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What’s New This Week On DM’s Guild and DriveThru RPG : 5-20-2020

10 Minute Read
May 20 2020
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Fight kaiju, teach your artificer to master the power of blood, and get trapped in a never ending mall this week on DM’s Guild and DriveThru RPG.

Titans of the Ancient World

“The earth shakes, the ground quakes, Titans live among us. In this supplement, you’ll find 7 original kaiju all Challenge Rating 30, their minions, and in-depth rules on how to roleplay them both in and out of combat.

We’ve got it all, from the silly to the deathly serious. But don’t take my word for it, I was fortunate to have Curse of Sebs (@curseofsebs on twitter) to give a preliminary look at Titans of the Ancient World and they had this to say:

“I’m sure you felt the tremors when this collection of colossal creatures was first conceived. We all watched our dice rattle and spill on the floor with the rumblings of this being penned. And now may the gods have mercy on our souls as these behemoths are unleashed, erupting from the firmament, falling from the sky, and lumbering forth, the earth quaking with their every fetid step. Lewis has unleashed something truly awful and magnificent, and by the atomic breath of so-called King of Monsters players, DMs and even the mighty Terrasque should quiver with excitement and utter terror! Seven new CR 30 Kaiju with enough lore, history, personality, tactics, seeds, and ways to work these monumental monsters into your games. These range from a dinosaur, a desperately sad goblin who got real swoll in undeath to unholy amalgamations of creatures, a diabolical double act, and a monstrous hungry worm queen and all their hive attendants.” (Curse of Sebs)”

If you’re like me it has only just now occurred to you to incorporate kaiju into your D&D games, and now you NEED to do it! this supplement gives you all the tools that you’ll need to add Not-Godzilla or Legally Distinct Bug Monster to your campaign. Will they raze the city to the ground? Will they be strangely helpful? Will fight each other and mostly ignore your players? That’s up to you!

 

Amarune’s Adventures: Vagrant in Wonderland

“Amarune’s Adventures is a series of short 3-6 hour adventures that explore the various Locations detailed in the best selling Amarune’s Almanac series.

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Vagrant in Wonderland

For 5 adventurers around 7th-level

Vagrant in Wonderland is a whimsical Alice-esque journey into the depths of Araumycos, the Great Fungus. The characters encounter Vagrant, an intrepid myconid scout living within Araumycos who is looking for outside help for a great crisis that has befallen their colony – vast parts of Araumycos are dying and they do not know why or how to stop it. When the party accepts Vagrant’s plea for help, they are led underground through a secret passage. There’s one catch: Vagrant uses the shrinking pygmywort mushroom to get them all inside – but they have no matching bigwig mushrooms left to restore them to their actual size again! The party soon discovers that the mystery of the dying colony and a fresh source for bigwig mushrooms may be closely linked…”

As a module this sounds incredibly fun and a little different. While clearly drawing inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, interpreting a myconid plague into the world has a lot of appeal for the aesthetic appeal of a Wonderland esque setting and as a mystery. In a lot of ways, I think I know what to expect from this module, and all of it sounds really appealing. But I would put money on this game having just as many surprises and sudden turns as it does expected nods to Alice’s adventures.

 

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 The Phlebotomist – Artificer Specialist

“An artificer specialist based on the concept of mastering blood to manipulate the health of allies and enemies.

Blood infusion encourages supporting your party with your infusions by giving you benefit when other people use your magic items.”

This specialization is creepy as heck and I’m sort of into it for that. Is your artificer a weird scientist? Do they appreciate biology more than engineering? Are they coming across as a little creepy to the group but nobody says anything because they’re good at what they do? If not, do you want to make that character? It may be time for your artificer to harness the power of blood.

 

The Strange Case of Jekyllhde

“Strange Case of Control

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As the characters make their way through a verdant woodland, they come across an ettin; a strange, two-headed giant, sat in tears upon a tree stump. The creature is almost inconsolable and is desperate for help.

The ettin, whose name is Jekyllhyde, has lost a barrel of his magical brew. The giant’s two heads sometimes clash dangerously; Jekyll, the right head, is calm and collected by Hyde, the left head, is wild and uncontrollable.

The lost magical concoction helps Jekyll keep Hyde under control.

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition adventure for Tier 1 characters.

Created as part of the DMsGuild Design Dash

Another module inspired by classic literature; it’s a week for the bibliophiles in the group. Get together a group of first level adventurers and help ettin find their magical brew with an adventure that will be both exciting and comfortable. Will your players be able to help Jekyll keep Hyde in check, or will an uncontrollable two headed giant terrorize the countryside?

 

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Nybor’s Tome of Enchanted Weapons

“Nybor’s Tome of Enchanted Weapons features 100 magic weapons in both uncommon and rare versions, a streamlined system for creating thousands of unique magic weapons and expanded enchantment rules for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons.

Ever found yourself looking for a magic weapon, but finding that the only interesting ones are on the wrong weapons, or are far too powerful for your characters? Ever wished that there was a way to quickly put together your own magic weapon for your character, or for your players to find in the dragon’s hoard? Ever wanted a more interesting and immersive way to craft magic weapons?

Nybor’s Tome of Enchanted Weapons is the module for you! Within this 50-page PDF created in the official D&D-style, you will find:

  • A system for combining enchantments into your own rare, very rare and legendary weapons – complete with rolling tables and a step-by-step guide!
  • 100 magic weapons in BOTH uncommon and rare versions – most new, some reinventions of familiar favorites, all carefully worded to official standards and playtested for balance and simplicity
  • 30+ common and sentient weapon enchantments – add flavor and personality to your magic weapons in a matter of seconds.
  • 12 unique very rare and legendary weapons – inspire and enrich your players with a dozen powerful new magic weapons!
  • Expanded rules for crafting and enchanting magic weapons – featuring a robust enchantment system that integrates seamlessly with the”

Expanding your list of magic weapons and items is always both good and fun, but what got my attention were the expanded rules for creating your own magic weapons. As a player or a GM looking to break a little something one of a kind to the table, that could be an invaluable and very fun tool to play with.

 

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A Complete Guide to Nautical Campaigns

“This is the complete guide to nautical campaigns in 5th ed. Everything you could need is in this book: Over 30 ship stats, Titanic Monster builders, crew stats, nearly 100 Orders you can issue to crew during battle. A totally revised combat mechanic for ship versus ship battles, life at sea rules, cargo and transport costs, new magic items, 3 new player races and 2 reworked races, underwater combat rules, and so much more – all designed to make the game fast, fun, and engaging regardless of character build!”

Not enough of D&D takes place on the sea, which is tragic consider the deep well of mythological ocean monsters and real-life creatures to fight or befriend. Sea monster builds, ships, and ship battle mechanics would all make a pirate and privateers game possible or give you the ability to add some more flavor to the travel time in between countries or continents.

 

My Players Have Unionized

My Players Have Unionized is a #BadTTRPGsJam2 game based on this tweet. When the game starts, there are no rules. As you play, the players develop rules and mechanics and the DM doesn’t get to record what they are, resulting in a slowly growing, chaotic mess of a system.

Enjoy.”

This reminds me of We Didn’t Playtest This At All. A hilarious hodgepodge of rules that always goes off the rails and is never not re-playable because it’s impossible for the same game to ever happen twice. Collect your most chaotic friends so they can “unionize” against the GM in what promises to be a very fun game.

 

Another 200 Adventure Hooks

 

“Arranged before you is a list of 200 fantasy plot hooks for prospective GMs to use as hooks for adventures in their roleplaying games. The content contained within covers a range of tones and premises, but remains firmly within the fantasy genre. You are welcome to roll randomly to select a hook for use in your games by dividing the 200 hooks into two separate d100 table, or you can simply choose a prompt that interests you. These seeds are great to improvise a session from, but are also usable as a starting point for developing a longer campaign or stroy arc. Whatever your specific needs, this product is designed to help give you something to work with when creating adventures for your fantasy roleplaying games.

This is the third list of adventure hooks that I’ve put together, but you don’t need the first two in any way to use this product. All adventure seeds are perfectly usable independently.”

I have a collection of plothooks and story starters sprinkled in bookmarks and likes throughout my various social media pages. Oftentimes coming up with a game becomes 90% easier once you have that little bit of a starter, and this collection gives you 200 to chose from. Whether you’re looking for a dramatic story, a lighthearted one-shot, or some inspiration for an arc in an already existing campaign, one of these 200 plot hooks will be the perfect fit.

 

Wizard Wounds

“Turning Magic Scars into Magic Power

The wonders of magical medicine never cease, but however well healers learn to put us back together, the magical arts will always find more grievous ways to cause wounds. Unfortunate accidents result in what are called “wizard wounds”; terrible wounds that can never fully be healed or treated thanks to lingering magical interference. These so-called “wizard wounds” (or “wiz-wounds”) come with a small boon though: they grant the user the innate ability to replicate the spell that scarred them if they survive.

Included:

  • Simple rules for using wizard wounds in your Pathfinder 1st Edition, Pathfinder 2nd Edition, Starfinder, or 5th Edition.
  • Various ways to implement wizard wounds into your game! (Everything from unrestricted use to make your players a little stronger to a count-down to your demise!)

Technical

  • Page Count: 6 (1 cover, 1 credit, 1 ogl, 3 content)
  • Original art by Rui Ferreira
  • High Resolution Full Color PDF
  • Printer Friendly Black and White Version Included”

So often in fantasy games a potion or some magic will immediately and completely cured. But with this pathfinder supplement these magical sounds would leave scars with a magical feedback of their own. This gives battles and injuries in game more weight and importance as they continue to effect the players throughout their campaign. Plus, weaponizing the spell that hurt you is a pretty cool boon.

 

Green Dawn Mall

You know what they say: you can find anything at the mall…

You entered Green Dawn Mall, looking for a lost friend. It won’t let you leave.

The Mall continues to produce shops and things to be bought, but it’s never enough.

Green Dawn Mall never ends. Green Dawn Mall is hungry for customers…

GREEN DAWN MALL is a tabletop RPG for 1 GM and 3 to 5 players, in which you play teenagers who wander into an endless, distorted mall, in search of their lost friend. The further you go, the stranger things get. Will you be able to find them and get back to the real world unscathed?

You’ll like this game if you enjoy exploration and interactions with your surroundings rather than combat, a world which is more odd than horrific, and random environments that will always surprise you—even if you’re the GM. The rules aim for simplicity: roll between 1 and 4d6, succeed on 5 or 6, and that’s about it!

In addition to a complete game system, the 96 pages of this game include:

  • A method for generating an endless succession of stores for the characters to explore
  • 36 stores with a modular description, taking into account things getting weirder and weirder
  • 252 NPCs and odd beings to populate the Mall
  • 252 odd objects for the PCs to experiment with
  • 6 Factions which are cohabiting within the Mall
  • 4 different ways of ending a session, including a confrontation with the Heart of the Mall
  • A description of the Mall’s upper and lower levels, even more labyrinthine than the rest
  • Options to play a short campaign or try other character concepts
  • A character sheet”

This is a game I want to introduce my family to at the next family game day. Exploring an unending and inescapable mall is such a fun horror angle without necessarily being scary or horrific. As a concept this game has so much potential to be creepy and very very fun. With 36 stores, more than 250 each NPCs and findable objects, as well as multiple suggestions for how to end your game, Green Dawn Mall has everything you need to trap everyone you know in a mall and force them to hang out at the Hot Topic with you.


Are you picking up anything new this week? Will you be ordering any of these titles? Which one do you think looks most fun? Let us know in the comments.

DriveThruRPG.com

Happy Adventuring!

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