much! Evil entities from alien realms, hyper intelligent and terrifying in every way. All the detail and lore is great but it can be challenging to portray at the table, and the biggest crime would be to throw these brain suckers at the party like any other stat block. So we're looking at the things we like the most, and considering how we can use that to inform our portrayal of Mind Flayers in our games. This episode will focus more on the culture that defines Mind Flayers as a whole, then our next episode will focus in on how to make them as horrifying as possible.

When creating your character, when was the last time you considered how they learned to fight with any real weight? If you've ever done it, congrats! You got us beat. That's why we've got an incredible guest on today to share how to add an onion's worth of layers to our characters fighting styles. James Mendez Hodes has written, designed, and culturally consulted for a ton of different games, and also has deep personal experience with martial arts and world history. This leaves him super equipped to guide us down the rabbit hole of martial culture in a way nobody else can. Also, he's a senior developer on Avatar: The Last Airbender Roleplaying Game, currently in the middle of a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign.

These creatures have so much potential as villainous foes. Almost too much! Evil entities from alien realms, hyper intelligent and terrifying in every way. All the detail and lore is great but it can be challenging to portray at the table, and the biggest crime would be to throw these brain suckers at the party like any other stat block. So we're looking at the things we like the most, and considering how we can use that to inform our portrayal of Mind Flayers in our games. This episode will focus more on the culture that defines Mind Flayers as a whole, then our next episode will focus in on how to make them as horrifying as possible.

Want to capture that feeling when the game keeps picking up steam, the tension is rising, and everyone's in sync, almost instinctively knowing the flow of the game? Well, we wanna make it easier to get there, and we're going to do it by talking about the building blocks of the best action movies. Following this structure can keep the pace going and enrapture your players, making them feel like the odds are against them moments before they celebrate their hard won victory.

Overlooked cantrips are some of our favorite places to look for creative gameplay opportunities. This one covers a lot of ground. Since it has so much potential, however, it's easy for it to become a game de-railer, whether you get an overcautious GM that doesn't want things to get out of hand, or an overzealous player that wants to break the game with a low powered spell. In this episode, we hope to find a great middle ground that keeps things fun, challenging, and full of surprises.