Tag: D&D ideas

Character Mannerisms

creativichee:

Here’s some considerations for the tiny little details that can add a lot to a character. Figuring out these mannerisms can do a lot for conveying character traits through their normal actions rather than just their thoughts, dialogue, etc.

  • How’s their posture? There are more options than just sitting up straight or slouching a lot. What’s their most comfortable sitting position? Do they have a consistent posture or does it change depending on situation / present company? 
  • How’s their etiquette? Do they hold the door for people behind them? How do they handle handshakes and other kinds of typical contact? Does their language change or become more formal when speaking to strangers? To their elders? To their superiors? 
  • In a crowded space, do they get out of people’s way, or do people get out of THEIR way? 
  • How do they point something out? Pointing their finger? Nodding their head? A flippant wave of the hand?
  • What are their comfort gestures or self-touch gestures? Common comfort gestures include rubbing the back of the neck or gripping their own arms. Can they suppress these gestures or do they do them often?
  • Also consider the character’s common reactions to common emotions. Do they whoop when they’re excited? Do they tremble when angry? 
  • What parts of the body are the most expressive? Do they shuffle and stomp their feet a lot when agitated or excited? Are they a hand talker? Do they have an impressive range of motion with their eyebrows?
  • How do they sound? Do their car keys jingle as they walk? Do they drag their feet? Do their heels clack resoundingly on hard floors? Do they breathe loudly? Do they fidget in ways that make a lot of noise?
  • How do they handle eye contact?
  • Any behaviors they reserve for moments when they’re alone? (Or possibly among family/friends that don’t care?) Do they pick their nose? Do they bite their toenails? Do they sniff their armpits? Or do they not care if people see behavior like this?
  • Apart from comfort gestures, what else do they do to comfort themselves in trying times? What’s their go-to self care? What’s their comfort food? Where’s their safe space?
  • What are they doing with themselves as they’re suppressing emotion? Lip biting, fist clenching, and avoiding eye contact are common methods of coping with strong emotions.

Some homebrewed magic items

afrostycupofdice:

In the campaign I’m writing, I have the PCs being paid in magic items instead of money (for reasons). They’ll roll a d20 and get an item randomly.
I’ve only cooked up one batch so far, and others are welcome to use some of them

1) Pen of Scribing : a basic feather quill that lets the user write in any language, but if they didn’t know it previously, they still can’t read it

2) Buster Sword : it’s a homemade version of the Buster Sword form Final Fantasy VII. It’s entirely decorative and impractical for combat, but it does provide that tough guy aesthetic (+2 on Intimidation)

3) Inverse Earplugs : small, red, plush beads that, when placed inside the user’s ear, amplifies the hearing ability (what can be heard is left to the judgement of the DM)

4) Telepathy Potion : a salmon colored, murky liquid in a small vial. If you and another person drink it, you can hear each other’s thoughts (limit 4 people; last 1 hour; range is 50 feet)

5) Fantasy 5 Gum : a pack of spearmint fantasy 5 gum. This gum has such an intense mint flavor that it leaves your breath painfully minty fresh (user can unleash a frosty breath (range 15ft) for 2d6 cold damage; 8 pieces in a pack)

6) Cat Paws : a pair of fuzzy white cat paw gloves that give the wearer +3 on Animal Handling

7) Thunder Gem : a small yellow gem that, when thrown on the ground, summons forth the fury of a thunderstorm (summons lightning and thunder in a 10 ft radius around where the gem shatters; can be heard for 100 ft; Con save –> failed = 3d6 lightning damage; saved = ½ that)

8) Stick-on Mustache : a stick-on handlebar mustache that is meant for a child (+2 on bluff checks when disguising self as someone male)

9) The Breakfast Club : this club is shaped like a large wooden spoon and smells of spices. If you sleep near this item and it is unobserved for at least an hour during the night, upon waking up you will find a delicious full gourmet breakfast of the highest quality. There is enough food and drink to serve the whole party. You can also hit people with it (1d8 bludgeoning damage)

10) Feather Cape : a deep purple cape with a gold trim that is coated with glitter and has had Feather Fall imbued in it (the wearer can use Feather Fall when they need it)

11) A Rainy Day : a blue lace parasol decorated with small sapphires that, when opened, summons a rain cloud above the bearer (in a 10 ft square around bearer, it rains; if user succeeds on a DC 15 (whatever their spell casting ability branches off of) check, it summons lightning as well, causing 1d8 lightning damage)

12) Lit Flip Kicks : a pair of sick looking kicks that give the wearer +2 on acrobatics checks

13) Candle Staff : a medium sized white oak staff with a lit wax candle on the tip. Can cast Fireball once before the fire goes out. The fire can be re-lit but only by a non magical fire (4d6 fire damage; no daily limit)

14) Bell of Hypnosis : a small golden bell with a black handle that, when rung, releases a frequency that’s imbued with Charm magic and will not realize they were charmed when the effect wears off (victim must succeed on a DC 14 Con save; lasts 1 hour)

15) Back-up Arm Bracers : a set of arm bracers that only kicks in when your main armor fails (when an attack beats the wearer’s AC by 5 or more, damage is reduced by 1d4 points)

16) Ace of Spades : a simple ace of spades card that, no matter where you put it, always ends up back in your sleeve (good for magic tricks; can impress people)

17) 8-ball of Prophecy : an 8-ball from a basic pool set that is imbued with fortune telling. Shake it and the answer to your question will be revealed. User can ask it a yes or no question once per day (DM must answer truthfully and must answer with replies that would come out of a magic 8 ball)

18) Magician’s Hat : a basic black top hat that allows the wearer to cast Prestidigitation (it’s powers are increased if the spell was already known (lasts longer and affects bigger items; unlimited use)

19) Tome of Hints : a gold bound leather book filled with blank pages. In exchange for a good joke, it’ll reveal a hint as to what the adventures should do to progress the story (quality of joke is up to DM)

20) Toaster of Toast : a nice metal toaster with two slots for toast. Once per morning, the user can use it to make toast, but the quality is up to fate (roll d20 no modifier; < 10 = burnt toast & not a good start to the day; 10-16 = pretty good but could be better; 17+ = the best toast you’ve ever had & +2 to max HP for the day; toast feeds one person)

onlyawfulrpgideas:

Struggling to cobble together background characters on the fly and want to avoid a world full of generic stock characters? 

Fill out a stack of these simple NPC books. They print out four per A4 sheet (one sided) and fold to make a little book – general profile on the front, combat on the back and a blank middle to record notes about events which occur involving this NPC.

I invested the time to roll up over a hundred of these (using the DM guide, chapter 4) and now whenever I need a new minor character to deliver a plot hook or something, I just shuffle through the stack of ready-to-play characters and choose one that suits.

“Loyalty” scale is something I came up with, so it might not be an actual feature of the game, I don’t know. Essentially, this is a measure of how likely they are to help or hinder: +3 being devout following and -3 being deep dislike. Maybe use this as a modifier to any social interaction roles with them, to add a touch of the cantankerous.

The combat page does not have a stat block or much detail because these are intended for characters which are unlikely to see combat, except in the (not too) unlikely event that one of your PCs goes rogue.

Feel free to print these, use them and distribute them. Credit would be nice, but I won’t hold you to it as long as you have fun playing!

Check out Brom, our love-sick Dwarven artist as an example!

D&D Plot Hooks

basalt-dnd:

Whispers abound within the tavern’s soft lamplight. You happen to overhear some strange bits and pieces:

1. The magistrate’s sword has gone missing, and the only leads point towards a prominent jewel thief. The thief has been dead for a decade.

2. While digging a well, some townspeople have discovered a gaping cave under the water. It doesn’t seem like too much of an issue until several local children go missing. Their bodies show up days later in the well.

3. A mysterious but important figure is sending out invitations to a grand masquerade. It is said that the figure is particularly keen on inviting adventurers, for some reason or another.

4. The forest that has long been seen as peaceful seems not only sentient, but angry. It waits for wrongdoers to set up camp before strangling them in the roots of its trees. Recently, it’s become more and more violent- towards more than wrongdoers. Someone or something is forcing the forest to do their bidding.

5. A local guild of explorers has discovered a manuscript about an ancient artifact. They want it, badly, but anyone who follows the map to the temple where it is rumored to be, never returns. The guild is offering a high pay to whoever can bring back the artifact.

6. Drow, Drider, and other people and creatures of the Underdark are becoming more common on the surface. Something is forcing them out of their home, and it isn’t pretty.

7. A powerful, evil dragon has had their eyes on the kingdom for a while. Now, they might be coming to claim the territory as their own. Or so the local rangers say, from their posts at the borders.

8. A messenger is found, dead, with the scroll of their delivery clutched in their hands. It was an extremely important and time sensitive message, and if it isn’t delivered quickly, really bad things could happen. Someone didn’t want it delivered, that’s for sure.

9. A dangerous conman/woman has been going from town to town, selling fake cure-alls and so on. People are just now discovering they’ve been swindled, and boy are they mad.

10. An important figure has passed on, and a massive power struggle and chaos grips the area as people vie for the figure’s position.

probablyquestionablerpgideas:

The concept that even dead/sleeping gods still have influence over the mortal world.

Here’s some ideas as to how that could work out for player characters, or NPCs (feel free to add if you have any ideas! These were just off the top of my head):

  • Thousands of years after a god’s passing, you come across an ancient, long forgotten temple dedicated to them. It’s difficult to read some of the writings, whether it’s because language has evolved much since it was written, or that time as eaten away at the inscriptions on the walls, but you feel like you /need/ to know what is being said. You work until you understand, and the moment you do, your mind becomes flooded with images; visions of the worship, of the symbols of this god, of the place where they died–and oddly enough, a place where you feel as though you need to travel to. It is now your assigned goal to bring this dead god back to life.

  • Your family is one of the last to remember the deity that you collectively worship. While the deity’s influence seems to be gone from this world, the ideals they stood for are still very important to follow (either in general, or it is just deemed as such by the family). Once per generation, a family member is chosen, and taken into a ritual chamber that only a select few members even know about–whoever gets taken in emerges with the loss of their sight, in exchange for prophetic visions. They alone are the only person in this world who can communicate with the deity. (It could also be interesting to change this up a bit and make it a demon cult sort of thing)

  • You’ll never forget the day when your god was struck down–clerics, paladins, priests, everyone felt their connection to them severed all at once. There was anger, weeping, and confusion, how could this happen? Who did this? You would pray, and pray, travel to the most sacred shrines and temples, to no avail. Your calling in life was sufficiently dead, but you weren’t alone in this, so many people were lost because of it. After years of trying to learn about this tragedy for naught, you retire to the country side, and decide to become a farmer. It’s a long time until you pick up a blade again–you need to fight off the goblins that are trying to destroy your home and family. Your desperate shout as you slash your sword in defense of your loved ones strikes more fear in your attackers than you were expecting–you feel the old, but familiar divine energy well up inside of you. Your journey to try figure out what happened to your deity is going to begin once again.

d&d 5e ranger idea:

lair-master:

  • roll a gnome beastmaster and get a giant frog companion
  • giant frogs can swallow small creatures, like gnomes
  • train it to swallow you without harming you
  • construct a gnomish clockwork periscope and snorkel
  • climb into your giant frog and hide there all day every day
  • in combat, pop out and fire arrows then pop back in
  • enemies look where arrows came from but it’s just a frog
  • for bonus points, use minor illusion or ventriloquism to speak through it so everyone thinks you’re a giant awakened frog

probablyplantrpgideas:

Can’t use metal shields as a Druid? Creative alternatives, time!

Water Druid? A large, dome shaped coral, a huge seashell, a massive octopus beak, or a turtle shell

Underdark, Swamp, or Night? A giant mushroom cap, a giant bird’s beak, a slab of slate

Forest or Plains? A giant acorn cap or nut shell, or a tortoise shell

Desert? A branch of dead wood as an arm shield for parrying, or a plate from a giant scorpion’s chitin

Still not enough? How about a dragon’s belly scale or pieces from bones or fossils, like a half of a ribcage?
A carved out giant tooth? A lid of a woven basket? A piece of a giant eggshell? What about a wheel broken off of a cart?

You don’t just need to take a wooden shield. Get creative. Use a dinosaur shoulder blade!

probablyquestionablerpgideas:

A city where necromancy is legal and actually a part of every day society.

So long as you follow a specific set of laws to make it seem a bit more ethical, you’re allowed to use it to do anything from helping you in a fight, to helping you run your business. In fact, there are entire shops or restaurants where the staff are undead.

Laws to handle the undead could be things like:
• The corpses used cannot have flesh on them for sanitary reasons, especially in the case of businesses. Those who raise undead who are more than just bone will face a fine dependent on their situation.
• Similar to how people can donate their bodies to science, or donate their organs to those in need, people can choose to donate their bodies to necromancers before their death.
• If it is unknown if a person wished for their body to be donated after death, and they have been dead for 150+ years, you’re allowed to raise them. If next of kin is still alive, you must get permission from them first.
• You must take care of the undead in your charge. Keep them clean and unbroken. If one of them starts to get too much wear and tear, you are required by law to respectfully lay them back down to rest. Failure to do this will get you a hefty fine.