D&D – Page 13 – Gamer Peak

Fantastic Beasts and How to Slay Them: Basilisk

This one’s a tricky monster. For one thing, the Basilisk appears in D&D already. In that case, it’s a many-legged, angry-looking reptile. Imagine a blue Komodo Dragon with extra legs and spikes and the ability to turn those that look their way to stone.

The second issue is that the Fantastic Beasts Basilisk is a tough ~~little~~ gigantic monster. Harry Potter obviously has the ultimate plot armour when he goes up against the big snake in the basement, but oh boy, was he stupidly lucky. A stare that kills instantly, venom that kills in minutes, and scales that reflect spells…

Fantastic Beasts and How to Slay Them: Augurey

Beast number three is an easy one. The Augurey is essentially an emaciated, noisy vulture and there’s already monster stats for Vultures in the Monster Manual. It does have a couple of neat features though. Well, I say neat, it has some slightly impressive abilities that are worth adding to its stats.

Fantastic Beasts and How to Slay Them: Ashwinder

Not everything in D&D – or Harry Potter, for that matter – is designed to kill the characters. There’s a creature called an Almiraj, which is basically a rabbit with a unicorn horn. There’s also this thing called a Flumph, a curious little floating aberration with the threat level of mouldy marshmallow. There’s also Awakened Shrubs… which are shrubs that are smart enough to talk… because sometimes you want your players to fight a dragon and sometimes you want them to have an awkward conversation with a bush.

Fantastic Beasts and How to Slay Them: Acromantula

Before going back into lockdown, I noticed that many young students were reading Harry Potter for the first time. It’s no surprise of course, but it was lovely to see a wave of new readers discovering the series. I seem to find myself revisiting the series too – I’m currently listening to Potterverse, and I often catch parts of the audiobooks my wife is re-listening to.

Firesky’s Collection of Abjuration Spells

Self promotion incoming!

Writing Dungeons & Dragons stories is fun, but there’s also something fun in coming up with the spells and magic items to use in the game.

Firesky’s Collection of Abjuration Spells is my first set of magic spells on DMSGuild.com. ‘Abjuration’ spells are all about protection, for you and others.

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One by One, They Vanish

The first time I led a game of Dungeons & Dragons, I knew I wanted to have use a story I had created. It wasn’t a vain thought; I actually felt like I didn’t want to ‘spoil’ the official stories that Wizards of the Coast had made. I wanted to make a little buffer of sorts before I got into the real thing. So I made a little seaside adventure.

Presenting another shameless self-promotion of my D&D guides:

One by One, They Vanish was my second upload to DMSGuild.com, but it was the first D&D adventure I ever made.

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Shadows in Shallow Waters

As well as my blog, and the video quizzes I’ve started making, I’ve been writing Dungeons & Dragons guides. I most do this for the joy of creating, but I do also upload them to Dungeon Masters Guild. I usually set them as ‘Pay What You Want’ or price them for less than a dollar, and I’ve made quite a few sales which is a lovely bonus.

So consider this blogpost a ‘shameless self-promotion’/plug as well as a continuation of my love for D&D.

Shadows in Shallow Waters was my very first upload to DMSGuild.com

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My First D&D Character is Still my Favourite

When people who have never played Dungeons & Dragons, talk about Dungeons & Dragons, you can tell the preconception they have straight away. Most people think of the Stranger Things version – little kids in a basement acting out their imagined battles using dice. It is totally that and much more. If you lived through the ’80s, D&D was a scary cult. I cannot confirm or deny that to be the case…

The point is that D&D is lots of things to lots of people. To me, first and foremost, D&D is a series of random thoughts, ridiculous moments and brilliant storytelling, shared with friends.

When people ask me about getting into D&D, I tell them about my first ever character…

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Why should YOU play D&D? Reason #4

One of the main reasons to do anything with a group is the moments created. Whether we’re gamers, sporty or other manner of socialite, time spent together leads to those shared, spectacular events that either make great stories, or personal, you-had-to-be-there moments. Nothing, in my opinion, generates these moments like Dungeons & Dragons. Continue reading “Why should YOU play D&D? Reason #4”

Why should YOU play D&D? Reason #3

People play games for different reasons. Some people play to win, to fulfil their need to triumph through a show of skill, logic or chance. Others play for the simple joy, unphased by who wins, uninterested in the finer points of the rules. For many, games are simply something to do with friends enjoying the social side.

That last point was the basis for my second reason for why I think you should try out Dungeons & Dragons. It is one of the most sociable games out there. I also believe that the other factors above are especially true for D&D; it can be played competitively or for the simple fun of playing a game.

Which leads me to reason #3:

Reason #3 – It has Something for every kind of Gamer.

Even if you take away the social side of gaming and strip away the inevitable fun that comes with playing any good table-top game, D&D at its core is something that can appeal to all gamers. No matter how or why you play games, Dungeons & Dragons has qualities that will appeal to you.

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