Transcribed by Bigby, stolen by Shemeshka, dictated by Mordenkainen, and drawing from the many worlds of the multiverse, the Tome of Foes has arrived! Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is, of course, the latest supplement for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, following in the footsteps of Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. It has lore, character options, and foes aplenty for us to check out, so let’s get started! I’ll be taking us through chapter by chapter, seeing what Mordenkainen has left for us to read, and comparing the final product to the various bits of Unearthed Arcana that got it started!
Tag Archives: RPG
Adventure Log: Dungeons and Dragons, Part 4
The adventurers rested, either leaning against the altar with weapons in hand, or scrambling around the spare furnishings of the temple. The Shadows moved faster than Folk did, and they didn’t have much time until the ten of them that were released found the way up and out of the crypt. Ander and Jethro found glass bottles in the Undertaker’s apartment and filled them with water for their skins, setting the bottles and some of the silver they gathered from the Keep in front of Hugh, who performed a ceremony to bless the water. Holy water seemed to be a potent ally in the fight against what was to come. Clouds gathered over the temple, and the adventurers prepared for a fight. As the sky darkened, the adventurers scrambled to the squares of sunlight made by the overhead windows; shadows didn’t usually exist in daylight, and the adventurers needed all the help they could get. The Shadows ascended the crypt stairs in groups of two and three, met by eldritch blasts, sacred weapons, and holy water. Now, with time to prepare and adequate supplies, the adventurers drove back the Shadows with only a few wounds and a little strength sapped. Not yet ready to return to the crypt, Hrive went outside the walls to retrieve his mule, and the group foraged old abandoned gardens for food. Sleep came easier in the keep without gnolls to harry them, but the adventurers were still wary.
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Table Fiction: Star Wars: Lost and Found Pt. 3
Here’s the thing about adventuring parties, ad hoc teams, and ragtag starship crews: they don’t always get along with one another. Whether it’s past associations, disagreements over a course of action, or basic personality conflicts, every group is going to have moments where they’re fighting among themselves (hopefully only verbally). The crew of the Lost and Found is no different. Carga found himself joining up with Zaja’s eccentric crew of data pirates, and has even gotten along with the curmudgeonly technician Thraga, but the fact is that the crew has both an ex-Rebel and an ex-Imperial on the roster, and that was bound to come to a head at some point . . .
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Level One Wonk Does RPG Theory: GNS
Theories are tools for understanding and explaining any number of different subjects. As role-playing games began to increase in subject matter breadth, there immediately followed an attempt to explain what different games do, and what games do best. Unsurprisingly, attempts to “explain” the range of games on the market were typically incomplete and sometimes dreadfully inaccurate. Despite this, some theories stuck around, usually because they were punchy and easy to remember, and were “close enough” to work as a shorthand. Today, the Level One Wonk is going to look a bit at game design theory, and use one of the most popular theories as a springboard to discussion about RPG Theory as a whole and what it’s trying to accomplish. As George Box once said, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” That is the best way to understand many RPG Theories, including the GNS Model.
Masks: Secrets of A.E.G.I.S. Review
Marvel has S.H.I.E.L.D., DC has A.R.G.U.S., and Masks: A New Generation has A.E.G.I.S., the Advanced Expert Group for Intervention and Security. In Halcyon City and beyond, while superheroes are wearing flashy colors and punching their enemies through buildings it’s the agents of A.E.G.I.S. who fill in the gaps, clean up the messes, nip nascent threats in the bud, and keep an eye on everything in the name of protecting everyone. A.E.G.I.S. has always been a factor for the New Generation to consider, but we can now learn the Secrets of A.E.G.I.S. in the second Masks supplement from Magpie Games!
The Independents: Archives of the Sky
There are stories that require a different approach than the traditional party-based RPG. Epic stories, with scales vastly larger than just the four to six people in an adventuring party, have proven difficult in this format, though many have tried. A story-game approach can give the flexibility for telling big stories; that was one of the thoughts behind Ben Robbins’s games Kingdom and Microscope. Now, there is a new designer entering the space: Aaron Reed has created a story-game of epic science fiction stories, Archives of the Sky.
Table Fiction: Star Wars: Lost and Found Pt. 2
Everyone is looking for something, and that everyone includes player characters. After finding himself joining data pirate captain Zaja on the Lost and Found in Part 1, Klatooinian thief Carga now finds himself acclimating to his new comrades. Each of them have come to the Lost and Found for reasons of their own, and not all of them could exactly be described as friendly . . . but most have their own, sometimes surprising, ways of being welcoming. After all, it’s easier to find what you’re after with a crew by your side. There are adjustments to be made, of course, and as we start Part 2 of our Dice for Brains tale some of them turn out to be explosive . . .
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Kickstarter Wonk: May, 2018
Welcome to Kickstarter Wonk for May! There are tons of games out there, and as usual, it can be tough to narrow down to a reasonable number. This month I’m highlighting nine games and a tenth category, into which at least three of this month’s games fell. In thinking about this spread of projects, it made it clear to me that I needed to ask a very direct question: what makes a project stand out? What makes a game that can advance or expand the hobby? These ten games all provided a good answer to those questions, whether I’d choose to pick them up for my personal library or not.
Meet the Party: Imperial Garrison
An ambassador who believes in fostering relations with the natives (in order to make them dependent upon her). A COMPNOR officer with a (literal) sixth sense for troublemakers. A Bothan engineer working part time through his “retirement” and who hides a dark secret. A quartermaster who looks to make his fortune at the same time as keep his new home out of the dark ages. A Corellian Hotshot who has a gift behind the sticks of her craft, and an attitude and a mouth to match. Welcome new recruits. Meet the Party strives to create ready-to-play characters for a variety of systems and settings, both for your use and to inspire you in making characters of your own.Today we are going to give some examples of some of fine servants of the Empire! You would do well to live by their example, despite any possible . . . irregularities. We shall observe a case study where, in the face of a shortage of manpower, a lack of proper logistical supply chain, and locals of questionable loyalty, loyal servants of the Empire managed to persevere against the dastardly Rebels!
System Hack: Genesys Mecha Advanced Models
We’ve got the basic mecha and we have the pilots to take it into battle, but a single machine does not a mecha game make. While the increasing skill of the pilots is definitely the best way for Our Heroes to take the fight to the enemy upgrading their machines is a close second. In this relatively straightforward System Hack for Genesys Mecha we’re rolling out another four machines in the CHM line of mecha, from an improved general-purpose one to some decidedly specialized equipment. Your Ogo falling behind, and you need to catch up? Leave it shattered on the battlefield and need a new ride? Take these latest machines out for a test flight!
Cannibal Halfling Gaming 