Music Monday - Ice Nine Kills

Around this time last year, my friend Chris turned me on to the band Ice Nine Kills. They've become my favorite band since. Their most recent album, The Silver Scream is entirely based on horror films and they've had an ongoing storyline in the official music videos. The story line was completed last week with IT is the End. Check out all five parts below.

Part I - The American Nightmare 

Movie: A Nightmare On Elm Street

Part II - Thank God It's Friday

Movie: Friday the 13th

Part III - A Grave Mistake

Movie: The Crow (not a horror flick, but horror-adjacent)

Part IV - Stabbing In The Dark

Movie: Halloween

Part V - IT is the End

Movie: IT

I know their style might not be for everyone, but I love them. I'm actually going to see them in Cleveland two days before Halloween!

Succubus Sunday

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Dwayne "The Rock Golem" Johnson

I hope I keep finding awesome 5e wrestling content! For a version that you can actually read, click this link.

Carl Weathers... Planeswalker?

Apparently Carl Weathers is now a Planeswalker. That's cool!

Deer Leg Numb Chucks

Josh and I like to send each other stupid pictures with the message "I have something for you to stat up." I did this yesterday and he took me up on the offer. I think this is a fun way to have non official releases from The Lone Bards, so expect more of them in the future.

Music Monday - Awaken

Here's another fantastic League of Legends video, this time featuring vocals from Valerie Broussard.

Music Monday - Rise

You guessed it, the video for this Music Monday is another League of Legends one.

Succubus Sunday

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Legendary Wrestler Review

I can't help it, I have a sickness. While looking for more 5e wrestling content I found this fantastic supplement on the DM's Guild.

Legendary Grappler is an outstanding pwyw pdf. The main focus is the legendary wrestler archetype for the barbarian. The archetype is a great blend of classic and professional wrestling. Unlike some barbarian archetypes, the path isn't really about dealing a lot of damage. Instead it focuses on grappling and working as a team.

In addition to the archetype itself, there is also a page of lore that can easily be fit into most D&D cosmologies. The pdf presents three different wrestlers. Garnox and Vindrel are detailed and given face (good) and heel (evil) options. Both also has three different stat blocks: amateur, champion, and legendary. In addition to the brothers, the villainous sahaugin Khululukul is given stats. A former conqueror, he became obsessed with wrestling when he was defeated by the legendary wrestlers.  He only has one stat block and is a good challenge for characters of 10th or higher. Finally the pdf two sizes of printable miniatures for Garnox and Vindrel.

I am really impressed by this pdf. It's 19 pages of well rounded content. Not only do you get a new archetype, you get characters based around it, and game lore. Additionally, the pdf is gorgeous. The layout and artwork are professionally done.

Still not convinced you need this one? Check out the video below, created by the publisher.

D&D Plays MJF

I love the D&D and Wrestling community. In response to the heat MJF has been building with his feud with Brandon Cutler, folks have created monster stats for him. Now I really want to make a Warlock of Chris Jericho and take him on. 

Maybe MJF doesn't play D&D, but now D&D can play him!

(insert evil laughter)

For a full size version of this image click this link.

Satanic Panic (5E Spell)

This new spell was inspired by this comic panel.

Satanic Panic

1st level (paladin) or 2nd level (bard, cleric) conjuration

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Self (30' cone)

Component: V,S

Duration: 1 Minute (Concentration)

You project a 30' cone of pure holy celestial power. Each fiend in a 30-foot cone must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or drop whatever it is holding and become frightened for the duration.

While frightened by this spell, a fiend must Dash action and move away from you by the safest available route on each of its turns, unless there is nowhere to move. If the fiend ends its turn in a location where it doesn't have line of sight to you, the fiend can make a Wisdom saving throw. On a successful save, the spell ends for that fiend.

The Wrassler (DCC)

I decided to follow up D&D&W with a corrected version of the class that was in my mini DCC zine I took to GenCon. 

Download The Wrassler for DCC PDF

D&D&W (Dungeons & Dragons & Wrestling)

I've mentioned this a few times, but I love wrestling. Recently my love of wrestling and my love of D&D have combined.

This is Brandon Cutler. He wrestles for the exciting new promotion, AEW. He's a gamer and as you can see, he has polyhedral dice going down the side of his tights. He's currently feuding with heel (bad guy), MJF who posted this on Twitter.

I don’t play dungeons and dragons. pic.twitter.com/RqIk9Nk1nh

— Maxwell Jacob Friedman™️ (@The_MJF) September 17, 2019

There have been a few good reactions, but my favorite's have been from Joe Manganiello.

Joe straight up murdered him with that one. Matt Mercer also chimed in on the conversation.

It's getting buzz. ComicBook.com posted this article. I mean seriously y'all, Muscle & Fitness posted an article about this. What a magic time to be alive.

Minsc the Mighty

I love Minsc. He's was my favorite party member in the Baldur's Gate games and is my favorite D&D hero. Looking for things on the web today, I found these two images from WotC. The first is a sample from D&D Young Adventurer's Guide: Warriors & Weapons. The second is from Dragon Plus.

The images have been hyperlinked, so click them for larger versions. I made a double sided print and now I have a really cool guest character added to my D&D binder.

Music Monday - Legends Never Die

League of Legends has the best trailers/music videos.

Succubus Sunday - Gajuca Cosplay and Jess.Velour (NSFW)

I placed that image there so that the preview doesn't show anything lewd. 

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New 5E Sidekick - Chitter the Spider

This week I picked up the D&D Essentials Kit. I love it and it is hands down the best of the three boxed sets out right now. I'll try to do a review next week. One of my favorite aspect of the boxed set is a small part, but in some ways is a codified game changer for 5e. There are official rules for followers (called sidekicks). They're pretty generic (Spellcaster, Expert, and Warrior). There are stat blocks (with customization) and rules for how to adjust them as the character levels up. The set also has cards that feature artwork on one side and description, personality, ideal, bond, and flaw for sample followers.

I talked with Josh about taking this idea and making it our own versions of these. They will be specific characters, with stats, and rules for increasing their abilities as characters level up. Here's a sample of what I'd like to do with this in our format. I've also made tied it into Dragon of Icespire Peak (the Essentials Kit adventure). Also like the sidekicks in the boxed set, he only goes up to level 6, though for our planned Companions book they will go up to level 20.

You might be hard-pressed to find an adventuring companion more unusual than Chitter. Hailing from Neverwinter Woods, Chitter is a medium sized spider more intelligent than the rest of his cluster. When they were destroyed by the dragon Cryovain, Chitter hid and bid his time. It saw an opportunity to destroy the bringer of the dreaded cold in the form of the man-things. These beings show great strength despite their soft fleshy bodies. Chitter will aid them in their goals if they help him defeat Cryovain.

Introduction: Chitter will quietly stalk the adventurer(s) to gauge their abilities. When it decides they can be of use, he will aid them in content, perhaps preventing an ambush, while speaking of an alliance in a halting raspy sounding common.

Goals: Destroy the dragon menace known as Cryovain, learn more about man-things

Likes: Drinking warm blood, music

Dislikes: The cold, strong perfume/cologne

Quirks: Doesn't understand humanoids (especially their emotions)

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Chitter (1st Level Companion)

Medium beast, neutral

------------------------------

Armor Class 13

Hit Points 11 (2d8+2)

Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.

------------------------------

    STR     DEX         CON       INT       WIS      CHA

12 (+1)   16 (+3)      10 (+0)    8 (-1)     12 (+1)   4 (-3)

------------------------------

Skills Perception +3, Stealth +7

Senses blindsight 10’, darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages Common

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Spider Climb. Chitter can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without need to make an ability check.

Web Sense. While in contact with a web, Chitter knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.

Web Walker. Chitter ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Actions

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Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+3) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 7 (2d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. If the poison reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is stable but poisoned for one hour, even after regaining hit points, and is paralyzed while poisoned this way.

Chitter Beyond 1st Level

2nd Level - 16 Hit Points (3d8+3) - Hunter. On Chitter's turn in combat, it can take a Hide action as a bonus.

3rd Level - 22 Hit Points (4d8+4) - Agile. Chitter becomes proficient in Dexterity saving throws. This grants him an additional +2 to Dex saving throws.

4th Level - 27 Hit Points (5d8+5) - Ability Score Improvement. Chitter's Dex. score is increased by 2, raising the modifier by 1, so incease the following numbers by 1. the saving saving throw bonus, the Stealth bonus, and the bonus to hit and damage with its bite attack.

5th Level - 33 Hit Points (6d8+6) - Web (Recharge 5-6).  Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one creature. Hit. The target is restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained target can make a DC 12 Strength check, bursting the webbing on a success. The webbing can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 5; vulnerability to fire; immunity bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage).

6th Level - 38 Hit Points (7d8+3) - Extra Attack. Chitter can attack twice, instead of once, whenever it takes the Attack action on its turn.

Thank God It's Friday (Free PDF)

Because it's Friday the 13th and I love that movie franchise, I've compiled a short pdf for use with Dark Places & Demogorgons and Vigilante City that contains stats for all of the villains from the flicks.

Friday the 13th Slasher's Manual

Also, enjoy this Friday the 13th themed video by one of my favorite bands, Ice Nine Kills.

Beard or No Beard

Thanks to my good friend, Tim Knight, I've recently discovered Northumbrian Tin Soldier. While looking at their site, I noticed they have several bearded dwarven lady miniatures.

What are you feelings about dwarven women and beards? While it's not common to see in mainstream D&D artwork, I've always imagined traditional dwarven women with facial hair (or at least a nice thick set of muttonchops). Dwarven ladies that shave are beards are rebels (much like Violet in Rat Queens) or those that spend more time with non-dwarves than their kin.

What are you thoughts? Do your female dwarves typically have facial hair?

Warlock Is Jericho!

@DrewDwarves has created a hellafun new Warlock patron for wrestling fans. Now your 5e warlocks can serve a patron that's truly worthy: singer, entertainer, and wrestling god Chris Jericho! You can get high quality images of the content via the tweet embedded below.

Since @AEWrestling wouldn't give @IAmJericho his "Thank You", this is on behalf of the #DnD community 🍾 Time for #ALittleBitOfTheBubbly pic.twitter.com/GMYnFbTnVm

— DrewDwarves #DMsGuild (@DrewDwarves) September 9, 2019

A Quick Primer to Yugoloths

While going through some older issues of Dragon+, I came across a few comics that could really be handy for anyone who's going to run Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus.  In issue issue 22, Jason Thompson presents a couple of comic pages with descriptions of the fiendish mercenaries. There's a pdf download link that contains the two panels below and a collection of really cool Yugoloth magic items for 5e.

Music Monday - Drunken Dwarves

Apparently Wind Rose are a dwarf metal band. First they did an outstanding cover of Diggy Diggy Hole and now this.

Succubus Sunday

I had this issue at some point. It had some cool stuff in it.

Source: Fred Fields

Welcome Aboard!

This is a fun video that was a YouTube recommendation for me today. I vaguely remember watching this when it came out last September. It's excellent inspiration for a White Star or Starfinder game. Check it out!

Are You Ready For Some Siegeball?!

The Siegeball Sourcebook is a 35 page fantasy sports sourcebook by Mage Hand Press. I stumbled on this recently and I'm happy I did. For a long time I've wanted to add something like this to my games. I think campaigns should have things like this. Jousting and tournaments are fun, but kind of boring too. I like fighting leagues and arenas, but I want something else too. Blood Bowl is cool, but too much for just a party to do in my experience. That's why I think Siegeball would be a great addition to my campaigns.

The game is relatively simple. Two teams try to smash a ball into an opposing teams tower and destroy it. Actual D&D rules for playing it are simple too, fitting on just three pages. The writers have even broken down into actions that can be taken by players. There are also different variations of the game (described in the Degrees of Rules section).

Chapter two present a few new game related class archetypes. They are Path of the Die-Hard (Barbarian Path), Star Player Martial Archetype, Dirty Player Roguish Archetype, and the School of Charade (Wizard Arcane Tradition). They archetypes give you definite advantages playing Siegeball but are all also useful outside of combat.  The chapter ends with five feats. They aren't super useful outside of the game, but are still a nice touch. The magic items on the final page are cool rewards granted to champions. There are also items made to help cheating and others to help officials.

The next chapter details new equipment and magic items for the game. There are four new weapons and three types of armor. Something that really had me chuckling that I thought was a nice touch was the inclusion of an illegal performance enhancer, Jax.

The next chapter focuses on tournaments. The chapter starts by discussing using tournaments are campaigns (and what that looks like at various levels). There's then discussion setting up tournaments. The Siegeball Championship is highlighted. This is followed by various prizes that can be awarded. Finally there's an example tournament.

Chapter Five focuses on arenas. There's a handy d20 chart quickly outline arenas and their traits. There are also several actual example arenas. What's great about these samples is the fact you get pdf grid maps of them. They'd be wonderful to print out and use. There's a short section discussing variant rules for playing the game in three-dimensional arenas, zero-gravity, and underwater. Can you say Blitzball?

The following chapter discusses teams, coaches, and sponsors. While I think sponsors are kind of silly, especially since a lot of these are cheesy, I don't know if I'd use them personally. The chapter also includes eight sample teams and printable stat cards for each one. If you were creative you could make trading cards with them.

Finally the pdf ends with a one page appendix with a d20 chart of game twists. This is followed by a list of patreon supporters and your standard OGL info.

I know everyone might not want to include something like this, but I really like it. Not sure if I'll ever run a Siegeball-centric campaign, but I think it would be a cool element to help flesh most campaign worlds. I'm already thinking about how I would use the game in the Forgotten Realms. I might write up a few teams and a bit of revisionist lore for the Realms to include Siegeball.

You can grab the pdf from the Mage Hand Press store for 4.99... or you can support them on Patreon and get it at the 1 dollar a month supporter level. They have a lot of great content and you should support them.

Throne of Eldraine Trailer

Wizards of the Coast dropped a trailer for the Magic: The Gathering set and it's whimsical, epic, and kind of sad. The new set is faerie tale-centric, which is a great theme. It seems the three little pigs and the bears from Goldilocks have seen better days. Check it out.

Half you ever had a faerie tale style D&D campaign? If so, how'd that go?

The Children of the Gods

I've not got a chance to check it out yet, but Tim has a new witch book, The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch Tradition, and it sounds phenomenal (and will pair perfectly with his last release). 

Old Gods Rise! 

“Who knows not Circe, The daughter of the Sun, whose charmed cup Whoever tasted, lost his upright shape, And downward fell into a groveling swine?”  - John Milton

Sumer. Egypt. Greece. Rome.

These are the foundations of civilization. Where mythology, religion, and magic collide in a fertile land.

It is a time of Gods and Witches!

This book introduces the Classical Witch Tradition. Witches from the ancient time of myths and legends.

- The witch class and four new combination classes
- Guidelines for playing any species of witch
- Six witch covens of the Classical Tradition
- 120 Spells and Rituals for witch characters
- 24 Monsters to challenge or be allies
- 29 magic items and six artifacts
- Three Non-player character witches from pages of mythology

Fully compatible with BLUEHOLME and other Basic-Era games.

Fully compatible with other witch books from The OtherSide.

You Want Weapons? We're In A Library!

I had an idea for a short 5e supplement. I haven't come up with a name for it, but it would be something like Cade's Big Book O' Booze. However instead of being a booze related zine, it would instead be a book related one. My thought is create a mystic library that can be dropped into any game. I also have a new idea for an arcane tradition for wizards. Tossing around ideas, but right now my thoughts are lorekeeper, mystic archivist, arcane librarian. I'm thinking their tradition powers would allow them to magical shield books and scrolls, as well as copy the contents quickly via magic. In addition, I would follow this up with a brief rules on how to use books in your game (what bonuses they could provide and things like that). I'd give a few sample books and tie everything up with a d100 random book generator. 

I love this idea because it combines my passions, librarianship and gaming. What do y'all think? Is this something you'd add to your game?

Succubus Sunday

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