Another DM's Guild product from Thomas and I, Heroes of the Icy North is packed with new options...

Heroes of the Icy North 

 Three new Race Options: Ice Genasi, Furchin Halfling and Glacier Dwarf.

• Eight Class Archetypes:
  • Path of the Beast-Shirt Barbarian
  • College of the Cold Hearts Bard
  • Hearth Domain Cleric
  • Way of Elemental Ice Monk
  • Oath of Honor’s Command Paladin
  • Conclave of Recovery Ranger
  • Aurora Soul Sorcerer
  • School of Necryomancy Wizard.
• Eighteen Spells providing new options for using ice and surviving frigid climes.
• Nine Magic Items providing new treasures to be found in the north.
• Other supporting options for the hardy adventurers of the north.

The Path of the Beast-Shirt Barbarian is inspired by the old Vikings Sourcebook, just like Runecasters of the North.

This is the DM's Guild product to get if you want to have a Log of Snoring or a Yeti Hood Cloak... 

Runecasters of the North - Long Time, No Blog

 Long time, no blog... I've been busy running two to four games a week, plus playing in another one to two a week, dealing with life and then this global pandemic, but I recently did a thing! I wrote a 5th Edition D&D supplement for the DM's Guild called "Runecasters of the North" with an assist from Thomas. 

Runecasters of the North

After the Giant empire of Ostoria fell in the war with dragons, Annam All Father went off to discover new weapons to bolster the might of the giants. After a thousand years, Annam returned, having discovered the secret of rune casting. Since that time a select few adventures in the North have wrested the mysteries of runes from the giants and unlocked their power. This supplement provides:

• Rules to integrating Rune Magic into your game.
• 3 class archetypes: The Path of the Rune Carver Barbarian, College of the Rune Skald Bard and Pact of the Rune Scribe Warlock
• 3 feats for characters to unlock and improve their rune magic.
• 24 runes for rune casting characters to master. 
• 3 creature and NPC options for Dungeon Masters looking to add rune casting allies and adversaries to their games.

The product was heavily inspired by my days in middle school reading and re-reading the old AD&D Viking Campaign Sourcebook and I hope that others will get some enjoyment out of playing a Runecaster in 5th Edition D&D. We're hoping to have a joint packet out soon that will be stuffed with even more arctic themed 5e options for the new Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden adventure and I will post when that is completed and on the DM's Guild.

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.

Music to Game to: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik – Skuggsjá (A Piece for Mind and Mirror)

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.

IVAR BJØRNSON & EINAR SELVIK – SKUGGSJÁ (A PIECE FOR MIND AND MIRROR)

Commissioned for the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution, the album aims to tell the entirety of Norwegian history. Fans of the Viking TV show might recognized Einar Selvik from his work on that soundtrack, and like the music for that show, Skuggsjá makes use of many Norse folk instruments. Ivar Bjørnson is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the black metal band, Enslaved, so there are some black metal vocals, if that’s not your bag. I got the album to use as inspiration and soundtrack when I was running my (unfortunately) short-lived Jokilaakso saga, but it’s made its way into my wider rotation of gaming music as the mix of metal guitar and folk instruments provide an evocative Norse feel for any game and since the lyrics are in Old Norse and Norwegian your players are unlikely to be too distracted by following along to the words.

• Vocals?...Yes, Old Norse and Norwegian
• Music Genre(s)…Folk, Folk Metal, Nordic
• Perfect for…Viking Epics or anything with a strong Norse theme.
• If you only grab one track, make it…“Rop Fra Røynda – MæFra Minne”, which opens with a raven’s call and feels like the dirge Viking warriors sing as they gather their dead from the battlefield.