Legends tell of bards who can lull dragons to sleep or call down storms with their music, but how does that translate into RPG terms? “Monstrous Music” is an article for TRAILseeker that explores the music of dragons, fey, giants, and harpies, complete with bardic masterpieces your characters can learn pertaining to each of those creatures.
Every Dungeons & Dragons game needs monsters, and the Creature Codex provides more than 400 new fiends and foes for your fantasy RPG experience.
The designers of the Creature Codex, Kobold Press, have a strong reputation for quality, imaginative products, which is why the Kickstarter for the book exceeded its funding goal by more than $200,000. If you didn’t participate in the Kickstarter, you can still order the book in print and PDF at KoboldPress.com and DriveThruRPG.com.
Why am I plugging this product (other than the fact that I love a good monster book)? Because it features my first publication for D&D 5th edition. My creature, the Corpse Thief, appears on page 66.
While I’m partial to my own creation, there are a ridiculous number of other creatures, both menacing and weird, that make a great addition to any D&D-style RPG. Some of my other favorites include the Light Dragon, the Keg Golem, and the Kitsune.
Bottom line: check out the Creature Codex now!
Parts of the Pathfinder Playtest seem like a jarring change to the system to me. That’s mostly because I spent 10 years running a game that used very few rules beyond the Core Rulebook or the Beginner Box. The major change to the action economy and the removal of old multiclassing, for example, feels weird.
That said, I did stay on top of new rules releases as part of my whole freelance writing thing, so I can see that many of these major changes still have Pathfinder DNA. If you’re wondering where all these changes came from, it mostly boils down to a decade of optional rules expansions.
Paizo Publishing released their first look at the next edition of Pathfinder last week, offering a free playtest rulebook that people can use to put the new system through its paces. Character customization remains a large part of Pathfinder’s appeal, but the process by which you create your hero has changed.
Has it changed for the better? That depends on what you want out of the Pathfinder RPG.
A diamond mine is valuable enough, but its worth skyrockets even further when placed in a world that uses diamonds to power spell components that can make your skin as hard as stone or even raise the dead. The latest addition to TRAILseeker explores the city of Mooncrest, located on the edge of a crater that holds a rich diamond mine. The article provides details about Mooncrest, a list of movers and shakers within the city, and notable political powers such as the mysterious Resurrection House.
Spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi below.
Of the many points of controversy in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the behavior of Vice Admiral Holdo ranks as one of the film’s most frequent criticisms. Why couldn’t the film have used an existing character, like Admiral Ackbar? Why does she have such a problem with ace fighter pilot Poe Dameron? And why didn’t she avoid a mutiny by letting others aboard the ship know she had a plan to escape the First Order?
Based on the failure of her plan in The Last Jedi, you could argue that she should never have held the position of command that she did. But while she was far from perfect, she actually filled her role much better than most fans give her credit for.
I’m late to the party when it comes to The Last Jedi, but the fact that I didn’t see it until seven months after its release gave me a chance to witness the controversy around the film. Fans either love the film or hate it, and for a myriad of reasons. Of all the controversial points in the movie, the portrayal of Luke Skywalker seemed to serve as the biggest lightning rod, and I find this controversy very interesting.
