Bucket-Crown of Goblin Esteem - Weird Magic Item #21

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Bucket-Crown of Goblin Esteem

This stained and rusted bucket holds an irresistible allure for Goblins. When worn on the head as a hat, it gives the wearer friendly encounters with all goblins (but not other goblinoids, like bugbears or hobgoblins). Goblins will not attack the wearer until they attack them first and will treat the wearer with great deference, as though they were royalty. Dwarves of all kinds are unable to wear the bucket as a hat and the rusted holes in the bottom prevent it from being used to hold liquids of any kind.

Antagonist Relations Podcast 47 - It Was Not Grave Robbing (It Was)

Antagonist Relations Podcast 47 - It Was Not Grave Robbing (It Was)

The party continues to explore the Crypts of the Slain Princes, as they discover the ancient ruins in the swamp may not be as related to Orlane as they expected. Featuring light grave robbing.

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

• Player created maps
• GM Hex Map (not for player eyes)
• Trapped in the Tomb of the 14 Imperial Princesses (not for player eyes). The Dyson Logos map I'm using for this complex.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Music to Game to: Harvestman - Music for Megaliths

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

HARVESTMAN - MUSIC FOR MEGALITHS

Steve Von Till of metal stalwarts Neurosis is the force behind this moniker, but this album is not one of furious riffs and rock. Instead, synths and acoustic instrumentation mix together wonderfully, create a dark and ghostly palate conjuring moonlight forests where ancient standing stones wait for sacrifices to be offered up once again. This rich and resonant music will fit right in place as the soundtrack to many a fantasy game, especially those with a slightly darker edge.

• Vocals?...Yes, on the closer “White Horse” only.
• Music Genre(s)… Avantgarde, Ethereal, Experimental, Drone
• Perfect for… Any game where you want to add a subtle and dark foreboding atmosphere, like dark mist banks rolling through an ancient forest.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The haunting opener “The Forest is Our Temple” which brings an ancient Celtic feel with droning pipes and psychedelic guitar.

Antagonist Relations Podcast 46 - Coffin Books are the Worst

Antagonist Relations Podcast 46 - Coffin Books are the Worst

After a snafu with the recording equipment, we return to Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures with the Antagonist Relations Actual Play Crew. The party returns to the ruins in the swamp where they were previously thwarted by skeletons and take their revenge and then enter the ancient grave complex beyond.


Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

• Player created maps
• GM Hex Map (not for player eyes)
• Map of Orlane

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Minotaur's Clew - Weird Magic Item #20

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Minotaur’s Clew

When the correct command word is whispered, this ball of yarn unrolls itself and one end floats at waist height of the holder, slowly weaving its way to either the center or exit of a maze, user’s choice. The yarn cannot be cut, burnt or otherwise destroyed, but if the user does not hold the ball of yarn in their hand it will drop to the floor and cannot be re-activated until the next dawn. If there is a minotaur present in the maze, the yarn will always lead the user to minotaur instead of the intended center or exit, though it will function normally if the minotaur is dispatched. Additionally, each time it is used there is a 5% chance (1 on a 1d20) that the Minotaur’s Clew will summon a minotaur, placing the beast in the maze half-way between the user and their intended destination (either center or exit). 

Music to Game to: Kristoffer Lo - The Black Meat

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

KRISTOFFER LO - THE BLACK MEAT

I played tuba from 5th grade all through highschool, which instilled in me a deep and abiding love for the instrument, so when I saw this Quietus article about a drone album composed solely on Tuba and Flugabone I got it without a second thought… And I have been well-rewarded for my trust, The Black Meat is an album that evokes oceanic depths, vast echoing caverns haunted by melancholic spirits and the calm at the center of a storm that could roar back at any moment. While not for every game, it is a wonderful backdrop for a game that needs a bit of slow and portentous soundtrack to give it depth.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Electronic, Jazz, Ambient, Abstract
• Perfect for… Any game where you want to add an understated but haunting and lugubrious backdrop.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The eerily wistful “Front Rows Gallows View”.

Dinosaurs, Zombies and Necromancers, Oh My! – Tomb Thoughts #3

Since my last missive, we’ve played three more sessions, bringing our total sessions to five. Some general thoughts first about playing a 5th Edition game again (as opposed to running it), followed by a break for spoilers and then session notes at the end.

Firstly, I’d like to say that switching from hand-writing notes to using my tablet and a Bluetooth keyboard has been fantastic. Eliminating the need to go through my notes and decipher them as I type them up has eliminated a major pain point. I remain a steadfast proponent of a shared player document, with a player or players taking notes as a great way to create an easy to reference record of the game. We play every two weeks on Wednesdays but skipped a date as it fell on Halloween and our intrepid DM’s birthday, but having the notes let me quickly recap the previous session when we returned to the game.

With our sixth session tonight, this is the longest I’ve gotten to play a single 5th edition character. I don’t know that 5th edition is my favorite edition to play, but I’ve still enjoyed it. Frankly, the best decision I made about my character was taking this Archaeologist Ideal: Death Wish: Nothing is more exhilarating than a narrow escape from the jaws of death. (Chaotic), which has served as a prompt for me that my character should be active and helping to push the plot forward when otherwise I might hesitate. Instead of giving in to the urge to protect my precious PC at all cost, the ideal reminds me that he should be taking risks, even, or perhaps especially, potentially deadly risks, which means Ordulin Bellweather is jumping onto the backs of Zombie Tyrannosaurus Rexs and rushing forward into trapped areas to test solutions instead of hanging back and watching everything from 120ft away to plink away at foes with Eldritch Bolt.

I’m enjoying playing a warlock, though the spell slots increasing in level rather than in quantity is slightly frustrating in one regard, which is that not every spell scales with level. It’s annoying to have to decide on using a second level spell slot on Shield, which gets no bump from a higher slot or taking an extra hit from a foe to save that slot for Branding Smite which does benefit from that increased spell slot level.

We played a session in a local brewery...

**Spoilers for Tomb of Annihilation Follow**

Belt Buckles of Bonded Action - Weird Magic Item #19

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Belt Buckles of Bonded Action

These matching belt bucklers are in the shape of a thundercloud with a lightning bolt. When each buckle is worn by a pair of individuals, the wearer of a belt buckle can spend a bonus (or quick or minor depending on the action economy of the game) action to do the following as long as the other wearer is willing and conscious.

• Add to their speed up to the speed of the other belt buckle wearer. If this option is chosen, the other wearer loses that amount of speed on their next movement. The other wearer also gains +2 to AC on their next turn.
• Take an additional standard action. If this option is chosen, the other wearer loses their standard action on their next turn but gains +4 to AC until the start of the user's next turn.

Music to Game to: S U R V I V E - MNQ026

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

S U R V I V E - MNQ026

You might have heard of S U R V I V E because two of the band members are responsible for the theme and score of Stranger Things, a little known Netflix series, and I'm not going to lie, if you like the music on that show, you're going to love MNQ026 (or any of S U R V I V E's other releases, to be honest). It's that good, tense, propulsive, John Carpenter inflected throwback Synthwave perfect for any 80's influence or set game.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Ambient, Electronic Experimental, Synthwave
• Perfect for… Sci-fi and horror games where you want have a 80's throwback synthesizer soundtrack.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The pulsating and propulsive "Hourglass"

Scroll of Expedient Memorization - Weird Magic Item #18

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Scroll of Expedient Memorization

When read this scroll allows a spellcaster who memorizes, prays for or otherwise prepares spells from a list for a day to swap out one memorized/prepared spell for another that they know. Reading the scroll takes a full minute and at the end the spell swap is instantaneous. Strangely, goblin spellcasters often have these scrolls in their possessions, a fact that both puzzles and worries other wizards and clerics.

Music to Game to: Abominations of Yondo - That Remote and Awful Twilight

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

ABOMINATIONS OF YONDO – THAT REMOTE AND AWFUL TWILIGHT

Originally recommended by Warren Ellis, this is an excellent free album of eerie ambience draws inspiration from the penultimate chapter of ‘The Time Machine’ by H.G. Wells. The minimal and atmospheric soundscapes provide a fantastic backdrop for your players’ fertile imaginations to feast upon as they remain tense and slightly sinister without relying on bombast. A terrific addition to the sonic arsenal of any game master, especially one running a Cthulhu mythos inspired game.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Ambient, Electronic Experimental
• Perfect for… Sci-fi and horror games where you want to add an understated, unsettling and otherworldly tension.
• If you only grab one track, make it...All of them, you’ve got no excuse not to grab this excellent FREE album.

Door Buster Boot - Weird Magic Item #17

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Door Buster Boot

This magical left boot is always found alone, never as part of a pair. It will magically change its appearance to always appear as in-congruent as it can with any other footwear worn on the wearer’s other foot, appearing as a delicate glass slipper if the other footwear the owner is wearing is a muddy military boot, for example. While worn, this boot allows the wearer to kick open any wooden door, opening it and rendering it so that it must be repaired before it can be fully shut again. This effect is always loud as the woods splinters and breaks and can only be quieted by magical means, such as a silence spell. If the door is locked, any non-magical locks are broken--if barred, the bar is broken. If the door is magically locked, the boot functions like a Knock spell (or similar spell), allowing the door to be opened. Against doors made of metal, stone or other sturdier materials, the boot doubles its wearer’s ability to open the door with brute force and allows locks, bars and other means of fortification to be bypassed on a successful attempt. The boot provides no additional protection against traps on a door, magical or otherwise.

Special thanks to the players of my Roll20 Against the Cult of the Reptile God and Curse of Strahd players for inspiring this item.

Music to Game to: John Carpenter - Lost Themes

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

JOHN CARPENTER – LOST THEMES

Again, skirting up against the edge of my “no soundtracks” rule (already broken once and certain to be broken again), I’d like recommend John Carpenter’s Lost Themes album, which as you might guess is not music from his movie soundtracks but rather original music in the style of his soundtracks. The result is thoroughly cinematic music well suited to providing suspense, propulsion and atmosphere to any game that you want to lend a Carpenter-ian flare to.

• Vocals?...Only on the bonus remix tracks on some digital versions or as the Lost Themes Remixed album.
• Music Genre(s)… Ambient, Synthwave
• Perfect for… Sci-fi, horror and adventure games with a 80’s throwback feel.
• If you only grab one track, make it... the eerily melancholy, yet still propulsive “Night”. If you get the remix album or the bonus digital tracks, I also heartily recommend the JG Thirlwell Remix of “Abyss” which sounds a lot like Jim’s excellent Xordox tracks.

Music to Game to: Myrkur M

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

MYRKUR – M

Myrkur’s first full length album, delivers a funereal feel, with alternating wailing black metal and ethereal choral vocals. The use of Scandinavian folk instruments lends it a Norse feel and give it a bit of medieval feeling well suited to being played during a fantasy RPG setting. While the shift between the harsh screams and ghostly, beautiful melodic vocals can feel like a bit of whiplash, it will certainly help keep your players on their toes, so to speak.

• Vocals?...Yes, in Danish
• Music Genre(s)… Black Metal
• Perfect for… Dark games with a Norse flavor, where intrepid heroes battle giants in dark valleys or struggle against revenants in misty forests.
• If you only grab one track, make it... “Skaði”, which opens with thundering drums, foreboding piano and wailing vocals, before shifting midway through the song to a more operatic and epic feel and back again.

Ring of the Living Statue - Weird Magic Item #16

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Ring of the Living Statue

While worn the ring gives a +5 bonus to any saves against petrification or other effects that change ones flesh into a different substance. The wearer can also use a command word to become perfectly still and to appear as a statue, the type of which is determined on the table below when the ring is created:

d12	Apparent Statuary Material
1	Sandstone
2	Sandstone
3	Limestone
4	Limestone
5	Granite
6	Granite
7	Marble
8	Marble
9	Bronze
10	Bronze
11	Jade
12	Gold

The wearer can remain still for up to twelve hours per single day, and their flesh, clothing and all held items appear to be made of the statuary material above. Though they remain perfectly still and their hair, clothing or other items are not blown by breezes or soaked by rain, they are not transmuted into a statue and will feel like flesh instead of like statuary material if someone touches them. When they move, their retain the coloration and appearance of a statue for 1d6 rounds before the effect fades. The ring is prized by assassins who use it to lurk in places where a statue would be inconspicuous while waiting for their target.

The Eternal Boundary - Review

The Eternal Boundary, the first published module for the 2nd Edition AD&D Planescape campaign setting, I was lucky enough to get a physical copy from a friend as a gift and have enjoyed running it twice. First, using 5th Edition D&D rules and some home-brew planar race and faction options and the second time this last summer using the original 2nd edition ruleset as part of my Roll20 Great Modron March campaign. I’ve touched on the Eternal Boundary module before when I discussed using Perplexities as Hooks but wanted to do a full review.

As the inaugural Planescape module, aside from two brief single page adventure prompts in the setting boxed set, the Eternal Boundary does a fantastic job introducing some of the seedier areas of Sigil as well as the kriegstanz or undeclared war between the factions and the power of belief in the setting.

Spoilers for the Eternal Boundary Follow...

Music to Game to: SUNN O))) - Black One

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

SUNN O))) – BLACK ONE

The purveyors of sonic doom took a decidedly bleak direction with Black One, resulting in an album that drips with hopelessness, claustrophobia and terror—this, of course, makes it a fantastic album to have as the soundtrack for any number of horror RPGs. The droning riffs of base and guitar give the songs a sense of implacability… these are not tracks to play when the party faces down a ferocious dragon but rather for when they have to stay one step ahead of an immensely ancient and potent vampire who will surely slay them unless they can remain just outside his grasp until the coming of dawn. This can be unsettling and anxiety inducing music, perfect for putting your players on edge as their characters cope with terrifyingly patient adversaries.

• Vocals?...Yes, heavily distorted
• Music Genre(s)… Black Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Experimental, Dark Ambient
• Perfect for…Dark horror games where the PCs are relentlessly pursued by implacable horrors given the shape of humans across wind blasted stony stretches or deep below the earth in forgotten caverns.
• If you only grab one track, make it... the epic subterranean “Báthory Erzsébet”. The vocals for the track were recorded inside of a casket, which sounds like a gimmick but lends the vocals a desperate, desiccated sound that underline the ominous and claustrophobic dread of the song.

Great Modron March - Introduction & Chapter 1 Review

A few years ago, I picked up a PDF of the Great Modron March from the DMs Guild and then was busy running other games. Then, early last year I opened it and was immediately dreaming of getting to run it. Since I’d been playing in a 2nd Edition AD&D al-Qadim game, I decided that I wanted to run it with the 2nd edition rules it was originally intended for. A quick poll of my local players showed that I was going to struggle to get a consistent group to run in person, so I turned to Roll20 and haven’t looked back.

I’ve now run 15 sessions of the campaign, using Great Modron March as the backbone and weaving in other classic Planescape modules as well, notably The Eternal Boundary, Harbinger House and The Well of Worlds, and I would re-run this campaign in a heartbeat. I’ll review more of Great Modron March, as well as the other modules but this post will focus on an overview of the module and its first chapter.

Introduction and Background

As a Planescape fiend (pun intended), it was hard not to get sucked in by the allure of the Great Modron March… Eleven linked adventures that span from level 1 to 10 that take the PCs around the Great Wheel of the Outer Planes? Just that sounds fantastic, and that’s before diving deeper in. One thing I’ve noticed that sets the Planescape modules apart from other 1st and 2nd edition modules I’ve read is their organization. Most of them have a DM introduction, a synopsis and other bits that just make prepping much easier, and Great Modron March definitely benefits from these things. There is a great introductory chapter, a separate story prologue and then each chapter starts with a section called “Just the Facts, Berk” that lays out the Number of PCs, Levels, PCs Preferred, Factions involved and a Synopsis. This makes each chapter easy to run with relatively minimal prep.
One thing that I noticed as I read the entire module before beginning the campaign was the numerous hooks that a canny DM could seed, and so I put together a list of hooks for the players to choose hooks for their PCs that were interesting to them. Below is an abbreviated list of the hooks I pulled from the Great Modron March.

Hooks

• Ydemi Jysson - a clerk at the Hall of Speakers in Sigil (Contact)
• Hearth’s Faith, a small town on the plane of Mount Celestia
• Sir Vaimish Crasad - a Paladin lord of the gatetown of Excelsior (Contact/Mentor)
• The Tacharim - an evil order of nomadic knights that plagues the Outlands (Antagonist)
• Lil’z Rou - Githzerai Sensate namer. (Contact)
• Xaldra Miloni - Tiefling Indep and well-lanned party girl. (Contact)
• Bachalis - Half-elf Indep Wizard – (Contact/Mentor)
• Erinos Vail - Athar Mage in Rigus – (Contact/Mentor)

Another enticing prospect was the episodic nature of the module, where each chapter is reasonably self-contained and allows for other adventures to take place between the chapters of the Modron March. This has let me easily weave the other modules in, resulting in the chronology below.

Session	- Module (Sessions are approximately 4-5 hours long)
1	Great Modron March Chapter 1
2	Eternal Boundary
3	Eternal Boundary
4	Eternal Boundary
5	Great Modron March Chapter 2
6	Great Modron March Chapter 3
7	Great Modron March Chapter 3
8	Well of Worlds Hard Time
9	Harbinger House
10	Harbinger House
11	Harbinger House
12	Harbinger House
13	Harbinger House
14	Harbinger House
15	Harbinger House
16	Great Modron March Chapter 4

More Spoilers for Great Modron March follow…

Crocodile Tears - Tomb Thoughts #2

Classic Axebeak illustration...

As previously mentioned, I'm getting the chance to play in a 5th Edition D&D campaign for the first time in a while. Thomas is being kind enough to run Tomb of Annihilation and I'm chronicling my thoughts here in "Tomb Thoughts".

We had our second session and I continued to strive towards being the over-achieving player that as a DM I want to see out in the world. Continuing from my player notes from last time, I also added an inventory spreadsheet for the group as I compiled my notes from our second session. Taking notes as a player reminds me that I really do need to set up my tablet and bluetooth keyboard and practice at typing on that as the most painful thing about taking notes has been transcribing them from a notebook to the google document.

Spoilers ahoy in the rest of my thoughts on the session, so if you don't want to take a chance of any Tomb of Annihilation spoilers, do not read past the break...

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You have been warned, spoilers follow...

Music to Game to: Shirley Collins - Lodestar

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

SHIRLEY COLLINS – LODESTAR

Famed folk singer and song collector Shirley Collins first full album after 38 years, these songs are given profound and resonant backing by experimental musicians Cyclobe. A collection of traditional songs with one original composition, they draw on the British folk ballad tradition which lend them well to games set in a post-medieval, pre-20th century settings that draw on folklore. Moving seamlessly between dread, levity, sorrow and beauty, the songs provide a rich palate for any game master to draw upon to set the mood.

• Vocals?...Yes
• Music Genre(s)… Folk, Traditional
• Perfect for…Games with a folkloric or archaic feel that still have a vein of darkness running through them. 
• If you only grab one track, make it... The deceptively dark and rich “Cruel Lincoln”, where the birds sing as the murderer’s deeds and punishment are narrated.

Wand of the Wooden Spoon - Weird Magic Item #15

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Wand of the Wooden Spoon

The last magic item crafted by a potent archmage in the throes of dementia, this wand appears to be a simple large wooden spoon and it smells strongly of oatmeal. When in the hands of a spell caster who memorizes spells, the wand can be used to sacrifice two of that caster’s memorized spells in order to cast any spell the caster knows or has in their spell book or on a scroll. If the spell caster sacrifices three memorized spells, the spell they cast counts as being cast by a caster (or with a spell slot) of two levels higher. The wand will also fill any bowl or pot it is placed into with warm oatmeal flavored with cinnamon, honey and butter. For some unknown reason, this wand is prized above all other things by Derro, who will literally kill to obtain it and always seem to smell when a wizard posses it if they encounter them.

N1 in the time of 5E - Against the Cult of the Reptile God Review

Terror by night! The village of Orlane Is dying. Once a small and thriving community. Orlane has become a maze of locked doors and frightened faces. Strangers are shunned, trade has withered. Rumors flourish, growing wilder with each retelling. Terrified peasants flee their homes, abandoning their farms with no explanation. Others simply disappear...
No one seems to know the cause of the decay—why are there no clues? Who skulks through the twisted shadows of the night? Who or what Is behind the doom that has overtaken the village? It will take a brave and skillful band of adventurers to solve the dark riddle of Orlane!

One of my favorite modules and definitely my favorite of the 1st/2nd edition AD&D modules I’ve gotten to run/play, Against The Cult of the Reptile God is a fantastic low level module that you can easily translate to any fantasy RPG. I’ve now gotten to play it once, run it full through twice and I’ve broken it apart and used various pieces of it to set up the campaign and adventure locations in the Antagonist Relations Podcast Actual Play Beyond the Wall game.

What makes Against the Cult of the Reptile God great to run? (Spoilers follow)

Music to Game To: Free Nelson Mandoomjazz - Awakening of a Capital

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

FREE NELSON MANDOOMJAZZ – AWAKENING OF A CAPITAL

It’s easy to see a bit of Lovecraftian influence from the song titles on Awakening of a Capital, The Stars Unseen, The Pillars of Dagon, Erich Zann and Beneath the Sea all fit, but undoubtedly Howie would find the free jazz, doom metal inflected stylings degenerate and unpleasant – which, when you think about it, is probably what you want to serve as a soundtrack for a cosmic horror story. But another song title is the most evocative for me, and sometimes I think would serve well for as a theme song for certain D&D PC’s… “Poking the Bear” which stands out as the most playful of the album. Overall the album would serve well to bring a slightly discordant and jazzy background to any game of 20th or 21st century horror, balancing melancholic doom with a more propulsive free jazz style.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Doom jazz, free jazz
• Perfect for… 20th century games of cosmic horror.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The spasmodic and squawking “Poking the Bear”, where a yawping and frantic sax melody flies fitfully over a driving and insistent bass line and steady drumming and could serve well as the theme song for the more impulsive PCs of many a gaming table.

Into Chult -Tomb Thoughts #1

Note: I have not read the book, so if my spelling of NPC names and/or locations is off, it is because I am taking my best guess at spelling them.

For the first time since the D&D Next Playtest back in 2012 or 2013 I've got the opportunity to play in a D&D 5th Edition campaign. Now, I've played a few 5e one shots, probably 2-3 a year on average, but I haven't had the chance to play the same PC for concurrent session in a 5th Edition D&D game since it was released in 2014. Since my darling wife wanted to play D&D with Dinosaurs (aka Tomb of Annihilation) but my DM'ing plate is full, we have tricked DM extraordinaire Thomas into running the module for us and three others. (PS. Thomas has an excellent new DM's Guild Supplement out, Mercy & Justice).

Since I've been spoiled with an excellent player in my online 2nd Edition games who takes detailed and copious notes, I decided that I should attempt to take notes for the group for our Tomb of Annihilation game. And since I'm taking the notes anyway, I figure I'll also include them here on the blog as well as giving my impressions as a player moving through the module and put it all together into these posts that I'm going to refer to as "Tomb Thoughts".

Photo of my character sheet for Ordulin Bellweather, sheet is Dyson Logos' Fifth Edition Character Sheets.

Now, since I rarely get to play 5e, I showed excellent restraint and only stated out a dozen or so potential PCs and only wrote up brief backgrounds for half of those. But since I can't recall seeing a Warlock PC in any of my 5e campaigns, I settled on Ordulin (Darvin) Bellweather, a Half-Elf Archaeologist Hexblade Warlock. I went whole hog on a terrible pop-culture archaeologist rip-off too, having Ordulin adopt the name of a Realms location that seemed the most like Indiana in my five minutes of quick wiki-searching and deciding to use a whip for a melee weapon despite the low damage.

Initial Thoughts after Session 1

I'll include my character and session write-ups below, in case you want to skip those. The first session went pretty well, we started in Port Nyanzaru and Thomas gave each of our characters a few hooks. We could have probably wandered around the city doing some exploration, but I probably pushed a little hard for our party to take the very first mission we heard about. In hindsight, as I wrote up the session notes, I could see how my DM experience led me to urge the party to take action and be decisive instead of dawdling, so I need to remember to try and keep some of that in check as we move forward. We managed to make it through the evening without fighting anything, instead diving into the factional intrigues of the Merchant Princes. We traveled from Port Nyanzaru up to Fort Beluarian and back, and so far the locations seem interesting and fairly memorable, though we have not seen much. The biggest thing that stood out, was that Thomas took the time to print out the Guide pitches for us, which made deciding on a guide much easier and quicker than it would have been otherwise. It was fantastic to have the guide portrait and their sales pitches to help us decide on the guide for us. We only played for about three and a half hours, but it seemed like we were able to accomplish quite a bit, visiting two major locations, having conversations with a half-dozen NPCs, getting into some potentially dangerous shenanigans and even plotting out our travels for quite a while.

Music to Game to: Allfather - And All Will Be Desolation

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

ALLFATHER – AND ALL WILL BE DESOLATION

Thunderous sludge metal with heavy riffs, these songs should have your players feeling like their first level PCs can walk right up to that corrupt minor lordling and punch him right in the gut. From the first listen, this album has been inspiring dreams in me of getting to run a commoner rebellion campaign or to play a berserker dedicated to battling nefarious and rotten nobles. The refrain of “Citadels” sums up the fighting spirit of the album best… “Instead of burning bridges and raising citadels / We should be burning flags and raising fucking hell”.

• Vocals?...Yes
• Music Genre(s)… Metal, Sludge
• Perfect for…Dark, gritty fantasy games where the PCs fight the good fight against oppressive forces.
• If you only grab one track, make it... “Citadels”, the perfect theme song for a game about commoners battling decadent and corrupt nobility. 

Bird's Eye Talisman - Weird Magic Item #14

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Bird’s Eye Talisman

This silver pendant is shaped like a raven’s skull. When you hold it in a hand and close your eyes, a shadowy raven appears above you, thirty to forty feet up, tethered to you by a strand of shadow. You see through the shadow bird’s eyes and with concentration, you can move this vantage point as fast as a crow can fly, though control is clumsy. When you open your eyes, the shadow bird dissipates slowly, as does the shadow strand that links it to you. The shadow bird cannot move through physical barriers that would impend a natural bird and has normal vision, even if your character has low-light, dark or infravision. No magical divination or special abilities can be used through the pendant. There is no limit to how far the shadow raven can fly from you, but no matter how far it ventures from you, the shadow raven is always tethered to you by an ever-elongating strand of shadow, which a perceptive or canny enemy could use to trace their way back to you.

Antagonist Relations Podcast 45 - Cellar Gases

Antagonist Relations Podcast 45 - Cellar Gases

The third of three parts of our August 2018 Beyond the Wall Actual Play Episodes, now separated into bite size chunks for your audio enjoyment (or at least, not an listenable 3 hour podcast).

The party ventures down into the cellar of the Golden Grain Inn, unsure of what macabre secrets they might stumble upon...

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

• Player created maps
• GM Hex Map (not for player eyes)
• Map of Orlane

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Music to Game to: Walker Harris English - Walker Harris English [OF013]

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

WALKER HARRIS ENGLISH – WALKER HARRIS ENGLISH [OF013]

Few things are finer in life than listening to Thor Harris playing the dulcimer, which makes this album a delight, but the archaic feel that a dulcimer evokes for most players will also make this album great for gaming too. In addition to the dulcimer (both acoustic and electric), Thor plays bass clarinet and is joined by field recordings from Conor Walker with bass drum and electronic treatments by Lawrence English. The sparse instrumentation lends the album an eerie feel, suspenseful without relying on intense spikes in dynamics and the lack of traditional rock instruments gives the music a ghostly timeless feel. This music would fit right in for a more subdued session of Call of Cthulhu or Ravenloft.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Drone, Experimental
• Perfect for…Any game that could benefit from etherealness and low-key eerie suspense.
• If you only grab one track, make it... “The House Part II”, which opens with a haunting electric dulcimer melody, that then splits and divides like an amoeba, cleaving apart and back again.

Parasol of the Daywalker - Weird Magic Item #13

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Parasol of the Daywalker

This pink silken parasol casts a much darker shadow than the diaphanous material would lead an observer to guess it would. There is enough shadow for a single human-sized creature to stand in. It allows a creature that would otherwise take a penalty or damage due to sunlight to avoid taking that from normal daylight. It also gives a +5 roll to any checks against heat exhaustion or other weather conditions that could be ameliorated by an umbrella or shade. It can be made to float above a creature with a command word, leaving both of a user’s hands free.

Antagonist Relations Podcast 44 - Save Vs Dad Joke... Fail!

Antagonist Relations Podcast 44 - Save Vs Dad Joke... Fail!

The second of three parts of our August 2018 Beyond the Wall Actual Play Episodes, now separated into bite size chunks for your audio enjoyment (or at least, not an listenable 3 hour podcast).

The party find ruins in the swamp and suffer a setback, but persevere. Also features a commercial for Sweetberry Goodberries...

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

• Player created maps
• GM Hex Map (not for player eyes)
• Map of Orlane

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Antagonist Relations Podcast 43 - Snake Steaks

Antagonist Relations Podcast 43 - Snake Steaks

The first of three parts of our August 2018 Beyond the Wall Actual Play Episodes, now separated into bite size chunks for your audio enjoyment (or at least, not an listenable 3 hour podcast).

The party ponders the arson that occurred in Orlane while they slept and head into the swamps... where they encounter a snake, will 'o the wisps and consider if they qualify as murder hobos...

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

• Player created maps
• GM Hex Map (not for player eyes)
• Map of Orlane

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Draught of Learning - Weird Magic Item #12

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Draught of Learning

This bottle contains a foul smelling, black liquid that appears to be ink. When a cup of this liquid is drunk by a spell caster capable of learning new spells, that spell caster automatically succeeds on the next check they make to learn a spell. In addition, the time required to learn the spell is reduced to 1 hour. If a spell caster takes a second drink, they must make a saving throw vs poison or suffer one of the consequences below:

2d12	Draught of Learning Consequences
2	Spell caster "unlearns" a random spell they already knew and can never re-learn it.
3	Spell caster loses a level.
4	Spell caster loses 1 point of Dexterity
5	Spell caster loses 1 point of Dexterity
6	Spell caster loses 1 point of Strength
7	Spell caster loses 1 point of Strength
8	Spell caster loses 1 point of Strength
9	Spell caster loses 1d4 hitpoints
10	Spell caster loses 1d4 hitpoints
11	Spell caster loses 1d4 hitpoints
12	No negative effect
13	No negative effect
14	No negative effect
15	No negative effect, but the Spell caster automatically fails the check to learn the spell.
16	No negative effect, but the Spell caster automatically fails the check to learn the spell.
17	No negative effect, but the Spell caster automatically fails the check to learn the spell.
18	Spell caster loses 1 point of Constitution
19	Spell caster loses 1 point of Constitution
20	Spell caster loses 1 point of Constitution
21	Spell caster loses 1 point of Charisma
22	Spell caster loses 1 point of Charisma
23	Spell caster cannot learn any additional spells for 1d4 months
24	Spell caster loses a point of their primary spellcasting ability.

Music to Game to: Narcosatanicos - Body Cults

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

NARCOSATANICOS – BODY CULTS

I’ve been re-reading Richard Kadrey’s “Sandman Slim” series, and listening to Body Cults to prep this review, all I could think is that this would fit right into the jukebox at the punk tiki bar, Bamboo House of Dolls. Intense, noisy, wonderfully sleazy and with enough swing to make it feel dangerously gleeful, like a serial killer winking at you as he wipes the blood off his blade. The album feels like an alternate soundtrack to a particularly unhinged 70s low budget splatter film, transporting you a realm of dangerous chases, desperate escapes and brutal combats.

• Vocals?...Yes, deeper in the mix or incoherent screams.
• Music Genre(s)… Noise Rock, Psychedelic Rock
• Perfect for…Horror games that need an intense and sleazy soundtrack with a 70s vibe.
• If you only grab one track, make it...”Television Dreams” which roars in on a whirlwind of guitar, sax and drums and then only gets more intense after it slows down to show you the full terrifying scope of its sonic vision.

Antagonist Relations Podcast 42 - "Karaoke Dreaming Explosions"

Antagonist Relations Podcast 42 - "Karaoke Dreaming Explosions"

The Antagonist Relations Players take a short detour from Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures to playtest an early draft of "Cleanup in Aisle Five" a Starting Adventure I'm writing for the post apocalyptic Godless of the Shadow of the Demon Lord RPG by Schwalb Entertainment.

With Part Four, "Karaoke Dreaming Explosions", the PCs deal with the aftermath of the party at Bluthammer Grocery, an oasis of safety and supplies in the midst of the wastes.

You can find my reviews of both Shadow of the Demon Lord and Godless on the Antagonist Relations blog.

"Pitchfork Sad" - A review of Shadow of the Demon Lord
Godless: The World of Fire and Blood (review)

Please take our listener survey here.