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Wintry Blast |
It's been a while since I did one of these deep dives on converting a Magic: the Gathering card to a D&D 5e concept. Today, however, I came across the Bramble Elemental, a fairly non-exciting common that has appeared in a handful of sets. See? Fairly non-exciting. When you start to think about how to use this in 5e, though, some exciting ideas start percolating. First, let's start with the Fire Elemental stat block. Most of the core stats are the same. Flip-flopping the STR and DEX scores though, make the Bramble Elemental more of a lumbering sort. Upping the AC thanks to barkskin (seemed like too good of a fit) makes for a much tougher encounter. To counterbalance that we can in vulnerability to fire damage. The Senses and Languages we can borrow from the Tree Blight stat block. Thorny Exterior is just a simplified and weaker version of the Fire Elemental's Fire Form. The other two Fire Elemental traits were scrapped in favor of adding Progenitor, a trait inspired by the original Magic card's ability to make saprolings. The Bramble Elemental's base attack is the same as the Fire Elemental's, just with the piercing type instead. Lastly, adding the Vine Blight's Entangling Plants ability really rounds out the concept for this creature. Those are the mechanics. Story wise, the card's flavor text gives us the seeds (no pun intended) that we need. Imagine a once powerful kingdom, now weakened and withdrawn from the lands it once occupied. Nature slowly reclaims what is hers. Along the way, she lets her force known to any would be interlopers. I hope you enjoyed this fairly quick conversion. Let me know what you think!
Happy Questing!
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Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of Inspiration. It was one of the cool things I told my friends about when 5e first launched. I went on and on about the Personality Traits, Ideals, Flaws, Bonds and how they can be used in the game for a mechanical advantage. Here we are, seven years later, and I feel kind of let down by how it all actually panned out. I've tried lots of variations, including passing out tangible poker chips, requiring that the use of Inspiration be tied to some character trait or background element. These tweaks have worked temporarily or with certain players, but in the end, it just becomes another blah thing. Recently, I've started using Heroic Challenge cards by Loresmyth (this post is in no way sponsored by them, I just really like the product and this idea). I really think this set of cards can make for a better, more interactive experience. Here is an example of a Challenge card: in my games, each player starts life with one of these cards. As you can see, each card has two options on it. All you have to do is achieve one of the two "tasks" to earn a Reward card. Here is an example of a Reward card: Just like the Challenge cards, the Reward cards have two options. Players can cash these in whenever the opportunity arises for the stated effect.
The idea is that the Challenge cards will inspire players to do things outside of the norm, like instead of just charging in to attack, lure away the enemy as in the example. They should make for good roleplay opportunities as well as players have to creatively fit them into the given situations. I, as the DM, don't know what cards my players have so it is on them to "make it work." Of course, they might find themselves holding on to a card for quite some time, just waiting for the opportunity to use it. As I said, I start all my players with one Challenge card at character creation. They can earn additional cards in a number of ways, such as: good roleplaying, cinematic fighting, clutch roles, dramatic slayings and so on. A character can have an unlimited number of Challenge cards stowed at a time, the balance of which carries over between sessions. Likewise, a character can have an unlimited number of Reward cards stowed at a time, the balance of which also carries over between sessions. Circling back to earning additional Challenge cards, it is still important for the DM to pass these things out when the time is right. If the fighter rolls a crit to slay a big baddie, I'd give them a card. If the rogue comes through with a clutch stealth check at a very tense and crucial moment, here's a card. Note, I'm passing out the Challenge cards, not the Reward cards here. Reward cards can only be earned by successfully completing a Challenge. The real fun comes when player's figure out ways of using the cards (both Challenge and Reward). It helps keep everyone engaged at the table and it actually encourages roleplay...the whole idea behind Inspiration to begin with! Continuing my dive into deeper conversions of Magic: The Gathering cards into D&D concepts, we come to the Wooden Sphere. Like Manabarbs, this card also first appeared in Magic's original set, Alpha. Since, it has been reprinted eight times, most recently in 2003 (which wasn't all that recently). I first encountered this card in 4th edition, which was the bee's knees when I started playing. There were four other cards just like Wooden Sphere, giving us one for each of the five colors. What does any of this have to do with D&D? Nothing yet. Let's fix that.
Using the art of the 4th edition card, we can make this a location in our campaign world. I'm imagining some remote wilderness where this sphere has grown undisturbed for perhaps thousands of years. No one truly knows what it is. Perhaps it is evidence of an ancient civilization? A portal to the Feywild? A great seed or egg? I think we want to keep the nature of the sphere a mystery. We don't have to know what it is. What we do know is that a circle of druids holds it sacred. These druids will stop at nothing to protect the sphere from harm, be it fire, rampaging orcs, drought, dragons, or development. So we have this Wooden Sphere and a circle of druids protecting it, but how can we make this more interesting? Perhaps a trade route has opened up between two settlements on either side of an expanse of wood and this wood just so happens to be the home of the sphere. The druids grow anxious as the forest is cleared for this trade route, but also as potential threats pass by what is essentially a holy site in their eyes. Soon, the druids come in conflict with the merchants and travelers cutting through the wood and the PCs are recruited as either protection for a shipment, or as agents of the local government hired to put a stop to this menace. Now we have a location, we have a conflict, and we have a couple of potential hooks. This gives us enough to really get the ball (or should I say sphere?) rolling. The standard druid stat block isn't that formidable, so you may consider what other agents these druids are recruiting to their cause. If their goal is to keep all others out of the wood, then they would not be above allying themselves with a couple of trolls. Likewise, perhaps the druids can (with the power of the sphere, of course) animate nature around them to help ward off interlopers. Think corpse flowers, assassin vines, and shambling mounds. These are all threats you can have your PCs wade through as they seek council with the druids. Will that negotiation go well? Will the druids fight to the death, or do they have some other ace up their sleeve (like some sort of archfey)? Whatever you cook up, this episode could serve as a gateway to a larger campaign. What if the spirit of an ancient green dragon is trapped in that sphere? What if it is a portal to a fey realm and less than friendly fey creatures start pouring through once the PCs have stuck their noses where they didn't belong? This is all for you to decide. What will YOU do with this Wooden Sphere? What ideas from above did you like? Which ones would you make better, and how? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @rjquestgiver. Until next time, Happy Questing! If you've followed me on Twitter you know I like to convert cards from Magic: the Gathering into D&D concepts for your 5e games. Today we take a look at Manabarbs, a red enchantment that is one of the original Magic cards! That's right, Manabarbs first appeared in Alpha, the very first set of Magic released in 1993 (I was in the third grade and three years away from discovering the game). Since then, Manabarbs has been reprinted nine more times, most recently in 2012. So, how do we use this in our D&D games? First, let's understand the core mechanic: whenever a player taps a land for mana, that player takes damage. Pretty straight forward. In Magic, lands create mana which is the currency used to cast spells. In essence, you cast a spell, you take damage. This idea converts well to D&D. Simply have any creature who casts a spell take damage. But, what kind of damage?
The artwork suggests perhaps lightning damage, but I could see force damage also being an option. If I had to pick though, I'd choose psychic damage. After all, the damage is a result of casting a spell. Psychic damage feels right. What in our D&D game is causing this effect on spell casters, though? It could be another spell cast on a target creature. It could also be an environmental effect, or even a magical item. Let's explore the spell idea first. Level: 3rd Type: Enchantment Casting Time: 1 action Duration: 10 minutes, Concentration Range: 120 feet Simply, target creature is enveloped in barbs of white light. For the duration, anytime the creature casts a spell it takes 3d6 psychic damage. Spells cast from items do not trigger the damage. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd. Now that we have the base of the spell, we can repackage this into an environmental effect that effects all creatures within a certain area. Perhaps it is some sort of natural anti-magic phenomena? Or maybe it's some special area constructed to ensure magic doesn't interfere with gladiatorial combat? Either way, if we deploy this in our games we need to be sure there is an off switch that a clever wizard or cunning rogue can locate and attempt to disable. Lastly, we could package this spell into a magic item, perhaps an amulet worn by powerful noble who wants to keep rival mages in check? I can see many a barbarian loving such an item as it could help them in battle against many a magic user. I see myself using the environmental effect in a game that I run. Imagine a six obelisks spread about in a hexagon. A creature is subject to the effects of Manabarbs if they are inside that area. An antimagic field is in place preventing any magic from penetrating the area. Inside, the sadistic and merciless warlord challenges rivals in hand-to-hand combat. The warlord, though, is just a puppet to a very powerful mage, the same mage that created the obelisks centuries ago... There's a seed for a campaign right there! There you have it, a deep dive into how to use the Magic card Manabards in your D&D 5e game. What do you like, not like about this conversion? How would you use it in your game? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @rjquestgiver. Until next time, Happy Questing! I just recently hit 600 followers on Twitter. Not exactly sure how or why that happened, but I'm honored. To celebrate, I'd like to try a special giveaway. I know a lot of people run contests for hardback WOTC books, dice sets, and other accessories. Some people, myself included, also run contests to giveaway free copies of our products, be them from the Dungeon Masters Guild, DriveThru RPG, or some other outlet. This giveaway, however, will be different.
My "shtick" on Twitter has been converting cards from Magic: The Gathering into D&D concepts to be used for our 5e games. In fact, my adventure, Wintry Blast, was created during just that. The cards I used served as tent-poles to drape the story and details around. I find such exercises helpful to the creative process as they introduce an element of randomness while also challenging the brain to make atypical connections and decisions. With all that being said, I want to create a custom adventure outline for one of my followers. The outline will be based on pack of Magic cards of the winner's choosing (if the winner isn't familiar with Magic, I'll help them big a set that fits the theme they want: Gothic Horror, Jungle-based, Ancient Egypt-inspired, etc.). I'll create custom NPCs, magic items, plots, etc. based on the cards and provide this outline to the winner in a well produced PDF created using GMBinder. I estimate the thing to be at least 1000 words. That's pretty much it. A creative gift from me to you. One of a kind. Can't buy it anywhere. There's a pinned tweet on my Twitter profile with the instructions to enter. This will run through the end of April with me drawing a winner on May 1. I will have the completed product to them by June 1. Happy Questing! Just over a month ago, I posted "Stringing, Ideas Together, part I" where I took four Magic cards from my February Feature project and crafted an adventure outline around them. I highly encourage you to check that out as I feel it makes for a very solid story. Today, I revisit this concept and string together a few other cards from that project for a new adventure seed.
First, let's set the scene. I imagine the characters somewhere in the Forgotten Realms near a large forest. Maybe they are in Neverwinter or Phandalin with the Neverwinter Wood nearby, or maybe they are in the Everlund region with the High Forest a short jaunt away. Let's assume you have a party of four, each either level three or level four. The first card we'll use is the Diregraf Escort. My initial thought for this card centered around helping the PCs navigate a haunted forest of undead. That doesn't really work for what I have in mind here, so let's reflavor him as a trapper returning to town from the nearby wood with dire warnings to share. He tells a tale of destruction in the woods. Whole trees ripped up, massive claw marks found in bark, stone, and earth. A path of devastation. The worst party...he is the only survivor of his party. Just like in a classic creature-feature, he didn't get a good look at the beast, but he heard the carnage as he fled from camp into the dark shadows of the evening wood. He hasn't stopped moving since, not until he arrives to the PCs to tell his tale. He's reluctant, but holding true to his name, will indeed escort the PCs back into the forest to the scene of the crime. It's the least he can do to honor the memory of his fallen comrades. The creature that attacked the trappers is a Roaring Primadox. This thing is big! Use the stat block of the giant ape but add a tusk/gore attack like that found on the minotaur. Also add a frightful presence feature as found on any adult dragon. For it's size, this thing is reclusive. Think of it like Bigfoot. Legend and lore swirl around it, but many chalk it up as a myth. The trapper is a believer (newly minted), as are a few older/wiser folks the PCs may interact with in town. Once the trapper as escorted the PCs back to the campsite in the woods, he bids his farewell and books it back to civilization, leaving them to track and kill the blood thirsty beast on their own. Any ranger/druid or naturey inclined character can easily inspect the evidence. As they investigate, be sure to play up the size and destructive power this thing must possess. Allow one character to find some odd tracks in the vicinity. Tracks that appear to be left by a primate (not the human trappers, nor the huge Primadox). Following these ape tracks will eventually take the PCs to a very well hidden cave where they are greeted by a clan of apes and their Gorilla Chieftain. Play this NPC as old, wise, and a bit odd...like Yoda. The chieftain is the only one of the apes who can speak in Common (due to his very old age an experience). He communicates the legend of the Primadox to the PCs and urges them to seek out the beast and either destroy it, or drive it from these lands. If they fail, the Primadox will ravage the environment and eventually attack nearby settlements once the supply of game grows thin. The chieftain, recognizing the tall order he is asking the characters bestows a magical blessing upon each. Doing so weakens him greatly, which is why he cannot attend to the "hunt" himself. His fellow apes hang back to take care of their leader. The four blessings (one for each character) are:
Now you may be thinking, "That's a lot of buffs," but remember, this is for a party of four third or fourth level characters. A Roaring Primadox would likely smoke them quite easily otherwise. Of course, you'll know the power of your group and can adjust these boons up or down accordingly. The party will benefit from being able to focus fire on the brute, and the action-economy will definitely be on their side as well. All that being said, a giant ape with extra abilities is no joke at this level. Once leaving the ape people behind, the party successfully tracks the Primadox down and the boss fight can begin. Assuming the heroes emerge victorious, they've not only saved the forest from utter destruction, but they've earned the trust, respect, and loyalty of the Gorilla Chieftain who may very well have other quests to send them on. Obviously, the above is a very loose sketch of the action. You can add in random encounters, environmental hazards, checks for crossing streams, tracking prints, interacting with the chieftain, etc. Want to spice it up even more? Maybe the Primadox is a powerful evil-druid wildshaping into this creature of destruction. Once reduced to zero hp and converting back to its humanoid form, the druid gets away, creating a new plot hook for the PCs to explore. I hope you found this exercise interesting and helpful. Writing them gets my creative juices flowing and excited about crafting new adventures for my players to explore. Even if you never use this outline as is, hopefully there was kernel of inspiration in it for you that leads to something great! Happy Questing! If you've been following my work, you know that I spent the month of February converting cards from Magic: The Gathering into concepts for our D&D 5e games (see project details). I shared one such conversion each day on Twitter and occasionally expanded upon those ideas here on this blog. For ease of reference, I've included all twenty-eight conversions below. The name of each card hyperlinks back to Magic's Gatherer website and the short blurb next to each is the original tweet. If the card has an expanded treatment, it's linked at the end of the blurb.
I really enjoyed this creative exercise and I hope a few of you found some inspiration in it as well. I may do something like this again in the future as I find the art, mechanics, and flavor text of Magic cards full of potential. The possibilities are quite endless. Without further ado, I give you twenty-eight D&D ideas derived from Magic cards:
Happy Questing! I've been DMing D&D 5e since it launched in 2014. In that time, my style has changed, evolved and oscillated as I am sure is natural and un-unique among my fellow DMs. At times, I've been a purist. Devoted to running the rules and modules as written. At other times, delved deep into house rules and customization. I've been overly liberal with an inspiration system, critical hit mechanics, medicine kit hacks, etc. All of this can be chalked up to trial an error. Some things worked well. Other things kind of worked. Other things I regret. Today, I present my latest version of my House Rules that I've prettied up using GM Binder. As you've already discerned from the title of this post, this is a Gritty Edition of my House Rules. These rules are an amalgamation of many different sources, so let me give credit where credit is due. First, these rules were heavily inspired by "5e Hard Core Mode" by Runehammer Games. If you want gritty, that is gritty. In all honesty, parts of that rules set are too gritty for me, so I cherry picked some elements I liked best and slightly altered some others. Second, the resurrection system you'll find below is basically the same one shared by Anton of Icurus games in hist YouTube video "A Better Resurrection System for Dungeons & Dragons 5e." Again, some modifications were made, but this is definitely Anton's system. The part of "Cinematic Moves" was partly inspired by Mike Shea of SlyFlourish.com. The critical hit and miss mechanics I use for combat come from Nord Games, and my rules for healing are just variant rules taken from the DMG. Obviously, these rules won't work for every table or every setting. If you are running Theros, these rules make little since. If you are in Barovia, however, these might help enhance the mood and tone of that world. For me, I'm running in a Witcher style world with some inspiration from old Warhammer. You can call it "grimdark," or maybe "grimdark lite." The point is, these rules are meant for a very specific game style. I share them here, not to take credit for anything, but to help inspire. I'm paying the inspiration I've received forward. Checkout the links I included above and see where inspiration takes you. Without further ado, my House Rules for a grittier game. What do you think? Like? Pass? Hard pass? Tell me on Twitter @rjquestgiver. Happy Questing!
We are almost through my month of Magic to D&D conversions. Today's card is the last I go "deep" into, building out the initial inspiration into a full-fledged creation. Be sure to check out some of the previous posts where I went deep into the Talruum Champion, Flame Jet, and Dementia Bat.
Those previous posts included two creatures and a trap. Today, we have a magic item which was inspired by the Magic: The Gathering card Azorious Keyrune. If you are a Magic player, you know that the colors blue and white are heavy on flyers. Add in the flavor text that mentions "soaring high" and the artwork that is an eagle totem if I ever saw one, and this item almost made itself. I image this keyrune (I'm not exactly sure what that is), as the head on an impressive looking quarterstaff. The wielder of the staff gets to activate a variety of cool abilities all centered around the flight-motif. 5e is full of these types of items that center around a particular flavor. The Spider Staff from Lost Mines of Phandelver is an example one. This one is another. This staff could easily be a gift from an grateful Aarakocra NPC. Perhaps the NPC takes a PC's mundane staff and performs a series of rituals, imbuing the power and spirit of their kind into the item, transforming it into this magic staff. This is just one possible option for introducing this into your game. What others can you think of? Let me know on Twitter. Happy Questing! One of my recent Magic to DND conversions really sparked my imagination. I'm always interested in finding new ways to make combat exciting and dangerous. Many times, this can be accomplished with dealing some effect other than damage when a creature lands a blow or activates an ability. That's what I employed when converting the Dementia Bat. The art here informs a lot of the creation I came up with. This thing is obviously a construct, a menacing and sinister one to boot. The effect on the card calls for the opponent to discard cards. This translates well to the loss of spell slots in 5e. That ability pairs well with psychic damage as you'll see in the stat block below. Flavor text, too, can help inform a conversion. I just love the first part of that text, "When terror outweighs all other thoughts..." Eerie. Creepy. Perfect for the right setting! Another component I try to consider when home brewing monsters is the "WHY." Why does this thing exist? Who made it? What does it want? Why is it against the party? As you'll see in the description, these creatures were created to suck the arcane power from magic users. Have one of these land on your party's wizard and watch the tension and anxiety go up! Much, much more exciting than 1d6 piercing damage. Without further ado, I give you the Dementia Bat. Feel free to use this in your world. If you do, let me know how it went. Thanks and Happy Questing!
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AuthorD&D 5e enthusiast. Creator on DMsguild. Supporter of creators, content and good times. Follow me on Twitter @rjquestgiver Archives
July 2021
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