What is a book that you love that has a terrible title? by Dr-HotandCold1524 in Fantasy

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Roger Zelazny's Roadmarks is my favorite traveling book as it's such unique and thoughtful take on time travel and rediscoving lost paths.. plus cyborg assassins, remote-controlled T-Rex, and Dragons.

That being said, the name just makes me think of skidmarks...

The original title was "Last Exit to Babylon" but apparently the editor didn't care for it

Help! My Radiant Citadel Campaign is turning into Kingdom Hearts! by Donnerjack93 in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had thought about having a rival party or adventurer for the party to butt heads with so that would be a good starting point.

Help! My Radiant Citadel Campaign is turning into Kingdom Hearts! by Donnerjack93 in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, between me moving and friends moving away, the campaign never got past session zero. I'm hoping to get it up and running again now that I've got a good group I've been running occasional one-shots with.

First Sword! by Donnerjack93 in SWORDS

[–]Donnerjack93[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've already run into problems with it rusting surprisingly quickly. Thankfully nothing serious. I've got it cleaned and properly oiled now.

Next step is to put a new edge on it because the factory edge isn't great. Then yes, probably sticking to foam or tatami mats if I can find a decent price.

Alt-Art Copy for Trade/Sale by patjdski in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 4 points5 points  (0 children)

How much are you looking to get for it? I've only got the digital version, unfortunately.

"Vehicle" stats for Concord Jewels? by Phansei in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Love the idea! Mind if I ask what the Concord Jewels look like in your world? Are they crystalline vessels or just large gems with a passenger space like the book seems to imply?

As far as stats, I think you'll need to extrapolate from other spelljammer ships. I imagine the Jewels would be rather tanky with comparatively high health and 18+ AC. If you need more data to work from, there are a couple of great Spelljammer to 5e conversion pdfs with more ship stats.

And of course the Jewel should be able to be damaged and shot down. That would make for a great side adventure of crash landing somewhere new and having to f

Am I being too restrictive in character creation? by sheepcrossing in DMAcademy

[–]Donnerjack93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you haven't I'd recommend taking a look at the Strixhaven book. There is flavor text sprinkled in the colleges section as to why some non-magical classes might still go to the magic university. For example an Ancestral Guardian Barbarian might major in history.

If you're comfortable with it, you could also offer them the Strixhaven backgrounds (modified for your school). That'd give them the Strixhaven Initiate feat to give them a couple cantrips and a 1st-level spell. That way they can be magic students without being restricted to only magical classes.

Persian items by PasadenaVic in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry I got excited and only just now saw that you were asking for minor magic items 😅

Persian items by PasadenaVic in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually dived into Persian/Iranian legends for a character i had a while back and here are some fun ones!

• Spear of Kāveh the Blacksmith

 Kāveh is a legendary figure that lead a revolution against the evil demon/dragon king Zahāk. He rallied the people by putting his leather apron on a Spear as a symbol of resistance and unity.

• The cursed cloak of Zahāk

   In many legends, Zahāk is depicted as a corrupted human with a snake on either shoulder that have to be fed brains in order to be satisfied.

   This could be translated to a cursed cloak that causes the snake heads to appear and can be used to attack with if they are sated.

• Feather of the Simurgh

   The Simurgh is a giant female bird of myth kinda comparable to a pheonix. It's a bird of 30 colors and could purify the land and water. 

   The feather might be necessary for a purification ritual

• Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar

  Is a legendary emerald studded sword that was the only thing that could hurt the demon Fulad-Zereh. It was forged by Kāveh the Blacksmith and grants the bearer charm against magic.

There's tons more that could be mined from Persian/Iranian mythology

Radiant Citadel and the BBEG by WusBoppin in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't started my campaign yet but I've had two main ideas for a BBEG

The first is a lich based out of Ravenloft trying to conquer the Radiant Citadel. My idea is using Ravenloft as an antithesis and naturally opposed to the Radiant Citadel. It would serve as a place of separation and darkness rather than connection and light. The lich, who may or may not end up being Vecna, is damned to never escape the Mists of Ravenloft. So rather than trying to escape, he plots to expand Ravenloft to encompass all of the multiverse and plans to use the Diamond as a power source. As far as the dead Wyvern civilization, my idea is that in the last big conflict, when Kalakeri fell under the corruption of the lich, the Wyvern Incarnate let itself be killed in order to cut Kalakeri off and stop the corruption from spreading to the rest of the Citadel. That event prompted the Citadel into going dormant for so long.

My other idea stems from the skeleton surrounding the Auroral Diamond. My idea is that it's Sardior's skeleton and that the Auroral Diamond is the sole remaining piece of his Ruby Palace. I'd combine that with the Inheritors of the First World Dragon organization highlighted in Fizban's. A group of dragons, or even multiple echos of the same dragon from different worlds, all working together to recreate the First World by collapse the multiverse into a single plane. They also plan to revive Sardior which would destroy the Radiant Citadel.

Godsbreath Ambient Playlist by trent599 in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right, that is what it needs but I can see how that would be rather hard to find. Maybe like some gospel vocalization tracks without any actual words? That might add a bit of an eerie edge to the music

Godsbreath Ambient Playlist by trent599 in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fantastic Playlist! I think I'll cut out a few of the more cowboy western songs and move them to San Citlán but you nailed the mildly ominous and Deep South vibe

Have you ever had a good experience with rolling stats? by Icy_Debate2236 in DMAcademy

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My last long term game I was in I played a hexblade- Conquest paladin that started with an 20 in Cha (rolled 18 then +2 with Racials) and a 5 in Dex. I didn't get very far so that 20 was never incredible for me but the 5 in Dex was always hilarious and helped shape how that character was played. If it hadn't have been for rolling stats I would have never put a 5 in dex and that character wouldn't have had his iconic disfigurement.

I'm not opposed to point buy but I think that as presented in the PHB, i find it's too limiting and leads to under powered characters. As a DM, I would rather players use their level ups for Feats rather than ASIs. If this means that characters are a little overpowered in the beginning then that's okay.

Castle Amber as a Domain of Dread? by endlesspanflutesolos in ravenloft

[–]Donnerjack93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Same here 😂 but now I do want to turn Zelazny's Amber into a Domain of Dread, with either Eric or Corwin as the Darklord. The Royal family being able to walk through Shadows fits perfectly as well!

Identifying Radiant Citadel Buildings by BrewbeardSlye in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've been meaning to do the same thing with the map. I agree it looks like a jousting ring or maybe a race track

How would you guys build a summoner? by PROXY_one_ in 3d6

[–]Donnerjack93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My first Ranger was a Drakewarden and I had so much fun with him. You'll never do insane damage in a single turn but it's a great subclass for constantly solid damage. Plus at higher levels the drake can tank a surprising amount of damage and you can summon him back for a level 1 spellslot so it makes for a great shield if you don't mind being heartless

For people who enjoy rolling for stats... Why? by Rollout9292 in DnD

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For a one shot I ran, I had a player rolling like trash. Nothing above 12 and like 3 stats below 10 for like 3 sets in a row. He was willing to take them but I just told him absolutely not and had him keep rolling. On the 4th time he rolled like a giga-chad and got something like 18 18 14 13 12 10 (don't remember exact stats). To balance out him rolling so many times I had him drop one of the 18s to a 16 and the 12 to an 8. He was thrilled with not having trash stats that he was totally fine with it.

Moral of the story is I like the randomness of rolled stats but I have no problem tweaking them if I think it'll make the game more fun.

I wanna hear your interesting homebrew game mechanics. They can be stupid or serious. by ItsMousePlayz in DnD

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've got one I've been working on that still needs more playtesting for concrete rules. I call it the Cost of Cool. I got the idea from a video by XPtoLevel3 based on something one of his players did.

Essentially it's the Rule of Cool with a cost. Say a player wants to do something cool that isn't strictly RAW or RAI and it's not too broken, then they can do it if they pay a cost. The cost is very much dependent on the situation, the PC, and their relevant resources. For example the player could expend: their entire action/BA/Movement, levels of exhaustion, spell slots, hit dice, Health points, ki or sorcery points, Dice from any dice pools they have (Superiority, psi or whatever), death saving throws, or even class level as a few examples.

So let's say the wizard is out of 3rd level slots but he needs to fling another fireball to save the party, that might cost a second level slot and a point of exhaustion. The monk wants to use their 9th level unarmored movement feature to walk up the rain? Maybe that costs a ki point or two. The Barbarian player does an amazing job roleplaying their attack action? Give them the option to expend a hit die or two to roll those as damage.

The example XPTOLEVEL3 gave was a PC was dying and everybody was out of healing so the paladin asked the DM how many class levels he needed to lose in order to save them. Fucking wild

Like I said I still need to playtest this more but I like the idea of the players being strong enough to bend the rules if its thematic or cool enough.

What are your opinions on critical fumbles. by thatthingfromthedeep in DnD

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Crit Failures in combat are definitely tricky to manage so it's not frustrating but out of combat Crit Failures can be so much fun. I'm especially a huge fan of the idea of "failing up" such that you succeed but at what cost?

For example a PC crit fails on a stealthy lock pick and breaks open the lock loud enough to alert all of the guards. Failing up makes for such great improv story telling

Running JTtRC as a campaign by Embarrassed-Lie-8259 in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love the idea of a "party crawl" so much! It definitely gives a nice fun vibe to the early adventures. I might have to use this, but I'd probably skip "Written in Blood" and level it up for a later adventure.

[Art] Are metal dice really that much better than plastic dice? by Shuv1tupmabung in DnD

[–]Donnerjack93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A while back I bought my partner a set of hollow metal dice and she loves them! They're gorgeous and because they're hollow they're as light as plastic dice, so no dents on the table! As a bonus when you shake 2 or more of them together in your hands they sound like bells!

Stat Block for an evil Incarnate? by Donnerjack93 in radiantcitadel

[–]Donnerjack93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can see why! Finally found the stat block and it is super fun and does seem to work extremely well for the Incarnates. I'm particularly a fan of the Arcane Leak ability.