#dmadvice

20 Groups of Guards Searching for Something

Mark S. Cookman

Feb 11, 2016
4 min

20 Groups of Guards Searching for Something

Are your PC's suspicious? Are they wanted for some crime they committed -or- didn't commit? Maybe it's just a case of mistaken identity, but either way these guards are looking for something and they're determined to find it. Today's table is to help GM's out when someone has dispatched guards or henchman to ferret out information or find the PC's. I have tried to use generic titles like "guards" and "guard captain", but there is no reason you couldn't use this table for ANY

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The Island of Lost 5e Monsters: The Baluchitherium and The Dragonne

Mark S. Cookman

Feb 10, 2016
2 min

The Island of Lost 5e Monsters: The Baluchitherium and The Dragonne

Today, we are returning to the Island of Lost 5e Monsters to see what other beasts from the days of 1e yore we can find. Here are where the other 5e monsters that we've already found are kept. This time I thought that we would go after some "big boys", so to speak. Without further delay, here are the Baluchitherium and the Dragonne for your pleasure and your PC's torture. Baluchitherium Rare Number Appearing: 1-3 AC: 15 HP: 218 (14d20+78) 1 Attack Trample +9 to hit 20 Dmg (3

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Mark S. Cookman

Feb 9, 2016
1 min

20 Guilds Your PC's Might Encounter

The picture above is of the House of the Blackheads in Riga, Latvia. The Brotherhood of Blackheads was a trade guild founded in the 1300's. If you are intersted in the history of guilds, you should read about them in the link. Today's post is a follow up to yesterday's post that offered 20 different groups that your PC's might encounter. The hope is that this post will help to fix the imbalance of the previous post. This table is for guilds and other more organized groups tha

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20 Groups for your PC's to Avoid or Join

Mark S. Cookman

Feb 8, 2016
1 min

20 Groups for your PC's to Avoid or Join

First, let me brag on the artist of today's pic. This is "The Distinguished Mercenary" by Toni Justamante Jacobs. You can see a lot more cool character portraits and other stuff at the ARTOFJUSTAMAN, so check it out. Second, today's post is a collection of group and organization names that might be used as either friends or foes to your PC's. Perhaps they just have information or they might be hiring. Feel free to use them however you wish. Sometimes a GM just needs a halfway

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20 Critical Hits or Fumbles for Characters Fighting in a Ship to Ship Battle

Mark S. Cookman

Feb 5, 2016
6 min

20 Critical Hits or Fumbles for Characters Fighting in a Ship to Ship Battle

Creating realistic shipboard combat can be a challenge for any GM. Every D&D combat has its own unique features, whether it be terrain, monsters, or magical elements, but getting players to feel like they are fighting and moving on a ship when they are rolling dice and crunching chips around the table in your gaming room is a real challenge. I use a combination of elements to some effect, but be warned. There's no magic charm here; these are all cheap tricks. You must have yo

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The Island of Lost 5e Monsters: The Axebeak and The Catoblepas

Mark S. Cookman

Feb 3, 2016
3 min

The Island of Lost 5e Monsters: The Axebeak and The Catoblepas

A couple of weeks ago, I made a post here concerning some old school monsters that did not appear in the D&D 5e Monster Manual. I have decided to make this a semi-regular feature of the blog, so let us return to the misty shores of the Island of Lost 5e Monsters to see what we can find. Ah, look there, towards the swamp. Two perfect examples of lost monsters, the axebeak and the catoblepas. Let's row in a little closer to get a better look at them, but quietly. We wouldn't w

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A Collection of Pirate Treasures for All

Mark S. Cookman

Feb 2, 2016
4 min

A Collection of Pirate Treasures for All

I was recently asked about the books that I had read as inspiration and for information about the nautical and pirate stuff that I write. Here are some of the books and webpages that have led me to the twisted paths that I write upon. This is by no means a complete list and it doesn't even touch upon the wealth of material available in film. That's an entirely different post for a different day. There's a little in the way of fiction in the list below, most of what is below f

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Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Explorer / Deep Water Sailor

Mark S. Cookman

Jan 29, 2016
5 min

Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Explorer / Deep Water Sailor

For my own D&D 5e campaign, which is based mostly upon the high seas of various worlds, one background for a generic sailor just didn't work. On the coast, everyone sails. Because there are many different types of sailors and nautical personalities, I felt that there needed to be more variety than just one generic sailor so I created five additional nautical backgrounds to supplement the original sailor/pirate. They are merchant sailor/smuggler, marine, deep water sailor/expl

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Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Jack Tar

Mark S. Cookman

Jan 28, 2016
7 min

Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Jack Tar

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Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Fisherman / Whaler

Mark S. Cookman

Jan 27, 2016
4 min

Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Fisherman / Whaler

For my own D&D 5e campaign, which is based mostly upon the high seas of various worlds, one background for a generic sailor just didn't work. On the coast, everyone sails. Because there are many different types of sailors and nautical personalities, I felt that there needed to be more variety than just one generic sailor so I created five additional nautical backgrounds to supplement the original sailor/pirate. They are the merchant sailor/smuggler, the marine, the fisherman/

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Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Marine

Mark S. Cookman

Jan 26, 2016
3 min

Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Marine

For my own D&D 5e campaign, which is based mostly upon the high seas of various worlds, one background for a generic sailor just didn't work. On the coast, everyone sails. Because there are many different types of sailors and nautical personalities, I felt that there needed to be more variety than just one generic sailor so I created five additional nautical backgrounds to supplement the original sailor/pirate. They are the merchant sailor/smuggler, the marine, the fisherman/

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Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Merchant Sailor/Smuggler

Mark S. Cookman

Jan 25, 2016
3 min

Alternate Sailor Backgrounds for D&D 5e: The Merchant Sailor/Smuggler

For my own D&D 5e campaign, which is based mostly upon the high seas of various worlds, one background for a generic sailor just didn't work. On the coast, everyone sails. Because there are many different types of sailors and nautical personalities, I felt that there needed to be more variety than just one generic sailor so I created five additional nautical backgrounds to supplement the original sailor/pirate. They are the merchant sailor/smuggler, the marine, the fisherman/

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13 Pirate Hunting Ships Plus Their Captains and Crews

Mark S. Cookman

Jan 21, 2016
5 min

13 Pirate Hunting Ships Plus Their Captains and Crews

War is coming to the pirates. The powers that be, whether they are kings, elves, clerics, or colonial barons, can suffer these scalliwags' assaults upon civilization itself no more. Pirate hunters are to be dispatched to seek out these evil men and put an end to them either by bringing them to the noose or by putting them to the sword. The ships below alternate between the HMS designation and simply a name, but they were all once British warships patrolling the waters of the

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A Return to Things Piratical - 20 Prizes that Weren't Worth Winning

Mark S. Cookman

Jan 19, 2016
5 min

A Return to Things Piratical - 20 Prizes that Weren't Worth Winning

With the return this week of the Starz series Black Sails, I thought it best to return to this blog's true roots~desperate piracy. Being a pirate is very hard work and it's usually work done with little or no reward. The phrase "No prey - No pay" was common in the articles of those desperate enough to "go on the account". All pirates dream of the rich merchantman who gives over after they are shown the black flag, but such things are rare indeed. More likely is a costly figh

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With the Lurker Above and the Trapper Below, How's Anybody Supposed to Survive?

Mark S. Cookman

Jan 15, 2016
3 min

With the Lurker Above and the Trapper Below, How's Anybody Supposed to Survive?

After my post on Mimics, I was going to do another one detailing some Lurkers Above and Trappers. I began by searching through the 5th Edition Monster Manual to "get a baseline" on these tricky monsters, but was shocked to find them missing. So I pulled out my OG 1st Edition Monster Manual and looked them up to refresh my memory. A quick review of their statistics left little doubt as to why these creatures hadn't been included in the newest edition of Dungeons and Dragons --

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Mark S. Cookman

Jan 13, 2016
3 min

20 Mimics Ready to Eat Your PC's

Apologies to all for my long absense; I have been quite ill for some time, but have finally shaken the bug that I was sure was going to be my end. As a tribute to the illness that snuck up on me and then nearly killed me, I have decided to make my first post of 2016 about monsters that try to do the same thing to adventurers everywhere: Mimics. The Monster Manual describes mimics as shapeshifting predators able to take on the forms of inanimate objects to attract prey to them

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A Witch-y Double Feature: Ingredients and Curses

Mark S. Cookman

Oct 29, 2015
5 min

A Witch-y Double Feature: Ingredients and Curses

Another double-feature set for your halloween-themed games. Staying with the theme of witches, allow me to present for your enjoyment 20 Eerie Components for Witches Spells and 20 Dark Rites of the Coven. Witches always seem to be the most trouble either when they are brewing up evil in their cauldrons or when they gather together in numbers to perform dark rituals. This double-feature allows you to prepare for both. Witches can cast spells, make minor hexes, brew potions, an

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Gobbits - The Special Servants of Witches in October

Mark S. Cookman

Oct 23, 2015
3 min

Gobbits - The Special Servants of Witches in October

Halloween is a time for children and the young at heart to explore what frightens them. Keeping with this central core of Halloween is today's post. The idea behind the Gobbits is to create a small monster that is more disgusting than dangerous and more funny than horrible to help introduce younger players to the game. This is not to say that Gobbits are for novices only; a devious GM could easily wreak havoc with a few of them, even against experienced players. Without furth

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Mark S. Cookman

Oct 22, 2015
3 min

20 Tools of the Prepared Witch Hunter

Witches are a problem no matter what time of year it is, but they always seem to get thicker in number as Halloween grows closer. Today's post explores what tools the prepared witch hunter keeps close at hand in order to triumph over all of the various forces of darkness that the great adversary unleashes upon the righteous. Whether the items listed below are advice from an experienced hunter to novice one, seeds for artifacts to be located by your PC's, or just something one

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20 Ways to Scare with Skulls and Skeletons

Mark S. Cookman

Oct 21, 2015
3 min

20 Ways to Scare with Skulls and Skeletons

Here's more halloween fun for you RPG GM's, this time in the form of skulls and skeletons. Here are 20 different ways that you can use skulls and/or skeletons to scare your players -- or at least dress up your adventure a bit, even if you don't scare them. Be warned that some might find this list to be graphic because it deals with parts of dead people. Knowing that you have been duly warned that horrifying elements could await you, I humbly present one of my smaller closets.

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