Month: September 2022

Hey friends, this is the first post in my ‘Opinion Corner’. I know you usually open the door to this dark dungeon and hope to find some magic items, but sometimes you just stumble upon a rambling npc. Now, let’s get to the matter!

We Just Want Our Friends

We DMs and Players just want to get the party together. This usually means grabbing all of your nerdy friends by the ears and strapping them to chairs for three or four hours each week, hoping they’ll like our weird nonsense. Does it make sense then to talk about player party sizes at all? Are you really gonna alienate one of your buddies because you want the nice feeling of a well balanced group? Of course not!

I find myself very much in luck to have in the past defeated the BBEG of Any Game: Schedule (More about this nefarious creature in another post). That meant I had at times too many players and had to say no to some of my friends. Having a big party paradoxically also means that not everyone is gonna show up everytime. Some players also wanted extra content, others were up for more one-shots. This truly blessed state resulted in me having played with any number of players at my table and noticed key differences in the kinds of stories we are able to tell when the number of main characters drastically changes.

Recognizing these core differences, between a table of 6 and one of 3 for example, could help us to better fit our game to our players’ needs and also have matching expectations when running the game. This is my attempt to sum up those differences.

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An empty crystal clear hourglass, a holy symbol of utmost Order. Through sacrifice, eventually, golden sand will fill the artifiact and grant an audience with the Judge in Gold.

+1 Holy Symbol: You have a +1 bonus to your spellcasting DC while using the Hourglass of Judgement as a focus.

Condense Chaos: Reaction. When a creature within 30ft of you takes damage in combat from a single source, you can use your reaction to prevent all the damage the creature would take. When you do this, you take the same amount of damage prevented as psychic damage. The creature still suffers any other effect tied to the damage source, such as conditions or other magical effects. Furthermore, for each 10 points of damage taken this way from a single source, the Hourglass of Judgement gains 1 charge.

Summon the Judge in Gold: Action. You can consume 50 charges by turning the Hourglass of Judgement over and let the golden sand start running. This summons The Judge in Gold. The Judge is a gynosphinx with a black, silk-like mantle, brightened by golden wings, jewellery and piercing eyes.

The Judge in Gold is an impartial arbiter of Order. When summoned she will help to reestablish the status-quo of the given situation, allying with who is trying to bring balance or stopping destruction. She naturally opposes chaotic creatures, like beasts or elementals, and favors humanoid organizations and fellowships, but context and DM’s choice are needed.

In combat the Judge in Gold can fight for a side until the order is restored in the immediate situation. She could help clear a room full of demons, but she’s not going to linger with the party until the demon invasion is stopped.
Out of combat she can help or hinder the party for up to 1 hour, after which the sands run out and the Judge vanishes, going back to her realm. At any point the Judge can determine that the balance has been restored and vanish.

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A shining piece of armor, once part of a full plate set, said to have belonged to a Saint. Legend tells that the Saint used to drop their armaments and charge the evil spawn with open arms, not fearing their infernal weapons.

Shining Breastplate: This armorpiece can be worn on top of normal clothes or a chain mail and confers the wearer a base AC of 17, it requires 15 STR to be used and gives disadvantage to Stealth(DEX) checks.

Divine Protection: When you’re hit by a critical hit, the Armor of the Saint glows with holy radiance and the attack is instead deflected. As a Reaction you can immediately spend any number of your Hit Dice. If you do so, roll the spent dice and you recover that many hp.

If you fully heal, any excess healing is converted into radiant damage, you can deal this damage to a creature within 5ft of you. It must CON15 or take the excess amount as radiant damage, taking half on a success.

Merciful Waiver: As an Action you can touch the Armor of the Saint and focus on a creature you can see. The creature gains the Divine Protection ability and you lose it until the end of your next turn.

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A silvery hilt shaped as angelic wings clings to a sharp blade of long-forgotten craft. In its immaculate steel are engraved five crystals, faded, like distant stars.

+1 Longsword: You have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with Star-Blessed.

Hidden Potential: Star-Blessed has five grey and faded crystals embedded in its blade. Whenever you roll a 20 on an attack roll, two of the faded crystals light up and start shining. Whenever you roll a 1 on an attack roll, one lit up crystal turns off, becoming grey and dull. Shining crystals can only be turned off by rolling a 1 on an attack roll or if Star-Blessed is attuned to a creature other than you, in which case all crystals go back to being grey and faded.
If after an attack all of the five crystals are shining, Star-Blessed unlocks its true potential and becomes a Sentient Holy Avenger.

Discover Tips, Hooks and Variations!