Campaign Chronicles

The Staff of the Oaken Serpent is a short, almost club-like staff covered in a mottled green and yellow leaf pattern. The stout end of the staff vaguely resembles a serpent’s head. Constant Powers: Quarterstaff +3/+3 Invoked Powers: By touching the staff and speaking the appropriate command words, the wielder is able to cast the following divine spells from the staff at the cost of one charge (CL8 or wielder’s Druid level, whichever is higher) - Call Lightning, Entangle, Obscuring Mist, Summon Nature’s Ally V Additionally, if thrown to the ground, the staff transforms into a giant constrictor snake that obeys all commands of the owner (in animal form, it retains the +3 enhancement bonus possessed by the staff form). The serpent returns to staff form whenever the wielder desires or whenever it moves farther than 100’ from its owner. If the snake form is slain, it reverts to staff form and cannot transform or be used to cast spells for three days. Staff of the Oaken Serpent (animal fo...

While visiting the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth Forest, Romulus crafted a new set of throwing stars to replace the ones he lost when he was killed in the Jungle of Klesh on Nehwon. His original set had been made at the College of Magic in Silverymoon. They leave a trail of silver sparks when thrown. +5 Silver Small Shocking Burst Keen Returning Shuriken - set of three Damage: 1+5 plus 1d6 electrical plus 1d10 electrical on a critical hit (may throw up to 3 at once, shuriken do not gain a bonus to damage from high strength) Critcal on 19-20, Range Increm: 10'

I thought I would share a couple of ideas that I have been bouncing around for awhile. I don't think there is enough "meat" on any of these to justify an entire post so just sort of tossing them together to get them off my chest. All three of these fit best in a more modern setting or adventure.  Vampire Sleeping Bag • has pouches of grave dirt sewn into the lining for sleeping "on native soil" during the day - - - - - - - - - - Vespa 150 TAP The so-called "Bazooka Scooter" was a French light mobile artillery platform designed to be parachuted behind enemy lines. It would then be used to seek out and destroy tanks. The M20 Recoilless Rifle it was armed with was meant to be deployed on a World War I-era tripod although it could, theoretically at least, be used while mounted in its carry position on the scooter. It would be deployed in pairs and saw service in Algeria and Indochina (i.e., Korea and Vietnam). Crew:  1       Passengers:  1    ...

Mask of the Shadowling This minor magical item was inspired by the Shadows in the Forest board game. In the game, one player controls a lantern while the rest contol the Shadowlings. The lantern must locate the Shadowlings before they can all make it to a single hiding place. Any Shadowling caught in the light from the lantern becomes frozen amd their mask is removed. When a Shadowling is frozen, they may be unfrozen by another Shadowling. This white mask grants its wearer invisible and muffles the sound of their footsteps, rendering them silent as well. Exposure to any light brighter than or equal to a lantern draws the wearer into the mask itself and remain there until released by another creature wearing a Mask of the Shadowling. Moderate Illusion; CL9; Craft Wondrous Item; Control Sound, Greater Invisibility Control Sound Illusion (Figment) Level: Brd 2, Sor/Wiz 2, Trickery 2 Components: V, S, M Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal or Touch Duration: 1 min/le...

The seeds that Cedron plants on each world the party travels to quickly grow into full-sized trees native to the region they are passing through.   These trees can be used to open portals that lead to an inter-dimensional nexus between worlds.   This nexus appears to be a courtyard paved with cobblestones surrounded by fog.   Stone archways lead out of this area and into the worlds where the trees have been planted. The nexus is accessed by casting any spell from the Teleportation sub-school on the tree.   This causes a gate to appear that remains open for one round/spell level of the spell that was used.   Any number of people may pass through the portal and into the courtyard, which never seems to fill although, paradoxically, there is no room for any structures to be built within. Once inside the Courtyard, ongoing spell effects are suspended, although their durations continue to expire as normal.   Leaving the nexus allows the spell effects...

The events of this post took place when my current campaign was set in Lankhmar .  While the remainder of the group traveled north in search information that will lead them to the lair of the Devourer, their mage, Romulus remained in the city to enchant items and tend to official business regarding the party's new home.  The archmage spends most of his time in a tailor's shop sewing alongside the owner's apprentices. He whispers enchantments over the individual threads as he weaves them together. He becomes good friends with the tailor, a man named Chandler during this time. These are the details of that story... - - - - - Romulus rises from his comfy bed at the Penetrating Pony and heads downstairs for a breakfast of fried potatoes, bacon and bitter black coffee. He splits a beer with Bethilda and Monty before heading out to start on his daily errands. First, he follows the directions given him by Arthur and heads over to Craft Street to pay a visit to Arthur’s lawyer...

I am thinking  about a prequel for the Western campaign I am going to run. It would be based on my own world but use concepts from the Colonial Gothic setting and 3.5e rules for compatibility with my other campaigns . Magic would exist but practitioners stay mostly hidden because of the Salem Witch Trials, the Inquisition, etc . The party would be mostly spies, saboteurs, and troubleshooters in the employ of the Continental Army or the Sons of Liberty. There would be some Steampunk-esque inventions running around but these would be one-of-a-kind items and only rarely encountered.  One example of this technology would be Benjamin Franklin's Lightning Musket . This weapon is made of stout red oak and reinforced with brass fittings. When the trigger is pulled a forked bolt of lightning erupts from the weapons twin barrels. The bolt has a range of 150' but is wildly inaccurate, incurring a -4 penalty to attack rolls. The weapon is powered by a battery that sits on top of th...

The World's Most Comfortable Chair is a green leather armchair with a cut-out area to provide support for the user's head and neck. Anyone who sits in it is subjected to the greatest level of comfort they have ever experienced. This sense of relaxation is so intense that those seated lose interest in anything beyond sitting in the Chair, abandoning all plans in the process. June 14, 1953 - The first person who ever sat in the chair (Experimental Subject #1), announced it was comfortable and that sitting in it was the best thing he had ever done. He remained in the chair until September 20, 1976 (23 years, 3 months, 6 days).   Those who sit in the Chair must make a Will save (DC20) or become so comfortable that their only desire is to continue sitting in the chair. While seated, they speak in a drowsy, disconnected manner. They may attempt additional Will saves to escape from the Chair's influence but many choose not to unless inspired by outside forces.

Turns out that my kids are into the whole “ Beyblade ” thing and the only thing the youngest one asked for this year for Christmas was a “Winning Valkyrie” Beyblade.   Aside from knowing that the game is basically a modernized version of battling tops and that there is a cartoon to promote the toy, I knew absolutely nothing about Beyblades up until this weekend. As I watched the boys play with their new “Beys”, I found myself fascinated by their game and the way they talked about different types of strategies and customized builds for their tops.   I gave some thought to a “BeyBlog” that would focus on different combinations of parts, the results of mini-tournaments, product reviews, and maybe a breakdown of individual episodes of the show (although how they managed to wring enough drama out of top-spinning to produce three seasons of the show with over 50 episodes per season confounds me entirely). Given the age of Beyblade’s target demographic I am currently shel...

My wife was looking at rings on etsy's website last night and this ring caught my eye. It just looked like it should be a magic item. I fiddled around with a couple different ideas but this is what I came up with.  I hope you all like it and maybe it can find its way into some of your own campaigns. This silver ring looks like a cat climbing from one tree branch to another. When worn, it grants the bearer Low-Light Vision and a +2 circumstance bonus to Climb and Balance checks. Additionally, all falls are treated as if they were 60' shorter and the wearer always lands on his feet. Market Value: 3400gp Cost to Create: 4 days/136 Xp/1700 gp Prerequisites: Caster Level 12, Forge Ring, Low-Light Vision, Cat's Grace, Feather Fall

A friend shared a video on Facebook of a layman’s interpretation of the laundry codes commonly found on clothing care tags.   These bizarre hieroglyphics make absolutely no sense to anyone not trained in the minutiae of the Laundering Arts. None.   Zero.   Zilch.   Zip.   Nada.   But, like the hobo symbols and glyphs of yesteryear, these arcane sigils hold special meanings to those who know how to decipher them.   Magical writing should be the same.   If the player characters are gathered around a magical circle engraved in the floor or are trying to read the runes on an enchanted sword they found in the last dungeon they explored then Spellcraft or Knowledge (Arcana) checks or Bardic Knowledge may provide the answers they seek with a simple roll of the dice but for Dungeon Masters who like to use handouts or props for the players to pick up, handle, and inspect, a custom-made set of symbols (as long as...

Not so very long ago, one of my kids suggested that I write a blog post about using the Power-Ups from the Mario Brothers franchise.   Now, to be honest, the last Mario game I played was Super Mario 3 back whenever it came out but I thought, “Sure, why not?”   Well, it turns out that the number of Power-Ups has expanded exponentially in my almost 30 year absence.   Seriously, at the time of this writing, there’s like SEVENTY-NINE different ones available and that doesn’t even touch on the banana peels from Mario Kart. That said, instead of trying to stat out all of them, I’m just going to focus on the ones from the Super Mario Brothers game and call it good.   These include the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower, the Invincibility Star, and the 1-Up Mushroom.   That’s it.   If you want the Penguin Suit, the Raccoon Suit, or a Yoshi, look somewhere else because I’m not going to cover those here. The Super Mushroom is pretty straightforward. ...

In this article, I touch on a couple of tropes that have been applied to wizards in several series that I have enjoyed over the years and apply them to Dungeons and Dragons although they could easily adapted to fit any fantasy-themed campaign.   I touched on Familiars before but I thought I would share some other “House Rules” that I use in my campaigns. These rules apply only to Primary Spellcasters (those who receive spells beginning at first level).  Secondary casters like Rangers and Paladins do not gain these abilities. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great longevity is a trait that spellcasters in general and wizards in particular are known for. GAME RULE: Beginning at 10 th level in a Spellcasting Class, the spellcaster adds his caster level to his normal middle age, old and venerable age categories.   For example, a 10 th level Druid would reach middle age at 45 years (instead of 35), old age at 63 years...