Sean Does Games

This blog is mostly about my homebrew  Dungeons and Dragons campaign called Skyfell, but it's also a place where I can exercise my creative needs. I guess this post falls into the latter. I am fortunate enough to be a player in another Dungeons and Drag ons  campaign where I started playing a satyr School of Eloquence bard named Leneus The Bruce. His bardic magic comes from a blend of stand-up comedy, social criticism, and satire. There's also a touch of Tiny Tim in there for his limited musical repertoire. If you're reading this, you probably already know that bards have an ability called Song of Rest  that helps to recover hit points during a short rest. I absolutely felt a need to write the Song of Rest that Lenny would perform. What follows is that song, based on The Beatles A Hard Days Night , sung in Tiny Tim's silky falsetto. This really is just me appeasing my ego, so take it or leave it. Also, if you do like it, and you play a bard, feel free to borrow it for...

I've started playing in a new campaign of Dungeons and Dragons and the DM suggested that we write up how our characters feel about the closing encounter of session 1. So, I put together the following. I'll probably post more of these as the game goes on, just for fun. They're sort of stream-of-consciousness too, so c ontinue at your own risk. The Slothfinger Diaries An arresting account of the astounding achievements of an audacious adventurer. Containing much merry making, minimal murder, and maximum mayhem. Complete and unabridged with appendix, a smattering of helpful visual aids, and the personal approval of the Slothfinger Society, that marvelous collective of fans, frenemies, and fiendish busy-bodies devoted to documenting the life and times of Slothfinger Baeruran, the forest gnome horizon walker; an all around good, but slightly chaotic, sort of character. Entry 1: Adventure Actually Whenever I get lackadaisical with the state of the world, I think ...

In the first part of this post , I discussed how to use trinkets in character backstories as well as how to develop side quests that help players discover the hidden meanings, if any, behind their characters' trinkets. In part 2 of this post, I continue with one-shots, story arcs, and campaigns. I also provide some additional pointers on their use. Enjoy! One-shots and Story Arcs A one-shot is one adventure that can be completed in a single session, such as stealing a single valuable object from a rich landlord, spying on a goblin camp, or clearing a one-room temple of invading aberrations. It is by necessity a short, simple story that takes place in one or two settings and with minimal NPCs. Once again thinking of the trinket as a puzzle, the one-shot gives the player one or two pieces to that puzzle in a fully realized, though short, story that does not have to either involve the other characters or have any impact on the campaign as a whole. In most cases, the one-sho...

I love trinkets in Dungeons and Dragons! Whenever I run a campaign, I always have players roll on the trinket table during character creation. I also periodically sneak in trinkets as part of the payment characters receive for completing a job or as part of the loot the characters find. “But then what?” you say. "They're an empty purse. Count them, go broke. Eat them, go hungry. Seek them, go mad! " Part of the power of the trinkets concept comes from their descriptions, which tend to be brief, open-ended statements leaving more questions than answers. And where there are questions there is story. So I use trinkets to flesh out the character’s backstory, spawn expected side quests, inspire one-shot adventures, provide the foundation for story arcs, and even shape the course of entire campaigns. That’s right, trinkets can do all that. Don’t believe me? Keep reading. Character Backstory When a character starts a campaign with a trinket, it is de facto ...