September 2021 – Page 6

Swordtember Blade #12 – Vigilant

This month is Swordtember. I’m going to try to draw a sword every day for the month. If I manage to keep this going for the whole month, I’ll release all 30 sword images (minus the frame and Swordtember logo I drew) as an incidental stock art pack.

Vigilant is a blade made of a dark lustrous metal adorned with the head of a small watchful gargoyle. It is a sword +3, defender (allowing the wielder to use the bonus for either attacking or towards their AC – this can be redistributed every round on the wielder’s turn), with the ability to detect evil with a 60′ range 3 times / day.

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Skaldon’s Dome

Dyson's Dodecahedron

Looking like a truncated cone with a hemisphere embedded in it, Skaldon’s Dome protects a small sealed garden within it. Trees and grass surround a small pond that in turn is home to an island with a tall, thin obelisk upon it. The interior of the dome is only accessible via stairs from the upper level of the supporting structure, and the doors into the room with the stairs have been sealed for ages (and show the signs of many attempts to break them open).

The dome itself is made of ten-foot-thick nearly clear material and a magical effect produces rain on the inside surface of the dome every evening (using the water from the air and pond within the dome). A small colony of giant (dog-sized) mutant frogs lives within the pond – but appear to be…

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Fly Free or Die #6: Honor Among Thieves

Pathfinders' Guild of Berkeley

In a missing chapter of our tale, the sponsor of their latest failed job, Lord Sinjin, gave them a new task: quit EJ Corp and get company shares to infiltrate a ship-construction facility and steal a secret experimental starship. They confronted a formidableset of guardians. The party’s vanguard, Iona Lonewhirl, continues their story. –GM

20th of Erastus, 321 AG (After Gap)

We were in the middle of an incredibly deadly battle. Mere meters before the doorway to the Oliphaunt’s hangar bay, a group of three android guard robots, a cleaning droid with knives on it, and some sort of 6-legged camouflaging sword-footed monster barred our way. While the other three valiant warriors kept the chaff off me, I squared up against the Beast.

It swung two bladed arms down toward me, catching my side and slamming me to the ground. My armor took the brunt of…

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Swordtember Blade #11 – Deep Kin Slayer

Dyson's Dodecahedron

A blade of a style that the elves have not forged in millennia, Deep Kin Slayer is one of the ancient rune swords dating back to open warfare with the dwarves. The runes spell out an eternal curse against “the bearded king” and include a lesser rune of blindness. It is a sword +2, +4 vs dwarves – and any dwarf struck by the blade must save vs spells or be rendered blind for 2d6 x 10 minutes.

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“Typical” Alignment

ThinkDM

First glimpses of D&D’s Wild Beyond the Witchlight offer 5th Edition’s latest attempt to grapple with applying alignment to monsters–typical alignment:

5th Edition has gone through several different changes to alignment in monster stat blocks. In the core rules, alignment was included for every monster (some unaligned), with a broad disclaimer to ignore or modify as you see fit. When Candlekeep Mysteries was released, alignments were omitted from general monster stat blocks. This practice continued through Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. Now, another change has arrived.

Stat block alignment has returned in modified form in Witchlight. Now, general monster stat blocks state that a creature is “typically [alignment].” Specific NPC stat blocks may still identify a character as a particular alignment. Other creatures may still be “unaligned” such as this adorable displacer beast kitten:

Why Care About…

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So, Then I Just Backed it: A Series on My Kickstarter Adventures (Part 2)

Have you ever supported someone or something financially to help them, or have you been on the receiving end and totally appreciated all the help that they provided? What did you do to honor this support? You paid off a bill, or used it to feed yourself, or perhaps helped family members. In the gaming world, sometimes you support a project that promises amazing things, but turns out to be disappointing in entirely different ways as well as varying degrees. But before I get more into this article, I want to let you know for the most part I’ve had positive encounters on Kickstarter that definitely offset the negative experiences. As I recount my adventures, I will start with the mild and head towards the spicy side of it. This is my Kickstarter adventure.

Mild: Magic Puzzles by Magic Puzzle Company

Let’s talk about a project that was by no…

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Swordtember Blade #10 – Ikandak “The Executioner”

Dyson's Dodecahedron

Ikandak is an exceptionally heavy blade for its length – crafted with a heart of heavy dwarven iron, the blade itself keeps its enchanted edge through nearly any level of abuse. Nicknamed “The Executioner” by its current owner, Ikandak is a sword +1 (although treated as +3 for what it can hit and harm) of sharpness (although it does not emit light like most swords of similar enchantment).

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Tomb of Annihilation #52: The Ticking of the Clock

Pathfinders' Guild of Berkeley

In two missing chapters of our story, some party members turned into rodents and explored more of the third level, encountering a room with an insanity-inducing wind trap, a room with teleporting platforms leading to a chest and clay golem, and a strange door with a round mirror and ten indentations around it. Meanwhile they are finding crystal “eyes” in the dungeon. (-GM)

10th of Flamerule (“Summertide”), 1493 DR (Dalereckoning)

Goblin the Boblin tries to cast fly to get over the chasm. His unpredictable magic sputters out for a second, and then Goblin disappears. Luckily, a few seconds later, I see him floating towards me as a ghost. He turns back into himself and we continue.

At the mirror, I try to put eyes into the niches along the outside. Each one makes my reflection look ~10 human years older, or about 15 years for me. My reflection also starts…

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Swordtember Blade #9 – Sahazar

Dyson's Dodecahedron

A slayer of orcs in far off lands, Sahazar was brought to this realm by the merchant-prince Megrodoc and was promptly stolen by the thieves of the City of Copper Bowls. It is a sword +1, +3 vs orcs and goblins.

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PlayStation Showcase 9.9.21

VIDEO GAME BOOK CLUB

It’s been over a year since the last big PlayStation Showcase (6.11.2020). That showcase was our first look at some upcoming PlayStation 5 games (a few which we’re still waiting for). At the very end of the showcase we got that super fresh console reveal, where the PlayStation 5 emerged from a strange structure of moving molecules.

Yesterday, we had our first true PlayStation 5 Showcase since then. Sure, we had some special State of Plays and deep dives into certain games (Horizon: Forgotten West & Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart), but this was definitely the “Big show” we’ve been waiting for. After sitting out E3 and the other “big” gaming conferences, Sony brought the thunder!

Let’s go over some of the big announcements from yesterday’s PlayStation Showcase:

PlayStation – Play Has No Limits (Ad)

The showcase started off with this PlayStation commercial. I did not know it…

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20th of Erastus, 321 AG (After Gap)

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10th of Flamerule (“Summertide”), 1493 DR (Dalereckoning)

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