I wouldn't suggest DnD for newcomers to RPGs

I truly believe that there is no perfect title to introduce a person to the world of role-playing games, but I don't think it's appropriate to think of the Starter Set or the Essentials box as a great option, that kind of opinions are the result of marketing. Since both products provide incomplete information that can be found for free on the Internet. Everything contained in the aforementioned products can be obtained by visiting the DnD Beyond and Dungeon Master's Guild pages, where details of the rules and multiple adventures for beginner adventurers can be found for free. 

In fact, with the DnD Beyond page, it is not even necessary to purchase the three main DnD books. However, I know someone might point out to me that I don't understand the purpose of the starter kits manufactured by WoC, as they are products made to provide easy access to the experience of creating characters and guiding the DM through the arduous task of running a role-playing game. And I don't deny that they can fulfill their purpose if they have mature and focused players, used to how RPG's work, but in case of finding themselves in front of complete unwary, the DM is going to suffer. 

The 5th edition rules, regardless of the format in which they are presented, seem to me too complicated for people with no experience at all. Elements such as reaction, conditions and additional action, will always generate confusion and although a very interested person can learn little by little about everything that happens in the game, it seems to me a painful introduction to a hobby. 

On the other hand in the field of acting in first or third person of the adventurers, I think DnD gives very little advice about it, not even with the dynamics of inspiration, which is optional and does not change much of what is happening in the game, making it clear to the person that acting is totally accessory, finally "this is a game of killing monsters".  And for those of us who have decades playing DnD we know that this is not true, the combats are constant, yes, but the acting, plots and personal conflicts that can be generated in a game can also change a lot the nature of the game and make it more entertaining. 

So, instead of the Wizards materials, to introduce new people to the hobby I never tire of suggesting the game of "Lady Black Bird", since the system it has slowly introduces concepts that are found in most role playing games, but it does it in a format where anyone can understand what is happening, if you want to show your strength by bending the bars of the prison you are in, you can use the skill that explains precisely what it does. Instead of relying on something as abstract as an athletics roll.

Likewise, the system uses 6-sided dice that can be stolen from any board game and the characters are involved in the story from its creation and have clear objectives throughout the game. Also the game director is given a simple guide on how to direct the game, resolve conflicts and how to present the outcome of the game to the players, since it can be said that this title could at most be extended to a game of about 3 or 4 hours. And better yet, the plot of the title is based on the "Princess Bride" film, so it is very close to perfection.

Despite everything I commented, I am well aware that it is possible to introduce people to the hobby through a game with a good number of abstract rules, such as GURPS or any similar system, but I do not consider that kind of experience to be pleasant for those who know nothing about the world of role-playing games. What I am saying is not strange at all, in the board game universe there are portal or introductory titles, the same would have to happen with role playing games. That's all I'm saying. 

I love those pesky illithid

 The mind flayer, also known as Illithid is one of my favorite aberrations, the nature of their attacks and appearance immediately generate concern among players and change the tone of a typical high fantasy game. With tentacles in their mouth, specialized in extracting brains, telepathy and mental attacks, they mark an unusual type of confrontation that could only be compared to creatures such as wraiths or oozes due to the uniqueness of facing them. 

From the first to the fifth edition of D&D the effectiveness of their attacks is related first hand to the Intelligence attribute, which can be for some classes a "dump stat" to which it is not worthwhile to place high numbers. With the mind flayer the situation is modified, especially with 5th edition where most adventurers have a low intelligence, which leaves them vulnerable to be paralyzed by the psychic attacks of the brain-hungry creature.

Introduction in 5th edition

What I prefer about the Illithids is the way in which I have introduced them in different adventures. Imagine a group of 4 adventurers that with difficulty manage to defeat their first ogre in a random cave. The curious thing is that while they were fighting something strange happened with their opponent, it moved erratically and kept a blank stare. 

The ogre ended up on the ground, defeated, the group relaxed and decided to cautiously explore its hiding place, while suddenly the skull cap of the ogre burst and a bizarre creature was expelled and vanished into the shadows. Only the rogue managed to spot it and commented to his companions "it was, it was... a brain with fat chicken legs. A BRAIN".

Oh I can easily imagine another scenario where the corrupt nobleman of a town is caught by the adventurers and subsequently imprisoned. The moment he is brought to justice, the guy convulses, his head explodes, and out shoots the "Intellect Devourer" in search of a new body to steal in the middle of a room full of villagers.  

But if the group was of a high level, what if after defeating a clan of gnolls that did not stop kidnapping in a nearby village, when looking for the trail of those who were kidnapped, the more than 12 gnoll corpses begin to shake, to end up releasing a group of brains with legs that immediately start a fight against our heroes. 

And although it is true that the same presentation can be done with other creatures that steal or hide their identity, it seems to me that the one with the brains is the most grotesque and does not fully reveal what is happening, making the characters too shocked. Even more so if any of your characters end up being snatched by one of the evil creatures, resulting in an unfortunate death, but providing a great opportunity for suspense if the adventurer died unseen by his companions, now it can blend in. 

Mind over body

The brains with paws are the dogs/servants of the Illithid and are usually the introduction to this type of enemy, while the mind flayer is the quintessential psychic warrior (leaving aside the species they enslaved) and at first could be the big threat of a low level player campaign. And I say this, because although it has great ease to kill a player, by pure economy of turn the piñata effect will present itself and all the adventurers in single file will give some damage to the Illithid and well, it may be psychic, but it is still a wizard.  

But returning to the Mind Flayer's capacity as the main villain, in this area he stands out for being a scientist/magician with the need to investigate and devour the brains of the reality in which he finds himself, make use of bizarre artifacts; laser beams, some gas or substance of neuronal effect, as well as maintain control of a wide range of creatures, which serve to justify why so many different beasts are crammed inside the dungeon. 

The octopus sorcerer has among his resources the domination of creatures and pnjs of importance by means of brains with chicken legs, spells to deceive and manipulate, as well as bizarre technology that would take a long time for the characters to be able to understand it. And if we want to increase the difficulty, then we can invoke the presence of a giant brain, which functions as master chief of the operation and central planning node of the activity of all the Illithids in the region or the world. 

Making the race can very easily generate plots and produce a feeling of paranoia in the players, so that they can not know who to trust. Which puts them very high, as creatures to be used in campaigns focused on mystery and horror. 

In the new module of "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft" a small region is included where some raids could be made making use of the Illithids in a demi-plan of terror, namely "Bluetspur", region in which they want to focus on the aspect of abductions and experiments, making the aberrations look more like the greys, which is interesting to me, which is why I decided to make a module based on this region that in a couple of weeks goes on sale and I hope that if it catches your attention you can check it out. 

The background 

The Illithid's background, in my opinion, tries to give a lot of sense to what would be better to keep in mystery, it seems to me that they forgot the fact that giving too many details about something ends up erasing the fear. 

For example, of the mi-gos (creature from the world of the Cthulhu Myths), it is enough to know that they are interested in the functioning of the human brain and its ability to obtain favorable results through irrational thinking, so to extract as many brains as possible, they will resort to any trick that the writer in turn gives them. And that's it, nothing else is needed.

But in the case of the Illithids, they have already been given a clear historical past, religion, important characters, description of the world of origin as well as the type of activities they perform according to their type of lair, which is not a bad thing, but it takes away a certain halo of mystery.

Personally, knowing that they are creatures that seek to destroy the stars of all realities so that everything is in eternal darkness, that's enough, there is a motivation and from that point, everything is possible. They have a plan, seriously! 

They have a plan....

First Appearance

The first appearance of the Mind Flayer in the role-playing world, came out of the fanzine "The Strategic Review #1", edited by TSR, so the creature is an original idea from the world of DnD. The description given of the aberration is simple but terrifying, as its innate ability to extract brains via the four tentacles surrounding its mouth manifests itself. 

The octopus with a cape and witch-like appearance would come until the appearance of the monster in the "Monster Manual 1E" back in 1977.  Then came the novels and adventures that would build the extensive background of the Illithid, from which I recommend to take only the most general details. 

At least in my opinion the creature has not changed much in appearance, since it is still a warlock with an octopus face, which in their first encounters will generate an atmosphere of strangeness in the players, making it clear that they are about to experience something unique and bizarre. 

It really happen-campaign in tenra 01

I managed to organize my group of players and the first game in the world of Tenra took place.The game consisted of what was stated in Tenra's previous post, to summarize, the feudal lord of a small town asked the group of adventurers to explore a haunted mansion with the objective of avoiding the participation of the order of the phoenix in his town.  

Although the adventurers are somewhat varied, since they are a fairy and two warriors (one of them possessed by a mutant). They soon began to work as a team and although their personalities clash, they were quickly assembled and soon arrived to the mansion. 

In the haunted mansion they were greeted by multiple specters, one of them was a maid who managed to knock them out and place each one in a room with its respective trap. With difficulty each adventurer escaped from their respective trap.

Once united they decide to confront the main ghost of the mansion, at that moment they realize that the owners of the mansion were captured by the desire for revenge of their abused servant, the heroes decide to side with the owners and purify the place, making everything disappear. 

In the end they were rewarded by the lord of the village and decided to embark to a nearby thieves' camp, with the intention of defeating them and making them work for them... Or something like that plans one of the players with a lot of hunger for power. 

As a guide I used several ideas from the module "The hell house beckons", using the description of some rooms to create simple traps. And for the creatures I used the bestiary from "Monters of the Orient", with almost no noticeable changes.

At the moment the system is not generating me too many problems, but I feel that as the players level up, the rules are going to become more and more complicated for them, I can't imagine making a long campaign with this system, there are too many details.

And now I have to think about what to do with the problem of the thieves, I will probably look for inspiration in a sandbox type module. 

The advantages of playing in a well know setting (Ravenloft D&D)

 

I don't know if the Tenra campaign is going to take place, I hope so but the group of players has not agreed yet. Luckily I had the opportunity to start a campaign at a presential game this week, I had already some time that several guys wanted to play but due to the current circumstances I decided to postpone the game. This week my dice couldn't take so much dust anymore so I had some roleplaying, but I didn't have anything planned so I used the structure of a campaign I already played repeatedly. Ravenloft.

I don't know the structure of the Ravenloft campaign entirely by heart, but I have a very clear general idea of what is happening in the campaign world. Which is something I like very much, since it allows me to start narrating in a short time. Unlike what it means to build from a module that I don't know and sometimes start from a blank page which generates me some insecurity and doubts. It's obviously great to read and set up a new world where players can adventure, but when I have the opportunity to narrate in a world of which I already have a knowledge of the plot, the important characters or random encounters, I feel more relaxed, that's for sure. 

Since I know the campaign world well, I always dare to make huge changes in the story, so even if a player who has read the whole adventure joins the table, it won't matter. On this occasion I started the game with the players entering Barovia County through the main gate. But to start introducing the group to the background of the world, I placed one of Strahd's girlfriends removing some heavy chains from the gate.

The woman introduces herself to the players, answers several questions and disappears without a trace. With the gate open, they can move on to Barovia, where they can visit a grocery store, the major's house and the church. The first thing they visit is the church and they are introduced to the father in the usual way, but out of fear they decide not to go down to meet his son. They want to go to meet the elder, but I look for things not to be easy and one of the guards asks them for a few wolf skins if they want to meet the elder.They fight the wolves but are defeated, luckily the bride was nearby and rescues them the only way she knows how. She bites their necks and begins their transformation.

I know I made a lot of changes, but that is for me, the only way to keep interesting a campaign that you already know well, you have to change what you want and have a general idea of the butterfly effect it can generate on the central plot. Thanks to the multiple changes I made in the main campaign of Barovia, I ended up removing scenes from the official campaign and including good plots or combats from the changed versions.

I encourage all of you to do the same. 

Campaign in the world of Tenra

To create a campaign in the world of Tenra the main thing is to understand the faction system of the world, on the one hand each region has its feudal lord with a personal army. While on the other side are the Buddhist orders and the native demons of the world. There is nothing else. 

The initial region of the adventurers will be the newly created Oshu, a coastal region generally led by elderly people. It reports a serious problem, since a few months ago on an island near its shores the mansion of an old merchant is full of screams and strange events, it is necessary that a group of brave adventurers clean the house of evil spirits. 

To start the conflict clock ticking, the adventurers will feel the pressure to solve the problem of the haunted mansion as well to avoid intervention of the order of the phoenix a religious organization that if it gets involved would get the town into a whole new set of problems. 

The town, like any other, needs some background, some important personalities. Oshu is an island formed from the remains of an ancient dragon, its north coast bears a striking resemblance to a sharp tail. Oshu belongs to the Tadamasa, a noble family that has always maintained a strong alliance with the monks of the Dōjo mountains. This explains the absence of a temple in the village, since the monks of the mountains, usually reject the existence of religious buildings. 

npc's

Obu Tadamasa: Old lord of the village, he is in his 130th year and is rumored to be sustained by the spirit of powerful spectres. He maintains a loving and reasonable appearance. 

Gabamunta: Muscular man of 30 years old in charge of helping the villagers with their spiritual problems. 

Zaki: Owner of the local bar and main merchant of shark tails, the main source of wealth for all of Oshu. 

the adventure

On the outskirts of Oshu there is a rumored appearance of a structure that only reveals itself on the nights of the full moon, people say that within it are hidden warring spirits. Tadamasa needs a group of brave people who can solve the matter of the supposedly haunted mansion, before some religious order finds out and wants to intervene. 

When the group attends the mansion, they may encounter different specters, with a geisha who will try to seduce, enchant or poison them. Warriors made of mud, eager to fight. Deformed ghosts that hide in the glass of the mirrors. To clean the place, the group will have to find an object of great value to the main spirit and set it on fire. 

The creatures, ghosts and whatever the characters have to fight with, will be of a manageable CR level for them, taking into account that they are 6 should be able to defeat creatures between CR 1 to 3.

but stop !!

Everything is going wrong, I got sick for a couple of weeks, the group does not have the same interest in the game as before and now some people are too busy or with different responsibilities. This makes me think about the need to open a new game table, but then maybe I will make a different game since I was creating this whole campaign for my usual group and maybe it is too strange for a new group.  

It will be seen

few resources for an anime-style game

 

Oh I think so, aside from a good amount of post talking about anime RPGs, I found little information to prepare my game. Luckily I have the DnD Orient books  that came out through the Dungeon Master Guild website. But I can't find many pages to define plots, location names, background or concrete game experiences. Several people talk about long campaigns with the OVA system or playing BESM, but I can't find any concrete overview of the games.

I came across several pages that do have some of the information I need, but few things seem to be focused on the anime RPG experience. Which is not so strange, after all, it is a somewhat hidden setting for a hobby that in itself is not so famous. 

So taking into account that I have very few tools to create a world with blogs and web pages, I think I will have to make use of the manuals I have at hand. Luckily the Tenra Banzho Zero world sounds interesting and has the setting manual separated from the rules, which is already an advantage. 

For others, this would be the perfect opportunity to make use of the Anima manual, but in my case, the overcomplication of the rules drove me away many years ago and I have no interest in returning. The setting seems to have an air of the Final Fantasy games, for those who are curious. 

Although the Tenra manual does not have much background on the world, it does have some sections dedicated to providing ideas for encounters or quests that characters can do. In general the world is quite simple, a Buddhist cult tries to rule from the shadows a nation full of warring regions. There are groups that try to reveal themselves against the religious cult and little else. It also has lists of place names, important families and the history of the world in a very reduced form. I think that will be enough for the time being. 

Anime 5e a big little mess

 

The recent "anime 5e" book remains a reincarnation of the Big Eyes Small Mouth game, which is a good thing but also a bad thing. Character creation takes up most of the manual and is based on a point system that relates to the 3rd edition of DnD. That is not a crime, but it defeats the purpose of the 5th edition, which was intended to simplify the previous system.

We are fortunate that the creators of "Anime 5e" are aware of the problems with their system, so the manual has a detailed explanation of the changes, sometimes too detailed.  

In practice, I don't like the character creation system, I would have preferred that the points expenditure be reduced to the Ranks and defects section, leaving attributes, race and class out of the calculations. With all the changes, character creation takes longer and in the absence of examples, the creation of powers, special moves and flaws takes a long time and largely depends on the flexibility of the DM. 

The good thing is that the manual indicates the type of damage, defense and ranks that each character should have according to their class level, which simplifies things and avoids exploiting the system. And I keep talking about ranks, that new element represents the level of a special ability, either flying, having more defense, teleporting, changing appearance, healing and other suggested powers. Its rank depends on the character's level, which makes nothing too crazy. 

Combat does not change in essence, it is the same as 5th edition, magic does not move too much either. And the enemies can be as complicated as you wish, since the book lets you use the CR system, which remains unchanged.

The fact that there are no major changes in the rules is somewhat positive in the sense that it allows anyone with experience in 5th edition to know in advance what they are playing. But on the other hand, much is lost, as several optional rules would have been welcome. We miss rules for a lightning duel, sacrifice, adding all the power of your allies in a single attack and any detail related to shonen style. 

I can't make a definitive review yet, as I have yet to play a long campaign using the manual. During the campaign I am about to start with this manual I hope I can keep a balance with the system of flaws and powers, especially with the flaws, since they add several possibilities to the narration and creation of conflicts. 

I'm excited about the possibilities of the system and its ability to adapt to a myriad of settings, but all the new rules and class capabilities to take into account make me very nervous. I hope everything goes well, I'll keep you posted.