I'm about 9 years late to the party, but I am absolutely loving Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. I've realized in the past couple years that pirates is one of my all-time favorite genres, and this game doesn't disappoint in the least. Aside from the epic ship battles and the stealth mechanics, I've noticed that some of the controls and mechanics in the game are really inspiring for use in making certain aspects of Dungeons & Dragons more effective and manageable for DMs and players alike.
Random Post
May 14, 2022
D&D Mechanics Inspired by Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
Apr 27, 2022
Artifacts of Argaenothruzil 5e
There aren't a lot of magic items established in Argaenothruzil lore, unfortunately, but these are the ones I gleaned from the existing publications I still have access to.
- You can cast the prestidigitation cantrip.
- You can expend 1 charge to cast dimension door, but you must target a space that you have already been in the past 24 hours.
- You can expend 5 charges to cast word of recall.
- Choose a creature you have seen in the past 24 hours. You can use your action to expend 2 charges to summon the creature and everything it is holding and wearing to an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you. A creature knows who is summoning it and where it is being summoned to. An unwilling creature can avoid being summoned by succeeding on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. You can't use the Hand to do this again until the next dawn.
- If a creature within 60 feet of you attempts to teleport, you can use your reaction to expend 3 charges and force the creature to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature teleports to an unoccupied space of your choice within 60 feet of you, provided the space is on the ground or on a floor, instead of its intended destination.
- You can expend 6 charges to cast time stop. After using this property, the Amber Hand stops regaining charges until 1 year has passed.
maintain concentration on the spell. Instead, while you maintain the spell, your movement is 0 feet, and at the start of each of your turns, you take 1d8 fire damage as the orb sears your flesh from its emanating power. This damage ignores resistance. You can drop the orb on your turn (no action required) to end the effect early.
properties, damage dice, and damage type, though the damage is magical. The ormerod's weight does not change, The energy forming the weapon disappears if you stow or let go of the ormerod, change it to a different weapon type using another bonus action or action on your turn, dismiss it (no action required), or roll a 1 on an attack roll.
Apr 26, 2022
Devils of Argaenothruzil (Gods part 3)
Rauroth
Rauroth's Champions
Khlamul
Khlamul's Champions
D'nethrokash
D'nethrokash's Champions
Apr 25, 2022
Gods of Argaenothruzil 5e (Part 2)
Bezzoan
Bezzoan's Champions
Ezrim
Ezrim's Champions
Moeki
Moeki's Champions
Apr 23, 2022
Gods of Argaenothruzil 5e (Part 1)
Nine Intelligences came into being at the birth of the cosmos, and they worked together to create the world of Argaenothruzil. They all created races of the world, but disputes over the purpose of these "blood-children" led to a division. Half of the planet was corrupted beyond redemption, and three of the Intelligences became Devils while the other six became Gods. All nine deities continue to influence Argaenothruzil and the progress of its history in various ways.
Vendictes
Vendictes' Champions
Phroella
Phroella's Champions
Henaeros
Henaeros's Champions
Apr 22, 2022
Races of Argaenothruzil 5e
Though they have more locally divine origins, for the most part, the races of Argaenothruzil resemble those on other worlds in the multiverse. The halflings were made out of clay and the dwarves out of stone by the God of Fortune, Moeki; the elves from trees by Phroella; the gnomes from snow and the genies from sand by Henaeros; and the orcs from lava by D'nethrokash the Destroyer. Humans were created from the dust of the earth by all the gods.
But other races exist that are unique to Argaenothruzil, and others have variations due to Argaenothruzil's unique cultures and climate that will be listed here as well. The races and their changes, if any, are listed in alphabetical order below. The more unique races to Argaenothruzil have more details.
Dwarves
Elves
Wood Elves
- Sylvan Ancestry. After you have spent a total of 7 days in a heavily populated, civilized area (such as a city or town), your hair gets dark streaks in it as you begin to transform into a civil elf. Spending 2 days in a forest away from civilization subtracts 1 day from this total. If you spend 14 days or more in a city, your hair becomes dark, you lose your wood elf subrace, and you gain the traits of a civil elf instead. In order to regain your wood elf subrace again, you must spend 6 months in a forest away from civilization, the halfpoint of which your dark hair begins getting blond streaks in it.
Civil Elves
- Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
- Alignment. Being in the city changes civil elves' alignment. They are much more lawful-oriented than their tree-dwelling cousins.
- Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.
- Streetwise. Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet while in a city. In addition, while in a city, you have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) and Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
- Sylvan Ancestry. If you were not born a civil elf, after you have spent a total of 3 months in a forested area away from civilization, your hair gets blond streaks in it as you begin to transform back into a wood elf. Spending 7 days in city subtracts 1 month from this total. If you spend 6 months or more in a forest, your hair becomes blonde, you lose your civil elf subrace, and you gain the traits of a wood elf instead. In order to regain your civil elf subrace again, you must spend 14 days in a city, the halfpoint of which your blonde hair begins getting dark streaks in it.
Magic Elves
Genies
- Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
- Age. Genies can live for hundreds of years, and so few are known that an accurate estimation of their lifespans is impossible to know.
- Alignment. Genies' nomadic natures and disdain for the events of the world tend to lead them toward neutrality and good.
- Size. Genies resemble humans in range of height and weight. Your size is Medium.
- Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
- Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
- Ancient Knowledge. You have proficiency in the Arcana skill.
- Mana-filled Veins. You know the prestidigitation cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the magic missile spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Intelligence is the spellcasting ability for these spells. When you reach 5th level, you gain advantage on saving throws against spells and other magic effects.
- Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and two other languages of your choice.
Gnomes
Gogs
Gogs of Rauroth
- Instead of casting darkness with your Infernal Legacy trait, when you reach 5th level, you can cast the enlarge spell, targeting only yourself.
Gogs of Khlamul
- You have resistance to lightning damage instead of fire damage.
- The spells of your Infernal Legacy trait are replaced with the shocking grasp cantrip, command at 3rd level, and detect thoughts at 5th level.
Gogs of D'nethrokash
- You have resistance to poison and necrotic damage instead of fire damage.
- The spells of your Infernal Legacy trait are replaced with the chill touch cantrip, cause fear at 3rd level, and suggestion at 5th level.
Halflings
Half-elves
Humans
Orcs
Seraphauns
Wampyres
Wampyre Names
- Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
- Age. Wampyres have lifespans similar to humans.
- Alignment. Wampyres tend toward lawful alignments, as their culture keeps a rigid societal order and punishes those who break the rules.
- Size. Wampyres resemble humans in range of height and weight. Your size is Medium.
- Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
- Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.
- Superior Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
- Genealogist. You have proficiency in the History skill.
- Voice of the Night. Through sounds and gestures, you can communicate simple ideas with bats.
- Smokeform. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the gaseous form spell without expending a spell slot and with no material components. However, you can only target yourself, and the duration is shortened to 1 minute. Once you cast it, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.
- Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Nerolanthian.
Apr 21, 2022
Argaenothruzil 5e
I've been thinking a lot about different D&D settings lately and what makes them unique. Dark Sun is a post-apocalyptic setting where magic is destructive and halflings have become cannibalistic; Theros is based on Greek mythology where destiny determines your path, the gods are close to mortals and directly affect the world, and heroes adventure for glory itself; Spelljammer is basically D&D in space; Planescape jumps all over the planes of existence; Ravenloft is Gothic horror; Rokugan is Asian wuxia; I'm not really sure what Eberron is, something about noir and robots?
Anyway, with the release of Chris Metzen's Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent campaign that's literally just his own homebrew setting he made as a teenager in published form, I've thought about my own first setting I roleplayed in before I even knew about D&D: Argaenothruzil.
Sadly, there's not much interesting about Argaenothruzil's races. The cosmology and theology of the world is interesting, as well as the two halves of the world and their separation, but I'm considering taking a second stab at good ol' Argae and seeing if I can use my worldbuilding skills I've developed since I created the setting 15 or so years ago. I still cringe a little when reading Alfred Shortstaff and the Cavern of Time and its simplistic descriptions of places and especially towns. Maybe now's a time to breathe a little life into it. I feel like I owe it to the setting somehow.
Anyway, we'll see how far I get, but I may as well adapt what I can to 5e. Feel free to use whatever you wish in your campaign. After all, lots of people are adventuring in a shadow version of Argae right now!