The recent release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything has generated significant controversy in the D&D community, most notably for the Custom Origin option, which gives players much more flexibility in the character creation process. Some raise concerns that this will allow players to min/max, optimizing their characters to be more powerful than other characters of the same level. Others counter that this allows for more roleplay options, expanding characters beyond their archetypes. Still others have argued that it’s a moot point, that a character is so much more than the sum or distribution of its stats.

But how often do we make the same mistake in real life? How often do we reduce others or ourselves to who’s strongest, smartest, or most charismatic? Isn’t that the essence of a clique: jocks, nerds, or the popular crowd? Of course, there’s more to it than that — in my high school, to be in the popular crowd, you had to be able to afford the right brands of shoes and polo shirts (It was the 80’s.) in addition to being adept with social queues.

Adults are more subtle in our approach to others, but we still evaluate people based essentially on numeric criteria, replacing wizards and rogues with executives and unskilled laborers, making class as clearly defined as in D&D, except Tasha now allows players to change their class — would that this were so easy in real life.

This becomes particularly toxic when we reduce ourselves to our stat blocks. It’s easy to think of ourselves as undesirable due to what we perceive as some bad dice rolls at our creation. Who could ever love someone with such glaring dump stats? And if you believe yourself unlovable, you will have difficulty receiving love, not trusting those who purport to love you.

Thus the Critical Advantage style of game mastering focuses on the value of each character (and more importantly, each player) regardless what numbers appear on their stat block, whether real numbers on a page or evaluations of real people. We emphasize that a character (or player) is valuable because they are loved, and if love is unconditional, then a person being lovable has nothing to do with evaluation. You are lovable because I choose to love you. Nothing you do or even think about yourself can change my decision to love you. You can’t convince me not to. You can’t prove yourself unlovable, because “lovable” is determined outside of you.

As a Christian, I take that farther. I love you, because God has declared you to be unconditionally lovable. No matter what anyone else chooses to determine about you, God Himself has assigned you the labels “lovable” and “Mine,” so when anyone else says otherwise, regardless of their criteria, they’re just wrong.

You are more than your stat block. Your defining stat is
LOVABLE: ∞

The rest is just flavor.

Rose Gold Dragons are known for their love of children. Stories abound of children lost in the wilderness or at sea who are rescued by a rose gold dragon or some other creature of a similar hue.

At the same time, these stories have sometimes grown darker, with suspicion that questions the motivations of these creatures, and anytime a child goes missing in the vicinity of a rose gold dragon layer, the dragon becomes the primary suspect.

This supplement includes:

• Full All-Ages Stat Blocks complete with Legendary and Lair Actions
• Dragon Background Option Charts
• Associated Creatures
• Implied Abilities based on their stat blocks
• Spellcasting
• Lair and Hoard Details, including combat strategies based on age
• 2 New Magic Items
• 1 New Spell
• Ideas for using the dragon in your campaign
  • Dragon as Group Patron
  • And more…
• Ideas for using the dragon with your character
  • Contact
  • New Warlock Patron
  • New Paladin Oath
  • Sorcerer Draconic Bloodline variation
  • New Bard College
  • New Monk Way
  • Dragonborn variation
  • New Character Background

This supplement includes details to include this dragon in the Caphora: The Divided Continent campaign setting from Wyrmworks Publishing, but it can also be  used as-is by changing a few location names in any campaign setting.

All creature and character options are available in the D&D Beyond Homebrew section. Just search for author: doulos12.

How well do you really know the dragons? Sure, you’ve memorized their stat block, but these are intelligent complex beings who affect the world and your characters so much more than a big lizard in a cave! Welcome to the Draconic Omnibus, a multi-volume set detailing the canon 5e dragons and some new varieties to round out the set.

In most fantasy literature since Tolkien, elves and orcs live at constant odds with each other. Among other reasons are their cultural differences and their inability to see each others’ viewpoints. Elves typically live for a millennium, whereas orcs have shorter lifespans than humans. Time alive, both how long it’s been and how long one expects to have left, changes perspective.

Even on a human level, I see this play out. Teens tend to feel like they have unlimited time, and depending on how their formative years have played out, that can mean unlimited possibilities or a sense of hopelessness. The older I get, I expect to have less years remaining than I’ve already had, so I feel a sense of urgency to accomplish my dreams, whereas others my age or older have given up.

Either way, we can learn from each other, and that’s something I love about my D&D group, which ranges in age from teens to 40’s. Unlike many games and sports, D&D and other tabletop role-playing games are cooperative and depend on players working together toward a goal. They have to help each other and use teamwork, and those different perspectives they bring to the table help to give them success.

But more than just success in the game, they build relationships. Teens benefit drastically from multiple positive relationships with adults besides family, teachers, and clergy, not that I’m discounting those by any means. They need adults who choose to spend time with them out of mutual respect instead of perceived obligation. (Yes, parents, teachers, and clergy are usually in those positions in the first place because they care, but that’s not always the teen’s perception.) Correctly managed, D&D can foster those multigenerational relationships based on the collaborative work and mutual respect that lead to success in the game.

Promoting those relationships is remarkably simple and boils down to two principles: encouragement and common ground.

When a teen experiences encouragement from adults communicating to them that they’re lovable, capable, and worthwhile, it builds their self-worth and helps cement those relationships. Adults can communicate this by asking the teens for help and complimenting them on their accomplishments. They also experience support when they find others experiencing the same feelings, even in different circumstances (common ground). At the same time, this helps adults recognize the unique contributions that teens bring. And all of this comes from sincere care and camaraderie. 

While I’ve specifically focused on adult-teen relationships here, these same principles apply to any number of cross-cultural relationships, whether racial, socio-economic, political, or any other dynamic, even if all participants are the same generation.

Recent publications of D&D materials have moved toward breaking down in-game racial boundaries, which the Caphora campaign setting did from its inception, and if we’re to get stronger in real life, we can follow this example. Maybe elves and orcs can respect each other after all.

Like a little mad science in your fantasy? What if Dr. Frankenstein or Dr. Moreau could manipulate the Weave? Where do the hybrid creatures and characters come from in your game? Introducing: the Biomancer.

Download from DriveThruRPG

Biomancers have learned to use the Weave to manipulate life itself, accessing a form of magic unavailable to most wizards. While other wizards can use Biomancy spells, they lose their proficiency bonus due to the strangeness of the magic.

This supplement includes 4 subclasses, 11 new spells, and 3 new backgrounds.

Some consider biomancy unnatural, but it’s the biomancers of Tanmaa who are responsible for many of the hybrid and augmented creatures who fill the Western Division of Caphora, and while biomancers have been blamed for some of the plagues that have struck the continent, they’re the first to be called when plague strikes to control it.

Most biomancers are found in the labs of Tanmaa, but some nobles hire them as extremely expensive personal physicians. Some biomancers are the products of their own labs who have learned, through observation and sometimes deliberate training, to use the very magic that created them.

Biomancers specialize in one of four forms of the craft: Somaturgy, Neuroturgy, Amalgamism, and Miasmism. They can use other biomancy spells but prefer their own tradition.

Other Campaign Worlds

While the Biomancer was developed specifically for the Caphora campaign setting, which you can download free from our website, it will work with most existing campaign worlds, especially those with a slight “mad science” or steampunk element, gnomes who like to tinker, or campaign worlds with hybrid creatures or characters.

Download now at DriveThruRPG

Nullimancers have learned the secret art of tapping into and manipulating the all-consuming energy of Oblivion. They can generate it and transform it to a variety of effects, all of which destroy matter or energy in some way. This results in new spells and features, and several existing spells have Nullimancy versions that use Oblivion instead of the Weave.

The Nullimancer is a Wizard Arcane Tradition using an entirely new form of magic from the Caphora campaign world, but it can also be used in other settings.

This product contains the full subclass, 14 new spells, and a new magic item, all based on nullimancy magic.

All play content is also available in the D&D Beyond Homebrew section so you can easily add it to your campaign in Subclasses, Spells, and Magic Items.

The first rule of D&D is… always talk about D&D. Incessantly. To anyone who will listen, even if they seem like they don’t want to. Because it’s awesome, and nobody should miss out.

But the second rule is… Never split the party.

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we need each other. In D&D, when a party decides to split up, not only does it bog down gameplay, because the DM can only work with half of the group at a time, it usually goes badly for the party, because they depend on each other and each one’s unique skills and ideas. 

Christianity has taught this from the beginning. The Bible calls it the Body of Christ.

As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. Indeed, the body is not one part but many. 

1 Corinthians 12:14-22, CSB

We are all different, and each person brings something different to the table. This isn’t just true of the contents of a character sheet, but the actual people, whether sitting around a table or living our lives. When body parts are joined together, they are greater than the sum of their parts. When body parts are separated from the rest of the body, it’s just gross. It’s not good. It shouldn’t be like that. 

Because D&D is a community-centric game, we have the opportunity to strengthen the Body well beyond what happens around the table. This is no less true whether the players are Christians or not. We have the opportunity to connect with each other, build friendships, and be there for each other, whether fighting a beholder or depression. A Critical Success party focuses more on player relationships than character relationships, but the latter serves the former. The more an adventure focuses not only on the unique capabilities of each character, but the unique needs and contributions of each player, the more the players appreciate and value each other, the more they’ll enjoy the game, and the more interest they will have in each other beyond the game. Of course, players and DM need to get to know each other in order to make this happen, and that takes time, but by focusing on how valuable each person is and listening for cues that hint at their needs, those personal connections will build.

Ultimately, the goal is that everyone involved knows that they are never alone, that we don’t need to see those around us to know someone has our back, whether in a dark cavern or a dark night of the soul.

Wanting to add magical elements to the cities to my high fantasy Dungeons & Dragons campaign, since it’s difficult to just think of elements out of the blue, I came up with this list as an idea generator. Here’s how it works:

1. Choose how many features to include. This will be determined by the level of magic in your world. For my high fantasy world, you can use the Number of Features formula below.
2. Roll D100 on the Feature Type table. That will tell you which table of features to roll on.
3. Roll on the corresponding Feature table (Natural, Man-made, or Supernatural)
4. Then, roll D100 on the Phenomenon table to determine the type of phenomenon.
5. If it tells you to roll again, combining, roll on the same table unless otherwise instructed, and figure out how to combine the two items.
6. Use your imagination to combine feature & phenomenon to determine what fits best in your campaign world. Don’t forget the history of the feature and how it has affected the city and its residents.

One of the bugbears goes down, and another one is hurting pretty badly. A third one looks at the other two and seems to be panicking. She says, “What are we going to do? If we go back empty-handed, we’re dead.” They look at you and seem to be trying to decide whether to attack or flee. 

A short conversation later between the party and the bugbears, and the party now has four bugbears fighting alongside them as the party promised to protect them from the Big Bad that sent them. 

As Dungeons & Dragons continues to grow in popularity, well beyond the number of players during its height in the 1980s, people have found that social media and other shallow forms of communication are inferior to gathering around a table and sharing stories, strategies, and jokes with each other. It’s easier to cope with day-to-day life in the real world when you can escape with some friends into a fantasy world for a little while, but as shared universes continue to grow in popularity, we realize that these universes draw us in as we see the similarities to our own. This allows us to take the challenges of life and put them into a new context to take a fresh look at them and find new approaches to real-world problems. 

Welcome to Caphora: The Divided Continent. Designed to take advantage of the game’s ability to bring different people together to accomplish a common goal, whether you use this campaign world, one published by Wizards of the Coast, or one of your own design, you can use these principles as you Dungeon Master a game. As well, this works with any tabletop role-playing game, although my references will specifically refer to Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition. 

What It Is:

Critical Success principles run through these methods, so I present to you a combination of principles and strategies that flow from each other. These principles include but are not limited to:

• Every person has inherent value regardless of what they have done or what has been done to them.
• Heroes create hope. Hope is caused by trust that the future is secure.
• Nobody is beyond redemption. Some may reject it, but they are not beyond it. 
• The greatest power is love—not a feeling, but commitment to actively caring. 

Experiential Learning

We learn best when we see the effects of our actions. In Dungeons & Dragons, we can explore the same situations we encounter in daily life but approach them from a new angle, then take what we have learned back into the real world situation.

Natural Consequences

Because the game world is designed to feel real, suspension of disbelief notwithstanding, actions have consequences. Both players and Dungeon Master learn from each other through various encounters and the results of those encounters.

Dialog inducing

Unique situations require unique approaches. The party must discuss how they will resolve the challenges they face and the possible consequences of their actions. Because the game is open-ended, they can be creative but also need to balance risk and reward. Different ideas will sometimes conflict with each other or build off each other.

How to see the world

I’ve often described my parenting style as, “I want to teach you how to think more than what to think.“ When someone knows how to think, that will guide them as they draw conclusions from what they learn. So critical thinking guides the process. 

What It Isn’t:

Political

We hear politics all day long. It’s important, but it’s exhausting, and every platform is imperfect, so Critical Success is not about pushing an agenda but rather learning to form your own agenda and act on it.

Preachy

This may sound ironic, given my day job as a preacher, but nobody likes having information shoved down their throats. Critical Success is about presenting options, not laying down the law.

Judgmental

Every action has consequences. Some we can foresee, and some we can’t. Nearly every decision is imperfect on some level, so Critical Success embraces imperfection and alternate viewpoints as a means of learning about each other and the world.

What to see in the world

Just as a fantasy world is a place of wonder, this is even more true of the real world, so Critical Success helps players find love, hope, and joy in the real world not by pointing it out, but by offering a different angle from which to look and allowing them to notice the things that are important to them.
As I mentioned above, I’m writing this as a Christian pastor, so that viewpoint will probably be obvious, but I hope this will be valuable to all kinds of gamers, regardless of their religious background or beliefs. Our tables combine people with many beliefs and worldviews, And we welcome all and strive to use these very principles to make everyone feel welcome.

This article is the first in a series. I invite you to subscribe if you’re interested in the rest.

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The Honest truth about Dungeons and Dragons

Much ink and way too much sweat has been shed over the question of negative influences of fantasy role-playing games (FRPGs) like Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D). Much of this is due to miscommunication, distributed half-truths, and exceptions perceived as rules.

I would like to clear the air on some of these misunderstandings.

Since it’s impossible to separate a text from its author, some qualifications may be in order. I’ve been playing FRPGs since 1983 when I played with some fellow Boy Scouts. When confronted with the allegedly negative aspects, as a Christian, I was concerned, so I read everything I could get my hands on regarding the subject, both pro and con. I have a B.A. in Psychology and Theatre and a M.Div. I’m an ordained Pastor (LCMS).

Aren’t FRPGs Pagan?

Not necessarily. It depends on who’s playing the game. D&D and AD&D were designed around medieval miniature strategy war-games, Greco-Roman mythology, medieval legends (like King Arthur), and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien (an outspoken Christian writer). The idea was to get a group of people together to write a story in their minds. The group is led by a Dungeon Master (DM) who serves as narrator, setting the scene, supplying the plot, and portraying the supporting cast. The main characters are portrayed by the players, like a puppet show with no script. As the DM presents the story, each player informs the DM of his character’s actions.

Polytheism

Now, because of the historical background of the setting, you will find an element of polytheism in the game. However, even those playing clerics (priests) of these gods are not actually worshipping these gods. His character does, but not with any detail. Generally, the sum of the “worship” goes something like, “My character goes off and prays for three hours,” and that’s about it. The gods are not thought to be real any more than the character who worships it.

Sorcery

Also, some have expressed concern over sorcery present in the game. Players have the option of choosing characters who are wizards like Merlin or Gandalf. Please note that, when a wizard character casts a spell, the player utters no incantation. Characters cast spells; players do not. When a player wants his character to cast a spell, he merely states, “My character is going to cast a (fireball, light, etc.) spell.” No actual ritual is described nor performed.

Yeah, but what about the immorality associated with FRPGs?

The three big concerns in this area about FRPGs are suicide, violence, and immersion.

Suicide

First, several suicides have been attributed to FRPGs. It usually goes along the line of, “My son’s character was killed, so he killed himself.”

First of all, the suicide rate among gamers is significantly lower among gamers (in the USA; I haven’t checked elsewhere) than the national average. Nearly every gamer who commits suicide makes the news, and the game is blamed, yet these stories are rare compared with the frequency of teen suicide in our nation. FRPGs become a scapegoat because no one wants to admit that their dead child was psychologically unbalanced. When children are playing FRPG’s like “Cowboys and Indians,” a much more violent, more involved game (they actually act it out), they don’t commit suicide when their friends shoot them with plastic guns. I won’t go so far as to say that FRPGs prevent suicide, because creative people (like those who play FRPGs) are less prone toward suicide. (Creativity, p. 247)

Violence

FRPGs often have a lot of violence described within the game. This argument is valid, yet it raises the question of perceived violence. While violence is the result of sin, it is not itself sinful. The Bible is one of the most violent collections ever assembled, yet the violence in the Bible has a point, as does the violence in FRPGs. (eg. A party of adventurers goes to kill a dragon to protect a city.) The violence in FRPGs is neither worse than nor more real than that in movies like Star Wars. Note the irony that some people who are against FRPGs have no problems with hunting or watching the evening news.

Immersion

Finally, immersion is a catchall category relating to people who become addicted to or consumed with the game. From my perspective, which in this case is the Lord’s perspective, our priorities must be God first, family second, and everything else after that. As with any enjoyable activity, people can become addicted to gaming. The same can be true of web surfing, fishing, eating, or sex, none of which are inherently evil or addictive. Of the documented cases of those who lose their identities and can’t separate reality from the game, the loose contact with reality was generally present apart from the game. These same people should stay away from books, movies, and plays, too.

Advantages

Now, all that aside, I have observed several advantages of FRPGs.

Creativity

First, the sheer volume of imagination exercised by those playing these games is unsurpassed among popular pastimes, and the more one excercises his creativity, the more he’ll have, much like a muscle.

Teamwork

FRPGs also encourage teamwork. Few characters could slay a dragon by themselves. They work together, carefully planning their strategies based on each one’s abilities. In the church, we call this the Body of Christ. In business, the same concept applies. FRPGs exercise this kind of thinking.

Academics

History

FRPGs also aid in several areas of academics. I never had a course in world history in high school (long story involving transfers), yet I know more about it than most of my peers in college because of my interest in history for the sake of helping me play FRPGs.

Literature

Also, I’m a slow reader, thus I don’t usually read much, but my interest in FRPGs incited me to read a great deal of literature, including the Iliad & Odyssey, a ton of mythology, related encyclopedia articles and other documents, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, and innumerable other works, not to mention all the history and political science resources.

Writing

Creative writing and grammar are important to those writing articles and modules (story outlines) for distribution. FRPGs have already been cited as being a source of creativity.

Math

Depending on the game, some require a great deal of math work. This can run from adding the results of a handful of dice to complicated character creation processes (cf. Harn) to abstract three-dimensional mapping in many science fiction games (cf. Space Opera).

Art

While fantasy artwork is sometimes risqué, this is true of nearly all genres of art. That aside, many FRPG players, myself included, are motivated to learn art techniques for the game, whether to draw their characters or to draw the castles, monsters, heraldry, etc. In any gaming group, you’ll nearly always find at least one artist.

Language

Show me a gamer with a limited vocabulary, and I’ll show you someone who hasn’t played for long. When I started playing, I constantly found myself in a dictionary, looking up words like, “charisma,” “halberd,” and “somatic.”

Morality

Finally, the question of morality and the values conveyed by the game needs addressing. FRPGs, including AD&D, are neutral. Being commercial games, they encourage neither good nor evil. That said, the rules are centered around the assumption that the characters will be non-evil. The movement of the game is directed greatly by the DM, but players are free to make their own choices. Also, studies have shown that it is generally easier to advance a person’s moral judgment to a higher stage than to a lowered one through role-playing. Of note are:

Rest, J.R. (1979) Development in judging moral issues. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Ibid. (1983) “Morality.” In J. Flavell & E. Markman (eds.) Handbook of Child Psychology: vol. 3. Cognitive Development. NY: Wiley.

Turiel, E. (1966) “An experimental test of the sequentiality of development stages in the child’s moral judgments.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 611-618.

According to these studies, FRPGs can actually be used to raise, but not lower, the participants’ morality.

Conclusion

Are you still concerned or have questions? My best advice is to observe, or even better, play in a game or two, just to get a feel for how it’s done. Most universities have gaming groups who would be happy to help you. Discuss your concerns with the players, and be specific. Beyond that, you can contact me.

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