Technology has the power to enable Game Masters be more efficient and run better games.
The benefits of introducing technology into your role playing game life are:
Increased accessibility to games and a more diverse player base as you can access Players and Gamemaster from across the globe
More efficient game preparation
Better organisation during the game
Automation of game mechanics during sessions enables more focus on the story and role-playing relationships between characters, as Players spend less time managing game mechanics.
Technology has its drawbacks. There is the inevitable learning curve and the requirement for sufficient disposable income to be able to afford the hardware software in the first place. But once these are overcome the benefits are significant.
“People aRE now more malleable”
The power and use of virtual table tops (VTTs) in the role playing game space will likely accelerate because of the impact of the pandemic as people are now more malleable to change. It doesn’t take long for a marooned person to realise that online gaming and using a VTTs provide the only opportunity to meet and play with liked minded people. Once a person has experienced a VTT reducing the effort to manage the mechanics of the game there is a strong chance it will become a permanent habit.
The VTT space is booming with several new platforms and and acceleration in software development with light of sight technologies for VTTs being advanced in late 2020/21.
Perhaps the most interesting technological development ahead is the virtual game Board system development underway is by Tilt Five which has been funded by Kickstarter to manufacturer a 3D holographic role playing board game experience – with each player able to sit in their own home and look in real time as the same map. Notably Tilt Five have an in principal agreement with VTT Fantasy Grounds to bring this to life. This is not a new space with Tabletop Simulator already in existence but it will be a more tactile experience.
Tilt Five\5 3D Holographic Gameboard – this may one day replace the whiteboard battle map.
If successful a holographic gameboard may well herald the demise in the 2D game map, with 3D mapping tool such Flowscape or Dungeon Alchemist becoming the mapping tool of choice for Game Masters.
Looking outside the niche of companies creating products for role playing games future maps for holographic game might be sourced from games with Star Citizen’s planet creation technology is a wonderful example of a 3D game engine which could be repurposed to map 2D or 3D maps for role playing games (lets hope so as many people in Star Citizens Los Angeles office play D&D).
The potential of 3D gaming tables has already been recognised with Heroforge and Tabletop Simulator already in a partnership to cater for this anticipated growing market
Heroforge allows you to create custom 3D models for use in other software
Fantasy Grounds Unity is the second generation virtual table top (VTT) produced by Smiteworks LLC. The Unity moniker is a reference to the Unity game engine that replaced the previous non-Unity version of the software – now called Fantasy Grounds Classic.Â
The Unity version provides many advantages over Fantasy Grounds Classic including better memory management, 64 bit operating system, and improved graphics.
Fantasy Grounds Unity is capable of being used to play any of the following role playing game rulesets: 5th, 4th, 2nd, 1st/AD&D edition Dungeons and Dragons, W.O.I.N, Rolemaster, Vampire – The Masquerade, Savage Worlds, Deadlands, Mutants and Masterminds, Fifth Edition Fantasy, Call of Cthulu, Castles and Crusades, 13th Age, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Barbarians of Lemuria, 1st and 2nd edition Pathfinder, Starfinder, and Traveller.
Definitely don’t consider this a tool for online only gamers.
It should be noted that this software can be used by a GM and Players for live and in person games as is significantly reduces the workload and and increased speed at which a game master can run a game. Definitely don’t consider this a tool for online only gamers. D&D YouTube personality Matt Colville is an active users of Fantasy Grounds but Matt like us recommends you use the software that you prefer to use.
There are three options when it comes to purchase:
Demo: (Free) You can play in any game if the game master has an ultimate licence. You can’t connect to anyone with a demo or standard licence, and you can’t share any of your purchased content with another player.
You can however test all the other features of the software including generating a character and rolling dice. It comes with the standard reference document for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons which is enough for a Dungeon Master to use it at a normal table game to run the Lost Mines of Phandelver if you purchased the physical boxed set. This version can be used by Dungeon Master for an live in-person game with Players using hardcopy character sheets.
Standard:(Paid) You can connect to any player with a standard or ultimate licence. If you are the game master you can share any content you own with other players.
Ultimate:(Paid) You can invite any player to play with you (Demo or Standard licence). If you are the game master you can share any content you own with the connecting players.
In all cases the payment is a one-off cost. For those people who intend to play for a long-time the higher upfront cost will be lower than paying the monthly subscription model common to other VTT platforms.
Smiteworks does offer a monthly subscription but we don’t think many would take up this option unless you would like to try it for a month before committing. Indeed Smiteworks its-self actively encourages everyone to purchase a licence outright as they see it as better value.
FGU DM Viewpoint: Combat Tracker, NPC statistics, Story Notes and Map showing Player Character and Non-Player Character Line of sight.
The most complex component of Fantasy Grounds Classic used to be setting up a game as the game master had to implement port forwarding on their modem – this is gone and its now simple to connect to others as a central server is used to connect players. Fear not the option to create a game on your local network also remains available without needing an internet connection.
FGU Finding a Game – far easier than Fantasy Grounds Classic
Once connected the process of creating and running games is straight forward and indeed easier, quicker and more efficient than other VTT platforms, or when using books. Encounters take seconds to plan, maps are simple to setup, and combats are a breeze to run even with a dozen enemy combatants in play. The Fantasy Grounds interface places the information you need as a player or game master right at your fingertips at the the time you need it.
Dreaded tasks such as encumbrance, and maths literally disappear as tasks which means the game runs far more efficiently and you can play more in the time that you have.
“Dreaded tasks such as encumbrance, and maths literally disappear”
Player Character equipment weights are automatically calculated as you place items into your character sheets and players can change the status of gear from worn to carried (which automatically changes the characters AC). Attack, Skills Rolls, Saving Throws require no more maths that double clicking the skills to be rolled and calculated. Spells requiring concentration can automatically role to determine if a character maintains concentration when hit for damage. Of course using any of these features is optional – you can play the style that best suits your group.
Line of Sight
Fantasy Grounds Unity comes with the ability to create line of sight. This is simple and quick to apply by drawing points or shapes (rectangles for doors, and circles for pillars). Line of sight is enhanced further by the ability for the GM to apply graphic effects adding clouds, fog and rain to the map. Using masks allows a GM to create a map where the area outside the inn is foggy and dark, but inside the inn may show the warm glow from fire.
FGU: Line of Sight Creation Tools are simple, quick and effective. Red lines denote walls, Blue Boxes Doors, and Yellow Boxes Windows. FX can be applied using Masks to have it rain outside the buildings
Line of Sight Plus+
At the time of review Line of Sight Plus+ was still in the later stages of development but once released (expected March 2021) it will add upon and improve line of sight by applying limits to visibility in darkness.
For example a human in a cave (would have no vision). Give them a torch and now they can see the distance of your torchlight. Does your character have darkvision? – great you can see 60 feet but only the shades of grey. Once implemented each character and non-player character will have a different perspective on how they see the world.
FGU: Line of Sight Plus+ Early Developer Video
Mapping
This version of Fantasy Grounds also includes tools that enable the software to develop maps. The mapping tools are good but more time is required for the mapping tools to mature as they aren’t intuitive to use – but can produce very good results.
Tiles sets purchased from Smiteworks store includes line of sight features so it can be a very good option for quick map creation.
Community Support
One of the really nice features permitted by Smiteworks is that they allow users of the Fantasy Grounds software to create their own modules and extensions for functionality they don’t provide. Fantasy Grounds community content is available for purchase on DMsGuild and DriveThruRPG with Smiteworks not taking an additional cut.
Smiteworks also supports Fantasy Grounds College which is a dedicated volunteer community of gamers to help bring new game masters up to speed with the VTT and organises virtual events.
At least twice a year Smitworks provides Ultimate Licence capability to all users to enable the running of virtual gaming events – these are a great time to check out the full potential of the software.
Summary
Fantasy Grounds Unity is the best VTT in the market if you want automation, line of sight management, at at lowest cost. Sure there are other competitors but if you are looking form the best value fully functional VTT this is it, and make no mistake it will make a GM more efficient at a home game if they use a notebook and Fantasy Grounds behind the GM screen.
Fantasy Grounds Unity is available for PC, Linux, and Mac. It is frequently on special and you can purchase it direct from Fantasy Grounds or the Steam storefront. You can also link your Fantasy Grounds website purchases to the Steam store.
Magical items and in particular magical weapons have been a feature of Dungeons and Dragons since the beginning of the game and are a beloved find for Players. In early editions magical weapons came with bonuses that ranged as far as +5 for iconic weapons such as the paladins Holy Avenger.
In the 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons the target dice roll needed for success or failure is contained within a much tighter numerical spread than prior editions.
This tightness is reflected in player character proficiency bonuses ranging from +2 to +6 from level 1 to 20, and tiers of play being defined by an opportunity to increase an ability score by +1 if both attributes points are applied to a single attribute (such as Strength) when you reach level 4,8,12,16 or 20.
In this environment providing a character with a +1 weapon is similar to a character moving to the next tier of play.
As Dungeons and Dragons has moved away from the kick down the door kill the monster gameplay (now the realm of computer games) and moved towards a stronger focus on narrative entertainment, being continually successful on die rolls reduces the opportunity for failure, which can actually enhance the gameplay experience (noting failure should more often be a setback and not cataclysmic).
Whilst there are no doubt many Players relish the always win scenarios it’s often the setbacks followed by accomplishment and success that really creates long-term memories that resonate long after the adventure and/or campaign is finished.
For this reason Dungeon Masters should consider handing out magical weapons that do not provide a bonus to attack (i.e. a +0) but do provide a bonus for damage. This change should be supplemented with an additional ability or feature to make the acquisition of a magical weapon more interesting for a Player.
Consider a vanilla sword +1 verses these options:
Sword +0 attack +1 damage and the ability to cast Levitate once per day, and provide inspiration once per day when held.
Sword +0 attack +1 damage and the ability to cast Zone of Truth once per week, and provides the holder with proficiency in Infernal (the language of deception and contracts) when held.
Sword +0 attack +1 damage and the ability to cast Featherfall once per day and provides the holder with proficiency in Avian when held.
Suddenly an magical item becomes more interesting, it can now contribute to narrative gameplay and is less likely to be discarded and forgotten when you throw a new magic weapon their way. In addition there is a special kind of deliciousness when a weapon has the attunement property as the Player must now make a decision on which items their character will be attuned too.
The alternative of course is to have no magic weapons in the game. This is problematic as possession of a magical weapon is essential for rogues, fighters, barbarians, rangers and paladins as there are many monsters who are immune to non-magical weapon damage. A +0 magic weapon ensures these characters to be effective against these creatures without powering up the character.
Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition has a bevy of official and unofficial magical items but in practice very few magical items tend to be handed out. This occurs as the base characters classes are powerful and adding more items increases the power level – which makes a Dungeon Masters task of providing challenging and rewarding experiences more difficult for players.
One shot magical items provide a way of adding more varied magic to the game on a temporary basis . The official rules provides for only two types of one-shot magical items: potions and scrolls.
Potions are perfect magical items to add a limited sprinkle of magic as they one use items. They are also drunk which limits the thematic variety you can create – it would not make sense for a potion to create a one use item.
Scrolls are also one use items but my experience is that when Player Characters are presented with a scroll the Wizard transcribes it to their spell book the scroll’s magic is unused and the spell becomes a permanent addition to your game.
This limited pool of what a one-shot magical is thematically inspired MonteeCook Games to develop Cyphers. These are a core resource found within the campaign world of Numenera (you may wish to read our 5e review of this setting – Arcana of the Ancients).
In the Numerera setting a Cypher is:
“a leftover device of vanished civilizations so advanced that even their cast-off technology provides amazing effects. The use a PC finds for the cypher is probably not the use originally intended. Cyphers are not magical, though their effects may seem so.
Open your eyes to one-shot magic that is a Cypher
Cyphers have different forms based on three parameters: internal, wearable, and usable.
Internal cyphers are things you ingest or inject. Wearable cyphers are articles of
clothing, jewellery, or other things you wear on your physical body. Usable cyphers are
basically anything else.”
Now you might be thinking great now the Player Characters may end up 50 cyphers, well MonteeCook Games thought about that too and imposed soft / hard limits on the number of cyphers a character may carry. You see cyphers are a little unstable due to their age. Carry too many (more than 3) and there is a a risk of a negative consequence – including the PC being lost forever. In any event a negative event includes the destruction of all cyphers carried!
The fact that Players can only carry so many cyphers means that if cyphers are fairly commonly found a Player will rue any lost opportunity to use them if they have to make a decision on which to keep and which to leave behind when they find more. Of course if they are in a gambling mood they can carry more, but if one or more cypher is powerful the risk of negative consequences increases proportionally.
In practice Players learn to use cyphers regularly. This allows Dungeon Masters to feed more and interesting cypher magic into the game on a regular basis while the Player has the opportunity to apply more magic variety into the game – a win/win situation for your table and play experience.
For the Forgotten Realms it is very plausible that the long-fallen Netheril Empire would be a major source of cypher-like objects combining traditional magic with technologies now lost to the Realms. For inspiration as to what these objects may appear like I suggest that you consider adopting from the steampunk aesthetic, and exploring Arcana of the Ancients and Numenera. Happy gaming!
Dungeondraft is cartography mapping software which is used to create detailed custom battle maps for role-playing games.
At the time of the review Version 1.00 – prehistoric centipede has just been released.
Prehistoric centipede is both the one year of anniversary of software development and the point at which all originally envisaged components are now feature complete.
Dungeondraft works through a combination of seamless tiling, smart line objects, and single asset (PNG files) placement to create maps. In practice, maps are created by painting which is very intuitive.
Highly detailed maps are made possible through the use of layers (based on relative height). The software does rely upon the user making the decision on which layer the asset is placed, an approach that differs from Campaign Cartographer which has default predefined layers for assets (lakes, mountains, furniture etc) but the Dungeondraft approach is effective – provided you plan ahead.
FACILITATES multi-storey buildings and multi-level lairs
The software facilitates multi-storey buildings and multi-level lairs as a mapper can overlay the next level over the top of the previous one and use transparency to see the level below whilst you create. The software includes a tiled roof generating tool that allows you to build out all levels – from basement to rooftop.
A nice feature is the inclusion of a tracing layer that allows you to sketch out your design on a piece of paper, scan it, add it as a layer and then draw your final map on top. For fans of old black and white Dungeons and Dragons adventures it provides a quick means of creating a coloured version.
When it comes to object placement Dungeondraft provides two options. The basics – select and place each object one by one and a scatter object mode which allows you to select multiple objects at a time with Dungeondraft scattering them as you move the mouse about. In the scatter mode the software allows you to randomise distance between placement and randomised size between set ranges. This is very useful and effective for the placement of trees, bushes, flowers, mushrooms, rocks and bloodstains.
To cap off a well rounded feature set, Dungeondraft includes the ability to set ambient lighting for the whole map to any RGB colour setting you like, plus the ability to place lighting (for fireplaces and torches). These too can be custom coloured and the light will respect walls and closed doors. The light will also fade to darkness once the limit you placed for the light source is reached.
Lighting effects in Dungeondraft. The room layout was created using the random room generator
The only downside of Dungeondraft is that erasing mistakes down the road isn’t possible because assets (other than smart assets) are painted onto the map they can’t be modified or deleted. If you decide that you need to change something you will have to be creative to remove it.
What’s it like?
Dungeondraft is very easy to use and should be considered as an entry point for any person wishing to create their own custom battle maps.
Within the first hour you should be be able to produce a half decent basic map without instruction. Watching a few YouTube and your competence will quickly grow and in a week or two of practice you should be capable of producing impressive results.
Exporting is simple quick and easy whether for printing, or use with virtual table tops.
The software comes with approximately 2,000 assets. Additional free assets are available from Cartography Assets, with thousands more assets available from Patreon creators Crosshead Studios and Forgotten Adventures for a modest monthly amount. Creating your own asset set is relatively straight forward for anyone able to follow instructions.
Adding assets to Dungeondraft is a simple matter of placing the folder of assets into the customer assets directory and checking the box for the asset folder in Dungeondraft.
Should I purchase Dungeondraft?
If you are looking for a piece of mapping software that can quickly produce good looking functional battle maps then Dungeondraft is definitely for you. It provides the quickest entry point for anyone to produce a decent battle map.
If you struggle for map ideas Dungeondraft includes both a room and cave random generator to get you started.
Dungeondraft can be purchased for a one-off purchase price of $30USD for PC and MacOS.
Arcana of the Ancients is a Kickstarter project from MonteCook Games which is designed to bring the acclaimed Cypher-system campaign world of Numenera to 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons.
This is a different type of product – a bolt-on supplement to the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide and Monsters Manual – that brings science-fantasy to your traditional Dungeons and Dragons game.
Within its covers the book contains:
numerous magical-item equivalents called cyphers (limited use item like a spell scroll), relics (technological equipment), and ironflesh (bionic implants) for you to use in the game.
monsters including ones you could drop in your fantasy game and no-one would know to creatures, half organic half mechanical, and creatures that are straight out of a Hollywood special effects department for the creatively weird.
GM advice on how to introduce science fantasy to a traditional fantasy game including how science and technology works compared to magic.
three adventures: one for 3rd level characters and two for 4th level.
The art is fantastic and worth the price alone.
Artwork to support the science fantasy theme is outstanding
The order in which the material is presented is initially off-putting with the book commencing with the 3rd level adventure followed by a chapter on cyphers and other items.
Its not until you reach page 250 you reach the information that explains to GMs what the book is encouraging and facilitating and how you should use it. People with hardcopies from Monte Cook Game rave about the colour coding in the physical text to help you find the material you want but when you are navigating by PDF only the order of contents is off-putting and it was nearly a year before I felt like delving into the material after being baffled by it.
Once you overcome this the contents in this book is very useful, and whilst I am biased towards a fantasy game I can see myself introducing this world into my game as small element in a longer campaign arc – and certainly as an alternative to voyaging in a different plane within the Dungeons and Dragons multi-verse.
If you were thinking of running a Githyanki themed campaign making the Gith world science-fantasy styled using the contents in this book is certainly something you can do, as your players just create and run characters as they know them – you are just adding little bits more in digestible chucks during gameplay.
Nope its a scifi twist on the fantasy creature you are likely thinking of
Arcana of the Ancients is a great mashup between traditional fantasy and pure science fiction for 5e. Montee Cook have created material in 5e to support this title but you can happily purchase and use lore from Numenera (such as the 9th World Guidebook) just fine.
Treacherous Traps is a Kickstarter funded book from Nord Games.
Traps in Dungeons and Dragons and all other role playing games are probably the hardest element to implement well. Web DM notes early on in their excellent video on traps – that most traps in role-playing games are little more than a tax on hit points and resources with little enjoyment factor for either Player or DM. As a result abandoning traps all together is a better option than doing traps poorly.
Web DM Episode: Traps & Dungeon Design
Given traps are recognised as hard to do, how did the Nord Games to do with possibly the hardest topic available and is the product useful?
Firstly this book is aimed squarely at Dungeon Masters. If you are a player and don’t aspire to Dungeon Mastering then this book isn’t for you. The text does contain a new background called Trapsmith – but it isn’t sufficient to a player purchase the text.
If you are playing another system to 5e Dungeons and Dragons, don’t automatically discount this book as much is system agnostic being knowledge.
The notable sections within the book are:
How to use traps
Premade traps for various party level ranges 1-4,5-8,9-12,13-16-17-20.
Complex Traps
Designing Traps
Random Trap Generator
Puzzles Section
Riddles
Trapsmith Background
The majority of the book comprises pre-made traps. Each of which comprises of the following elements: Trigger, Effect, Countermeasures.
Most traps are interesting but far too many fall into the category of:
party didn’t think to look for traps – effect happens – damage result or party things to look for trap, or
party did thing to look for traps – rolls – you found it – roll again to disarms – result: traps turned off / trap goes off, and
rinse repeat.
That said, don’t discount this book, as all the pre-made traps are ripe for kit bashing and moulding into a better trap experience and I think a person purchasing this book who expects to do this will be much happier than someone thinking I just follow the text in the book to do this and everyone will have a good time.
The Designing Traps and Random Trap Generator sections are extremely useful if you plan to construct your own traps. These sections are a solid design springboard from which you can create things that will really appeal to your gaming groups and personal tastes.
Combining these list and charts with the premade traps in the book and Dungeon Masters have a fabulous set of tools and ideas.
This book is very much one that you flip through when you are creating a campaign and not for cover to cover consumption.Â
Kobolds are ultimate trap artisans
The Puzzles and Riddles sections of the book are highly subjective given that success rests entirely on the personalities and interests of your gaming group. If your group does like puzzles and riddles this is a suitable source for you (as your players possibly read those in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything which is a player orientated book).
Who is this book for?
As indicted earlier this is a text purely aimed at Dungeon Masters who wish to build their own creations and want a toolbox upon which they can drawn from. The majority of the pre-made traps will require work to ensure that your gaming group has a good time. If you are happy with this then the book is a worthy addition to your collection.
If you are on the fence about a traps book. I suggest you watch both the Web DM video (above) and the Matthew Colville video (below) on traps. If at the end you have feel enthusiastic about approaching traps creatively and with thought out design for your gaming groups then this title is one that you will likely use and value.
Having a custom token for your player character, non-player character, or big bad is a nice touch for your RPG game. In this quick-guide we explain a method to make your own free custom RPG token using easily accessible and free online tools.
Step 1 – Create miniature sculpture
Go to the Heroforge website where you can use the online character builder to make your character. The tools includes colour tools, and customer poses which are the piece-de-resistance of making a custom character. New features are added most Tuesdays to Heroforge. For inspiration on what you can create you can go and join the Heroforge Creators Guild Facebook Page.
Step 2 – Take a screen shot
Heroforge has a custom token maker but taking a screenshot (hit the PrtScn button on your keyboard) is going to be more than sufficient for most people. Save this image in the paint program of your choice e.g. Paint.Net, GIMP, or Affinity Photo.
Step 3 – Open Token Stamp 2
Token Stamp is a free web based tool that allows you to drag any image and create a token from it. You could also use images from web searches and Pintrest boards.
I find the Firefox browser works best as its the easiest to drag and drop images in to Token Stamp – even from other webpages.
Step 4 Customise to taste
One the image has been uploaded to Token Stamp you can now drag the handles to resize the image and choose from the token rings and colour schemes to customise your token.
If you want to use a custom background rather than the default Heroforge background you will need to edit (delete) it in your paint program and make it transparent (a PNG format).
Step 5 – Download token
Once you are happy – click Download and the token will be saved in your web browsers default download area for files. Find the file – rename it and you are good to go.
For many 2020 was the beginning of virtual table top play for RPGs by necessity.
This is what I have learnt after playing 5e Dungeons and Dragons virtually for 4 years.
Its great for time poor people. Not having to travel to the game and back is a huge time saver for parents and busy people. This alone can make the difference between playing and not playing. One benefit is that it increases your playing opportunities to a weeknight instead of a weekend which is much more family friendly. You will find as I did that many people have idle weeknights so there is a good chance they stick around for the long term (years and years). Players who travel for work on weekdays usually juggle things to not miss a session while on the road.
Two hours makes a great virtual session length. For just sheer practicality a 2 hour (sometimes 2 and a quarter hour) intense session is a really good time period. It’s sufficient to play out a decent scenario and the possible scenarios the players might journey down will be narrow enough for GMs to prepare in advance of the session.
Video is not required. I’ve not seen my players and have no idea what they look like and they have never seen me. Some people won’t like this but its absolutely not essential and it will help you all focus on vivid descriptions.
Using a VTT (virtual table top) platform is invaluable. I commenced using Roll20 and moved to Fantasy Grounds once I realised how helpful Fantasy Grounds automation is for a DM (virtual or at an in person game). Automation results in a play experience more focused on story and less on character management and calculations (combat is mind bogglingly faster). While I recommend Fantasy Grounds Unity because of its automation and line of sight features you should choose the VTT you prefer (best advice). GMs if they can afford it should consider a 27″ 1440p or a 28″ 4k monitor or larger as the larger screen space is very helpful. If you play a published adventure having the hard copy and digital when GMing is really valuable.
Use a good quality microphone. Having players with good microphones really helps with reducing voice fatigue during a session. Gaming headset and phone microphones are of lessor quality and tend to become dreary after a short period of time. A Samson Q2U USB / XLR microphone is a really good choice without breaking the bank. The forthcoming Samson Q9U will be another option to consider.
Going virtual means greater diversity. My gaming group includes two Australians, one New Zealander, three Americans, and one Bulgarian. You will be surprised who is keen to get up in the middle of the night to play, and you will enjoy the differing perspectives brought to the table. The Fantasy Grounds Forum LFG is a great place to find new players for the Fantasy Grounds VTT.
Playing virtually will spark your imagination
Add music and sound effects to enhance the experience. Adding this element makes a VTT session pop – provided you don’t over do it. There are a range of options available to bring sound to your game and if you choose Fantasy Grounds you can have Syrinscape integrated automatically. Avoid music containing lyrics as it will be distracting.
Finish each session on a suspenseful note. This is also true for a in-person game but it really wraps the session up and provides the players with sometime to discuss between sessions. The suspenseful doesn’t have to be dramatic just saying “your force open the door and the light from your spluttering torches spills inwards there you see…. and we will be back next week”.
Warlock Magazine is a monthly black and white 5e focused magazine by Kobold Press which is focused on their campaign world of Midgard which is is a subscription magazine run through Patreon.
A mere USD$3 per month is the minimum fee to access two magazine publications per month in PDF format. Higher amounts entitles you to hardcopies of the magazine. At the time of review there were 734 patrons supporting the magazine.
One publication you will receive each month contains one or two lairs which are short adventures. Each will provide 3-6 hours of adventure depending on your game group’s play style.
The second publication contains Midgard focused lore which is developed but may never have a place in the more official Kobold Press hardcover print schedule. Material varies with each edition and can includes new locations and lore, magical items, new spells, monsters, character options.
Each magazine is approximately 30 pages in length. Two magazine makes it 60 pages per month of content.
Patreon awards come in the form of redeemable coupon codes for the Kobold Press webstore which means you won’t lose access to content you have been given access too if you stop subscribing to Patreon.
The quality of writing and art (all black and white) is first rate – Warlock is not treated as a secondary side project by Kobold Press. Authors – designers who have contributed to the magazine include: David “Zeb: Cook, Wolfgang Baur, Celeste Conowitch, Dan Dillon and Robert Schwalb.
Maps are sourced from Dysons Logos which is a sensible decision as cartography is artwork – and artwork is expensive. It is an excellent example of how a map produced independently can be utilised to create fun filled and inspiring adventures by a creative designer.
Who is Warlock Magazine for?
Warlock Magazine is designed primarily for Dungeons Masters and Players who are looking for additional lore, spells, and class features. The material is based upon Midgard but its all malleable to homebrew or wherever you wish to use it with basically zero effort.
Kobold Press does a particularly good at developing materials for cultures and classes that will provide you a very different perspective from the vision in official Dungeons and Dragons lore.
Joining the Patreon even for a single month to see if it is right for you is well worth it as Kobold Press allow you free access to codes to download material that was published about four months ago. Your $3 monthly subscription goes a long way.
Prospective Authors and Cartographers
Wolfgang Baur the publisher / owner of Kobold Press has said that he is interested in new authors and designers – if you are keen to produce quality material and can meet a deadline and aren’t keen on going it alone or through the DMsGuild process then Warlock Magazine this could be an alternate pathway to publication.
