This Is A System For Dnd Adventures I Made Thats Been Successful At Keeping A Greater Number Of Friends

This is a system for dnd adventures I made that’s been successful at keeping a greater number of friends in the loop who can’t play all at the same time who all have adult lives and jobs to keep up with so schedules rarely line up.

Welcome to the University Corcyra Isle! One could even call it a Multiuniversity. The university is led by a proud gynosphinx, has a drider librarian, a medical doctor tired of stitching young wizards back together, and more.

Players make a character with at least 2 levels of wizard so they have a school of magic they focus on. Upon finishing their entrance exams they are given:

-2 Health Potions -A pearl of power -A driftglobe -An extra spellbook

There is a course catalogue depicting the multitude of courses players can take ranging from CREA 101: Mimic Safety, to ABJU 101: Circles and Wards, to PLNR 101: Echoes in the Shadowfell. Players vote on what class (what session) they want to take next.

Sphinxes (as lair actions) can take themselves and up to 7 other creatures through space and time letting your sphinx Ms Frizzle take them to the heavens, hells, and everywhere in between. You can even revisit important historical events in your campaign world.

One shots are two parters, so if a player can’t make it or has to drop canonically they have to go back to school to study. This makes it so players can drop in and out as necessary.

The loot system is what makes all this work with this many people. It uses a Milestone progression system. Every one shot is a Milestone, and it takes a set number of Milestones to level up every four levels or so (lvl2 is 1 Milestone, but lvl6 is 3 Milestones). The system also uses Down Days, days spent studying as loot. You can spend down days to do anything: make magic item, learn new spells, learn new proficiencies, even learn class abilities, but most importantly gain Milestones. If you aren’t able to play in the one shot you gain 5 down days, the exact amount you need to gain 1 Milestone so you can keep with the “campaign”’s progression if the session was full.

Loot distribution looks like this:

-1 Milestone -3 Down Days (for playing in the one shot) -Grant of 60 Gold -Your choice of one of the following:

A spell scroll (usable as a free spell above your level or can be added to your spellbook regardless of class) of: Ray of Sickness/Silence/Speak with Dead

OR

A magic item from the following list: Potion of Greater Healing/Eversmoking Bottle/Pipes of Haunting/Crawling Hand

Players may select the same loot options if they wish to (but they haven’t yet).

That’s the system! The idea is it keeps everyone involved session to session, makes inspiration for sessions through the courses that are two parters so dm planning is biweekly, and allows for people to jump in or drop even midsession. D&D has been a great way to keep my friends together, and this system is born in that spirit.

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The hideous chimera that is a deep blue devil combines the worst features of fish and fiend, with a leathery tail, scaly wings, gills where its face should be and a single eye suspended from its head like an anglerfish's lure. Truly, it is hard to imagine a more repulsive creature.

They are deployed as amphibious shock troops whenever the armies of the Hells need to project force into aquatic regions, and spend the rest of their time tormenting sailors and innocent merfolk. Deep blue devils are cunning and creative, and love to come up with exciting new ways to inflict pain and misery.

All deep blue devils hope to one day earn promotion to the rank of ice devil, with true mastery of the elements of air and water. In the meantime though, they serve their superiors only grudginly, always on the lookout for any opportunity to offload their duties onto someone else.

Witch Class by Zarieth

Give.

New Bard Spells for 5e

image source: Samurai Jack

I realized while editing class spells for my class compendium that I never made any homebrew spells for the bard. None. Not one. So I decided I should do that and add it to the master posts and whatnot. So here they are, fresh out of the oven. Some are simply converted 3e spells but it was just such a shame they didn’t exist in 5e I statted them anyway.

Animate Instrument

1st level transmutation

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: Touch

Duration: 24 hours

Components: V, S

A musical instrument you touch animates and plays music on its own. While you are within 30 ft. of the instrument, you can use a bonus action to mentally command it to start or stop playing and you determine what sort of music it plays. You can also have the instrument start or stop playing if a condition is met, but only one such condition at a time. For instance, you can command an animated horn to blare when a creature comes within 30 ft. of it.

Appraising Eye

1st level divination

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: Self

Duration: 1 minute

Components: V, S

Your eye glints with magical insight for the duration. You can use your action to instantly discern the monetary value of any object you look at. You do not learn its properties or whether or not it is magical.

Blare of the Archon

5th level evocation

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: Self

Duration: Instantaneous

Components: V, S

You create a short-lived glowing magical horn which you blow to unleash a deafening blast. All creatures in a 60 ft. cone in a direction you choose emanating from the horn must make a CON saving throw. Each creature that fails their save takes 8d6 thunder damage, is pushed 10 ft. away from you, knocked prone, and becomes deafened for 1d4 rounds. Creatures that succeed at their saving throw take half damage and are not pushed or knocked prone.

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