My Happy and Sad Boxes

In The Office, Season 7, Episode 13, "The Ultimatum," Michael has a "happy box" and a "sad box" prepared. It got me thinking, what would I have in a happy box to celebrate a happy occasion, and what would be in my sad box to help me cope?

• "Holiday in My Head" by Smash Mouth. This song is my anthem. The theme song to my life. Its beat is catchy, and its lyrics speak of coping with life by escaping into your own imagination. While all my rich friends go on real vacations, I can be satisfied with taking a holiday in my head.
• Steak, baked potato, and green vegetables. Nothing feels more celebratory than sitting down and eating a delicious ribeye or New York strip, a baked potato loaded with sour cream, and some broccoli, asparagus, or zucchini.
• Taro boba smoothie. Boba is quirky, not something I grew up with, and not something I have very often. Its taste (the same as Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellies) brings a whimsical optimism to my life when I'm in a happy mood.
• Dungeons & Dragons. D&D is the outlet for my creativity, the source of many adult friendships, the aforementioned imagination escape into my mind, and a super fun game. What more can I say?
• The cinema. I never noticed until just a few years ago, but one of my very favorite pastimes is going to a movie theater, sitting in a comfy chair, and watching a movie on the big screen. Preferably with a bucket of popcorn, a tall cup of apple beer, and a box of Mike & Ikes.
• My wife. I am and always will be madly in love with my wife. She is my absolute perfect other half, and when I have something to be happy about, she's the one I always want to share it with.

• Michelle Branch. Whether it's specifically the album pictured, The Spirit Room, or any of her music, Michelle Branch's music is soothing, emotional, and full of the spirit of the 90s and early 2000s, the happiest time I can remember.
• Yellow Thai curry. What could be more comforting than tender chicken, potatoes, and carrots in a warm, spicy, creamy broth? Not many things I can think of.
• Melty chocolate chip cookies. Fresh out of the oven and sprinkled with some sea salt, chocolate chip cookies dipped in milk are decadent and delicious. I'm pretty certain they absorb trace amounts of depression in my body and help them digest.
• The library. Every time I set foot in a library, the calm atmosphere and general concentration of so many books tangibly and significantly lowers my stress. It's hard to be sad sitting in a chair reading a novel, or simply perusing books on the shelves and pondering the sheer amount of literature and stories that I could one day read.
• Pretzel Lectern. When I'm feeling worthless and discouraged, I find that looking at my past achievements can really help my mood. If I could make all those projects, design all those game mechanics, write all those stories, and draw all those doodles in the past, that means I can do it again.
• Calvin & Hobbes books. I chose to showcase The Days Are Just Packed specifically because that's when the series was in its prime, and the cover depicts yet another key to melting away my depression: memories of summer vacation as a kid.

A super simple way to run Monster Hunter-style "titan battles" in D&D 5e

 

Attacking a sack of hit points until it dies is okay for bandits, orcs, kobolds, and even larger enemies like lions or brown bears. However, it's just not as epic when fighting something towering over you with a head as big as your character's entire body.

Here's how to make Huge and Gargantuan creatures more fun to fight for your players and more fun to run as a DM. As always, I keep these homebrew mechanics super simple so that the whole table can get a grasp on them without too much reading.

The 5e Character Sheet Sucks, So I Fixed It

After my DM Quest group finished our first campaign a couple months ago, I decided to stop using D&D Beyond and play my next campaign on a paper character sheet. I had always used real dice, but from what I remembered, the paper character sheet from 5.5 was much better than the old one, and I was excited to have a more tactile experience playing D&D.

I was wrong. All the official character sheets are terrible! And the ones other people make are too fancy and still miss what makes a character sheet useful!

As usual, it's up to me to fix the problem.

Campaign Setting: Luzeon

 

Today I present to you my latest D&D setting: Luzeon! This setting is heavily based on the land of Urak in the 1997 PC game Lords of Magic, and I think it has a lot of potential. 

Bastion: Criminal Hideout

NOTE: Since these are a lot of work and I'm not sure if I'm super sold on this formula anyway, this will probably be my last class-specific Bastion. I figured since I had already done the classic Fighter, Mage, and Cleric bastions, I might as well round it out with the Rogue one. If you like this system, I hope these serve as useful templates!

You are awarded a Bastion when you reach 5th level. During downtime, you can invest gold into your Bastion to upgrade it with new facilities and services. At the end of a downtime, you can choose a number of available services equal to your proficiency bonus and gain their effects until the end of your next adventure. You can gain multiple uses of the same service unless otherwise stated. See the original post here.

Criminal Bastion: Hideout

The hideout is a refuge from the law, a place of clandestine deals, and a repository of secrets and treasure. As a criminal, you can use your Hideout to gather information and augment your arsenal with less-than-legal implements.

Lords of Magic Fansite

In my opinion, the most underrated PC game of all time is a 1997 game by Sierra called Lords of Magic. It has a beautifully organized system of factions called "Faiths," spectacular music, fascinating outside-the-box lore, and a unique gameplay style that involves a mix of turn-based exploration and real-time combat.

Essence Crafting: A Way to Repurpose Magic Items for Your D&D Party

In my last D&D campaign, we ended up discarding a ton of magic items. Inspired by the Enchanting skill on World of Warcraft, I made this system for players to recycle unwanted magic items and create ones they do want.