Ranger D&D Monsters

By R.J. Compton on 9 April 2023.

Rangers are formidable combatants. They make excellent allies in numerous scenarios. As Dungeon Masters, though, we might wonder how they could become foils to our heroic parties or merry vagabond bands. Despite their less-than-welcoming reception in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, rangers still provide a host of abilities, narrative strands, and wild ideas to Dungeon Masters for custom D&D monster creation. Look in the current edition of D&D, gaze into the past, and pick what you like. You're bound to find a nice mound of ranger-scented truffles.

Today, that's what we're exploring: how to make a D&D monster with the ranger player class. 

Like any sensible ranger, let's rush right into the fray.

A Simpler Approach

While crafting a set of traits of our own may be fun and thought-provoking, there is a simpler way to attach ranger abilities and ideas to D&D monsters. Let's check out this simplified method before delving deeper.

Gather and peer through the various ranger subclasses in fifth edition D&D, or look at rangers of editions gone by. Pick a feature, steal it, and plop it right on a monster. There you go: you have a ranger-like monster to pit against your party. Here are a few great ranger subclass features to attach to your monsters.

• The Gloom Stalker's Umbral Sight. The monster gains darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If they already have darkvision race, its range increases by 30 feet. They are also adept at evading creatures that rely on darkvision. While in darkness, they are invisible to any creature that relies on darkvision to see them in that darkness.
• The Horizon Walker's Distant Strike. The monster gains the ability to pass between the planes in a blink of an eye. When they use the Attack action, they can teleport up to 10 feet before each attack to an unoccupied space they can see. If they attack at least two different creatures with the action, they can make one additional attack with it against a third creature.
• The Hunter's Horde Breaker. Once on each of the monster's turns when they make a weapon attack, they can make another attack with the same weapon against a different creature that is within 5 feet of the original target and within range of their weapon.

Identify Ranger Traits

Alright, time to go in-depth.

Before we even start crafting monsters, we need to identify what traits of the ranger class we can swipe and insert into our monsters to further flavor and embolden them. Each of these major traits can be used to build a set of possible abilities or background bits.

What do you think about a goblin defined by the decrepit caverns he wanders? Or a bugbear who specifically hunts other bugbears? Perhaps a fire giant who swaps between multiple weapons in a battle, each crafted in the fiery forges of the obviously best variety of giant?

Let's define the obvious ranger traits.

Wild Spirit 

Generally, rangers are free-ranging and intimately connected to the unbounded straits of land. Forests, plains, mountains, swamps, caverns, and deserts are where they roam best, though a select few might treat urban environments as their wilderness of choice. Rangers typically take on aspects of the region around them in their personality, appearance, and even combat technique. For example, a ranger who lives in a forest might have a firm personality like the trees around them, rely on a strong support system as each member of the forest family relies on each other, and abhor civilization from tearing apart the forest to build mockeries of the ranger's own home.

Imagine a goblin ranger who embodies the mushroom grove he lives in. The goblin wears a mushroom cap hat, carries pouches filled with dangerous spores, lives inside a massive mushroom, and even has an odd dog-shaped mushroom companion. Mix a ranger combat trait or two into that and you have a unique, mushroom-obsessed goblin ranger.

Favored Foes

Since I've played D&D, I've associated rangers with the favored enemy trait. Whether it was third edition, Neverwinter Nights, or the wacky implementation of the concept in fifth edition, I'd always look forward to crafting my own ranger around their favored enemy. You can do the same with a monster. However, if it's going to be battling the characters, do your diligence and ensure its favored foe is in the party. It won't be an interesting enemy trait if it doesn't ever come up in battle.

Imagine pitting a kobold with a pension for hunting halflings against your primarily-halfling group. How about a balor demon with a fierce hatred for elves and is able to sense them miles away? Maybe a hill giant who embraces the fine art of dwarf smashing? The favored foe trait need not only provide combat bonuses to this ranger monster, but it can also provide plenty of storytelling opportunities for you and the rest of the group.

Numerous Fighting Styles

Why stick to one way of fighting when you can style on your foes? A classic function of the ranger is a wide range of weapon combat options. An elven ranger may specialize in dual-wielding longswords and weaving quickly through the bloodshed. A dwarf ranger might practice archery and outshine even the finest human archers. Another could wield only a battleaxe, or a scimitar and shield, or a greatsword of mighty proportions. Plus, each of these rangers could swap between these fighting styles swiftly; one round they might dual-wield, the next they may retreat behind cover and loose a volley of arrows.

Elf by artborne-wd.

This is a great way to make a battle dynamic. A ranger-based monster can focus not on a wide array of abilities, but on a decent arsenal of different weapons to swap between.

Light Nature Magic

Nothing extravagant emerges from the ranger in the form of magic, but any monster inspired by them could have minor connections to nature magic. Easily, you can just drop the exact Ranger spells from any Player's Handbook onto your monster, or slightly retool them if needed. We can do this with a few Ranger spells from the 2014 Player's Handbook, such as thorn whip, entangle, and hail of thorns. It need not be extravagant; it'll provide new options and new flavor to a usual, bland monster.

Make Ranger Trait and Monster Lists

Armed with what makes a ranger and what will translate well to a D&D monster, it's time to make lists or a table of the potential monsters and ranger-inspired abilities and traits. One list needs a bunch of ranger traits. The other should be a batch of monsters you can apply these ranger traits to. Here's an example of two lists with ten items each.

Ranger Traits

1. Terrain Attunement. The monster is able to hide in, maneuver around, and knows a lot about certain types of environments like forests, plains, caverns, or mountains. This gives them bonuses to Stealth, any knowledge check about the landscape, and inside information on the dangers and secrets in the area.
2. One With the Land. The monster has become one with its environment. It takes on features unique to its environment. For example, a desert ranger may craft needles into their armor, have sandy yellow skin, or carve weapons from the bone of great waste beasts.
3. Obsessed and Angry. The monster hunts a certain type of enemy. When battling this enemy, they gain great combat and out-of-combat benefits.
4. Only Eyes For One. The monster once hunted a certain class of enemy but stopped to focus all their ire on one specific foe. When battling this sole foe, they gain incredible combat benefits. They also know everything there is to know about this individual.
5. Rabid Weapon Swapper. The monster switches between multiple weapons and fighting styles during combat. Consider allowing it to freely swap between weapons every round, batching an interesting movement ability alongside it. When it swaps to a bow, the monster might leap into a strategic position. When it shucks its offhand sword to the side and pulls out a huge shield, it pushes its allies to the side and becomes the biggest target in the battle.
6. It Takes Two. The monster uses one powerful weapon during its first hit point pool, then swaps to another during its second hit point pool. This should be an epic moment in the battle that showcases not only the strength of the monster but the awesome weapons it is wielding...that may soon be in the characters' hands.
7. Healthy Helper. The monster focuses on enhancing its beast companion with nature magic. During battles with it, the true power lies in this monster's companion. However, without the ranger alive, the companion becomes a whimpering shell of its empowered self.
8. Don't Vine If I Do. The monster wields nature magic to control its enemies. Arm the monster with thorn whip, entangle, hail of thorns, et cetera. If you don't want to look up spells during combat, just use the base monster's basic attack bonus and give it to a summoned thorn vine controlled by the monster.

Crypts of Ravenloft by vilenko.

Ranger Monster Bases

1. Goblin
2. Bugbear
3. Gnoll
4. Oni / Ogre Mage
5. Hill Giant
6. Erinyes
7. Balor Demon
8. Ancient Black Dragon

Craft Creatures Using the Ranger Class

Don't run off on your own just yet! Here's a brief list of potential monsters you can use in your D&D games. Each is inspired by the ranger in some way.

1. Goblin Pathfinder - a goblin who specializes in blazing trails in a specific terrain type.
2. Bugbear Stalker - a bugbear who melds into her surroundings and springs upon unsuspecting prey with nature magic.
3. Gnoll Ravager - a gnoll who swaps between multiple weapons during battle, cycling until his foes lay dead before him.
4. Oni Avenger - an ogre mage who tracks a specific favored foe, eager to take them out after taking extreme precautions to prepare for the battle.
5. Hill Giant Deadeye - a hill giant who swaps from dual-wielding longsword to a great bow upon the midsection of the fight.
6. Erinyes Raider - an erinyes imbued with bits and pieces of hell-scarred nature magic.

Lessons Learned

The player character classes of D&D provide Dungeon Masters with plenty of inspiration to build interesting monsters. 

In particular, the ranger class helps create monsters with a variety of interesting properties like nature magic, varied fighting styles, and favored foes. You can mix and match these traits with any base monster across any D&D edition and you'll end up with a more interesting creature, plus a few ideas to build their story around. 

The idea of crossing classes with monsters may seem incredibly basic, but it's powerful. If you need to make a unique monster fast, are tired of typical monster features, and have access to or knowledge of the character classes, this is a great monster-making method. 

Try it out and let me know how it goes!

If you enjoyed this post, check out last week's article, all about how to improve your Dungeon Mastering craft while on a hiatus from running games behind the screen. If you'd like to read more RJD20 articles and improve your tabletop roleplaying game sessions and worlds, check out the links below.

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How to Make a D&D Character, the Ettermot Drous Example

By RJ on 19 March 2023.

For years, I was the forever Dungeon Master. I ran numerous games, multiple campaigns, and introduced plenty of inquisitive folks to Dungeons & Dragons and the greater tabletop roleplaying game scene. However, I was not a consistent player. Sure, I hopped onto the other side of the screen every once in a while, but it was never week after week. I may have been a veteran in crafting worlds and portraying villains, but I was a novice player of the game.

That all changed when my daughter was born. I went on a Dungeon Mastering hiatus and became a consistent player of the game. Ever since Amber entered the world in March 2022, I've been a player more than a near-omniscient adventure builder and villainous actor.

This drastic change altered my view on character creation and D&D and tabletop games in general. I've learned tons on this side of the screen. I'm eager to share these lessons with all of you. First up: one of the simplest but most interesting ways to build a character and what comes along with it.

Although I also play the debatably redeemable minotaur paladin in my brother-in-law's ongoing campaign, my most recent foray into D&D adventure is in my brother's fifth edition D&D campaign. I'm playing alongside the other members of his bachelor party, some D&D vets, and others not too into the hobby. We've been able to figure out what the adventure is based on: the first real quest chain in Dungeons & Dragons Online: Korthos Island.

I made a very special character for this campaign in a very specific way. Allow me to introduce you to Ettermot Drous, a scarred but lovable bugbear druid.

D&D Character Creation Challenge Mode, the What

D&D 5E outlines a clear way to make a character. For Ettermot Drous, I did not follow the game's instructions. Instead, I provided myself with a new set of rules and a challenge. The rules:

• Roll a single set of ability scores
• Roll straight down the list, beginning with Strength, and ending with Charisma
• Roll three d6

Why?

Oftentimes, I love unbounded creativity. This allows me to build a limitless world and wild adventures. One region of Eldar might be inhabited by antfolk who skitter through the ruins of an archaic giant empire, while another might be presided over by communistic kobold militarists. One of my adventures might send the adventurers to recover a piece of an old book from the Astral Plane, while the next might send them into the bowels of the physical world to fight an obese red dragon.

Yet limits of what I can do inspire me at other points. That's the case with Ettermot Drous. I sought limits and with those limits, I knew I would be forced to create my way out of the hole if I wanted to make an interesting, somewhat useful character. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Here were my rolls for Ettermot Drous:

1. Strength: 6
2. Dexterity: 9
3. Constitution: 10
4. Intelligence: 4
5. Wisdom: 18
6. Charisma: 8

I was left with poor or outright terrible rolls in everything ability score except Wisdom. Truly shocking. This forced me to invent an interesting character, someone who would work in the setting and game system of D&D 5E with terrible statistics.

Immediately, I knew I needed to pick a class reliant on Wisdom. That left Monk, Cleric, and Druid. Ettermot's race could be decided later. 

Wielding the process of elimination, I knew Monk requires not only good Wisdom but decent Dexterity and Constitution as well. I'd need to be able to withstand a few hits in combat, plus be able to dish out a bit of damage with my fists, a pair of kamas, or a staff. With my current statistics, there was no chance of that happening. Thus, that class was gone. Not an issue, I had played a Monk before. On to Cleric: Clerics usually need okay Charisma on top of good Wisdom. In addition, I wasn't feeling the class. Farewell, Cleric. Druid it was.

Exiled Druids of Lornwood by Huussii.

Now, while I was hyper-aware of the need to pick a class that matched my stats, I didn't follow suit with my choice of race. I peeked at the selection and immediately locked onto a single choice: bugbear. Why? Well, there's no rhyme or reason for it. I saw bugbear, pictured a decrepit bugbear druid, and the rest is history. I knew my character needed to be a bugbear, I knew with these terrible rolls and my strategic class choice, a bugbear could work. And so Ettermot became a bugbear.

You might notice something is missing from this piece of character creation: other players. In most campaigns, I would recommend making characters as a group. The experience isn't only extremely fun, it leads to party cohesion and/or interesting conflicts. If you have the opportunity to make your character alongside the other players, do it. It will make your D&D experience that much better. 

Why is every character interested in the Duke's kidnapped child? Does every character seek the construction of their own keep on the borderlands? Which faction does each character serve? The questions that drive the campaign can also unite the party and in some circumstances with experienced players, create interesting conflicts within the group. While everyone might be interested in saving the Duke's kidnapped child, one party member might want to help the child, not for gold or a favor from the Duke, but because they're secretly related to the child and might know something terrible about the Duke himself. Everyone might want to build a keep on the borderlands, but one character might know they're building the keep atop an ancient dungeon that holds a dark secret.

I may not have been able to build my character alongside the other players and craft a cool secret, but if you get the chance, take it!

A Tragic Past, the Who

Once you have "the what" of a D&D character, now it's time to determine "the who" of them. All it involves is asking questions, respecting the world and/or setting, collaborating with others if possible, and putting in the effort. 

The story of Ettermot Drous is a tragic tale of war and loss.

He entered a conflict reminiscent of Eberron's Last War, a member of a squadron who saw victory after victory. However, in a particularly bloody battle, his entire squad was killed and he was the final remaining member until an ally came to his aid. Ettermot was nearly dead, burnt, and scarred, but this ally managed to bring him to safety before succumbing to wounds sustained during their rescue of Ettermot. After recovering, Ettermot dedicated his life to the pursuit of his savior: learning of and tapping into the power of the stars. That path turned him to the druidic Circle of Stars. It led him to the airship where the campaign begins, en route to an old site of the druids who began the Circle of Stars.

Piece by piece, let's look at how I determined who Ettermot was and is.

First, I asked myself: how does this character make sense? He has terrible stats, why? I decided he was a veteran of a war who sustained terrible wounds but learned much in the process. That caused all his core abilities to drop but his knowledge about the world to grow. Next, how did he become a druid, and a druid of the Circle of Stars? Building on the story of war and loss: the individual who saved him from certain death was a druid of this circle, but they perished during their rescue mission of Ettermot. The individual's sacrifice drives Ettermot ever forward as he learns more and more about the stars of the sky. Inside my mind, I'm hoping someone else might be related to this druid in some way, it'd be a strong connection in the campaign; it's why I'm leaving their name blank and who they were sort of open-ended. Finally, what does he want? To finish the path of his savior, to become a bigger part of the world despite the horror he has endured. It's what pushes him forward and what placed him on the airship where my brother's D&D campaign starts.

The Rangers of Carabtui by rodmendez.

Despite my poor rolls for Ettermot, I put plenty of effort into his creation. After all, I am bringing myself and Ettermot to the virtual tabletop. He is my contribution, at least in the beginning, to the campaign. He needs to be ready for the adventure at hand.

Always put effort into your character, even if it's the bare minimum. You can always improvise at the table to build their backstory and personality, but you should come prepared.

Looking Onward, the Why

As I enter this new campaign, all I expect from Ettermot Drous is some fun. Honestly, it's what I expect of all TTRPG campaigns, D&D, Pathfinder, or Call of Cthulu, the game system does not matter. When you sit down and play, you should enjoy yourself. 

If you're not enjoying yourself, speak up. People will notice. Address it before it becomes a greater concern.

Ettermot Drous is a vehicle for a good time and a few laughs with friends at a virtual tabletop. Given the wildly underpowered but interesting character concept, I'm sure I'll be the driving force for fun and utter disaster.

UPDATE: Here's an addendum to the article with some insight from the campaign as it currently stands: I was correct! Ettermot is the clown of the group, but lovable, and everyone wants to keep him alive despite his likelihood of dying in every battle. Although he is pure utility and somewhat of a drag in combat, I've portrayed him in an endearing way that, already after three sessions, everyone is attached to him. That's a win.

In Summary

Every time you hop into a D&D or TTRPG game, remember:

• Enjoy character creation. Your character may last years or die ingloriously in the first battle against a swarm of rats. Little rats.
• If you are not the Dungeon Master, you are bringing yourself and your character into the fold. Make sure both are positives to the group, not negatives!
• You are there to have a good time. If you're not feeling it, speak up.

In case you missed it, the last article explored a great way to mix up your monsters. Give it a read, it will help you, I promise.

Related Articles

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• TTRPGs Need Deep Character Customization
• The Five Goals of a D&D Campaign's First Session
• How to Begin a D&D Campaign
• Your D&D Campaign's Starting Point

Want More RPG Tips & Tales from RJD20?

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• Join the RJD20 Patreon community.
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• Support RJD20 products.

As always, thanks for reading. Please send all inquiries to rjd20writes@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

TTRPGs Need Deep Character Customization

By RJ on 29 January 2023.

I love being able to customize my character in games of all sorts. In tabletop roleplaying games, I love the freedom to describe my minotaur blackguard as a hulking, eight-foot-five-inches tall, grizzled beast of snow-white fur and curled blood-red horns. In video games such as Path of Exile, I enjoy the ability to create a build unlike any other, worming my way through a seemingly limitless skill tree while collecting terrific and terrible pieces of gear. In virtual reality games like Beat Saber, it's great I'm able to choose what I want to play when I want to play it without any bindings on my arms or blocks in my path.

It's also important the choices we as players make about our characters matter. What our characters say to the vampire queen should have an effect. What magic items our characters wield should turn the tides of the battle or play a key role in the story. How we build our characters, mechanically, or what we choose to be, should be important. These choices shouldn't be meaningless.

Presently, Orrery is built on three fundamental design pillars, which I promise are not mere buzzwords: deep character customization, simply powerful rules, and improvisational freedom. Each interweaves with the next.

My in-development tabletop roleplaying game absorbs elements from various systems, tabletop and not. In some cases, directly, unedited. The rest of the swiped mechanics and ideas? Altered for the better. A few examples include Path of Exile's skill tree, Pathfinder 2E's action point system, and 5E's addition of advantage and disadvantage.

Altogether, every element aims to support each design pillar.

Let's begin this series of articles discussing Orrery's design with an inspection of the first design pillar: deep character customization.

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Player Characters are the Heart of Every Game

The player characters are indisputably the most vital part of any successful game system. If character design isn't appealing to a wide audience, the game won't be enjoyable. It will fail.

Orrery's character creation and constant customization help build compelling characters for everyone.

In Orrery, players choose a definitive ancestry, an inspiring background, and a unique path through the Orrery for their character. During play, each aspect evolves, and new mechanics take hold, like artifacts and boons. However, it all begins with character creation.

The Importance of Ancestry in Orrery

Character ancestry in Orrery determines a character's appearance and provides typical points of origin in the world. While exceptions and oddities exist, Orrery provides plenty of inspiration for players with typical descriptions.

In addition, every ancestry provides a powerful passive and/or active ability to a character.

While not as strict as other games, Orrery places emphasis on your character's chosen ancestry, unlike the current iteration of 5E.

The human ancestry includes +3 to all ability scores, while the halfling ancestry grants a strong ability to fight the Feared condition, an optional dinosaur companion, and +2 to Constitution. Both also detail typical regions and settlements frequented by each, a brief history of the ancestry in the setting, and what they typically look like.

Orrery's section on ancestry stresses that while appearance and point of origin may vary greatly from individual to individual, ancestral bonuses and abilities do not. When a player chooses an ancestry for their character, it means more than appearance. It affects their character for the rest of its life in the game and world.

Choosing a character's ancestry is an important choice, not meaningless or pure flavor.

Setting Up the Board with Background in Orrery

Backgrounds in Orrery are cloud-piercing mountains of inspiration. They are also hyper-focused on setting up a character's place in the world, what their initial goals are, and how they are connected to the other characters in the group.

There are oodles of roll tables. Plus, each background gives out a slightly randomized set of items, so no two Soldiers or Merchants ever start off with identical inventories.

This game's backgrounds address a major problem I see in other games with similar backstory creation systems. It also tries to help those who love crafting their character's own history but forget to connect it to the story at hand.

Each background includes a snippet of inspiration about a character's former profession, interesting traits they might have as a result, a good reason why they are adventuring now, and a couple sample goals. None of the roll tables or snippets need to be used verbatim, though they can be. Instead, players can use them to set the board their character once played on and the board they will play on in the future.

In order, the pieces of a background in Orrery are:

• The background itself
• Quirks
• Core Beliefs
• Ties
• Motivations
• One background-specific aspect
• Equipment and bonuses

For example, the Sailor background in Orrery inspires the player to think about their character's final voyage as a sailor. Where did they go? What happened? Why was this their final voyage? Is this what caused them to pursue life as an adventurer?

In addition, it provides information on what sailors typically do in the game's setting, sample personality traits, and randomized equipment all characters with a Sailor background can roll to obtain before the real game begins.

Crafting a Unique Class with the Orrery

Once a character's ancestry is chosen and their background outlined, they begin their journey through the vast Orrery, the RPG's namesake.

The Orrery is a skill tree. Presently, every character paths through the same Orrery, but that may change in future iterations of the game. Passive nodes called orbs grant minor passive bonuses to characters, while passive and active nodes called keystones grant characters powerful, varied abilities. They define a character. Other nodes do exist, but we will explore them at a later date.

Depending on a character's path in the Orrery, they can be a warrior who wades into battle and defends the weak, a raging berserker who hits little but whose hits deal massive damage, or a fighter who can home in on their foes and annihilate them with perfect focus. Eventually, a character could merge all three of these playstyles, becoming the pinnacle of their domain in the setting. They might even rush toward a certain keystone and then look for a portal node, which can take them to a completely different area of the Orrery. A warrior-centric character might portal into the magic-user sphere, or a gunslinger path character may portal into the divine sphere of the Orrery. The possibilities are numerous.

Here are a few keystones found across the Orrery:

Ancestral Bonds

Keystone Type: Active

Description: The spirits of your ancestors connect you to another when you rage. You gain 6 health points and +1 armor class. When you enter Rage, you may pool your health points with one other creature. All damage dealt to either you or the creature affects the pool. Once it hits zero, you both suffer the effects of hitting zero. This effect ends when combat ends or you choose to end it with an action point.

Explosive Surprise

Keystone Type: Active

Description: Not all bullets merely pierce. On a hit with a gunpowder weapon, using an additional action point causes your damage to spread to all creatures within 5’ of your target.

Mighty Blows

Keystone Type: Active, Passive

Description: Your rage strengthens your weapon like nothing else. While raging, you critically hit on rolls of 19 and 20. In addition, you can use 2 action points to turn a non-critical hit into a critical hit a number of times equal to your level per rest.

Steady Aim

Keystone Type: Active

Description: Sometimes staying still is superior. If you elect to use zero movement during your turn, you gain +2 on attack and damage rolls during that turn.

Wrath Deified

Keystone Type: Active

Description: You wield the destructive might of your deity in the palm of your hand. Once per rest, you enter a Deified state using an action point. While in this state, you gain +4 to attack and damage rolls, flying movement of 20 feet, and you may maximize damage dealt by one of your spells once per round. This state ends if you choose to end it, 1-minute passes, or you drop to 0 health points.

Your sneak peek ends here.

This dynamic system allows players to craft a unique class. While simple at first, clever players can take advantage of various keystones and orbs to create wildly powerful and peculiar builds. It's vital that although this is the essence of Orrery and needs to be approachable, it remains deep enough to draw players in session after session and character after character.

Ongoing Character Customization

Character customization doesn't end with ancestry, background, and their Orrery path. Throughout the game, a character will find incredible artifacts, potent boons, and develop their story far more than their initial background tale.

A few magic items, the essentials, are common, but all other items are artifact-level in strength. They grant awesome passive bonuses, gripping active abilities, and even concepts that entirely change the way a character plays.

Here is an example of an artifact in Orrery:

Enzoul, the Love Eater

Shortsword, artifact, attunes itself to he or she who wields it. Only death or great magic can separate Enzoul and its wielder.

This hauntingly dark blade is immaterial, able to transform into a sword of biting black mist at-will. Its last wielder, Casto the Butcher, passed it unwillingly onto Mia Stark. Where was the Love Eater previously? Perhaps it shall reveal that eventually. Perhaps it shall not. What is certain is what the entity within the dark blade seeks: consuming love and life.

While wielding and attuned to this shortsword, you gain the following benefits:

• You can stow the blade at-will within your body. You may also draw it at-will.
• You deal 1d4 necrotic damage on all hits with this shortsword and heal for the amount of necrotic damage dealt.
• You gain the artifact keystone Relentless.

Relentless

Keystone Type: Passive

Description: Not mere magic nor lack of foes can sate Enzoul. Once per rest, if you were to be Paralyzed by a spell or effect, you automatically succeed. Separately, when you kill a creature in combat, you may automatically attack another creature within 5 feet freely.

Enzoul, the Love Eater, obscures its full potential. Who knows what other powers this longsword hides?

Separate from artifacts, boons are blessings from iconic patrons and the most powerful creatures in existence. They act like keystones on the Orrery but tie back into the story and world at hand. Each game should have a unique set of boons and each World Master should attempt to make them relate to the adventure or campaign.

Aside from mechanical and flavorful customization, every character in Orrery should tell and participate in a tale or legend of some sort. The story is at the forefront of the system, all mechanics feed back into it. Combat, the Orrery, artifacts, and all else seek to ease the World Master's and players' troubles with weaving stories with mechanics. At the end of a session, adventure, or campaign in Orrery, everyone around the physical or virtual table should emerge with a lasting memory of great times with good friends, built by a game that helped and did not hinder the final tale.

In Summary

A third of Orrery's three game design pillars is deep character customization, one of the most vital pieces of tabletop roleplaying games. Remember:

• Ancestry is an important choice in Orrery. It defines character appearance, typical points of origin, and provides a set of interesting passive and active abilities for use in the game. Players should be encouraged to try out various ancestries as they play. Each should sculpt their experience in the game and world.
• Backgrounds in Orrery provide a path to what's on the horizon: an easy way to connect a character to the world, set up a few goals, and place them with the other characters. More than anything, this should shape the beginning of a character's story and set them up for a rich quest of fun, adventure, and danger.
• The Orrery allows a player to form a unique class and a character to be unlike anyone else in the game or world. A character's path through the Orrery shapes their present and future in the game mechanically and narratively, and it's always shifting. Luckily, it can be simple and straightforward, or as deep as the ocean.
• Beyond ancestry, background, and the Orrery are numerous other aspects of character customization: fascinating artifacts, plot-relevant boons, the ability to shape a legend that will last a lifetime in and out of the game, and much more.

If you enjoyed this week's post, check out last week's article in which I explored how to start a successful RPG campaign.

Also, yesterday I released the first video in quite some time on the RJD20 YouTube channel. Give it a watch now!

Related Articles

• I'm Making My Own Tabletop Roleplaying Game
• Ask Loaded, Focused Questions
• Five Facets of a Compelling D&D Character

Want More RPG Tips & Tales from RJD20?

• Discover more RJD20 content.
• Join the RJD20 Patreon community.
• Subscribe to RJD20's newsletter.
• Support RJD20 products.
• Follow me on Twitter.

As always, thanks for reading. Please send all inquiries to rjd20writes@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Toying With Trinkets

By RJ on 2 April 2018.

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 knick-knacks that player characters can possess when the campaign or adventure begins: A mummified goblin hand, its fingers still curved inward, a tiny, ebony statue of a raven, or a vial of an unknown beast’s blood are all possible trinkets.

Today, I will be discussing how a trinket can be more than an item in a PC’s inventory, how dungeon masters and players can incorporate trinkets into the overarching narrative, and why dungeon masters should construct trinket tables personalized to the setting of the campaign.

‘Tis time to toy with trinkets, folks.

A Trinket’s Task

Every player character should start with a trinket.

To find a trinket for your character, do one of the following:

1. Locate the trinket table in the Player’s Handbook (pg. 160-161) and either pick a trinket or roll a d100.
2. Ask your dungeon master if they have a personalized trinket table you can roll on (more on this later).
3. Ask your dungeon master if you can create your own trinket.

Once you have your character’s trinket, let your mind go wild and talk to your dungeon master about the object. Specifically, make the trinket’s story interesting and connected to your character. By the end of this process, your character should have an interesting item that you can use during play to add depth to your PC, and your dungeon master can utilize it in the campaign’s story.

Let me guide you through the process using one of the trinkets I described above: The tiny, ebony raven statue.

The Player

Say I have rolled on the trinket table provided by my dungeon master, and I get the tiny, ebony raven statue.

Immediately, I think about its origins. How did my character come to be in possession of this trinket? There is a myriad of possibilities: I was gifted the statue by my mentor before he passed on, or I found it while swimming in the river that runs past my town. Perhaps my brother smelted it before he went missing, or maybe I made it myself. Personally, I find option two most interesting: I found this strange trinket in the river while swimming.

Now, I ponder about the statue’s relationship with my character. Do they carry it with them everywhere, either on a chain around their neck or is it tucked away in the deepest recesses of their backpack? What if they often forget about its existence, but the trinket always appears in places it should not, like at the top of their bag, or inside their waterskin? This should be a quirk of the trinket; make it interesting, and make sure it would be something that can be shown during the campaign. I like the idea of my character being obsessed with the statue, so I’ll have them carry it around their neck on a chain.

Finally, I cement what my character thinks about the trinket Is it important to them? Do they associate the statue with luck, chance, or something more sinister? Perhaps they started having nightmares a few days after picking up the statue, but can’t seem to get rid of it. Or maybe they have had a stream of extremely amazing luck ever since they found the statue. I'm going with idea number two: My character has been having great luck since the statue has been in their possession.

Now, I have an interesting trinket: A small, ebony statue of a raven that my character found while swimming in a river near their town. Since finding it, they’ve been obsessive about keeping it safe and close by, so they bought a chain from the local jeweler designed especially for the statue. In addition, they’ve had amazing luck since wearing it, and they most definitely attribute it to the statue. Is this tiny trinket more than it seems? Is this luck random? What happens if the trinket disappears? Well...

Now that I am finished thinking about the trinket from the player’s point of view, let me switch to the viewpoint of the dungeon master. This is where the fun begins.

The Dungeon Master

I am now the dungeon master, and my player’s character has the raven statue described above as their trinket. I should be thinking: What can I do to make the item more interesting, a part of the story, and a consequential part of the campaign?

Immediately, my mind is bursting with ideas. I’ll go with the first one I have.

The ebony raven statue was the property of an old wizard that lives upstream from the PC's town. A few decades ago, hobgoblins assaulted the area, and toppled his tower, causing it and everything within to tumble into the river. The wizard survived and the hobgoblins were eventually repelled, but most of the wizard’s belongings were lost to the running water of the river, including the magical raven statue. This statue contained the spirit of an avatar of the goddess of chance, a raven that could be summoned to protect and aid her summoner. However, as months turned into years which turned into decades, and the statue slowly made its way downstream, the object lost its magic and connection to the avatar. However, now in the hands of a would-be adventurer once again, the statue’s magic is beginning to return. How long will this process take? No one knows; perhaps the spirit will return at the most opportune moment, or maybe it completely faded years ago.

Once you start, the story practically writes itself, and now you have a huge variety of plot hooks stemming directly from this trinket that relate to the player’s character! This is fantastic since most great stories revolve not around ‘the story’ but ‘the characters.’

For example, what if the original owner of the statue, the wizard, runs into the party during their adventures? Maybe he is perfectly fine with the PC having the item, and is willing to help restore its faded magic, or perhaps he desperately wants it back. It’s also possible that more of his artifacts were lost in the river and can possibly be found! More quests! More plots hooks! More possibilities!
That’s the essence of trinkets. They are little objects that can massively contribute to the story. Use them as such, fellow players and dungeon masters.

You won’t regret doing so, my friends.

Building Unique Trinkets

While the trinket tables of the current fifth editions books are interesting and valuable, they are not personalized, and they are not tailored to your campaign setting. Thus, I absolutely love creating trinkets unique to my world, and I advise all dungeon masters around the world to do the same.

Making a unique trinket table is extremely simple and fun to do and creating them especially for your setting can be quite rewarding.

The table does not need to be lengthy; the trinkets don’t need to be amazingly detailed - simply make them fit the aesthetic of your world or the setting your group will be adventuring in. If they’re delving into a terrifying jungle, flavor the trinkets to be tribal totems and natural. Exploring an ancient and desolate wasteland? Create trinkets that are simple relics of the civilizations that ruled the desert eons ago.

The trinket table for my Cursed Jungles of Yatar campaign.

Flavorful trinkets can go a long way, and they’re a blast to design!

In Summary

Toying with trinkets and making them a core part of your character as well as their story can greatly enhance your campaign as a whole.

Remember:

1. Players, you need to think about why your trinket is important to your character, and it needs to have ‘screen time’ during play. Make sure your character pulls it out, mentions it, or does something with the trinket to establish that it’s more than an object.
2. Dungeon masters, weave the trinkets of your group into the story! Delve into them for plot hooks, and ensure that their trinkets are consequential pieces of the narrative, not little knick-knacks that only exist to fill up their backpacks.
3. Creating trinket tables tailored to your campaign can be an exciting exercise that will help immerse you and your players into the world.

Want More RPG Tips & Tales from RJD20?

• Discover more RJD20 content.
• Join the RJD20 Patreon community.
• Subscribe to RJD20's newsletter.
• Support RJD20 products.

As always, thanks for reading. Please send all inquiries to rjd20writes@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Here's to greatening your game and world: cheers!

Holding a Successful Session Zero

By RJ on 23 February 2018.

A Dungeons and Dragons campaign is a collaborative storytelling experience. Sure, as the dungeon master, you’ll be creating the world your group adventures in, but the epic tales of terror and intrigue you tell will be created by folks on both sides of the screen.

Today, we’re discussing the fundamental first step of a successful campaign: Starting with a session zero. Specifically, five tips to maximize the success of your campaign’s baby steps.

Holding a session zero has become far more popular as of late. Perhaps it is the push of character’s being integrated into the story, or maybe it’s to discuss what the campaign should be about. Regardless, I’ve been a fan of sessions zeros for quite a while. They allow both the players and the DM to set expectations about the campaign before it begins. Most of the time, session zeros can solve any problems that may occur during play before they even arise, and they allow the players to participate in the building of the world.

Without further ado, let’s delve in!

Before meeting as a group, talk with each player privately.

During these conversations, try and ascertain what kind of character each player would like to play. Get them thinking about their character’s race, class, and background before you all meet for session zero. In addition, talk about what they'd like to see in the campaign. Are they searching for a romp through a mega-dungeon? Do they want a high seas adventure filled with sahuagin raiders, flamboyant pirates, and titanic monsters of the depths?

If everyone’s already thought a tad about their characters, and the campaign as a whole, I’ve found that character creation goes incredibly smooth, and is much more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Come prepared.

Before you ask your players to officially meet for session zero and create their characters, ensure you’re prepared for the process. For a campaign’s session zero, you’ll usually need the following:

1. Information about the setting. Is the group beginning in the blistering deserts of a land forsaken by the gods, or are they delving into the depths of a jungle crawling with demons and undead? Know and remember this. Most of the time, I create a brief guide for the setting that the players can read if they’d like.
2. Pencils, dice, and character sheets, as well as a few blank notecards and sheets of paper. The former is for your players, while the latter is for a campaign-building exercise that we’ll discuss soon.
3. A sharp and open mind. The goal of session zero is to craft a campaign that fits both you and your players. Build on their enthusiasm, include them in the campaign-building process, and take notes on things they’re excited about.

Hold a group discussion about the campaign’s focus.

Everyone involved in the campaign should have a voice in what it’s primary focus or foci will be. In other words, the campaign’s core pillars should be decided upon by the players, with some input by the dungeon master.

I’ve seen many methods to accomplish this, but my favorite (and what I’ll be using from now on) uses notecards and dice.

Take an arbitrary number of notecards and write a genre/theme/mood on each of them. Examples include horror, slapstick, epic, weird, intrigue, tactical, exploration, and episodic. Set these cards on the table. Then, give each player four dice.

Now, have the players put their dice on the theme they want most. The more dice a notecard has on top of it, the more that theme will feature in the campaign. This allows the group to openly discuss what type of campaign they’d like and gives the dungeon master a solid idea of what their group prefers. Make sure to take notes during this portion of session zero. Using the thoughts and ideas that come from this can help make the campaign last AND be enjoyable for everyone at the table.

Establish the setting.

Before the player’s officially roll up their characters, make sure they understand the world they’ll be playing in. I’ll usually do this by giving an elevator pitch for the world and writing a short setting guide that accompanies by general world guide.

The pitch need not be long, but it should communicate the big ideas of the setting to the players.

In the setting guide, I include the brief pitch of the region or world, in addition to small patches of information on iconic locations and characters, character hooks, and a trinket table. This concise packet gives the players enough information to build on using their character's backstories, and for them to feel somewhat connected to the starting location.

Here's an example of a short and sweet setting guide for a campaign I run called The Bannerless.

Allow the players to contribute to the campaign.

Once the player characters are created, they’re woven into the world by their backstory, and the campaign is nearly ready to begin, I like to do a bit more campaign-building with the players. To accomplish this, I simply ask players a few, choice questions using a handout. 

The handout asks:

• What’s a creature you’d like to face?
• What’s an ally you’d like to work with?
• What’s an item you’d like to see?
• What’s a plot twist you’d like to occur?
• If you’d like, please name:
• An organization in the world.
• A nonplayer character in the world.
• A villain in the world.
• A location of great wonder in the world.

Once this is done, I not only have the PC’s backstories to pore over but content that excites and was made by the players!

In Summary

Kicking your campaign off correctly is key to running a successful, fulfilling campaign. Holding a session zero is a great way to do that. During it, be sure to collaborate with your players and establish the setting that you’ll all be playing in for months and years to come. Remember:

• Talk to each player privately about their character and the campaign. Encourage them to build something cool and unique.
• Prepare yourself for the campaign. Think about the setting, the theme, and the starting plots. Come prepared to your session zero armed with ideas, dice, and paper.
• As one, discuss the campaign with your group. What does everyone like? What do they dislike? How long should the campaign last?
• Ensure everyone understands the setting by the end of the session zero. Explain its core ideas, where it is, who the important people are, et cetera.
• Share the setting and campaign with the players. Allow them to build a faction, pitch a monster they'll eventually fight, or talk about a magic item they might seek in the future. Be collaborative.

Next week, I’ll be beginning a new series of blog posts about published Wizards of the Coast material. I absolutely love to read through adventures and books, pilfering any ideas I think sound great or would work well in my campaign or world. We’ll be starting with fifth edition’s premiere adventure book, Hoard of the Dragon Queen.

Related Articles

• How to Start a Successful Campaign
• The Five Goals of a D&D Campaign's First Session
• How to Begin a D&D Campaign
• Your D&D Campaign's Starting Point
• The Most Important Parts of D&D Session Zeros

Want More RPG Tips & Tales from RJD20?

• Discover more RJD20 content.
• Join the RJD20 Patreon community.
• Subscribe to RJD20's newsletter.
• Support RJD20 products.

As always, thanks for reading. Please send all inquiries to rjd20writes@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Here's to greatening your game and world: cheers!