Under the Lamplight Five. The Magistrate Families

Under the Lamplight (UtLL) is the Streets of Avalon RPG companion podcast where Brett and Chris talk about the setting and the game. The Streets of Avalon RPG is a Low Fantasy Urban RPG focused on the stories of people living in a city of classism, corruption, and decay while trying to bring a little light into their lives and the people closest to them.

On the fifth episode we talk about the Magistrate Families and the role they play in the city. It might be a little low fantasy megacorp style action here.

Thac0 with Advantage 77. Start Player: New Player Tutorial

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D is a spawn point for new players.

On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about zero level humans. But in this case, we me people that haven’t played D&D before. We’ve talked about new players before, but what about specific techniques? How do you introduce concepts in bit sized chunks that will go down easy? We’re going to talk about setting up your D&D sessions with new players by looking at video game tutorials in today’s episode.

Under the Lamplight Four. Stats

Under the Lamplight (UtLL) is the Streets of Avalon RPG companion podcast where Brett and Chris talk about the setting and the game. The Streets of Avalon RPG is a Low Fantasy Urban RPG focused on the stories of people living in a city of classism, corruption, and decay while trying to bring a little light into their lives and the people closest to them.

On the fourth episode we talk about the games stats, why Chris choose them. and how they impact the games playstyle.

Under the Lamplight Three. Lamplighters

Under the Lamplight (UtLL) is the Streets of Avalon RPG companion podcast where Brett and Chris talk about the setting and the game. The Streets of Avalon RPG is a Low Fantasy Urban RPG focused on the stories of people living in a city of classism, corruption, and decay while trying to bring a little light into their lives and the people closest to them.

On the third episode we talk about the Lamplighters, the strange caretakers of the streetlamps of Avalon and their role in the setting along with some cosmological secrets.

Thac0 with Advantage 76. What’s the Topic? It’s a Mystery!

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends who have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D collects stray fantasy elements the way English accumulates unrelated words. 

The lore of D&D was pieced together from a ton of fantasy and folklore. But what if you took that approach to the mechanics and procedures of your game? What can you steal from Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark games that will help you run your D&D games, or any other fantasy RPG? We’re going to podcast to find out.

Under the Lamplight Two. The Lamplighter System

Under the Lamplight (UtLL) is the Streets of Avalon RPG companion podcast where Brett and Chris talk about the setting and the game. The Streets of Avalon RPG is a Low Fantasy Urban RPG focused on the stories of people living in a city of classism, corruption, and decay while trying to bring a little light into their lives and the people closest to them.

On the second episode we talk about the Lamplighter System which powers the Streets of Avalon RPG.

Thac0 with Advantage 75. Play to Find Out: PbtA and FitD tools in DnD

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends who have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D collects stray fantasy elements the way English accumulates unrelated words. 

The lore of D&D was pieced together from a ton of fantasy and folklore. But what if you took that approach to the mechanics and procedures of your game? What can you steal from Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark games that will help you run your D&D games, or any other fantasy RPG? We’re going to podcast to find out.

Thac0 with Advantage 74. Thematic Encounters

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D is our computer’s eternal desktop theme.

Once again, we’ve rolled high enough to have an encounter, and this time we’re going to talk about what goes into making a thematic encounter. How do you tailor your encounters to fit the theme of your campaign and communicate the wider story you want to work toward? We’re going to look at the building blocks that go into creating thematic encounters.

The Mind Flayer first showed up in TSR’s Strategic Review publication, the precursor to Dragon Magazine, in 1975. If you had a really low intelligence, their mind blast would kill you outright, and if you had a really high intelligence, you risked permanent insanity, so its best to be just kind of mediocre around a mind flayer. In the Ecology of the Mind Flayer in Dragon Magazine #78, in 1983, Mind Flayer’s alternate name, Illithid, courtesy of a Githyanki hired to provide information on them. Apparently Illithids aren’t willing to eat the brains of lycanthropes or Grimlocks. So the safest person to interact with a mind flayer is a Grimlock wererat with average intelligence. I wonder if there’s a Baldur’s Gate III mod to add one into the game.

Thac0 with Advantage 73. Five Room Dungeons

Welcome to THAC0 . . . with Advantage! We’re two friends that have been playing D&D a long time. While we both love lots of other RPGs, D&D cast Guards and Wards and it makes it really hard to leave.

Now that we’ve talked about what living in a dungeon is like, this time around we’re going to look at how to design a dungeon that doesn’t eat up your life for months at a time. We’re going to look at five room dungeons, and how to use them in your games. Make those rooms count.

Saving Throw categories have changed a bit over time in D&D. Instead of saves based on ability scores, the saving throw categories were obviously logical Death Rays and Poison, Wands, Turn to Stone, Dragon’s Breath, and Spells and Staffs. This certainly didn’t lead to long discussions at the table about what happens if a wand casts a spell, or a spell creates a death ray, or a dragon’s breath causes petrification. Thank goodness we never get confused of what saves are logical now.