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Solve the Case With These Backgrounds
Can you solve the Case of the Snarfed Scarf adventurers? With these backgrounds you can put yourself in the case and help each other work together in capturing the culprit
5E Mechanics Warrens of the Harengon
In Theory:
Theorycraft Gone Wrong (Or Gone Right?)
In designing and playing my Warrens of the Harengon character for the 2023-2024 Dungeons & Toast (D&T) guild campaign (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024), I modified the theorycraft build I found online to fit in with the campaign; some may say, this writer included, with disastrous results. Where did things go wrong? One possibility is that there are three differences in the theorycraft of the build as it’s presented online and in how I built the character. The differences are ancestry, class selection after level five, and roleplay versus optimization. Other factors that come into play are related to the experience of playing the build – the execution of said build and less play time at each level.
For starters, “Theorycraft (or theorycrafting) is the mathematical analysis of game mechanics (usually in video games) to discover optimal strategies and tactics (Wikipedia).” The first difference to tackle between the theorycraft build and how I built the character is ancestry. The 2023-2024 D&T guild campaign was strictly based on animal ancestries, so the option to take the Halfling ancestry was unavailable as adjustments had to be made to fit the animal ancestries campaign theme. This means that the Lucky Halfling Trait (reroll ones on attack roles, ability checks, and saving throws)* and the Halfling ancestral feat of Bountiful Luck (allies within range can reroll ones on attack roles, ability checks, and saving throws)** were both unavailable to my character, further taking away an additional ability I could have had to help the party.
Continue reading “In Theory:” »5E Mechanics Heirs of the Dragon
Creating Your Heir of the Dragon
So you’d like to create a character for Dungeons & Toast’s Heirs of the Dragon campaign? Before you get started, you may want to review some background info:
Link to Campaign Overview – The campaign page on Dungeon & Toast’s website. Some basic lore and mechanics for the game.
Creating Your First D&D Character – This is a nice post on D&D Beyond that goes through the mechanics of creating a character. We use their website for our campaigns so it is a good resource to review before creating your own.
Create Your Character on D&D Beyond
Our Immediate Past Guild Master has a campaign already created on D&D Beyond.
Some things to remember before creating a character:
- Use the “Point Buy” system for the Abilities section
- Advancement Type will be milestone
- Make Character Privacy “public” if you’d like help from GMs or want to post your character on the guild site.
- Characters will utilize Max HP when leveling up during the campaign.
- Items that come with your character’s background/class can be added on your D&D Beyond character sheet manually when creating a character.
- If you would like to play one of the animal races from the Warrens of the Harengon campaign, they should be available on D&D Beyond.
Create Your Character on the Guild Homepage
Once you have your character created on D&D Beyond, you can put the basic information into the “My Character Sheet” section of the homepage (requires login). Once you login, click the “Campaign” drop down and choose the “My Character Sheet” option. Once you create your character here, you can link to your D&D Beyond character sheet as long as you set your privacy to “public” when creating your character. To find the link to your D&D Beyond character sheet, go to your character sheet page and click the “share” button at the top. It should give you a link to copy and paste.
Leveling and Gearing Up Your Character
Once you’ve created your character, you should see what level you are based on the XP you’ve earned so far during this Toastmasters Year. Depending on your level, you may need to go back to your D&D Beyond character page and level up your character. To do so, just click the hammer and anvil image on the top right of your character sheet to edit your character.
Once you create your character, you also earn 250 GP. To look for items you may wish to purchase, I recommend using the D&D Beyonds Item Page to look at equipment and magic items. To start, it’s likely you’ll only be able to afford common and uncommon items. Look for armor, weapons, and items suitable for your character and then visit Akemi’s Magickal Sundries and Tea House to purchase utilizing the gold in your account. Just search for the item and click “Unlock for XX Gold” to add to your character. You can also add the item to your character sheet in D&D Beyond if you’d like to track it there for our Roll 20 Games.
Some items to consider as you start earning gold at lower levels:
- Bag of Holding – carry all the loot!
- Cloak of Protection – +1 AC (Armor Class) and +1 on all Saving Throws
- +1 Weapons and Armor – Improves defense/offense in combat
- Alchemy Jug – Fun item that allows you to create a bunch of different liquids
- Brewer’s Supplies – Because you’ll want beer for your journey
Seriously, just look through the items, see what speaks to you, and check the shop to see if you can afford it. If your character’s race, class, or background gives you items to start, just add them manually to your D&D Beyond character sheet. Do not worry about purchasing these from Akemi’s shop.
Done… for now!
That’s it! You’re ready to play in the Heirs of the Dragon campaign. But there’s a lot more stuff for you to check out if you’d like to:
Beyond 20 Chrome Extension – If you’d like to use your character sheet from the D&D Beyond homepage to play in Roll20, Chrome has a nifty little extension that’s pretty easy to use.
Request a Character Design – Want a cool image of your character? Submit your design request and our resident AI artist (Loni) will get something whipped up for you when she has time.
Check out everyone’s character! – Visit the character roster page on the guild website and see what other members are doing with their own characters.
The story so far… – See posts from other guild members about the game or their characters that are shared on the Dungeons & Toast website/blog.
Level Up! – Visit the Quests page to figure out how to maximize XP and Gold earning. Give speeches, serve as a functionary, wear your gear! These are all ways to level and strengthen your character.
Give Commendations – Did someone inspire you? Help you with a speech? Do a great job in a meeting? Run a fantastic game? Well take a moment and nominate them for a commendation on our “Commendations” page. This earns their character XP for this year’s campaign.
A New Year, A New Hope
Come join us tonight at Dungeons & Toast and celebrate the new year with us with these fun backgrounds themed around our annual TTRPG campaign!
2024 Golden Goblets Winners
Our end-of-year recognition, the Golden Goblet Awards, were held on Friday, June 19 as part of our last meeting of the Toastmasters year. Overall, we held a total of 39 weekly meetings and 23 game nights. Members gave a total of 90 speeches and created 18 characters for the Warrens of the Harengon tabletop roleplaying game campaign.
Congratulations to the following members upon recognition of their spectacular achievements last year:
Award Name | Award Recipient |
---|---|
Into the Deep End Award For volunteering to serve as an officer within the first year of joining Dungeons & Toast | Mindy B Kenneth B |
The Insightful Watchman Award Most speech evaluations given | Loni H Cameron P Michael A |
The Master of the Silver Tongue Award Most speeches given | David E |
The Sovereign Host Award Most times served as Toastmaster | Michael A Loni H |
The High Sentinel Award Most times served as Captain of the Watch | Loni H |
The Speech Purifier Award Most times served as Wizard of Ahs | Cameron P |
The Temporal Steward Award Most times served as Sorcerer of Time | Cameron P |
The Linguistic Luminary Award Most times served as Cleric of Rhetoric | Kelly S Michael C Cameron P |
The Keeper of the Scrolls Award Most times served as Scribe | Kait W Cameron P Kelly S Patrick V |
The Lore Forger Award Most times served as Game Master | Andrew B |
The Realm Explorer Award Most times served as Game Player | Michael A |
The Enchanted Quill Award Most stories written | Michael A |
The Prolific Penman Award Most blog posts written | Kait W |
The Hero’s Journey Award Greatest personal growth | Cameron P |
The Magical Muralist Award For exceptional service creating virtual backgrounds for guild meetings | Kait W |
The Creative Catalyst Award For outstanding volunteerism in furtherance of guild quality | Andrew B |
The Last Minute Legend Award Greatest number of Look the East achievements | David E |
The Adventurer of the Year Award Chosen by committee as guild members with exemplary contributions | Michael C David E |
The Toastmaster of the Year Award Highest experience point total | Robert G |
Heirs of the Dragon Roleplaying
Heirs of the Dragon: The Location & The Problem
Welcome to the Dragon Coast
In the Forgotten Realms there is a small geographical area known as the Dragon Coast. It exists on the southern shores of the Dragonmere (also known as the Lake of Dragons) which runs into the Sea of Fallen Stars to the east. From the west, the Tun River flows into Dragonmere through a small, wetlands area and a large mountain range protects the region from the south. The Dragon Coast has long been known for its lack of central government and to outsiders, functions as a small collection of city-states and pirate holds. Power has never been focused in one group but rather ebbs and flows between the different thieves’ guilds, pirate bands, and secret societies that work in the shadows of the region.
There was a time, many generations ago, that this area was the center of power and nobility. Over the centuries, it has devolved into a culture of “everyone has a price.” No one knows when it began, but everyone understands that this is the reality of the Dragon Coast.
Forever Winter
For the last five decades, the seas have gotten colder, darker, and more wild, increasingly limiting trade to the region. The tops of the Giant’s Run Mountains have been covered with snow and the mines in the Gulthmere Forest have gotten colder as the years have gone by, making it nearly impossible to access the resources within. Even the edges of the “Lake of Dragons”, have begun to freeze at their narrowest point between Westgate and Urmlaspyr, forcing the towns on the western edge of Dragonmere to discontinue all travel by sea indefinitely.
No one knows what’s wrong on the Dragon Coast. But if it is not solved, the fallout will be felt by all life in the Forgotten Realms.
Backgrounds Resources Special Events
Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
Greetings adventurers and prepare to celebrate your fellow man this evening at Dungeons & Toast’s first Golden Goblets!
Tonight we will celebrate our members, look back on the year past, all while receiving XP for next year’s campaign. Remember all XP is doubled for this meeting and any XP earned this meeting carries over into next year’s campaign.
Some ways you can earn XP are:
Dressing up for our Golden Carpet event
Participating in Table Topics
Providing a recipe on our Discord in the Finale Recipes channel
Filling a role
Attending the meeting is quintupled
Along with cooking 3 recipes earning you 15 XP points
Having an on theme background provided by us via the link down below
We hope to see everyone dressed in their finest clothing, and come to have a night of fun and celebration!
Have Fun, Try Not To Get Cursed!!!
Gather around all adventurers! For tonight we must work together to avoid being cursed for the rest of our days (Or you can get cursed if you want we dont judge). Tonight’s meeting is being run by David Easley as our Toastmaster and Cliff C. as Table Topics Master. Join us tonight for a spooky fun time!
Special Events Warrens of the Harengon
Food Finale on June 21!
The last meeting of the year is rushing towards us at an alarming speed! If anyone remembers last year, we had a wonderful medley of D&D themed recipes available to earn extra XP for the new campaign.
This year, we are doing the same! But instead of one person providing the recipes, you can earn your XP by submitting your own recipes for the finale. Here are the rules:
- Recipe Submission: 15 XP
- Make a dish during the finale: 5 XP per dish (Max 3)
- Total XP Available for next year’s campaign: 30 XP
To post your recipes you can:
1 – Post the recipe in the #finale-recipes channel on Discord: https://discord.gg/k38qyxwX
2 – Email to Andrew.Brewer@gmail.com
3 – Message me @skiptomybrew in Discord
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS WILL BE JUNE 18 TO GIVE FOLKS TIME TO DO SOME GROCERY SHOPPING!
I hope lots of people participate in sharing fun food, cocktail, and mocktail recipe ideas with the group. Bonus good vibes if your recipe is character themed!
The Abbey of St. Alassra
Tonight marks the penultimate meeting in this year’s annual VTTRPG campaign, the Warrens of Harengon, in which member characters venture through the portal left behind after the death of Mayor Fluffy Bunny to search for the phylactery of necromancer Lucifera. To help create a cohesive theme, here are a selection of virtual backgrounds from which you might choose: