Tag: D&D

Late Review – The Complete Book of Necromancers

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Welcome back to the Late Review, which is both much sooner after the last one than normal and somehow simultaneously a little bit late!

In any case, I decided to look at The Complete Book of Necromancers after finishing up the review of Al’Qadim: Arabian Adventures primarily because I didn’t want to spend too much time being negative. So I chose a book I knew I liked, because that would fix it, right?

And then I proceeded to rag on Lords of Darkness for seventeen years and now here we are.

But still, The Complete Book of Necromancers is an excellent supplement. And, for the most part, this post will focus on that. Because this book deserves praise – it is, simply put, excellent.

 

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Late Review – The School of Nekros (Dungeon Magazine #27)

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I’ve recently been reading through The Complete Book of Necromancers for my next Late Review. One section, covering necromancer organizations, called out a specific example from Dungeon magazine #27 as being a perfect example of the “necromancer group” concept.

As far as I can remember, I’ve never seen any published book mention one of the D&D magazines (Dragon or Dungeon) except as the source of a spell or item used in the published work. This is the first pure “recommended reading” mention, so I decided to look into it.

We’ll come back to The Complete Book of Necromancers next time – because right now, it’s time to talk about A++ adventure module, “The School of Nekros.”

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Homebrew Introspective – The Council Warlock

On By AnathemysIn Brewer's Tools, D&D HomebrewLeave a comment

Welcome back to the Introspective, where I tear apart years-old homebrew in the pursuit of game design understanding. It’s also all my own work, so don’t feel bad about the poor creator of the work – he’s the same one doing the tearing-down in the first place.

Today we’ll be looking at the Council Warlock, one of my more contentious homebrews. Narratively there was the whole “mortal creatures as a Patron” thing, while mechanically it ran afoul of the age-old “INT vs. CHA” argument for the warlock class.

And I think there’s interesting points to make about both. So let’s begin, shall we?

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Late Review – Al’Qadim, Arabian Adventures (Part 2)

On By AnathemysIn Brewer's Tools, D&D Homebrew, Late ReviewsLeave a comment

Last time, we looked at the entirety of Al’Qadim: Arabian Adventures except for one thing. Today, we look at that one thing: the sha’ir.

“Why wasn’t this a class? How is this a wizard?”

Those are the first of my notes from reading about the sha’ir. Things only went downhill from there. The sha’ir is maddening.

So without any further wait, let’s go!

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Late Review – Al’Qadim, Arabian Adventures (Part 1)

On By AnathemysIn D&D Homebrew, Late ReviewsLeave a comment

Welcome to the desert! This one is an odd thing to review. It’s kind of a setting book (like Eberron: Rising from the Last War) but it’s also not actually a distinct setting (since it’s located in the Forgotten Realms). But it also is sort of its own setting?

This one’s actually been metaphorically sitting on my desk for quite a while now, so it’s about time. And it’s a weird one for sure, but sill worth looking at.

Anyway, let’s check out Al’Qadim and quick. I originally planned to joke that WotC wouldn’t be bringing this one back any time soon, but with all their poor decisions recently… anything’s possible.

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Homebrew Introspective – Generalist Wizard

On By AnathemysIn Brewer's Tools, D&D Homebrew, UpdatesLeave a comment

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a character option here – more so due to coincidence than any conscious decision. Plus all that nonsense with the OGL is really not ideal. But all the same, I feel examining homebrews is an interesting way of looking deeper into the philosophy and mechanics of the game.

By examining my own homebrews, I can even ensure there won’t be any angry creators coming after me! So let’s take a look, shall we?

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Dungeon Designs – The Living Vault, part 2

On By AnathemysIn Brewer's Tools, D&D Homebrew, Dungeons, MonsterLeave a comment

Welcome back to Dungeon Designs and our discussion of “The Living Vault” – a dungeon which aims to feel more alive than any other in existence. Last time, we went over the basic stats for the Living Vault as a creature and an active participant in players’ dungeon crawl. This time, though, we’re going to be focusing more on the actual “dungeon” aspects of this concept.

And don’t worry – anatomical expertise is not required because I sure don’t have any.

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Dungeon Designs – The Living Vault, part 1

On By AnathemysIn D&D Homebrew, Dungeons, MonsterLeave a comment

Recently I’ve been brainstorming a new concept for a dungeon. Not for any particular reason – I just think it sounds cool. But I wanted to discuss it here to show off my method for making dungeons, which should be informative, entertaining, and/or horrifying.

That last option is primarily for people who have played in my games, who will presumably come away from this thinking “what the hell man, that’s how you came up with this nonsense?” To which I say… sometimes.

Other times I’m just sort of winging it.

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Late Review – Lords of Darkness (2e)

On By AnathemysIn D&D Homebrew, Late Reviews, MonsterLeave a comment

Welcome to yet another very late review – today we’ll be looking at Lords of Darkness, a compilation set of undead-themed content introduced by Ed Greenwood. Some may recognize him as the original creator of the Forgotten Realms setting that now serves as D&D’s “default” world, while others probably just recognize his name from the absurd number of old D&D products that bear it.

Prolific doesn’t even begin to cut it.

However, that star-studded title can be a bit misleading… after all, Greenwood only “introduces” the book – an introduction that forms one of the book’s two real high points. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Click below to get grave-robbing!

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Ravenloft Review – The Most Dangerous Game and Train

On By AnathemysIn D&D Homebrew, Halloween, Vaguely On-Time ReviewsLeave a comment

Happy Halloween! Stay safe and be aware that plague doctor outfits may have become annoying to your neighbors if you’ve been wearing them since early 2020 like I definitely haven’t been.

Anyway, welcome to the Lightning Round! Today we’ll be looking at Valachan, Cyre 1313, and nearly half a dozen other minor Domains. These last few are great for one-shots by the way, if you’re looking for last-minute Halloween game ideas (though I’d personally recommend just running Tomb of Horrors – great time for a Halloween game).

Click through for the Hunt and the rest of the Lightning Rail Round!

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