Tag Archives: Dungeons & Dragons 5e

More Cruel Trinkets of the Mad Gods

Once again, we have more cruel trinkets for Dungeons & Dragons 5e that could prove to be both a blessing and a curse to those who dare to use them.

You can find the original Cruel Trinkets of the Mad Gods, on the blog.

Thank you to Codex Anathema, who inspired this post and are hosting this month’s RPG Blog Carnival.

Cruel Trinkets of the Mad Gods

Eager Blade

Weapon (longsword), rare (requires attunement)

This polished +2 longsword grants you an additional action after a successful attack, once per turn. You must use this extra action to attack an enemy with the Eager Blade or, if no enemy is within reach, to attack an ally or bystander. If no other target is available, you are instead incapacitated until the end of your next turn, as you attempt to bring the weapon under control.

Fire Emblem

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

This red ruby is set within a brooch of red gold. You have advantage on Charisma based checks involving fire elementals and creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire. Additionally, any d6s you would roll for fire-based spells step up to d8s.

Whenever you take a long rest, make a DC 2 flat check. On a failure, a 5-foot-square area within 1 mile of you is set ablaze. This fire is affected by the prevailing conditions and will spread if sufficient fuel — such as dry grass or wood — is available.

I hope you enjoyed these devious treasures. It’s always more fun when there’s some risk involved.

I wonder who might have created them? Maybe an elemental lord of fire had the fire emblem made for his most trusted envoys, but his craftsmen were unable to fully contain the elemental power within the gem? Just imagine if an NPC was wandering around with one of these around their neck.

Do you have any sneaky items or cruel trinkets you’ve created? Did your GM ever fox you with a real stinker? We’d love to hear from you, in the comments, below.


Image Credits: darksouls1

Cruel Trinkets of the Mad Gods

Mad gods bestow cruel trinkets on those who dare ask for a boon. Here are two magical items for Dungeons & Dragons 5e that could easily prove to be both a blessing and a curse to those who dare to use them.

Thank you to Sea of Stars, who’ve inspired this post and are hosting this month’s RPG Blog Carnival.

The Headhunter’s Coin

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

This silver coin has a skull depicted on one side and a pelvic bone on the other. As an action, you can designate a target creature you can see and flip the coin. Make a flat DC 11 check. If you succeed, your threat range for all attacks you make against the target increase by 2, so a roll of 18, 19, or 20 is a critical hit against the target. A roll of 18 or 19 can still miss, unlike a roll of 20, which is always a hit.
If you fail the flat check, you instead suffer a -2 penalty to your Armor Class.
The bonus or penalty lasts until the target is destroyed or until another creature attunes to the headhunter’s coin.

Cruel Trinkets
Image Credit: BlackDog1966

Deadman’s Hand

Wondrous item, unique

This mummified hand clutches four playing cards; two black aces and two black eights. A creature that handles the item becomes instantly attuned to it, and loses attunement to a random item if no free attunement slots are available.
While you are attuned to the deadman’s hand, you gain no benefit or penalty from it.
If you lose the deadman’s hand or become unattuned to it, you suffer a -2 penalty on death saving throws until you become attuned to the magical item again, or through a remove curse spell.

I hope you enjoyed these cruel trinkets. If you’ve tried them out in your game, let us know how your players got on, in the comments below. Or maybe you have some of your own nefarious magical items to share, then pop those down in the comments too.


Image Credits: darksouls1

What Makes or Breaks an RPG Web Store?

Sometimes a discussion on the Internet is just too important to ignore, and this post, by Owen KC Stephens, concerns you, our customers. Owen asked about previous customers on Paizo’s RPG web store, and his questions concern how you’re able to access our products, as well as those by other great third party publishers of Pathfinder and fifth edition content. If Owen’s post applies to you, we’d love to hear your feedback.

Our own Rising Phoenix Games RPG web store is growing, and we’d love to be able to offer you the experience you want. If you have any feedback for us, feel free to contact us or drop a comment below. I’ll be keeping an eye on Owen’s thread too, because your opinion matters.

Speaking of online stores, please do check out Rising Phoenix Games on Paizo.com. Buying from our own store is always the best way to support us, but our partnerships with companies like Paizo.com, the Open Gaming Store, Drive-Thru RPG, and Itch.IO mean that you can get your favorite Rising Phoenix Games books and supplements at your favorite online store.

The Best Way to Support RPG Creators

If you’ve ever wondered where your money goes when you buy RPG books online, then hopefully this will shed some light on the subject. The best place to support RPG creators, by revenue split is:

  1. The creator’s own website. We get 100% of the profit off each sale made through our store.
  2. The Open Gaming Store.
  3. Paizo.Com
  4. Drive-Thru RPG or other One Bookshelf (OBS) sites. DTRPG and sites like Drive-Thru Cards take a 35% cut of the profit. That said, their tools make promotion and contractor payments far easier, their staff is very helpful, and their library of titles is the largest on the web, so we’ve always been happy to sell through them.
  5. Community creator sites, like the Dungeon Masters Guild. The DMG takes 50% off each sale, which is likely shared between Wizards of the Coast and OBS.

Don’t Miss the Newsletter

I’m busy putting together the final touches for this month’s newsletter, and it’s a whopper. Don’t miss out, subscribe to the Rising Phoenix Games newsletter today. Each monthly issue includes exciting product news, discounts, and free fiction from the Valkyrie: Ragnarok saga. I’ll be posting an excerpt from the story on the blog too, but subscribers get to read more and subscribing is totally free.

 

Phoenixes of the Realms — Fire Fowl of Faerûn

Phoenixes of the Realms is our newest title on the Dungeon Master’s Guild. The book is a comprehensive collection of phoenixes and phoenix related player options, including seven phoenix subspecies. And you know how much we love phoenixes.

Phoenixes of the Realms

Here’s what you’ll find inside:

  1. The Desert Phoenix (Huge, Challenge 10)
  2. The Desolation Phoenix (Gargantuan, Challenge 18)
  3. The Imperial Phoenix (Large, Challenge 14). inspired by the Chinese Fenghuang and Japanese Houou.
  4. Two new flaming feathered familiars, including the Shield Phoenix.
  5. Rules for phoenix feather magical items.
  6. Phoenix Guardian monastic tradition
  7. Oath of the Phoenix sacred oath.
  8. The Miniature, Frost, and Hydro phoenixes.

Phoenixes of the Realms Page 5

Origins of the Book

Phoenixes of the Realms converts the rules, which first appeared in Phoenixes — A Field Guide (Pathfinder RPG), to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. It includes new rules and is now set in Faerûn, though it is more of a monster and player option book than a setting book. Ismael Alvarez did a great job of converting the rules, while Anja Svare handled layout. We’ve added more magical phoenix feathers to round out the offering.

Phoenixes of the Realms Page 14

The book is available on the Dungeon Masters Guild and is sure to be an invaluable addition to any campaign featuring these flame-feathered creatures. It also supports the OGL, so you can add a little phoenix magic to your own roleplaying projects.

 

Rising Phoenix Games’ RPG Con is On

Rising Phoenix Games’ RPG Con is this week, all week, right here on the blog!
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Phoenixes of the Realms is 20% Off, during RPG Con only. Grab it while it’s, erm, hot.



Aurora’s Christmas at the Realms Emporium

Aurora’s Whole Realms Catalogue was a supplement for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd-Edition, packed full of fun and useful items for your characters. Now, we’re revisiting Aurora’s Whole Realms Emporium for some early Christmas shopping!

Aurora's Christmas Catalogue

Friends of mine, Ismael Alvarez, Kim Frandsen, and Troy Daniels kindly asked me to join them in revisiting Aurora’s Whole Realms Emporium, this time for D&D fifth edition. We’ve been doing so for a while now, with a Summer, Autumn, Winter, and now a Christmas catalogue published on the Dungeon Master’s Guild.

Need the perfect gift for the barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard in your party? Look no further.

 

Aurora’s Whole Realms Spring Catalogue is in the works, and will soon go off to editing and then layout.

Aurora’s Christmas — Behind the Scenes

A magician never reveals their secrets, but, besides the fact that we deal with magic all the time, I’m no magician, so let me show you a little about what happens behind the scenes during the making of any Aurora’s Whole Realms Seasonal Catalogue.

First, one of our developers becomes a 17th-level wizard and learns the gate spell. We then pool our collective resources, sell a few unnecessary organs, and purchase a diamond worth exactly 5,000 gold pieces. The exchange rate between South African Rands and gold pieces has never been great, so we don’t go for flashier bling, or cut corners. Our dev then teleports to Faerûn to speak directly with Aurora.

On his probable return, the developer sits down with the rest of the writers to produce an accurate translation of the latest seasonal catalog from Common into English. We then have our ash dwarves layout the document in MS Paint, before fairy magic turns the document into the glorious PDF available for purchase.

It’s worth noting that we don’t use any gnomes during the process, they’ve already got plenty of other work to keep them busy and can’t spell ‘catalogue’ to save their lives.

Rising Phoenix Games’ RPG Con is On

Rising Phoenix Games’ RPG Con is this week, all week, right here on the blog!
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Join us for articles like this one, interviews, discounts, and more RPG fun!

 

Tuesday’s post was the next installment in the Valkyrie: Ragnarok series of fiction: Flight Through Bastion.

A Special Bonus, Just for You

You made it to the end of the article, so here’s a 20% off coupon on Aurora’s Christmas, just for you.



Madness Cards for D&D Fifth Edition

As sanity slips away, draw Madness Cards to decide your character’s mental affliction.

‘In a mad world, only the mad are sane!’
— Akira Kurosawa

Madness Box Cover
Madness Box Cover

A pack of Madness Cards contains 60 cards; two copies of 30 unique afflictions, each with a short term, long term, and indefinite madness, including afflictions from Arcanaphobia to Zoophobia, compatible with the Fifth Edition OGL.

Check It Out

You can see our in-depth look at the Madness Cards on YouTube:

The free printable rules leaflet is available on Drive Thru RPG. It goes into the differences between the cards and the madness rules in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. It’s not a big difference, really, and we’ve tried to keep these as intuitive as possible.

Madness Cards Set
So many cards.

The cards themselves are pre-cut, poker-sized, with rounded corners, and they come in a handy card box.

Our Design Philosophy

Madness Cards were designed to be intuitive, with all the rules you need printed on each card. Nobody wants to page through reams of text at the table, so having everything on a poker-sized cards makes things easy. We included two copies of each card so that the DM and afflicted character’s player could each have a copy.

We wanted a connection between the various madnesses, so here each card’s content is grouped by affliction, such as Vampirism, Claustrophobic, or Delusions of Grandeur. Each level of madness affects your character in different ways, with short term madness mostly affecting combat and indefinite madness affecting how you roleplay your character.

 

Most of the rules text is brand new, so you can give up on that stuffy old table in the DMG.

South African Limited Print Run

If you’re in South Africa and are interested in a pack or two, let me know by contacting us through our Contact Page. We’re looking to do a limited print run of the cards locally, to defer some of the high import costs involved in getting the cards from the US.

 



Genjutsu Master, the Illusionist Monk Tradition

The Genjutsu Master is an illusion flinging monk tradition for Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition.

Genjutsu Master Cover

Use your ki to cast illusion spells to fool your enemies, with 22 Genjutsu Disciplines to choose from.

Genjutsu Master Phone PDF Sample
The book includes a phone-optimized PDF, for ease of use at the table.

What is Genjutsu? It’s the art of creating illusions and affecting reality.

Disciple of Genjutsu

The genjutsu master learns how to mold their ki and manipulate the ki of others to produce powerful illusions. Some use these abilities to become invisible spies and assassins, while others use them to entertain or manipulate the masses. The way of the genjutsu master is therefore carefully guarded and shrouded in secrecy, with each sensei carefully choosing their students and testing them before even the most basic skills are taught.

Genjutsu Disciplines

Genjutsu Disciplines work in the same way as Elemental Disciplines: you spend ki points, as an action, to cast them. With Genjutsu Disciplines, you cast illusion spells, turning your monk character into a master of deception and trickery.

Unlike the Elemental Disciplines, you gain access to a few more utility spells, such as phantom steed. These spells don’t have much use inside combat — although spamming the battlefield with horses seems like fun — but having access to them gives your character the utility an illusion-focused caster needs.

Get the Genjutsu Master on the Dungeon Masters Guild.

More Where That Came From

The Genjutsu Master follows on from the Street Fighter, the combo slinging monastic tradition, featured last week.

Are there any other monk traditions you’d love to see, like a Naruto-style shadow clone technique, a pro wrestler, or a 5e version of The Karate Kid? Let us know in the comments below.

And don’t forget, this brawler tee is available for a limited time only, from our Trophy Room:



Street Fighter, the Combo Slinging Monk Tradition

The Street Fighter is a combo slinging monk tradition for Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition.

Street Fighter Cover
Rockin’ the retro!

The archetype includes four abilities: Combo, Round Two, Ki Blast, and Signature Move. Let’s break those down:

Street Fighter Phone PDF Sample
The book includes a phone-optimized PDF, for ease of use at the table.

Combo

Combo lets you string unarmed strikes and monk weapon attacks together, turning them even more deadly. The downside is that there are very few ranges attacks that work with this ability, so you’re going to need to get in close and personal to get the most from this ability.

Round Two

Round Two gives you a chance to jump back into the action quickly, with the disadvantage that you’ll be stunned just before gaining the full benefits of this ability. If you can survive that one round without taking damage, then you’ll get your chance to turn the tables.

Ki Blast

Hadouken! Smash your opponents from a distance and string this together with your melee attacks for powerful combos. Of course, you’ll need to tap into your ki to do so, but the added versatility is worth paying for.

Signature Move

Build your own moves from a list of options, which you choose when you gain this ability. Go in close or take another ranged option, then tweak the damage type to fit your character’s concept.

The Street Fighter is a unique take on the monk that leverages the key features of the class to create a close combat combo combatant that’s a lot of fun at the table.

Get the Street Fighter on the Dungeon Masters Guild.

And don’t forget, this brawler tee is available for a limited time only, from our Trophy Room:



Undersea Fantasy Names, the Ultimate Guide

We’re busy putting the finishing touches on our first Undersea Sourcebook (that’s a big reveal),  which will be a player’s guide to undersea adventures in Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition (that’s two big reveals). The guide features loads of races, each with a list of names like in the Races chapter of the Player’s Handbook. Here are a few undersea fantasy names, to help you name your next underwater character.

Undersea Fantasy Names
Photo credit: Nsey Benajah

Merfolk Names

Merfolk parents choose names for their children that reflect the nature of the sea, invoke images of the ocean, or signify freedom or purpose. Merfolk also have a tribal name, which they’ll use when dealing with merfolk from another tribe. Merfolk rarely use their tribal name around other races, and then only if they have significant reason to do so. Even among friends, merfolk regard mentioning their tribal name as an unnecessary vanity.

Male Names: Adrian, Aegir, Aukai, Bellerophon, Calder, Celsion, Clarion, Dorian, Dover, Drake, Ezeel, Kai, Lachlan, Marlowe, Merrick, Oceanus, Poseider, Ridley, Rio, Tritonis, Zale, Zander

Female Names: Adrianna, Aeriel, Athena, Azure, Azurine, Coraline, Diana, Dione, Doriana, Echo, Eldoris, Fontanne, Galiana, Lana, Madison, Marinella, Nerio, Oceana, Pearl, Ria, Umiko, Undina, Ursula

Tribal Names: Aquillon, Deepfin, Gaion, Laviathon, Moontide, Moray, Nautilon, Neptune, Oceanor, Titanus, Waverider

Naiad Names

Naiads choose their own names when they come of age, and prefer names that are lyrical in nature. They have no clan or family names, though they may name themselves after the body of water they have recently bonded with, such as Khev of Dessarin and Loreley of Lac Dinneshere.

Male Names: Akdish, Bhom, Dakdoov, Dashion, Dhegor, Dhev, Dibam, Ebdordon, Embohz, Ghaaja, Jenjor, Khaav, Khajon, Khev, Memendev, Nagnesh, Naash, Omden, Shevshin, Vahz, Vanvin, Vor, Zekovion

Female Names: Ahni, Avya, BaIrafen, Basheena, Bura, Cerenya, Cini, Faadhi, Felfe, Ferrafin, Fifavi, Hamnaa, Laffuuna, Lidyh, Loreley, Lyrdu, Merdimy, Mirizan, Phibi, Rulfaya, Semfe, Welladuuna, Weni

Selkie Names

Selkies often adopt names similar to those of the people who live near to their colonies. As such, selkie names vary greatly from region to region, though they almost always prefer shorter names. Selkies have no clan or family names, and may refer to the region their family inhabits when introducing themselves, such as Runn of Boatscrape Cove, from Waterdeep.

Male Names: Albi, Coll, Conn, Bhim, Blake, Brenn, Brian, Bert, Des, Don, Dylan, Finn, Harper, Jock, Kay, Kel, Lloyd, Mort, Neal, Rhone, Rob, Runn, Ted

Female Names: Ada, Adele, Celeste, Ceridwen, Cordelia, Enid, Fiona, Gail, Gioga, Kay, Kaylen, Loreley, Lynn, Moon, Muriel, Myfanwy, Nadine, Ondine, Raine, Sapphira, Saraid, Thora, Ursilla, Varona

Make Your Own Undersea Fantasy Names

If you’re looking for more ideas for you own undersea fantasy names, I found loads of inspiration on fantasynamegenerators.com. Start there, find a name you like, then change it to suit your needs. Look for shorter, easier to pronounce names, since those are more memorable and far easier to use while roleplaying.

More Undersea Adventure

If you enjoyed this, you might enjoy the free monster preview available on the Dungeon Master’s Guild:

Till next time, play good games!

Rodney Sloan
Rising Phoenix Games

Check out our store, subscribe to our newsletter for monthly updates, and visit us on our blog, our Facebook page and on Twitter.

 

Player Options: Druids and the Divine

Druids and divine characters rejoice! Two new books from our friends at D20PFSRDPublising.com are jam-packed with player options to help you build the characters you’ve always wanted to play.

Forces of Nature, Book 1: Druids

This first one’s for Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition and written by Ed Kabara.

Player OptionsFrom the marketing blurb:

Forces of Nature, Book 1: The Druid is the first in a new series of roleplaying game supplements for 5e from d20pfsrd.com Publishing focusing on wilderness oriented classes, this one focuses on the Druid.

“When nature calls, I reply. When nature speaks, I listen. And when nature angers, I destroy.”

This book introduces tons of new options for druids including:

  • 10 New Circles: Circle of Decay, Circle of Fury, Circle of Green Knights, Circle of Swarms, Circle of the Beast, Circle of the Ley Weavers, Circle of the Pack, Circle of the Stalker, Circle of the Trees, and Circle of the Winding Journey
  • 16 New Feats: Animal to Augment, Art of the Kill, Companion of the Wanderer, Designated Survivor, Hardy Wild Shape, Fury of Nature, Focused, Hide of the Forest, King of the Forest, Nature Provides, Oaken Skin, Powerful Friends, Powerful Summoner, Practiced at the Hunt, Preternatural Senses, and Sought Summoner,
  • 5 New Magic Items: Cloak of the Harvest, Mystic Moss, Staff of the Gatherer, Staff of the Pack, and Whistle of Command
  • 1 New Playable Race: Wilderlings
  • 6 New Companion Plant Creatures: Flowering Moss, Gasping Flower, Giant Flytrap, Grabbing Seaweed. Spanking Spruce, and Tumbleweed
  • 21 New Spells: Call of the Earth, Change Race, Cursed Provision, Dust to Dust, Fingers of the Forest, Forest Defenders, Harmful Growth, Heart of Winter, Limb Rot, Nature’s Bounty, Nymph’s Hideout, Overgrowth Armor, Remove from Nature, Return to Nature, Return to the Land, Supernatural Focus, True Power of the Land, Unnatural Growth, Walk with the Beasts, Wild Aegis, and Wooden Guardians

All this AND MORE await you in Forces of Nature, Book 1 – The Druid

GET IT HERE

Manifest Destiny, Book 2: Cult & Clergy

The second book of player options is compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and is written by Beth Jones.

Player Options

The marketing blurb goes like this:

Manifest Destiny, Book 2 – Cults & Clergy is the second in a new series of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game supplements from d20pfsrd.com Publishing focusing on those in tune with the gods and this one gives a general use to anyone with a deific bent.

“It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.”

This book introduces many new options for these types of characters including:

  • 1 New Domains: Inspiration
  • 1 New Mysteries: Transformation
  • 13 New Archetypes: Avatar of Freedom (Skald), Ayurvedic (Druid), Celestial Druid (Druid), Chosen One (Cleric), Clan Champion (Ranger), Divine Herald (Bard), Dune Dancer (Oracle), Exemplar of Faith (Inquisitor), Holy Protectorate (Warpriest), Inspired Conduit (Inquisitor), Outback Oracle (Oracle), Sneak (Oracle), and Truthsayer (Oracle)
  • 7 New Spells: Debilitating Diatribe, Greater Guidance, Inspirational Sermon, Mantle of Martial Prowess, Serpent Strike, Siphon Infidel’s Strength, and Terrifying Aura.

All this AND MORE await you in Manifest Destiny, Book 2 – Cults & Clergy!

GET IT HERE

I was the copy editor on both projects. We worked hard to deliver useful, balanced player options. I hope you enjoy them.

Rodney Sloan
Rising Phoenix Games

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