Happy Halloween! - "Headless Horseman" by Frank Frazetta

 

Frost Giant Friday - "Late" by Seven-teenth

Frost Giant Friday - "Late" by Seven-teenth

 

My Dungeon Master Tool Kit Part 1 - Dice Box

I have been RPGing for decades. I love it. My big brother taught me how to play AD&D back in the 80s and I haven't stopped. Hiatuses, sure, but never really stopped.

More often than not, I'm Dungeon Mastering, Game Mastering, Castle Keepering, etc. I enjoy figuring out the "perfect" DM tool kit.  Back in the day, it was a quest for the most kick-ass Trapper Keeper, the sweetest dice bag, and the most thorough DM screen.  In the next handful of posts, I'll share my current tools of the trade.

Today, I'll focus on containers for that most treasured gaming commodity - DICE. 

Over the years (like a lot gamers) I have amassed quite a lot of dice. I love 'em. Never quite pleased with a humble dice bag, here is what I use at the moment and what I've used in the past.

Current Dice Repository:  Portable Dice Box of the Gods

• Love it. 
• It's not the most charming container, but damn is it functional and versatile.
• It holds a crap ton of dice.
• It's secure (I hate losing dice). 
• It lets me sort them (with rearrangeable sections). 
• I just need a way to bedazzle it somehow.
• A wooden version of this would be awesome.

Previous Solutions (in order from most recent)

Skull Shaver Travel Case

• Kind of a weird one, but I used a travel case that came with my Skull Shaver electric shaver.  (Yep - I'm bald as a cue ball). 
• I slapped a sticker from RedBubble on it to cover up the logo.
• It was large enough to hold all my dice and very secure, but it was tricky not to spill the dice when opening.

Two Layer Stack & Carry Case

Worked really well.

Nice and secure.

It was nice to have sort of an open bin of dice.

I also liked having the second layer for pens, dice, brass knuckles, etc.

      

Lots of Dice Bags

• Surprisingly never a Crown Royal bag.

All Hail the Kind of Dice Bags!

Frost Giant Friday - "Battling a Frost Giant" by teli333

 

"Battling a Frost Giant" by teli333

My Castles & Crusades House Rules: Part 6 - Miscellany & Weirdness

"DMing the Planes" by Cory Trego-Erdner

Here is a hodgepodge of various rules and weird things to wrap up these C&C house rules posts.

Dice Rolls

• Only dice rolled on the table count. If a die hits the floor, it will be re-rolled.
  
• Cocked die rolls are re-rolled.

Gnomish Healing Brandy

(originally posted here)

Rationale:

"Beer Drinking Gnome" by brizzledood

• By the book, potions of cure light wounds (a.k.a. potions of healing) go for 300 gp a pop.  That is a bit pricey for low-level PCs, but I like how C&C keeps magic a bit rare and didn't want to mess with that.  Gnomish Healing Brandy was my answer; a good dose of healing for a reasonable cost, but with some side-effects.  It should be suitable for any D&D-style game.

Cost:

• 50 gp
• Note: price may vary by availability and how willing the gnome brewer is to sell to non-humans

Description:

• An amber liquor that smells richly of honey and blackberries. It tastes overly sweet, but it is light and easy going down the hatch. The brandy is usually bottled in a drinking gourd. The recipe is a closely guarded secret.

Effect:

• Heals 1d6 HP, but the character must make a constitution save (CL 0) or suffer -1 to hit and -1 to AC for 1d4 rounds due to the extreme buzz.
• A flask contains one dose and multiple doses can be taken (1 per round).  However, a save must be made for each dose and the effects are cumulative.
• For example, a character that took two doses would make a save for each dose and, if both saves failed, the character would suffer -2 to hit and -2 to AC.
• The CK may rule that failed saves result in other ill effects (e.g., troubling casting spells, penalties to dexterity or charisma checks, etc.)
• The character must be conscious or, at the least, at 0 HP to take a dose.

Carousing Mishaps

by Jeff Rients  (also available in Fight On! Issue #4)

• These tables are now ubiquitous, but you gotta love the original.
• Please see Jeff's blog for the details! - Party Like It's 999

On Being Turned to Stone compliments of Jonathan Drain

• A character turned to stone can attempt to strike a heroic pose in order to make a better looking statue. If sold, his statue fetches 100 gp times the result of a Charisma check.

Frost Giant Friday - "Arctic Giant" by Larry MacDougall

"Arctic Giant" by Larry MacDougall

My Castles & Crusades House Rules: Part 5 - Experience Points & Gaining Levels

"Netease-Black Bind" by Yin Yuming

Experience Point (XP) Award Nominations

• In addition to XP earned for monster slaying, treasure, story bonuses, etc., characters may earn XP for good game play by the player. 

• After each session, players can send the Castle Keeper (CK) a message nominating anyone (including themselves) that did a great job at the session. 

• Although players can provide their nominations publicly, an email or a private message is preferred. 

• Players are encouraged to nominate themselves because often something subtle, but important, goes overlooked by the group or CK.

• Once the CK receives the nominations, they evaluate them, consider the session themselves, and issue out XP Awards accordingly.

• "Good game play" can be anything that contributes to the game session overall. 
• Examples of good game play:
• kicked ass in combat in a particular fashion
• did something really cool in combat, even if it wasn’t overly effective
• two words: Epic Fail
• role-played very well
• busted up the group in laughter
• pleased the CK in some inane manner
• brought pie
• got the CK drunk

"Mentor of the Meek" by algenpfleger

No Training Required to Level Up

• Per the Players Handbook, a character has to train after earning enough XP to level up.
• House rule: Whenever a character has enough XP, they level up whenever they're able. Meaning, you don't level up in the middle of an encounter, but pretty many other time. 

Rationale: XP is hard-earned. No sense delaying the fun of leveling up.  Besides, XP is an abstraction so why stress about it?  Besides, I don't reminder Conan or Strider stopping every to train.

"Pirate Treasure" by Miggs69

All Loot and Monster XP is Shared

• Per the Players Handbook:
• Monsters defeated (not necessarily slain): XP is shared for all party members.
• Money acquired (e.g., coins, gems, jewelry, etc.):  XP is shared for all party members.
• House rule: Magic item XP is also shared throughout the party, not just the individual PC. This XP is immediate (rather than for only the individual character that acquires it and only after using it for a while).

Rationale:  Assigning XP to only the character who acquires a magic item can encourage some weird competition/envy/annoyance among a group. It seems unfair to doubly reward the character/player - they get both the advantage of the item and also the XP value?  It's pretty rare for a character to get a magic item without the help of other party members.  Also, I reward the XP once acquired, rather than after use, simply because it's a book-keeping headache otherwise.

"Jewels" by Jonas Akerlund

Monetary Values Known for Gems, Baubles, and Goods

• When gems, jewelry, statues, and the like are acquired by the party, the CK will immediately relate the monetary value for these items.

Rationale: This simply makes for easier book-keeping.

Frost Giant Friday - "Frost Giant" by M. S. Corley

 

"Frost Giant" by M. S. Corley

Fight On! Art Contest