I shared another illustration of this character last week, so I figured I'd post this one too! This time, she's exploring some ancient ruins alongside her trusty cauldron familiar.

These characters are part of the Toad Magus Coven, a group of witches I've been developing for my own fantasy setting. I've been having a lot of fun exploring their designs and personalities, and I'm hoping to flesh them out into a proper faction for an upcoming D&D campaign!

Sometimes when working on these spells I can get really ahead of myself and start drawing something without first glancing over the spell's description. I knew that I wanted the veins in the hand to be visible to help convey the sort of energy transference. But the spell description actually states: "The touch of your shadow-wreathed hand can siphon life force..."

I did attempt to draw the arm with all kinds of shadows, but I thought it took away more than it helped so I opted to keep the original idea.

I prepared this spell only once as a Wizard because I thought it was thematically cool, but could never find a optimal time to cast it. As a spellcaster, you typically want to avoid being on the front line in the first place, so I struggled with how to best leverage it. I'm curious what others think about this one from both a thematic and tactical perspective.

You can get this spell as a print from my Etsy store.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TarikHavoc

ALSO! The Havoc Bound Illustrated Spellbook will be launching soon! Follow the project to get notified when it foes.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/havocbound/havoc-bound-an-illustrated-collection-of-dnd-5e-spells-0

So this is the work-in progress for drawing my party of seven for the new Neon Odyssey settings.

There is T1N-C4N aka Tin Can, my anitron juggernaut (barbarian) he was originally a deposit security bot, but after getting severely damaged, he was dumped in a junkyard. One of the other players, an Oozoid Mechanist, eventually found him, pulled him out of the junkyard, and reprogrammed him.

We also have Mold the Oozoid mechanist my friend's character who created and reprogrammed Tin Can.

Theweapon dealer, Beetle BJ Juice the nematoan gridrunner.

Saurian oracle, Yu Long

And the Zorbrak tracer (I forgot his name)

There will be two more characters added later, being: nilari disciple and amanite cryiptist

Shanda is a skilled archer from the deep woodlands. Raised near the outer borders of the realm, she learned early on to rely on her keen senses, quick reflexes, and knowledge of the terrain to survive.

She avoids heavy armor that slows her down, preferring complete mobility on the battlefield. Her bow is custom crafted from reinforced ironwood, designed for long range precision. For close quarters combat, she relies on the dual shortswords strapped to her waist.

This is an incredibly special commission for me as its one my DM commissioned me to do for our campaign
From top to bottom we have:

Riven Survivor of Hrathiir, the human Rune Knight Fighter
Karesh theh Ghost of Hrathirr ,The orc Circle of thhe Moon Druid
Justice , the Haniwa Shrine Warden Cleric
Wuquium, the Cyclopian Wizard of the Order of Scribes
and Bo Kalk, the Gobboc Tamer Infuser with his faithful pet Slaghund : Tenders

Going against the red dragon Ashenscale

This campaign was heavily inspired by and heavily features classes, species and items from The Loot Tavern's supplements : Heliana's Guide to Monsters and Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms

and for anyone who'd like art of their characters , DND or otherwise :) commission info and my links are down below, feel free to contact me here or in any of the links below if you're interested or at art.of.azrael on discord

Commission Base Prices

Portfolio - Azrael (all of my art and socials)

Bust -$120 sketch, $150 lineart, $170 flat colours, $200 fully shaded

Half Body -$170 sketch ,$200 lineart, $220 flat colour, $250 fully shaded

Full body - $200 sketch, $230 line art, $250 flat colour, $300 for fully shaded

• these are the baseline prices, if the requested piece has a lot more details than normal additional charge will be discussed depending on exactly how much extra work it would entail.

Backgrounds - extra depending on how complex. A simple single colour background is included for free if you don't want a specific background. +- $250

Manga (Half Toned) - See flat colour rates above

Spice is fine, but might cost extra depending on what's being asked.

Payments are to be made up front using PAYPAL.

Feel free to contact me here or at art.of.azrael on discord:)

For me, I was in a party with newish players (Im someone who is relatively newish myself but could hold my own) no big deal. The thing was, no one knew how to read their sheets. The dm, who helped the newer players how to read/make sheets taught how to do it session zero. I’m not trying to sound rude, but please my advice to new players is to research how to read your character sheets.

Thay as a setting was once a lush, immense and varied country. From 4th edition was reduced to a stereotypical barren wasteland where everything is undead. From a vibrant multicultural society full of mystery, to "Lich and skeletons only".

The Maztica setting based on the unconquered americas seems to be completely abandoned and unsupported after 3rd edition. There was a pantheon, there were classes such as Eagle Knights and Jaguar Knights. There was unique spellcasters and spells. All those abandoned. We can play stereotyped European paladins which don't even fit mechanically (wearing heavy, steel armor etc)

Osse, a land based on aboriginal Australia. Completely abandoned as well, haven't seen new content since 2007. With the extreme volume of content produced (even stuff like MTG conversion guides), I find that truly disheartening.

What I have seen in stuff as Thay only they become "planet of hats" but absurd rules such as "this place is ruled ABSOLUTELY by [POWERFUL MAGICAL ENTITY]", to absurd degrees such as that Red Wizards are now said to be above the law in all respects and even the lowliest of them can kill city-state rulers without consequence.

Even stuff in the main campaign setting, not only faraway lands, suffers from this...

Skullport is originally conceived and published as a city ruled by competing crime syndicates and trafficker guilds. That was key to say law enforcement was rare, lax and partial, and gave a dark edge. Justice was a man's interest and their buddies. Then it was invented that there Skullport really the tyrannical police state of some immortal godlike floating skulls, and everyone is afraid if being observed at any time and put on trial by these allmighty beings. This is rather more like "divine justice" and takes away from the cultural element. And even later the whole city was reinvented as Xanathar-land where everything is Xanathar (I guess having more than one nominal divine ruler wasn't simplified enough?)

And many others, too many to list. [actually I had more to say but I forgot, I'm old like that ;) ]

Most players and DMs will not be aware of the older, more "realistic" settings since they are really old (90's, early 90's in some cases), and they are not in newer editions, which I find a sad fact.

Image is my interpretation of Kara-tur, another of the suffering settings, with no content since 1990.

PS: Yes I'm aware some of these still had bad orientalism tropes. I think the correct thing is revise it, in no way it seems to me "everyone is zombies and liches" or "doesn't exist and you can't play it, be European or out" is less racist than trying to develop it. Also that doesn't explain Skullport and others.

I'm running a short cursed dnd campain where things are just not quite right so if you have any silly encounter ideas you've never had the chance to use I'd love some inspiration :D

Im back with some more Paper Mini for my paper world ^^

I thought I would make some Coffin mimics for Halloween. As always since I play with my kid I like to walk the line between scary and cute? So you get the feel of oh that's some obstacle to fight but not have nightmare for days. If that make sense ^^

This time i create 2 variant, a larger one that you can open the lid and see the event horizon ^__^ And a small one that crawl around on some nightmare ish tentacles

Ill post more picture next time ^^

As always enjoy ^^

THE MELANCHOLY BLADE

HAUNTINGLY HANDSOME AND SHADOWED BY DOOM, THIS ALLURING ROGUE MANIFESTS DEADLY PSIONIC BLADES. HE CAPTIVATES HIS VICTIMS WITH DARK CHARM.

PRIMARY WEAPON:

SOULBLADE

(PSYCHIC DAGGER): A HAUNTING NIOLET BLADE

SED FROM PSIONIC TORMENT. CRACKLING WITH DARK ENERGY, IT BYPASSES PHYSICAL ARMOR TO SLICE STRAIGHT THROUGH A VICTIM'S FRAGILE PSYCHE.

Quote

"DYING BY MY HAND IS A TRAGEDY, BUT AT LEAST IT'S A STUNNING ONE."

For context, our party was trying to smuggle magical items into a kingdom so we didn't need to pay any fees nor have anything confiscated. One of our party members went ahead to see if the guards actually had a way to detect magical items.

He showed the guards two dice, and claimed that one of these dice would explode into a fireball when it rolled a six. Unfortunately, he didn't know which was which. The guards were too lazy to find a solution, so they called up a nervous trainee to deal with it.

Trainee: "H-hey sir, s-so what does this do?"

Monk: "So one of these dice explode when they land on a six, do you have a way to tell which is which?"

Trainee: "Uh-uhm, not that I-"

Monk: "I could just roll them to find out :D"

Rolls dice, both land on 1

Trainee: "NO, NO dont- dont do that anymore, uh- I- I think I confiscate these? And, uhm, im pretty sure thats a 5 gold fee?"

Monk: "What? No, you're confiscating it so you shouldn't be charging us." (There was, in fact, a 5 gold fee)

Trainee: "I guess that makes sense..."

Monk: "Alright, that's all the magical items we have!"

Senior Guard: "Aren't you gonna check their bags?"

Trainee: "R-right, uh, sir- I need to check your bags"

Monk: "OH, Right, I think I have one more magical item. I have a potion that when you drink it, it makes you drunk."

Trainee (suddenly confident): "Well then, im definitely going to have to confiscate such a magical item😉"

Senior Guard: "Did you check their bags!?"

Trainee: "Yep!" (He didn't)

Monk: (To our party) "So was it that dice set or the OTHER dice set that was explosive?" And we dissappear into the croud :P

I dont know if that guard was old enough to drink but at least we didn't get out sentient book with all our important information confiscated by the guards. Guess it was a win-win.

While the joke isn’t that funny, the funniest joke I’ve ever heard was in regards to one of the characters eating a bucketload of boiled chicken in one serving, and after which i remember her saying— “I’m just having a snack is all.”…3.5 pounds of boiled chicken btw. What’s the funniest joke or bit you’ve ever heard on your table?

Crème Bulette

“Don’t put all your sugar cubes in one pouch.”

—Popular Y’umm Proverb

The origins of this culinary terror can be traced back to the kitchens of the combination wizard tower-restaurant Haute Cuisine, where biomancer and chef extraordinaire Bonnie Goûte spends most of her days blurring the lines between magic and gastronomy. In an attempt to create self-caramelising crème brûlée, Bonnie—ever the showwoman—intended to add a little flair to her creation by having a miniscule flambélemental burst from the custard, just as a bulette bursts from the ground. However, Bonnie made the perfectly reasonable mistake of inverting the proportions of dessert and elemental, inadvertently creating the first crème bulettes.

Sugar Sharks. After causing quite the ruckus in Haute Cuisine, Bonnie’s gastronomic mishaps vanished from sight, burrowing deep into the rolling hills neighbouring the tower. The creatures managed to evade capture despite numerous monster hunters being dispatched to retrieve them, and before long, travellers began reporting attacks by caramel-coated monsters. Strangely, whenever a victim happened to carry sugary wares, the bulettes ignored everything but those sweet treats, allowing the traveller to distract the bulettes and continue their journey without so much as a snarl. It became obvious that the crème bulettes had another trait in common with their inspiration: the overpowering predilection for a favourite food. Nowadays, every seasoned adventurer travelling through the isles of Y’ummm carries a pouch of sugar cubes, just in case a crème bulette rears its caramelised head.

Caramel Coating. Should an adventurer find themselves without sugar at the ready to distract a hungry crème bulette, they are left with no choice but combat, and would do well to consider their methods wisely. Though fire may harm an ordinary bulette, it’s considerably less effective against its confectionary counterpart, hardening its caramel armour without inflicting much damage. Instead, blunt weaponry and thunderous spells are recommended, shattering the bulette’s sugary shell and exposing its soft, pillowy inside. This inadvertently turns the hardened caramel into sharp shards, so it is best to keep one’s distance—no matter how delicious that custard core may seem.

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Do you wanna see how the RNG gods decided that we should make this bad boy? You should check out our Youtube Channel for bonus commentary and a time lapse of our art!

Want to see more of these? Check out our patreon for weekly monsters!

Being a fairly new DM who is aiming to publish my own module, making subclasses is something I'm practicing nearly every day. I've made some pretty broken (in both ways) subclasses, which were rightfully dogged on in the subreddits! What are some of the most ridiculously bad homebrew subclasses you've encountered as a dm, or player?

My girlfriend’s dad gave me all of his 90’s DnD stuff. The Campaign box set has battle maps, posters, character art for the NPCs with their character sheets on the back, side quest books and a lot more. The Master Mage sets have all the pieces in the original plastic. He said he hopes I get some good use out of them, safe to say I’m a part of the family now. By far the coolest gift I’ve ever gotten.

Give me the STR to triumph in melee but the INT to avoid it. Give me the DEX to survive a trap but the WIS to see it first. Give me the CON to survive being poisoned but the CHA that nobody wants to

So I need to first say this. I understand that the DM is the one who tells the story and that the players give the DM their backstory to allow the DM to build upon the world and to the story. But if the DM decides to add flare to the players backstory by creating situations where a player could possibly be split from the party, not by choice. But by roll and the possibility of said roll determining the situation. Which ultimately could lead to the demise of the character from one bad roll. With no way of getting out of the situation or having help from the party. And I mean outside of combat.

What I'm trying to ask is if a DM decides to do something like this. Should the player be given the option to opt out of such a storyline before it ever happens in game. Like ask them first before even creating the storyline. Yes characters demise is normal in DND, but if you can't have any help from the party in situations where you are taken away from them in forced situations. Then that just leads to situations where players lose trust in said DM.

I'm a brand new DM, and I'm running a campaign for my roommates. I'm also inexperienced with DnD in general. I was a pc in a game that didn't last long, but other than watching Critical Role, that's all the exposure I have. Thankfully, my players are new too and care far more about story than mechanics.

All that to say, I need help with pacing. I've run three sessions so far, and I feel like I'm moving far quicker than I wanted. My main issue is that I don't want to give them side quests that feel like busywork, if that makes sense, but I'm struggling to always tie them into their backstories/the main plot. I also don't want things to get repetitive.

For example, they're currently in a city, and I provided four options for things they can do, one of which will further the main plot and (likely) force them to flee the city. They've done two of them already and will likely choose that option in the next session, but I don't want them to go through an entire city in just two or three sessions. I'm just not sure what else to add that would feel meaningful.

Another thing is my PC's motivations. Their characters are extremely well developed, but not necessarily heroic. They also don't care much about money. This means that, to get them to do something, I essentially need to either guilt trip them, put them in danger, or tie it into a backstory, and again, I don't want it to get repetitive. Still, I want to allow them to stay true to their characters.

I've realized that I'm slightly in over my head, but I'm still very excited about the story I have planned, and I want to make the campaign as fun as I can for my players. Any advice would be great!

This is Nimruil, my glamour bard. I recently did a redesign of him, so I wanted to make a new drawing of him. He is a character that has gone through a lot of heartbreak (a lot of it is his own fault). During our last battle, he received a wound in his chest, and I love that for him because he has always worn those heart shaped chest windows in his clothes, so it’s now a broken heart. He is a character I enjoy playing a lot, and the one I have enjoyed combat the most. I usually don’t love combat, but with him it’s so much fun.

When I look at some of the older DND published campaigns, I love the Red Hand of Doom, I just do. I think it's well written and the concept is interesting, a bit different from the norm. It was published 20 years ago.

Which published campaigns do you think will hold up well to scrutiny 20 years later? Strahd is kind obvious but I think a lot of old Ravenloft campaigns don't get talked about because there's a current one. Wild Beyond the Witchlight, for me, would be the most fondly remembered because of it's uniqueness.