New review is up for Spellbound Sea, by @bjkgames.com of @geektogeekmedia.com! I think it's a great book, but you don't have to just take my word for it :) .
geektogeekmedia.com/...
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Posts tagged #SpellboundSea
So here's a thing that's cool as heck: @rpgbot.net did a writeup for my buccaneer fighter subclass, published in Songs of the Spellbound Sea! rpgbot.net/dnd5/char...
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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The cover of Songs of the Spellbound Sea, featuring a troubadour, swashbuckler, and bloodrager fighting off blood-drunk attackers aboard a ship.
Songs of the Spellbound Sea is officially at 1.0! A 336 page PDF with 3 classes (42 subclasses), 30 *more* subs, 300 spells, seafaring rules, and so much more! All of it tested and balanced carefully to enhance your games. Set sail!
spellbound-sea.backe...
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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The cover of Songs of the Spellbound Sea, featuring a troubadour, swashbuckler, and bloodrager doing battle with hungry axolotl-folk monsters aboard a ship.
Well, I promised I'd do daily threads until the book got finished - and it did! Yesterday the v0.99 draft of Songs of the Spellbound Sea went out to backers. Doing daily threads is honestly a lot of work, so I will be happy to take a break from that :).
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A tiefling sorcerer casts blood magic.
Let's talk about multiclassing! I think it's one of the most polarizing topics in 5E. Personally, I think it works *okay* - not great, but okay - but it introduces design considerations a class- or subclass designer really needs to keep in mind.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
1/11
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A kobold spellcaster holds a skull up to the sky while incanting a spell.
Companion subclasses, part 2! Yesterday I talked about WotC's efforts and their eventual solution:
* Scalable stat block
* Bonus Action to command
* Trivial to revive
I've followed that pattern sometimes - but also broken from it. Let's dig in!
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A gravewaker troubadour plays a flute, accompanied by a zombie dog.
Let's talk about companion subclasses! Think the Beastmaster and Drakewarden, or the Battle Smith. Or, in Spellbound Sea, the Gravewaker Troubadour. 5E has a troubled history with them, even if it now has a standard solution. Today I'll go over the base design.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A tiefling wizard casts a lightning beam at an attacking sea monster from the deck of a ship.
Okay! After a few days spent on broader issues, I want to get back to nitty-gritty 5E things. Let's talk wizard subclasses! Spoiler: they're annoying to write (but not the *most* annoying).
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea #dndwizard
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A Black elven sunchanter troubadour plays a harp and summons golden swirls of holy magic.
Capping off a mini-series here on inclusivity issues: let's talk about diversity in a TTRPG book. I'm not going to claim to be an expert here, but I am a person who cares about it and tries my best.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A vampire swashbuckler strolls down the street, licking his rapier.
Yesterday I talked about sensitivity readers, so today I want to touch on a related topic: content warnings. Do 'em. They're easy to do, some folks need them, and nobody (reasonable) minds them.
Small CWs for this thread: blood, insects.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A Black paladin in heavy armor punches the air with an iron-encased fist.
Here's a topic I've been saving up for awhile: let's talk about sensitivity reading. Big principle: friggin' do it. It's the right thing to do, and even if your heart's 100% in the right place, it's an insurance policy against accidentally doing a dumb.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A shipwreck survivor floats on driftwood, surrounded by fearsome specters.
I skipped yesterday (oops), but not today! Let's talk backgrounds. Spellbound Sea has six new backgrounds for players to get inspired by.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A minotaur druid, with a staff and an orb of green magic.
Yesterday I gave an overview of the general feats in Songs of the Spellbound Sea - 6 feats for any character to add a little twist to their gameplay. Today let's talk about species feats.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A Firestarter rogue steals a pile of coins and jewelry, holding a fizzing, flaming flask in their other hand.
Yesterday I talked about the basics of writing feats (namely: it's annoying). Let's talk about some specifics! Spellbound Sea has 6 general feats in it - I'll go into some detail on why and how I wrote each one the way I did.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A kobold warlock casts a spell while holding a skull as a focus.
Let's talk today about feats and the SRD! Quick lesson: the feat collection is where WotC did the community dirty.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A triton cleric under the waves. She wields a triton and is casting a blast of water magic.
More spell design! Let's talk defenses and counterplay. Yesterday I focused on double-failure spells - spells that basically test two defenses, and fall flat if either defense holds. Today let's look at spells that don't test *any* defenses. They suck.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea #dndspells
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A plague priest holds a skull.
More spells! Let's talk about double-failure cases - and why you should *try* to avoid writing them. Key example: Ray of Sickness.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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An astromancy wizard holds a mote of starlight in his hands.
More spells! Let's talk about Concentration - one of the mechanics 5E added over prior editions, and is one of its most important balance levers for spell design. I'm here to praise concentration, not bury it; it works pretty well. But we have to grok its limits.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A bloodrager stands in front of a blazing sunset, holding a trident and net.
More spells! Let's talk about the SRD, and how it impacts the way you design. (This isn't specifically about spells, but that's where it comes up the most, by far).
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A sorceress conjures a mighty lightning storm over a departing fleet of ships.
More spells! Let's talk about Big Magic. Which is my own term, but means generally: some types of effects *shouldn't* be available at lower levels, because even if you can balance them, low-level magic just *can't* do that. For today: teleports!
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A tiefling wizard casts blood magic.
More spells! Let's talk about niches. Design principle: A spell needs to be useful enough to be worth taking.
Sounds obvious, right? But it's actually a thing that sinks a lot of spells, and was a huge problem in older editions.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A rogue stands close to the frame, grabbing a handful of gold and jewelry as a flask in their other hand wafts a fiery gas.
More spells! Today, Pass Without Trace - or how to write a spell that *completely* distorts the game. Design idea: maybe don't do that.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
1/11
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A figure stands in a forest, wearing armor made of oozing liquid metal.
Spells! Let's talk about niches. Design principle: A spell's only as good as its opportunity cost. If it's always *a* choice but never the *right* choice, it'll turn out bad.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A woman in black stands on a rooftop, holding a pair of climbing claws. Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, by Yongjae Choi © Wizards of the Coast LLC
Command the shadows with the Shadewalker rogue!
PDF: www.gmbinder.com/sha...
PDF: www.somanyrobots.com...
Discord: discord.gg/6p6DqCxTTw
Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/Une...
#dnd #dnd5e #5eplusplus #dndhomebrew #dndrogue #SpellboundSea
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Eldritch Rift: A wizard summons purple tentacles to assault her enemies.
Let's talk about spell lines! Or families, another name I've used. This is a group of spells that have similar themes and mechanics across different levels. Design principle: know when to stick to established rules
(CW: creepy insect art downthread)
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A sorcerer drops flaming stars on their enemies' heads.
Right, some folks will probably be interested for this one: Spells! I'll actually cover spells in several threads - having written hundreds of the things, I have a lot of opinions on good spell design. For a principle: don't be precious.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A wizard conjures a rain of stars, slamming them into monsters below.
I had a backer on discord (discord.gg/9JCGJQGw) ask me to talk about my art process - so let's take a detour for that! To try and get a design principle from it: you, uh, should have good art. Let's go with that.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A galleon sails on a stormy sea
Let's talk about ships! Specifically, minigame design, the Seafarer's Manual (my naval rules) and why I felt the world needed another set of seafaring rules.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A minotaur in a green robe carries a staff, while green magic swirls above his hand. He stands in front of a henge.
Today, let's talk about species features, special attacks, and action cramp. The star of the show: the Minotaur (Revised)! Design idea for today: Make sure to think about how a feature will get used in practice instead of just jotting down something that sounds good.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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A copper-scaled snake-person slithers through a jungle, wearing an elaborate headdress and wielding a vicious single-edged blade.
For today's thread, let's talk modular species design! The design idea isn't a complicated one: give the players choices about how they make their PCs.
Spellbound Sea has 7 species, but we'll focus on just one: Serpent's Children.
#dnd #dnd5e #spellboundsea
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