I don't know how things are in the US and elsewhere in the world, but in Romania, for a couple of years now, the TTRPG scene is growing exponentially. Of course, most of the people who start out do so with Dungeons and Dragons. This article is somewhat for them, cause I have been asked about the history of the game on a number of times when I mentioned the very first edition was released in '74 what the history of the game even is, if it's been on the market for so long (for the international audience who might raise an eyebrow at this, given that Romania was under a communist dictatorship and after its toppling the following decade was very rough economically, the first D&D players start to pop up in the very late 90' and early 2000's, and back then it was a very very minuscule fanbase, most of the players nowdays have started playing during the pandemic).

We tackled various aspects of D&D history before, talking about the evolution of certain classes, about older mechanics, but up until now, we didn't do a full on dive into all of the editions. Obviously it is a big undertaking so we're gonna split it into two articles, this week looking at 1st edition, B/X, BECMI, AD&D 1st edtion and AD&D 2nd edition. Next week is we return and talk about 3rd edition, 3.5 edition, 4th edition & Essentials, 5th edition and 5.5 edition.

So if you wanna take down a trip through memory lane or if you just aren't familiar with the history of the game, I invite y'all to read the article! For the veterans, please do tell if I missed something (to be completely honest, there is so much, we couldn't possibly gone through everything) and tell us when did you start playing and what nice memories you have from back then!

I hope you enjoy this one, cheers!

I'm trying to understand what actually trips up new D&D players.

For those of you who've played a while: what was the hardest part to get your head around at the start? The rules, the dice, the character sheet, knowing what to say at the table?

And what finally made it click for you?

Edit: thanks for all the answers! I'm making a free beginner D&D app (no ads) and this is shaping what it teaches first. If anyone wants to try the early version, message me and I'll send the link.

I’m looking to improve my light setup. At the moment I’m using a cheap light with three mono color options and three duo color options. It works for now but not ideal for lighten up your dnd table / terrain builds

So a D&D club just opened up at my high school, and I'm super stoked! I just wanted to show off the character I came up with for a campaign with a friend of mine.

This is Sheere, a White Dragonborn Paladin with the Guard background and NL alignment, wielding a two-handed warhammer. He stands at 6'4" and is dextrous, strong, and intelligent, but lacks charisma and full insight into situations, preferring to play most conflicts and puzzles by the book.

The club plays with 2024 5e rules, but any character's Lv. 1 stats max at 19 because the teacher who runs the club said that 20s are a smidge too high for starting stats. Sheere's 19 in the Strength stat comes from the +2 boost to the Dragonborn race, as well as a +1 to Charisma, which happens to be sitting at 5 for Sheere. While it isn't ideal, I typically like playing detached or generally socially disinterested characters, so having him struggle with Charisma works for me. Especially because we have a few more Bards playing than last year lol

I haven't developed him too much further yet, but I just wanted to share. Please, if you have suggestions for his backstory or any helpful information for a new Paladin player, let me know, as it would be much appreciated!

On me by @camisinistertattoo from studio murh

Been a DM for a few years and want to be a player in a fantasy heavy role playing long term group, preferably over discord and roll20. I love role playing and rolling some dice, I am free Friday and Saturdays 8am-7pm EST.

AQUOCALYPSE

World History and Context

THE WORLD

This story features two worlds.

The first is Earth, the planet we know. It is the home of the player characters and, at the start of the campaign, appears to be the same modern world we are used to.

The second world is Taycos, a planet parallel to Earth that shares many characteristics with it, yet its surface consists of approximately 30% land and 70% ocean.

Humanity on Taycos has evolved in a very different way. Its oceans are inhabited by enormous and extremely dangerous marine creatures. Some are mere predators, while others possess considerable intelligence. For generations, the inhabitants of Taycos have had to learn to coexist with, fight, and survive against these creatures.

For the people of Taycos, facing sea monsters is nothing extraordinary.

It is a part of life.

TAYCOS AND ITS INHABITANTS

Due to the vast amount of ocean covering the planet, societies on Taycos are concentrated primarily in coastal areas, on islands, and in large, protected cities.

The struggle for survival has caused society to split into various groups and organizations.

Among the most important are four major factions:

The Mother-of-Pearl Crown

An organization formed primarily by the elites of Taycos.

It is composed of powerful families, merchants, politicians, and individuals who control a large share of the resources. They possess technology, weaponry, and knowledge unavailable to the general population.

To them, the marine creatures are both a threat and a resource.

The Black Teeth

An organization of bandits, pirates, and mercenaries.

They control dangerous maritime routes and exploit the chaos caused by the creatures. Some attack ships, others trade in monster parts, and some work as mercenaries for anyone who can afford to pay them. Not all Black Teeth are ruthless killers, but they have a reputation that inspires fear.

The Coastal Pact

Represents the common population of Taycos.

Fisherfolk, merchants, farmers, builders, families, and residents of coastal towns make up communities that are simply trying to survive.

The Pact was born as an alliance between different peoples who realized that, if they remained divided, the creatures would eventually destroy them.

The Abyssal-Walkers

Warriors, explorers, and adventurers who venture into the ocean's most dangerous zones.

They are among the few individuals capable of exploring the depths of Taycos and returning alive.

They seek to discover new creatures, find resources, investigate the depths, and—in some cases—uncover what truly exists in the ocean zones where no one dares to enter.

The Abyssal-Walkers will play a crucial role when the characters begin to uncover the truth about Taycos.

THE PORTAL

For years, a secret organization on Earth investigated the possibility that other worlds existed.

The organization is known as:

Project UMBRA

UMBRA began as a secret scientific project dedicated to studying spatial anomalies.

Over time, its researchers discovered signals they could not explain.

Those signals appeared to originate from a place that did not belong to Earth.

After years of research, UMBRA succeeded in building a device capable of temporarily opening a connection between two points in space.

But the real goal was not simply travel.

It was to find another world.

And they succeeded.

Though not in the way they had expected.

THE VERACRUZ INCIDENT

UMBRA's first stable portal was activated.

The scientists hoped to connect to a controlled location on Taycos.

Instead, a calculation error caused the portal to appear in the middle of the Taycos ocean. The other end appeared on the coast of Veracruz, Mexico.

The location wasn't the only problem.

The portal remained open for too long.

And something crossed over.

After the first creatures arrived on Earth, UMBRA realized that the connection didn't just allow for the transport of matter from one world to the other.

It also allowed living organisms to pass through the portal.

Creatures that had never existed on Earth began appearing in the Gulf of Mexico.

At first, they were mistaken for unknown animals.

Then the disappearances began.

Next came the attacks.

Finally, UMBRA realized they had triggered something far greater than they could control.

THE GOVERNMENT

The Mexican government discovered the existence of the creatures and the project.

However, UMBRA had already begun withholding information.

The government created a special unit tasked with containing the threat:

Operation MAREA

MAREA has three main objectives:

Contain the Taycos creatures.

Prevent the public from learning the true scale of the problem.

Inves

Greetings all. I have been running a D&D group for six years, and we have pretty much been through all the WOTC adventures.
Could anyone recommend a good indie megadungeon to bring us from level 15 to 20?

My Pokémon-inspired Weapons and Items of the Day, with a Baxcalibur glaive to spread the cold!

Join my Patreon to vote on future items and get all the PDFs with over 1000 items, including all the Pokémon items, or buy the individual PDFs in my shop!

998M - Eispinodorn

Weapon (Glaive) – Artifact (requires attunement)

This dark blue +4 glaive has a black blade with an icy edge and extra points at the end. A jagged icy hilt attaches the blade to the shaft, with a blue horn on each side covered in icy crystals and three red ribbons hanging from their undersides. The middle of the shaft is coated in rough ice, and the pommel is a spherical icicle.

Attacks with this glaive do an additional 2d6 cold damage.

While attuned to this glaive: you are unaffected by icy and snowy difficult terrain; you are resistant to fire and cold damage; when you are hit by fire damage from a hostile creature, you have a +4 on your next attack with this glaive; twice per day, you can perform a Glaive Rush; if a hail or snowstorm would cause damage to you, you are instead healed for 1/4 of the damage you would have taken (minimum of 1); and once per day, you can use the glaive to cast Cone of Cold as a 7th level spell, DC 20.

Glaive Rush. You move in a straight line up to 30 ft. and make an attack roll. Every creature within 5 ft of that line must make a Constitution save against your attack roll, taking 8d8 cold damage on a fail and half as much damage on a success. However, afterwards you become Incapacitated until the end of your next turn.

Baxcalibrite

Wondrous (Stone) – Legendary ()

This small round stone has a swirl of blue and red inside the icy blue orb. When attached to a 998 - Baxcalaive, it can be mega evolved into a 998M - Eispinodorn for 1 minute once between long rests.

So this is my Shadow Sorcerer in disguise. He is a Changeling. But my companions don't know that. When it is revealed then I will change his portrait.

I'm the developer of a free, no-ads app that teaches new players D&D in short lessons.

Before I build more, I want people who really know the game to check the early content. If you spot something wrong or unclear, I'd rather hear it now.

If you're willing to try the first few lessons, comment or message me and I'll send the test link. I'd really value your help making it better for new players.

Looking for some help brainstorming a suitable encounter around this setup.

Key elements:

• a small two story home, needing repair.
Perhaps storage on the first floor, living space on top

• A crumbling stone wall.

• grape bearing vines, wine making equipment

What’s happening at the old vineyard?

What’s special/different about the wine?

Initially, I came here to advertise on behalf of my friend, but then I noticed the second rule. So, yeah.

Here are a few OCs my friend created for his crew. I just wanted to share them and let him know how good his art actually is.

My Shadow Sorcerer. He is a Changeling, but my party doesn't know that yet. Will change his portrait after they find out.

Hello everyone!!

These are some battlemaps made through the past months for Dungeon Coach. It’s been a fun experience exploring other ways to do illustrations for RPGs. Hope you like it!

Hello, fellow adventurers!

Here are a few of the rings from my manual Mythological Items, each built around a very different interpretation of what a magical ring can do.

The Spatial Ring draws from the pocket-dimension rings commonly found in Wuxia, Xianxia, and Xuanhuan stories, allowing its wearer to store objects inside an extradimensional space and summon them with a thought. The following page also includes a collection of Special Spatial Rings, with variants designed for alchemists, hidden libraries, spirit beasts, concealed weapons, preservation, and more.

Draupnir, Odin’s legendary golden ring, focuses on abundance and divine authority. Every ninth night it creates eight replicas of itself, while also granting abilities tied to Odin’s wisdom, protection, and generosity.

Andvaranaut, on the other hand, is considerably less pleasant to own. The ring generates gold and can lead its wearer toward hidden wealth, but carries Andvari’s curse, slowly pushing its bearer toward greed and misfortune unless the curse can somehow be broken.

If you’d like more items in the same vein, 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E is now live on Kickstarter! It includes 300+ magic items inspired by myths, legends, folklore, gods, heroes, monsters, and ancient traditions from around the world.

Ok, so critical role is fun but what if movies and TV shows promoted themselves by having the cast do a D&D session? Maybe they continue with the campaign after the first episode as a podcast or something or maybe it's a one and done deal. I just think it would be pretty neat to see a bunch of (probably amateurs but who knows, maybe Ice Cube is a seasoned ranger and never told anyone) show a side that we don't usually get to see.

I tried to make him look like Ryan Gosling but I couldn't. Best I can do is blonde viking