New Luxarrah...Finally!

Today I can finally say both intended episodes of Untamed Dice are out! First up is the finale of our Cat adventure, which came out yesterday. Then we have the next episode of the Luxarrah game.

Next week we will not have any episodes up, but I do hope to be in a position to get two up the following week. If not you will at least be able to look forward to the start of our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game! Stay tuned for updates as editing is caught up on and PAX approaches!

New Untamed Dice Featuring Cat And Luxarrah!

Today we have two new episode of Untamed Dice for you to enjoy!

It's A Trap!

Episode 6 of our Luxarrah game is out and things are a little tense. A few hours (in game days) trying to escape from underground will do that to a party! Find out how the next leg of this journey goes in today's episode!

Luxarrah Episode 4!

Hey everyone! I am happy to say that Luxarrah episode 4 is here and we only missed one week! If you are wondering, The Untamed Rant is close to ready as well, but patrons will still be getting it first despite the delay. Make sure to watch Twitter, though, because we will be posting a poll for next month's topic tomorrow!

Luxarrah: Fates Denied

Hey everyone, I hope your holidays have all been going well! In case you missed it Saturday, episode 3 of out Luxarrah came out. Join our captured heroes and find out if they can escape with their, and the other captives', lives!

Luxarrah Episode 2

In case you missed it, yesterday, the second episode of our Luxarrah campaign is out! Catch it below or wherever you normally listen to podcasts. In this episode the PCs begin their quest to defeat the Arikana.

Untamed Dice Is Back!!

Hello everyone! This past Saturday saw the return of Untamed Dice with the first episode of our Luxarrah campaign. This will release weekly and we can guarantee this for months! Barring any random event mind you. While this does not (yet) include the return of Brave New Worlds it does feature the world those episodes were taking place on, approximately six months later. Don't worry there are no spoilers, and the party goes north. You'll just have to continue to wait for the horrors those guys will encounter.

As a side note, you can expect more one shots. We have already recorded Cat and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Next we intend to do a Legend of Zelda game. So, there is lots to look forward to and were very excited to share!

Autumn Approaches...Finally!

Before I get into what has been going on, I just wanted to thank everyone who has continued watching the blog for updates, all our listeners of Untamed Dice, and everyone who helps keep the creative juices flowing on Twitter. You are the best.

Things have been pretty crazy for the past month or so. Those of you who have followed my updates here know a bit of why and those of you who follow me on Twitter have a good idea. August, very quickly, got away from me. In fact, I am having trouble recognizing the fact that we are already halfway through September. While Summer is always pretty busy for me, the end of it really got crazy this year.

First off, I work IT at a high school and there is a lot of upgrades being done to the system. So, in addition to the prep for the start of the year, there was also a significant amount of extra work. The result was much shorter breaks for lunch and less time after the workday to get things done. Secondly, I work at an ice cream shop during the summer and this year we lost some employees, we had some less than awesome hires, and just generally were busier than last year. The main result of this was just longer, harder nights each weekend. Both of these jobs, with the school year approaching and the season nearing its end, only got crazier as September approached. Very suddenly it was September and even more suddenly we have reached today.

I made a decision in the beginning of the month though, and I have, obviously, been taking a break from making sure stuff get on here. Getting things outside of the blog to make myself more able and comfortable to get things done was a big part of this. Resting, cleaning, organizing. And a lot of thinking. Untamed Scribe and I have also talked about what's been going on and what will be going on here. To best relate to you our plans I am going to break things up a bit.

Notes of the Wandering Alchemist

In August I did attempt to expand on my Monday notes throwing up some of the items I had noticed or run into over the week. Announcements, new Kickstarters, releases, and other related things were all included. I want to continue this and will continue doing the news posts this way, with a couple tweaks. First off all I may do this twice a week depending on how much stuff I manage to come across. Secondly, I will be creating a separate post for updates to the Blog. In fact, I mean to be less strict on myself for posts like that in timing and more lenient on when they come out. I will not be sharing every single post to various sources, though links to each and every post will likely still journey through Twitter and Facebook.

Additionally I will continue to release Resources for Every GM again, once a week, though I may change the day. Tuesday and Thursday are still the two best days to get big posts out there, however, and it is likely to stay on Thursday. A minor change will be in increasing reviews. A big part of this is the large number of DMs Guild titles I have at this point. I want to begin getting reviews out for those and not use them as Resources replacements. Instead I will throw those up around once a week when I start getting to it. Probably on weekends.

What all this means is that I will be more focused on getting Resources articles out regularly, getting more reviews out, and sharing links to awesome stuff more. As this all becomes routine, I will continue to seek to improve it, but there are other projects to work on as well.

Untamed Dice

We haven't had a new episode in a number of weeks now, sadly. At first this was a simple lack of time to edit properly. Now it is a deliberate decision. We still have audio to get you and I am sorry for the delay to our Edge of the Empire game, but I think it'll be worth the wait. One of my players works with audio for a living and he is going to help get me some better software to work with and some tutorials on some basic editing techniques. This increased knowledge should allow Untamed Dice to become that much better.

Another reason we haven't been releasing anything is so that we have a plan in place for new stuff. That plan has begun to form and will hopefully take shape sooner than later. First it involves the very simple fact that a new episode of Brave New World will not be recorded (very likely) until almost November. It's a work schedule thing and unavoidable. Secondly, it involves that all those time issues that caused the lack of material coming out also caused us to play very few games. In fact, we have not played Strahd in almost 2 months, we have not managed to get Monster of the Week finished, we have not had time to try something else, and we have played maybe 2 games in general.

This means we have nothing aside the end of the Star Wars adventure. Well, almost. One of the nights we played was a small Luxarrahn game. Luxarrah has been on my mind quite a bit since prepping the last game of BNW. I have come up with a lot of stuff while putting computers together and stocking ice cream. The result is this new game and I am very excited to keep exploring Luxarrah through 5th Edition D&D. That game is also one we recorded. It is one we will continue to record. It is the easiest game group to get together and should become a very regular game. The only thing that will take as much precedent will be BNW. One shot games of other systems are pretty much on hold till things get brought under control again, but more on that down the road.

DMs Guild & Beyond

This is something I have really enjoyed doing and want to do more of. It is something I have been putting some work into whenever I can. Part of my time will continue to be more regulated towards those projects. I have a few things coming down the line and a hopeful schedule for these. Included among them are the (finally) 3rd Volume of Spells of Old, as well as a 4th. I am also working on some more patrons for Paths to Power Volume 2 to finally come out. Finally there is also the trinket supplement I have been working on.

In addition to DMs Guild products there are a couple of things being worked on, but these are more long-term. Soonest you should see a class a friend and I are working on. A test version at least. Then later on we will get that up as a full class. The other world I am working on with another friend is slow in taking shape, but as winter proceeds I hope to take some larger steps there. Finally in terms of getting some of my homebrew out there, I think Luxarrah will be foremost among my development. In what way this will show up, big supplements or small or both, I do not know yet. Nevertheless these are the things I am dedicating some of my time for.

Patreon

This has probably changed least over its existence, but changes fairly significantly each time. Untamed Scribe and I have decided we need to make some changes here and those are going to be fleshed out overt the coming weeks. Included will be changing goals from things we plan on doing anyway to milestones for which we can reward you folk, such as giveaways and more stuff like wristbands and stickers. We will also be changing the Patron rewards quite a bit. First of all we want to share the Untamed Rant with everyone. This will get more people the Rant and will make things easier on us. All of the Patrons will get it 2 weeks earlier than everyone else though, just like the Cracks in the Rift story.  Other things we are talking about are giveaways for Patrons, newsletters, a mailbag addition to each Rant, and similar things. I will be sure to keep everyone apprised of what is up as we figure it out.

What This All Means

We are coming back. Effort as been focused on making work less daunting and more doable. Ideas and talks are to change things up so that what we do is better and easier on us, even if that means there is less for a while. We will not be overextending ourselves by trying to start this whole plan Monday. October is when we begin to make a big shift. By then a new routine will be in place. Lists for Resources, schedules for Untamed Dice, a reworked Patreon, and more will all be in place. The rest of September is to take all the information above and everything we have been talking about and building a foundation for future things. Extra time will be spent in prep work for this stuff and more fully recovering from August. To keep up with what I am thinking and working on be sure to follow me on Twitter. Do not be dismayed by a lack of posts for September. We look forward to making a good re-impression in October!

Mel Gibson, Necrotic Spells, Space Trinkets, And Cypher Dungeons

OK, so has I was hoping to do today I have a post for you about the various projects I have been working on. Let's start with the one that I never quite finished on time: Spells of Old Volume III. This project is still in the works. Realistically, a small version of this is mostly done, but I did mention before that I wanted to make its release larger. I still plan on that. Finalizing this and getting the work in on it is a bit time consuming, and that is something I have had to be careful distributing lately.  I won't get into it anymore than I have, but I will talk about the other projects that have developed themselves from my use of time.

First off, I did an article earlier this month for the RPGA Blog Carnival. It involved 10 sci-fi related trinkets for your games. As items for sci-fi touched D&D games I would love to use this list and expand upon it. From that article I am keeping that as a slowly building list that, once I have a good number, I will format nicely and through as a PWYW on the DM's Guild.

Second, I have been toying with the idea of trying my hand at writing an adventure. I need the practice and have found the one-shot we played last week a could place for me to work from. It is the first one I have properly designed as a short, self contained adventure. Granted, 3 hours was not enough to explore everything, but that's OK and it would be written with that in mind. This project is on the back-burner until my time frees up towards winter, though.

As for other projects there are two major ones that won't be on the DMs Guild. First will be our first go at a supplement getting published on familiar online retailer(s). This will be a class build from the ground up and there is a hint about it in the title, though it doesn't tell you much. As we design and begin testing the class, we will be looking for more testing help to really make sure it works and stands on its own.

Outside the realm of D&D, I am working on an even bigger, long term project with a friend.  Currently that project is working to fit into the Cypher System and there is a very convenient portal for publishing that setting since their Worlds of Cypher kickstarter.  And that's right, it will be a large setting book. We have put a lot of thought and effort in so far, but it is a slow process, and yes it takes from some of the effort I'm putting into smaller stuff.

Finally, I want to address some of the work for the DM's Guild. Obviously, previously mentioned supplements are on hold. Paths to Power Volume II has some more patrons, but their full ideas are not worked out yet. That is something I plan to have out around November. By then Spells of Old Volume III will be done and out, with Volume IV getting its start. DM's Field Guide series is on indefinate hold. It didn't do too well, and the effort I put into it is the most time significant. While enjoyable, other projects are where more people are getting something out of. As for my personal campaign worlds and their future as potentially published well, there is always work being done on those even if I don't mention it. One step at a time and all that!

Oath of the Medjai

Sorry for the day late post, but here it is!  This week's new release is a new Oath for the paladin in 5th edition, as promised.  This archetype was based a bit off of the idea of medjai in the Mummy movie series, and the idea that a group of people would have a sacred charge in the desert, a place where knights in shining armor would not be the norm.  This oath is to be started at level 1 and takes some queues from ranger.  It has a familiar-like companion, can specialize in archery, and gains history as a bonus proficiency.  It cannot, however, wear medium or heavy armor but benefits from some stubbornness and some damage avoiding features later on.  Spells are taken from the ranger list to match this play style, as well as feature the idea of a wilderness-wandering protector.  Click the link below to check it out.  It's PWYW!

Sphinx Patrons, Draconic Spells, And More On The Way!

Good evening everyone!  First of all I would like say thank you to everyone who bought my Paths To Power Volume I.  Yes I know I have said it but it bear repeating!  Today I have for you a special preview of Volume II in the Ancient Sphinx patron.  This I designed around the 5th Edition idea that sphinxes were not only riddle-makers and protectors of secrets, but that this was a sacred charge and they were responsible for testing those who sought such things.  I then looked at the expanded treatment they got, including their lair abilities.  Specifically I honed in on the bending of space and time and decided a control theme would work well.  In the Ancient Sphinx patron you will find abilities that allowing some aid in maneuvering the battlefield and bonus spells both to this effect and to increase the warlock's ability find information.  Hopefully you guys enjoy this, and I welcome feedback!

The other thing I wanted to share today was that I will be doing this every Wednesday this month!  To be fair I have mentioned this, but I have some idea of what you will get now!  Next week will be Spells of Old Volume II: Draconomicon.  From it almost a dozen spells (to start) are converted from the 3rd Edition.  Following that I will be including a new paladin oath and another Spells of Old featuring the Libris Mortis.  I also have a couple other things in the works right now and hope to have more details on that next week.  Until then!

Print Versions, Dragon Spells, New Patron, And Celebration!

Hello everyone!  It is very late on Wednesday evening, so while I am getting this post out on time, all the things associated with it are not going to come out until tomorrow.  Nevertheless there is a lot in store for you!  If you are reading this early than I thank you for your time!  If you aren't reading this until everything is finished, well thank you too!

This month, you know I plan on doing a ton here at the blog.  You may have noticed we have a new look and a banner made just for us by my friend Zack Keys.  Today I also wanted to tweak some of my social media, but need to edit the files to the right size (tomorrow!).  This is also the first Wednesday of celebration month!  For these days I will be including a lot of new DM's Guild work.

To kick the month off I will be doing a quick read over of the supplements I already have, tweaking what I need to and updating those files  But that's not it!  I will also be including a second black and white file, without background, so that you guys can have a better time printing the supplements.  And I am doing that to all of them!

For each other Wednesday I will be releasing another supplement to the Guild.  Next week will be the preview to Paths to Power Volume 2 and the week after will be Spells of Old Volume 2: Draconomicon.  Stay tuned for the other works as we get deeper into the month!  For now you will just have to sit and wait for the list below to appear (or benefit from visiting the page late) as the Wandering Alchemist supplements get their brand new print versions.

• Path of the Pilgrimage
• Path of Arcane Censure
• Paths to Power
• DM's Field Guide Volume 1: Chimeras  now only $1 in celebration of a year of blogging!
• Spells of Old Volume 1: Lords of Madness

Fiction, More Site Changes, & The Survival Of Sadie Holbrook

Hey everyone, Wednesday has come and the more I think about it the more I want to include some short fiction on here.  These, which mostly go unwritten in my head, are great ways to practice writing and story telling.  It also shares some of my world-building / campaign development process.  The following example is just a short piece where I explore the background of one of my NPCs to really develop her in a larger role and flesh out how she came back and what where she stands in the campaign now.  Keep in mind this is but a draft of something that may or may not be worked out to something more (there may be less-than-optimally-worded pieces) and in-game lore is subject to change.  Of course there is a lot that isn't here too, but I plan on building on it one way or another.  For those curious this comes from a campaign I hope Untamed Scribe will help write into some fiction to share with you guys, and so you'll hear more then.  Before I share this with you I also want to note that I will be tweaking the site more, an ongoing process of course, to include this fiction and to include things like about and contact pages.  These are long overdue, but something I am not ignoring.  Any suggestion you have are, as always, welcome.  Without further ado, The Survival of Sadie Holbrook.

-------

“Sadie Holbrook!  Don’t you go wandering too far now, you hear?”  She heard, but it was already too late to bother answering.  As it was whenever they came out to the fern forests of Belphegor, Sadie was running through the thick growth before her parents could begin to unload the animals.  Every third cycle of Tellara, Sadie’s father was granted some time away from the markets, so loud and populated, the complete opposite of Belphegor.  Every trip involved the packing of copious amounts of survival gear they would never need and every trip Sadie would avoid unloading and setting up camp by wandering off.  She always came back with kindling to appease her parents, but that effort was well worth some freedom.

Being only 19 years of age, the young girl with the raven blue hair wasn’t expected to do all that much as it was.  Next cycle, she would see her 20th name day and, as with all Zarkosi, enter into one of the academies where she would have to work and study almost every day.  Today, she was still a child, with not a care in the world.  The prinka sundews were in full bloom, flowers towering all around and providing a heady, spiced scent that co-mingled with the sickly-sweet aroma of the plant’s sticky droplets to create what was, to Sadie’s mind, the most relaxing scent on any of the moons.  Foregoing all pretense of helpfulness, this year she was going to just lie down on the moss and take it in.  When father called she’d gather what she could, but until then this time was hers...

Just over three years later, Sadie sat in her dormitory silent and brooding.  Not only had she been rained out of what may have been the greatest archeological dig for students in decades, but her birthday package had arrived from Tellara.  Normally the highlight of the “study-season,” she dreaded receiving any word from her family.  The trade on Tellara was in a record downturn and many merchants were turned away, their employers more willing to sell product themselves then to lose any more gold paying others to do it for them.  Those who lost their jobs, like Sadie’s father, were forced to go out into the sulfurous wastes to harvest precious stones and powders.  This package included an update on her father’s health, deteriorating like many who spent their lives in the wastes.

If that wasn’t bad enough her father had sent Sadie a candle, one she lit to try to relax herself.  It was an expensive scent from her childhood: the blooming season of Belphegor’s prinka sundews.  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she realized what the cost must have meant to her parents.  Sadie was a clever girl, though, and those tears quickly turned to rage at what the reckless spending meant.  Rage that her father was fired, rage that he was forced into the wastes, rage that he could no longer go out there to care for his family.  Through the tears and anger, surrounded by the aroma of blossoming prinka, the young lady packed up her most prized possessions, donned a leather jacket, and quietly left the academy for home.

“Now, now, now.  I know this concoction elicits a sedentary reaction from most material beings but please.  This is not the time to sleep.”  The voice was harsh, almost grating on her mind, as if it was unused to such ponderous methods of communication.  Just memories then, triggered by whatever this thing stabbed into her.  Sadie could swear she once again smelled prinka, but looking around there was nothing but pain and discomfort.  She must have dozed off with the drug, because she suddenly remembered being strapped down by the tall black-clad figure standing over her and injected with many different fluids.

It happened right after she was saved from annihilation by the strange man with antlers.  The ancient wreck, Nostromo, was having some issues.  These issues only became exacerbated when the ifrit, simply referred to as Boom, summoned a pit of magma on the bridge of the derelict.  It saved the group from some rampant sentry bots, but caused a destabilization of the ship.  Being the only one with any knowledge of Cyrelian technology, Sadie sent the group away, claiming that she would be right behind them.  She trusted them to be heroes, hoped for the first time in many years that they were true heroes, and as such they couldn’t know she had committed her life to save them.  Otherwise Ashbane and the little one would certainly stay, try to save her, and die.  In the eye-blinks between rigging a containment shield and the explosion of ancient technomagics, a man appeared and saved her.  He claimed it was for her friends.  He claimed he would see them suffer.  She wondered if he knew that she too would suffer, if he even cared.

It was shortly after this that she awoke in the near monochrome of the Ethereal Plane, a place she had only visited a few times.  Massively tall, gaunt creatures with featureless masks and armor like pottery had found her and carried her to their leader, denoted only by his black armor and tyrannical presence.  It was only recently that the creature talked to her, and he was the only one who did so out loud.  For the longest time questions simply bored themselves into Sadie’s mind.  It was what seemed like an eternity that she resisted, but it may have been weeks or perhaps only minutes.  Eventually, she revealed the names of her companions on the Nostromo and what they sought out.  With that betrayal on her mind she breathed deep the lingering smell of prinka blossom and tried to put herself back on Belphagor, hoping that her end would come before the heroes would find out what happen.  Before her friends, caught up in something bigger than they knew, were also captured...

Realms Of Light, Glass, & Dust

Hey there!  Today I have the basic descriptions of three more of the 27 Realms of the Multiverse for you.  This time we have a little blurb about Luxarrah and the Realm of Light which is featured currently in Brave New Worlds.  Additionally you can get a look at the Realm of Glass, a setting idea I had one day and hope to work out more of in the future.  Finally you get an initial look at another setting that is featuring prominently in my mind: the Realm of Dust.  This is the world of my take on Cowboys & Dragons, a setting and style I am very excited about, though who knows when we will get to actually visit it.

As for what is coming up, I am unsure what I will be posting next week.  I will continue to do something though.  There is always more to add, more to share, and more to write here.  But I can tell you I am going to be having conversation with one of my artist friends this weekend.  He is the one who did Chaugnar Faugn for me.  We are going to hammer out what I want and what I need to help get some art worked out.  Additionally, as the semester wraps up and I continue to get out tweaks I want on the blog and on the Patreon, I will be able to devote more time towards my DM's Guild and OGL work.  So, while I haven't mentioned anything since that list, it is in the works and I am continuously working to keep things moving forward!

Realms of Machines, Imagination, and Tyranny

Hello everyone, today I began filling out the basic snippets of the 27 Realms.  Three of them are done and I shouldn't have any trouble getting more in for next week.  You may have noticed I haven't done Luxarrah yet.  Well, the reason for that is quite simply that I want to do more than a snippet.  As the front runner for Brave New Worlds right now I have a lot more information on it than the other.  Though, to be fair, a couple of these have been years in the making so I have quite a bit on more than that one.

But, Luxarrah is one at the forefront of my mind.  So, it will get the majority of the attention.  I think that next week I will flesh out the rest of the snippets and the following week I will be fleshing out a page for Luxarrah and it's info.  Then of course there is more work to do on Atlazan and I have much work being done in my head about the next realm Brave New Worlds will visit.  As we get closer to summer (and my summer schedule being hammered out) I will be able to better facilitate what is getting done when.

For now it remains semi-haphazard, with each week dictating what I have time for and what needs take up the forefront of thought.  Don't worry though.  Information continues to flow in spite of such barriers!

Something Different, Weird Problems, And The Line-Up

First of all I would like to mention that at some point the top posts side-bar decided to suddenly include one of the images from them.  It also decided to do so in a large size.  It messed things up a little bit, so I went ahead and got rid of thumbnails to fix that.  I'm not sure when it happened, but I apologize for however long that wonkiness was going on.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about what's coming up for homebrew.  I have some stuff over on the multiverse page that reveals the names of campaign worlds I've worked on over the years.  Some of them have been more recent, and a number of them will be featured on Brave New Worlds eventually.  I also have a project I am working on with a friend based on one of his ideas.  He may be featuring some short story work online to help build up and reveal information about it.  Hopefully some of that work will be featured here.  Speaking of short stories, I have one for you today.  In lieu of time to do any new writing I decided I would throw up something I have been working on.  You can find that over here.  Other works featuring more D&D related stuff will be coming as well.

As for DM's Guild work, I have the next few things lined up and prioritized into a list.  Some of them have been a while coming, but the following is what's coming and the order they're coming in:

• Spells of Old Volume II: Draconomicon
• Paths To Power Volume II Preview: Sphinx Patron
• DM's Field Guide Volume II: Lizardfolk
• Paths To Power Volume II
• More chimeras
• More familiars for warlock patrons 

Re-skinning: Lizardfolk From Around The World Part 2

Last week I started a re-skin article about lizardfolk.  I mentioned the reasons lizardfolk were my top choice for a re-skin article, including my personal bias.  One of the reasons, though, was that there are so many different types of lizard.  So many of these are unique and/or easily recognizable.  While this is great news for us, the list became extensive and the article long.  If you want to know more and see the list of example lizards we could use check out the article right here.  You'll also find our first two re-skins: the chameleon and the horned lizard.  Finally, before we get into some more, I want to remind you all of the first step.  Throw out the lizardfolk's hold breath and swim, as these are specific to the original lizardfolk and may not be appropriate for other versions.

Now, let's take a look at some more types of lizard:

• Gila Monster
• Tokay Gecko
• Marine Iguana
• Frilled Lizard
• Flying Lizard
• Armadillo Lizard

If you don't recognize any of the names, and even if you do, head over to Google and do some image searches.  Get an idea of what these creatures look like before we go ahead and make some more humanoids of them.  Done?  Excellent.

The gila monster.  One of only two venomous lizards known (though I have been told there may be venom in the saliva of some monitors), these creatures are also distinctive in their pebbly orange and black skin.  Living in the desert, these would make for a perfect orc-analog to the horned lizardfolk we made last week.  These brutish people require very little in the way of adjustment.  Other than some ability score adjustment, all this creature needs is additional damage, poison of course, for its bite attack.  It may do to allow a Constitution save to avoid this damage, and we could take queues from some of the animals in the Monster Manual to do that.

Let's go over the tokay gecko now.  You may be asking why these lizards.  Two reasons.  The first is that of the many geckos we could choose from, these are distinctive in color and known to be rather aggressive.  Second, they are named for the call they make.  Again, there is not much we need to do to make these a unique lizardfolk.  Much of what would make them interesting lies within the description and encounters.  Other than that we can give them a climb speed.  Many lizards can climb, such as the gila monster we just discussed, but geckos are even more adept climbers.  In fact the gecko's unique toe pads give them exceptional ability and, because of this, I think we should give them spider climb.  This small addition allows the lizardfolk to become an oddly challenging enemy.

We are about to go over the easiest of re-skins with the marine iguana.  These guys live on ocean shores and swim into the water to eat algae and seaweeds.  Unlike all of the other re-skins we don't need to remove the hold breath and swim speed from the original lizard folk.  Instead, we should think about increasing their swim speed a little bit and doubling the length of time they can hold their breath for.  Other than that we just need to turn them black.  What could make this lizard folk interesting is the fact that they are not carnivorous.  A unique society of monstrous looking humanoids that farm ocean plants for food makes for a major change of pace in a campaign and an excellent role-playing opportunity.

The frilled lizard.  I am sure that anyone who saw Jurassic Park and then got into reptiles would fall in love with this creature if they have not already.  Like the dilophosaur of the movie, it has a frill around its neck that it can extend in a frightening display.  These lizardfolk would be smaller and more agile than your average lizardfolk.  While they would not get the spit of that movie dinosaur, they would have to have the distinctive frill.  This frill would provide it with an increased ability to intimidate, just to start.  Additionally, I would say that it can utilize the frill, as a reaction, to cause an enemy to have disadvantage on a roll against it.  Such a thing would be quite surprising, at least the first time.  I would even provide an action that allows the lizardfolk to attempt to frighten a creature for a few rounds.  Either of these abilities would not work on the same creature after it succeeds a save within a 24 hour period.  This is a common theme among such abilities.  However, whether or not that immunity overlaps between the two is up to you, the DM.

Flying lizards provide us with another opportunity for an arboreal enemy.  Unlike the chameleon, these lizards would not be utilizing color changing.  We should still grant them a climb speed to represent their ability to move among the branches of trees with ease, especially since we are going to assume that they live up there.  Next we grant them a fly speed of some kind.  Now, this is a bit difficult, since these lizards do not technically fly.  They utilize flaps of skin between their limbs in the same way that a flying squirrel does, gliding from place to place.  As such it would be a good choice to make this an ability of some kind rather than an actual movement speed.  Perhaps we can allow them to move as if they were flying, faster than walking.  They would be restricted in being unable to move up, but perhaps we could allow them maintain height, only falling if they glide for more than one round.  Another benefit of this feature would be the ability to reduce falling damage.  I must admit I don't know the checks and reduction off the top of my head, but I would say base falling damage for a flying lizardfolk is halved and that on a successful check it is reduced entirely.  This of course assumes the ability to move their arms and use those "wings".

Finally we come to the armadillo lizard.  I included this one because I think we can have some fun with it.  First of all we can include it among the various desert-dwelling lizardfolk that we have already made.  Second, if you haven't looked up pictures of any of these go look this one up.  No really.  Do it.  They roll up and bite their tails to become a spiny death ball for protection!  I can picture this thing having an ability like the salamander, except instead of fire damage like heated body its piercing.  And, if we're honest, we can insert some goofiness into the game every once and a while, and these guys can help with that.  Imagine them curling up and roll down a hill at you like a spined bowling ball of death, before popping up and engaging in combat!

As you'll notice this time we have a lot less bullets and not much in the way of actual numbers or stats.  But not all re-skins need this.  Some have very basic adjustments.  To create nearly a dozen different lizardfolk we simply need to take away some abilities, add others, and be creative.  Eventually, I plan on putting all of these guys into a supplement on the DM's Guild like the chimeras.  I will also work on turning some of them in races.  Because who doesn't want more races?  In the mean time, watch for an overview of the article for ease of reference in the re-skin section of the site.

Re-Skinning: Lizardfolk From Around The World

Today it is finally time to take another look at the usefulness of re-skinning.  To do this we are going to look at something a little different from what we have done.  Instead of looking at a monster of some type, like the chimera, we are going to look at a race of humanoids.  Specifically, if it hasn't been made obvious enough, we are going to be looking at lizardfolk.  To me the race has always been one of my favorites.  There are a few reasons for this.  First of all, I am biased towards reptilian entries.  Aside from that, though, they have always seemed like one of the more versatile of monstrous races.  To me they have been a shamanistic race which is more intelligent than they look.  They have always been generally neutral in action, with a range of alignments depending on tribe.  A people not bogged down by an inherent evil like goblinoids and orcs.  At least they have been this way for me.

I also love the lizardfolk because there is so much potential for the race.  As it generally stands, these are swamp-dwelling folk based off the image of an iguana.  Some images have depicted some as larger or more slender, and they can look like even more generic lizards.  However, there are images of different lizardfolk that have shown up over the years.  Some of these are just coloration, and those are fantastic, but I have seen some very cool images of lizardfolk based off certain species.  Below is one such image, by Firat Solhan for Pathfinder (found on deviantart).  

A chameleon-based lizardfolk?? I love the idea!  That is way, today, we are going to come up with some ideas on various lizardfolk that could exist in your fantasy world.  Even if you aren't someone who has a lot of experience with reptiles, or never really cared much for them, you probably can think of a handful of different lizards off the top of your head.  Having been thinking about this there are a few, I think, would make good lizardfolk variants.

• Chameleon
• Horned Lizard
• Gila Monster
• Tokay Gecko
• Marine Iguana
• Frilled Lizard
• Flying Lizard
• Armadillo Lizard

Honestly, I am thinking of more and could likely find more, but we already have more than we can handle in one article.  Let's just pick a couple of these and and start with those.  My personal choices are the following:

• Chameleon
• Horned Lizard

Ok let's start with the chameleon.  The first reason that this is a great choice is the instinctive look that chameleons have.  Most people know one when they see one.  These lizards would make great substitutes to create a subrace that lives not only in forests and jungles, but high in the trees too.  Their feet are zygodactyl and this lets them grasp things really well, meaning they would probably have no trouble running around branches and suddenly stopping to shoot arrows.  As for the eyes looking in different directions, we would definitely be able to do some stuff with that.  Finally they have the ability to change color.  While this is not as complex or quick as tv and movies show, it is something they can do.  When we add dungeons, dragons, and magic to a world we may as well make the ability a bit better.  To recap we need to add the following to create the chameleon folk:

• Their feet and hands have interesting / useful grip
• Their eyes can look in different directions
• They can change color
• They live up in trees

Before we get into that we need to consider the lizardfolk of old.  What do these creatures have that we need to take away?  What is something we don't want to give to just any subrace?  Well ability scores can be tweaked, of course, but a couple things stand out as specific to the original lizardfolk and only specific future subraces.  So, let's throw out the following to create a foundation:

• Hold breath
• Swim

Wasn't that easy!  Ok so we have a list of things to consider for the chameleon folk.  And we have thrown away what we need to from the original.  Now, what can we do with this.  I would say perception should not only be a proficiency, but also get double bonus for those eyes.  Additionally, I think they should eliminate certain disadvantages as they could pay attention to two things at once.  Perhaps they could even get advantage on sight based perception checks, but that may be a bit much.  Color change is actually really easy because we can use it to give them advantage on stealth checks.  See the troglodyte entry as an example.  As for their feet, we should go easy and give them a climb speed.  Perhaps also give them advantage on checks checks that deal with grip, like grappling.  So to make chameleon folk, just use the simpler lizardfolk stats and add the following:

• Advantage on
• stealth checks
• grip related rolls like grappling, snatching on to something
• a climb speed equal to normal speed
• double ability bonus on perception checks
• eliminate disadvantage/advantage from visual distractions
• such as feigning to give ally advantage
• this one could be a much more situational for the DM

Ok so, now what we have a chameleon folk.  Lets make horned lizardfolk.  For these squat guys, I am picturing squat, dwarf-shaped lizard folk with all the spines and horns of a horned lizard.  I picture desert dwellers that herd and eat giant insects.  I also see them shooting blood out of their eyes in order to distract enemies.  Here we have the potential for something really weird and unique.  These guys are a bit slower than most lizards, but I don't think humanoid ones would be so burdened by body type.  The main thing that really makes these lizards worth looking at is the blood squirting eyes.  The lizards can do that up to 5 feet, so these guys should certainly be able to do it up to 15 or maybe even 30.  I think the best way to utilize this is to grant them a reaction ability that causes disadvantage on an enemies attack roll within the range.  Since this is the signature move, I would even make this rechargeable at 5 and/or 6.  Oh and as a final note, I could see this as a playable race with their own problems.  I'm thinking blood mage cultists.

This article ended up being a little longer than I meant it.  There are so many choices for making new lizardfolk, I could go on for a while.  While I am stopping here for today, I think I am going to go two re-skin Tuesdays in a row and make even more for next week!  Keep an eye out for that and comment with any lizards you think would make good lizardfolk!

Old Gods, Chimeras, Nature Familiars

Ok guys, a few updates for tonight.  First off I managed to get up the last of the Old Gods.  Now, I can start clearing up what is already up in preparation for putting up even more.  Sadly that won't happen tonight as I had wished, but hopefully I will be able to get it done tomorrow.  I also wanted to mention that the DM's Field Guide Volume I is now up on the DM's Guild.  It includes 8 varieties of chimera for you to use, each of which included 3 different versions.  That's a total of 24 new chimera variants to try out!  I also had mentioned that I was hoping to get another update up for Paths to Power, but that has been a bit delayed.  On the plus side, though, it will include more than I had planned for this update.  Expect that this Monday, for sure.  It holds top priority for the weekend work.

Oh and if you catch this before midday Thursday, head over to twitter and vote for the game I should run for a last-minute one shot I will be running.  We can't record as usual, but I'll be damned if we don't record something!

Old Gods and Chimeras Galore!

Today I have for you five more of Atlazan's Old Gods.  That brings us to ten fleshed out and detailed gods of the Atlazan pantheon from the continent's far past.  I am unsure what the total is looking like for well known / worshiped deities but it is up there.  I think that when I have completed all the detailing I will make a master list, both for myself and the blog.

In addition to that I have a little better knowledge of when you will get the chimera supplement.  Like I mentioned , yesterday?, this will include a great number of chimeras for various levels of play and a variety of locations.  The grand total will end up being 15 stat blocks in all, I believe.  This should go up by the end of the day Monday as long as all my plans play out as they are supposed to.  In addition another update to Paths of Power is coming in the form of another familiar.  This time for the spirit of nature path.  It is only one stat block for this one, and I think I have finalized what I want from it, so that should be up this weekend!