RJD20

The next release from Wizards of the Coast is rapidly approaching. Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes , a book all about the various, long-standing conflicts of the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse, looks to be a fantastic addition to fifth edition and it’s arriving on May 18, 2018, in game stores. Over the last few months, we’ve had spouts of information come out about the book, including the names of the six chapters within. Leading up to the book’s release, I’ll be going over the six chapters, discussing the history behind each of them, and speculating about what new tales could be within! This week, I’m looking at the Blood War. Since the inception of the multiverse, law has fought against chaos. This battle has taken many forms, but none are as brutal and longstanding as the conflict between devils and demons. Known by all as the Blood War, this awesome piece of the D&D multiverse has an extended history, a ton of possible uses, and will be the expanded upon in the first c

Every Dungeons and Dragons adventure or campaign has a beginning. Once the characters are created, the world’s established, and everyone has their drinks beside them, ‘tis time to begin. The table is strangely silent and everyone looks expectantly to the dungeon master. The onus is on them to kick off the adventure. With the tremendous amount of new players and dungeon masters entering the hobby, this begs the question: How does the dungeon master begin the premiere session of a new story correctly? Today, I’ll be discussing how to do exactly this, and how the onus is not entirely on the dungeon master but split between them and the players. Of course, my method of starting a campaign off right might not be the perfect strategy, but it’s worked well for me thus far! The Opening Scene  The absolute beginning of a new story should start with an enrapturing scene. The goal here is to catch the attention of the group, immerse them into the world, and give them enough to bui

Items and artifacts often drive the fantastical stories we create while playing Dungeons and Dragons . These objects are powerful and have existed for the majority of D&D’s lifespan. Examples include The Hand and Eye of Vecna, a pair of body parts from one of the most powerful undead beings to ever stalk the cosmos of D&D, or  The Wand of Orcus , an obsidian, skull-tipped rod created by the Blood Lord himself to cement his power over the entirety of the Abyss. However, items so grand and well-known are not the only objects that can contribute to a campaign’s narrative. Sometimes, tiny and seemingly inconsequential items can shed light on a character’s past, act as a catalyst for their current situation, or provide a new path for their future, or the future of their group as a whole. These items are called trinkets. Introduced in the fifth edition of D&D with a one-hundred entry roll table in the Player's Handbook , trinkets are weird but interesting