D&D 5e Monster Manual artwork we illustrated: Dragonborn (Gold). Enjoy! #dnd #dragonborn #gold #wotc (Jetpack7 is a division of Conceptopolis) pic.twitter.com/eZmRoxfINv
— Jetpack7 (@Jetpack_7) June 16, 2020
D&D 5e Monster Manual artwork we illustrated: Dragonborn (Gold). Enjoy! #dnd #dragonborn #gold #wotc (Jetpack7 is a division of Conceptopolis) pic.twitter.com/eZmRoxfINv
— Jetpack7 (@Jetpack_7) June 16, 2020
@Dan_Dillon_1 Got a weird one for you
Hypothetically, if someone wanted to play as an Illithid
Is there an existing race you would suggest re-flavoring that could work fairly well?
— John Appleton (@jaa0109) December 6, 2020
Githzerai Aberrant Mind sorcerer. If your DM is amenable, swap their Wis bump for Cha, and chance the spellcasting ability of their Githzerai Psionics trait to Cha.
Or if you’re in a swapping frame of mind and DM is down, change all that Cha to Int, including for sorc casting. Kalashtar also works pretty well.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) December 6, 2020
Guy @SirWiseGuy@TheEdVerse
Can you please relate any more tales of Elminster's visits to Earth please? More stories of a vaguely friendly visitor would be soothing in these troubled times.— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 4, 2020
1)
Sure. :}
Recently, El wanted a ride in a canoe on a placid northern Ontario lake, and got one.
He now knows that standing up in a canoe and LEANING is a good way to get wet. Luckily for him, he knows a spell that can expel all… 2)
…excess water from clothing, hair, and body. Unluckily for me, the magic just hurls a wet mist out in all directions. Yuck.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 4, 2020
3)
Several visits: El loves lightning storms, and striding over the gently manicured hills of golf courses with his staff held high, getting struck repeatedly by lightning. DON’T TRY THIS; he’s an archwizard and foolhardy to boot. 4)
Some old camping glades survive in some of Toronto’s ravine parks (log seats in a ring, well away from the paved paths and manicured areas). Lots of teenagers discover these, and so, in these COVID times, have some local…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 4, 2020
5)
…fantasy and sf fans and writers, who get together to drink and chat from afternoons until moondown in the wee hours (safely distanced). Far from me, a hundred-some miles east out in the countryside, I’m afraid, but El remembered their moots, … 6)
…and attended. In disguise as, well, me. (!)
He assures me he behaved, and told me he loves the energy, idealism, crazy ideas and passionate discussions of them, and the youthful cynicism, too (“so CUTE,” he deemed it).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 4, 2020
7)
El also confessed to attending—in a different guise—a not-yet-released-TTRPG playtest in a Toronto-area basement.
“Their ideas of magic are so TWISTED,” he told me.
“Cthulhu twisted?” I asked.
“Worse,” he said darkly. 8)
And of course the Old Mage made his usual raids on my larder and wine cellar. No ice cream (I’m being a good diabetic; El did NOT approve), and he found some of the libations I procured for my library ladies (co-workers at the…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 4, 2020
9)
…day job) bewildering (as in: “Folk DRINK this cr—stuff? WILLINGLY?”), but enjoyed others (leaving me a heap of empty bottles). He also read some of the novels I’m working on, and found them HILARIOUS.
Some were even meant to be funny. 10)
I’ll add this: having seen many folks wearing masks to guard against the coronavirus, El can’t understand why we don’t all seize the opportunity to wear plague doctor masks or wilder face coverings with snouts and so on.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 4, 2020
11)
“Folk in your world need to PLAY more,” he told me, “and not just when they’re young. Life is too short to stop having fun.” He then used a spell to conjure up pies and started a pie fight. My cat was NOT impressed.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 4, 2020
This whole thread, aside from being so entertaining, has me thinking: do El or any other realmsians who visit play video games? Have they faves? Like I’m highly amused imagining the 7, plus El & Khelbem with Animal Crossing. I can’t stop giggling I can tell you: El tends to like storytelling, puzzle-solving games like Myst (and Riven and the other sequels), not spellfighting boss-battle games, which tend to leave him snortingly disgusted ("Wrong! Have these programmers ever even SEEN a wizard cast a spell?").#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 4, 2020
So by that same logic, if a human is in the nine hells, does that mean they get the Fiend classification?
— Skull Dixon (he/him) (@SkullDixon) January 28, 2020
Visiting the Nine Hells in D&D doesn't turn you into a fiend, but that plane of existence might influence you to turn evil. For more information on how that infernal realm works, see "The Nine Hells" section in the DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE (p. 64). #DnD https://t.co/jPFjezolCF
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) January 28, 2020
In the D&D multiverse, many of the planes of existence can affect you in strange and wondrous ways. Take a look at chapter 2, "Creating a Multiverse," in the DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE for details. #DnD
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) January 28, 2020
Can we put the Polymorph + Power Word Kill / Polymorph + Disintegration thing to bed and clarify damaging a form versus damaging a creature, and killing a creature regardless of what form it’s in? Both of those have been covered. Errata to disintegrate makes it check for "when you drop to 0" effects (such as reverting to your own form) before dusting you.
Power word kill, however, means you are deadzo. Do not skip zero, sorry 'bout your Relentless Endurance, RIP.
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) January 20, 2020
Hey Mr.Super Dm, I had an interest in the wedding rites in DnD. One of my characters plans on marrying a countess of Cromm’s Hold. Are there established wedding rites I can look to? If it matters, the countess… …reveres Tyr and Ilmater. With the second part being, as my character is a lowborn, currently the court physician, will he need to be granted Nobility before he would be eligible for marriage towards a highborn?
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
1)
I can’t speak for D&D in general, but only for the Realms. Wedding rites are one of the topics that’s seldom been covered in print due to wordcount being needed for wilder adventure encounters, and so as not to offend any… 2)
…real-world religious beliefs. So there’s little to look to.
To answer your second, first, in Cromm’s Hold and other Heartlands communities, lowborns and nobility can freely marry without legal bar nor stigma, but the custom, ..#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
1)
I can’t speak for D&D in general, but only for the Realms. Wedding rites are one of the topics that’s seldom been covered in print due to wordcount being needed for wilder adventure encounters, and so as not to offend any… 2)
…real-world religious beliefs. So there’s little to look to.
To answer your second, first, in Cromm’s Hold and other Heartlands communities, lowborns and nobility can freely marry without legal bar nor stigma, but the custom, ..#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
3)
…for purposes of inheritance and legitimacy, is to confer upon the lowborn member of a couple their own title (“in their own right”) as well as whatever courtesy title they would acquire as consort. So IF the countess wants…4)
…her new husband to have the same authority in the county as she does, and this isn’t fiercely opposed by kin or other noble/wealthy/influential (like senior temple clergy) folk of the county, he would be ‘created’ Count to…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
5)
…match her title. This is customary, but not automatic (see real-world England: Queen Elizabeth II married Philip, a prince of Greece, but he didn’t become “king,” instead being styled “Prince Consort” because SHE is the… 6)
…ruler, and the realm wants her to remain so). So in this case, the court physician may become Count, or may acquire some special title (“Lord Protector of Cromm’s Hold” or “Champion of Crown’s Hold, Knight Before Knights” or…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
7)
…some such), or may be styled with BOTH titles. (Your decision, based on how you see Cromm’s Hold viewing him. In this case, the Heralds are going to accept whatever’s decided locally.)
As far as wedding rites go, there’s a lot… 8)
…of local variation. In this case, with Tyr and Ilmater involved, clergy of both those deities would likely officiate, as equals, and the ceremony would probably run along these lines:
The physician is dressed in “sackcloth”…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
9)
…(a crude garment made of an old sack with head- and arm-holes, worn as a tunic, over the naked body, barefoot) but escorted by burghers and senior guild members (masters, too), if any, with reverence, walking in two lines… 10)
…on either side of him like bodyguards, through Cromm’s Hold to an outdoor public altar (market square?) where the priest of Ilmater waits. The priest would scourge him, then escort (lead) him to the priest of Tyr at HIS…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
11)
…outdoor public altar (in front of the home or keep of the countess, likely) where said priest would be holding a consecrated Sword of Justice. Which he’d hold edge up over the altar, and say a prayer to Tyr requesting a… 12)
…blessing on the union, as the physician reaches out with his palm and slices himself (in a SMALL way!) with the edge of the blade; the priest catches any spilling blood in a consecrated bowl for later use (see hereafter). …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
13)
…The priest of Ilmater then knocks upon the door of the abode of the countess, and calls her forth (“Art desirous of union with the man who comes for thee?”) 14)
…Her maidservants would open the door and escort her forth, she and they in finery, to the altar of Tyr where she’d nick her palm, blood in bowl as before, and she and the physician would then clasp their hands, bleeding palm…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
15)
…to bleeding palm, over the bowl but NOT over the altar, as the priest of Ilmater and the priest of Tyr in turn say prayers over their joined hands, then prompt them to their vows: the physician formally asks the countess… v16)
…for her hand as an equal, “that our lives run as one, from this day forth,” and she accepts (“before the gods, and before all these good people”) and then they pledge personally to be each other’s partner and defender… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
17)
…(“I, XXXmy nameXXX, shall protect thee and succor thee, XXXpartner’s nameXXX, until my breath fails and the gods claim me, putting thy needs and comfort before mine own, and keeping no secret from thee, until the end of my… 18)
…days, or until the gods set us apart, though I hereby pray they shall never do so”), they in unison touch each other’s lips with their own shed blood and then kiss each other, then the priests simultaneously heal their…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
19)
…palm-wounds (one priest for each), then any announcement of titles conferred on the physician is publicly made by the countess (and a fine robe thrown over his sackcloth by one of her maids or a member of her household), … 20)
…then the countess requests that anyone who “smiles upon this our union” drinks to them, and then servers distribute goblets of wine to everyone so the toasts can be made (traditionally, the mother of the bride toasts… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
21)
…first, then the father of the bride, then mother of the groom, then father of the groom, then senior noble present, then any other important noble head of house or designate, then mayor (or seneschal or head of local… 22)
…lawkeepers if there’s no mayor), then guildmasters or any mercantile head; the priests never lead any toasts, and anyone in this list who’s dead or doesn’t exist in the community is simply omitted (and if there are fierce… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
23)
…rivalries among guildmasters or nobility over precedence, they toast in unison to avoid any trouble), whereupon the householder/host (in this case, the countess) bids all present to “break bread with us,” and the feasting… 24)
…begins. Which is an informal party that goes on and on, and usually involves much telling of tales, drinking, and so on; the married couple usually circulate among the revelers to chat (and traditionally, receive…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
25)
…well-wishes), and then slip away to a bedchamber (the tradition is to consummate the union, but often, once the bedchamber door closes, it’s just to take their footwear off and nap on the bed in peace and quiet). … 6)
… By tradition, the local herald “cries” (publicly proclaims) any new styles and titling of the couple the next morning, when they first emerge from wherever they spent the night. If folks have traveled to attend, they…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
27)
…customarily linger for the following day and night, with the wedded couple providing hospitality (if commoners wed, often the local lord provides this in his/her “big house”), and that’s when gifts, if any, are given by… 28)
…the attendees and received by the newlyweds. And that’s it.
(Other clergy resident in the community or who happen to be there, by tradition, “stand as witness” in the crowd, and would take part in the ceremony if either of…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
29)
…the wedding couple is pledged to their deity in some way—so in this case, if the physician had been trained at a temple, or worked at one, or had taken holy vows to a deity [even if not followed up on to become a priest], a… 30)
…cleric of that deity would take part in the ceremony, if available. For folks who don’t revere any deity over others, any clergy can officiate, and the rites morph a bit to fit the ceremonies of the particular deity.)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 29, 2020
Is it notably different on the Sword Coast or with non- humans (dwarves specifically)?
— Robert Paslay (@robpasl) December 29, 2020
1)
Not really (Cromm’s Hold pretty much is on the Sword Coast).
For dwarves who haven’t renounced or been estranged from their clans, or who aren’t keeping their union secret from clan or family, there’s far more family/clan involvement in wedding ceremonies. …
#Realmslore 2)
(In which dead family members, including revered relatives who were personally known to either member of marrying couple, are represented by their axes [or other personal weapons].)
I left out the singing, I'm afraid. For dwarves, there's a kin-blessing chant/…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 30, 2020
3)
…plainsong, that gives the family line from a famous ancestor down to the couple now to be wed, reminding them that they're part of a proud line and must not fail it.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) December 30, 2020
with a changelings shapeshifting ability are they able to pretend to have a dragonmark Pretend? Sure. Just like Disguise Self could let anyone pretend to have a Dragonmark. But it won’t give them the powers associated with the mark.
— Keith Baker (@HellcowKeith) July 4, 2020
My copy of #ExploringEberron finally arrived; it’s pretty great. A question came up while looking at the timeline: if House Kundarak wasn’t recognized and inducted until ~1600 years after the Twelve were established, were the Twelve called the Eleven before that? From Dragonmarked: "Though there were only ten dragonmarked houses at the time, the architect Alder d’Cannith convinced the committee to name the institute the Twelve, based on his belief that there were twelve true dragonmarks in addition to the shattered Mark of Death."
— Keith Baker (@HellcowKeith) September 1, 2020
It's actually called out on page 245 of the original 3.5 ECS, as well. Alder d'Cannith was using the number of moons and planes as his guide, and the Mark of Death had been lost—so he concluded that it was a 13-1 situation, even if two marks were yet to be found.
— Keith Baker (@HellcowKeith) September 1, 2020