5e Grognard

Moved to my new blog HERE .

The Shard of Wintertide by Chris Scaturo The Shard of Wintertide, small, powerful, better in cold weather.  Like this kid   https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=abU372BCSCc if you exclude the Hawaii part. Some say is was crafted by a long forgotten gnome clan who unsuccessfully tried to defend their homes from a Fire Giant clan.  Other’s claim it is a Frost Elemental trapped in cage.    Either way, the Shard of Wintertide is a weapon with potency, a mission, and a little bit of an attitude. Appearance:   The Shard of Wintertide is a  blade roughly 18 inches long (46 cm) that magically attaches to any hilt it touches. The blade appears to be made of pure ice but metal can be detected in it by either a trained eye or magic. Every time the Shard of Wintertide is found, it looks different. Intelligence:   The dagger has an “awareness” if not a true intelligence.  It cannot communicate with the owner but gr...

World's Coolest Picture by Chris Scaturo  I love the internet. Okay, it may not be the coolest picture but it might be top eight, no more than ten, twelve max.   Anyway, I often spend hours looking at pictures on google (no, not those pictures) trying to create a vivid setting for my D&D games.   This beauty is the result of the search "ancient fishing village". You might use this as a pirate cove or home to a neolithic society but in my world, this is an old fishing village that met an unpleasent demise.    Home to twentyish humans, the village thrived on the fruits of the sea until they came.   They are a set of twin elves with a little bit of power in necromatic and enchanting spells and a lotta bit of a bad attitude.   The brother and sister charmed, and de facto enslaved the native people.  In time, the villagers rebelled against their new masters and in the fight for control of the village everyone perished. The pair of elves r...

Got a great response from Chris Scaturo's post on Lingering Injuries last week, so here is part 2. choice n. the opportunity or power of selecting My daughter is seven, she likes plain pizza.  My boy, he’s five, firmly believes that sausage improves every meal, particularly ones with dough, cheese, and sauce.  My wife, she’s <this line has been redacted>, of course, is lactose intolerant and a vegetarian.  Choosing who’s going to like me on Friday nights is always fun. Me: <Rolls a 20>The Ogre’s huge club crushes you, the protruding metal spike pierces your chain mail and drives deeply into your body.  Wanna you want to do? When I run games I try to let the players have some say in the storytelling process.  Whenever something REALLY BAD (or sometimes just kinda bad) I allow them to invoke the shrug it off rule. Shrug it Off Once per combat (or twice if you’re nuts) you may choose to take no damage from any one attack. ...

Going to mix things up today and have a guest writer behind today's post, Chris Scaturo . Lingering Injuries Linger- v. to be slow to disappear Sasha looked down.   The stone golem lay battered and broken; it would move no more.  Unfortunately, her foot was in a pretty similar condition.   It hurt.   It really hurt. Clyde’s simple prayer to Pelor wasn’t going to fix this one. Lingering injuries can add a dynamic that improves the combat narrative as well as the story arc. When presented with a long term penalty, characters are forced to make decisions. Suddenly, the formerly simple path becomes more complex.  Combat tactics will change and the games narrative may be forced into a detour as an immediate concern becomes more pressing than the overarching plot.   L’tera wasn’t sure what to do.   The scrolls needed to be delivered but Sasha’s injury was slowing them down.   They were able to fend off the Bugb...