HIATUS - Secret Project

Dear readers,

I thrilled to announce that have been hired as a freelancer on a secret RPG project! For legal reasons, I cannot tell you the name of the company or the nature of the project, but I think it is something you all would like. This is a very exciting time for me, as you might imagine.

However, for the duration of the secret project, I will not be able to keep this site updated with all its Monster Mondays and whatnot - both for contractual and for workflow reasons. With that, I am afraid I will have to put d20 Despot on hiatus until the project is complete. My patrons on Patreon will not be charged for the months that I am away, nor will I be able to supply them with advance PDFs of upcoming monsters and other content as I usually do.

Rest assured, however, that I will return in the new year, brimming with creative energy and ready to serve up tons of new Pathfinder and 5E material along with more GMing and worldbuilding advice.

-your freelance d20 despot

EDIT: They have announced it, so I can confirm that I will be working as a freelance junior developer on 5E Cthulhu Mythos adventures for Petersen Games. I am 100% on-board for anything that involves Lovecraftian monsters resurrecting dinosaurs.

Monster Monday: Andrewsarchus, Prehistoric Killing Machine

Today's Monster Monday is andrewsarchus, the largest known carnivorous land mammal.  This prehistoric beast stalked the warm grasslands of Mongolia in the Eocene epoch, ripping its prey apart with its two-foot-long mouth.

But before I go on about today's monster, it's time for some site news!  Thanks to my generous and awesome patrons on Patreon, we have reached the $15 per month pledge goal.  That means that d20 Despot will be transitioning to a new posting schedule: every Monday is Monster Monday, with additional posts added whenever I get the opportunity to write them.  My personal goal is two additional articles per month, which - on top of the weekly Monster Mondays - would be a 50% increase in productivity, all made possible by your patronage.  And of course, patrons pledging $5+ still get access to all my Monster Mondays months in advance, and $8+ patrons will get to vote on the final monster each month.  Anyways, back to andrewsarchus.

illus. by Bogdanov, via Wikimedia

Andrewsarchus mongoliensis

Known only from a single fossil skull, there is some debate as to the size and even the classification of this prehistoric predator.  Recent analysis places them in order Artiodactyla - hoofed mammals - with suggestions that they are closely most closely related to hippopotamus and entelodonts (dire boars).  But until more fossils are found or more studies are conducted on the original skull, the picture of andrewsarchus is hazy.  The monster presented below is based on the most common depictions of the creature which are, admittedly, not as accurate as they could be.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2016 Jonah Bomgaars.

Go Fund Kent Hamilton

Hi all!  I've got a pretty full plate right now and I can't bring you a normal post this week.  But do you know who is always doing cool things?  Kent Hamilton, professional illustrator and concept artist.  You probably know him from his illustrations on this site or from the many recent illustrations he has done for Pathfinder in works such as Bestiary 5, Ultimate Intrigue, and the Pathfinder Card Game.  You can see more of his work at kentconcepts.com, on his Instagram, or on Pinterest.

Why do I bring this up?  Kent just started a go fund me for some expensive art equipment that will let him increase his output.  If you want to support a starving artist who loves sketching and painting fantasy subjects, this is your chance.  Even better, depending on how much you donate, you can get sketches and prints, and at the higher levels he will even sketch or digitally paint your own original character or creature.  Kent never does private commissions like this, so this is an incredible opportunity.

Still need convincing?  Here are some of the illustrations Kent has done just for d20 Despot.

The Swashbucker class I posted back in 2014 needs work, but this painting doesn't.  

Kent's own character, Montalore Bearbriar, dwarven fighter from the Graverobbers campaign.

I forced Kent to draw this ridiculous monster for my Escape from the Lair of the Krampus adventure.

Big Bjorn Gunderson was a character early on in my Guns of the Western Kings campaign.

What are you waiting for?  GO FUND KENT HAMILTON!

-your crowd-funded d20 despot

Changes Coming in 2016

The new year is fast approaching, and bringing with it some changes for d20 Despot.  

First, starting in January I will be changing my Patreon from per-post donations to monthly donations.  This will make it easier for patrons to determine how much they want to give.  That means no more counting out the number of mondays in a month or fiddling with the maximum donation settings.  

I will also be changing the reward tiers and milestone goals to better reflect what d20 Despot has become and what it yet could be with your support.  Monster Monday will return to its original weekly format, at least for my patrons.  Once patronage reaches $15 per month, Monster Mondays will be available for all on this site, though patrons will still get early access.  

One of the other milestone goals will be a new website.  The blogger format has served fine over the years, but a purpose-built website will be easier to read, easier to navigate, and more engaging and eye-catching.  

The weekly update format which once served to motivate me has become something of a crutch.  Sometimes I had ideas that I held back for a later post, or I rushed a new idea out there because I needed some content for Monday.  In the coming year, expect more posts about worldbuilding as I make my campaign setting work public.  Expect shorter and more frequent gameplay updates from my ongoing campaigns (once they start up again - the last few months have been a bit of a dry spell).  Expect me to post random new bits of open game content that I've been working on.  Expect more updates on Guns of the Western Kings, my wild west campaign setting. Basically, I'm using the new year as a excuse to kick myself into gear and start producing more content.

Might 2016 even be the year we finally see d20 Despot pdfs go on sale?  I hope so, at least.  

See you next year!

-your annual d20 despot

The Chaining of Krampus - TEASER

Cold winter winds whip through the candy cane forest.  The mighty red-and-white-striped trees creak and strain against the force.  The wind bites at your cheeks and nips at your nose, though it smells pleasantly of peppermint.  The only light is cast by a single lamp post around which you have all gathered, awaiting the arrival of your contact.  A sudden sound to your right startles you.  You look over, expecting the Big Man’s arrival, but it is only an arctic beaver, painfully overweight and probably diabetic, gnawing on a candycane stump. 

“Ho ho ho!” rumbles a deep voice behind you.  How did such a big man sneak up like that? You turn and see him, wrapped head to toe in a long red cloak trimmed with white fur.  His hood is pulled up, partially obscuring his face, though there is no mistaking that man for someone else.  That snow-white beard, that rotund belly, that rosy red nose.  He needs no introduction. 

"Santa is glad you all could make it!” he says.  “After the services you provided me last year, I knew I could count on you:

"Krampus has become a wild beast, and he needs to be chained."  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later this week, I will be posting The Chaining of Krampus, part two of the adventure begun last year in Escape from the Lair of the Krampus.  The free adventure is designed for 4-6 ninth-level characters.  Pre-generated characters will be included.

I got some good feedback on last year's adventure that I have taken into account.  I'm trying to make this one shorter so that it can fit into one session, but I make no promises.  Personally, I'll probably be running this adventure with a group of six players after Christmas dinner, and hopefully again with a different group before the New Year.  If you are looking for a light-hearted holiday-themed adventure to run for your gaming group this Christmas season, keep an eye out later this week for The Chaining of Krampus!

-your jolly d20 despot

Just Married

Hi, all! There won't be a post this week because I just got married!  In place of a post, please accept this picture of myself and my wife dressed as Beric Dondarrion and Margaery Tyrell:

-your married d20 despot

Escape from the Lair of the Krampus - TEASER

You stand in ankle deep snow across the street from the orphanage, the midnight moon casting its silver light across the quiet northern town.  You check the note again:

Season’s Greetings, Adventurers!

Santa has a very important mission for you.  Meet Santa across the street from the orphanage at midnight.

-Santa Claus

The note is brief and cryptic, but the ornate, flowing script seems to call to you from the depths of your childhood memories.  The whole thing is absurd, yet you hold out hope that it can be real.  

Just then, you hear the faint jingling of bells behind you.  Out of the shadows steps a tall man in a long, red, fur-trimmed cloak, leaning on a crooked staff of holly.  “Ho, ho, ho!” He laughs, his thick white beard tumbling out over the clasp of his cloak like an avalanche.  A warm feeling comes over you, the cold of the snow completely forgotten.  It is Santa!

“Santa is glad you came, brave adventurers!” Santa begins.  “You are familiar with the Krampus?  The diabolic holiday spirit who punishes naughty children?  Santa’s elves report that the Krampus has been getting a tad… overzealous lately.  It seems it is much easier to land on his naughty list than Santa’s!  Ho, ho, ho!  Well now, Santa’s bag has been stolen, and the elves suspect the Krampus.  Santa can’t deliver presents without that bag!  This is where you come in.  Santa needs you to get captured by the Krampus and search his lair for my bag.  If you find it, escape and bring it back to Santa.

“How will you be caught by the Krampus, you ask?  Well, you’ll just have to do something particularly naughty.  Which brings us to this orphanage…”

There's no post today because, as I mentioned last week, I'm working on a Holiday one-shot adventure called Escape from the Lair of the Krampus.  The adventure is designed for 4-6 seventh-level characters, and it will be available on this website as a PDF sometime later this week next week, because it's taking me longer than I expected.  

If you're a GM on the lookout for a Holiday adventure for your group, check back later this next week!  If you are in my gaming group, I will be running this game for you later, so maybe don't check back.  

-your naughty d20 despot

Horrors of the Floating Garden: Teaser

Illustration by Kent Hamilton

You awaken, as you have ever since the shipwreck, in your small rowboat.  The seas around you are placid and waveless, as smooth as a silver mirror, but the fog is so thick that you cannot tell whether it is day or night.  The lamp hanging from the prow of your boat still burns, casting a shimmering golden disc on the water around you.  Bobbing alongside your boat is a corpse, floating face down, a hole the size of a gold piece bored into the back of its skull.  The boat striking it must have been what disturbed your slumber.  In passing, you think it strange that the sharks have not come to feast on the body.  But then, maybe the sharks know something you do not.

Just then, you notice a massive hulk of a ship rearing out of the fog.  Could this be your salvation, at long last?  You silently rouse your companions and point out the dark vessel.  As you draw closer, you notice that there are no lights aboard the ship, and the whole thing is covered with vegetation.  Thick vines wind up the three masts, blankets of moss hang from the forecastle, and mushrooms sprout from the hull. 

There's no post today because I'm working on a Halloween one-shot horror adventure called Horrors of the Floating Gardens.  The adventure is designed for 4-6 third-level characters, and it will be available on this website as a PDF sometime later this week.  

If you're a GM on the lookout for a Halloween adventure for your group, check back later this week!  If you are in my gaming group, I will be running this game for you later, so maybe don't check back later this week.  

-your derelict d20 despot

Guns of the Western Kings - What is it?

A few weeks ago I posted an account of the first play session in my new campaign setting, Guns of the Western Kings, promising that I would explain more about the setting later.  Well, later is now.  Last time, I explained that GotWK (pronounced gotwik) is not Eberron, not steampunk, and not Deadlands.  I want to expand on that a bit, just for clarity's sake:

GotWK is not Eberron.  Eberron is a campaign setting that made its debut during the age of 3rd edition D&D.  It was groundbreaking in tone, inviting players into a high-magic, high-fantasy setting heavily inspired by post-WWI pulp adventure.  Eberron took magic to great extremes, filling the world with magical robots (that you can play as), airships, and trains powered by bound elementals.  GotWK, while similarly bringing a fantasy world into a more modern setting, is not a high-magic world of airships and sentient robots.  Magic, in the world of GotWK, did not advance exponentially as technology did.  It has the same basic presence in and effect on the world as it does in an average game of D&D or Pathfinder - magic items are expensive, wizards are holed up in their towers, and magical beasts are terrifying and dangerous.  The trains in GotWK run on coal.  Speaking of coal...

GotWK is not steampunk.  The level of technology is the same as the real world American West in the 1870s-80s.  Although I wouldn't rule out coal powered automatons and airships, they certainly won't be commonplace.  Steampunk can be pretty cool when it's done right, but it is rarely done right.  Besides, if GotWK were steampunk, it wouldn't be western anymore.  There are no giant mechanical spiders in GotWK, as far as I know.

Warner Bros via Unmuseum

GotWK is not Deadlands.  Deadlands is a Western RPG set in an America where suddenly, after the Battle of Gettysburg, the dead started rising from their graves and magic was unleashed upon the world.  It has its own system of magic, its own classes, and its own rule system (although it was later adapted into d20, GURPS, and Savage Worlds).  Where Deadlands is about the real world suddenly becoming magic, GotWK is about a fantasy world that advances to the point that it has a Wild West.  It is not its own RPG, it is a campaign setting for the Pathfinder roleplaying game.

So now that we are clear on what Guns of the Western Kings is not, let's talk more about what it is.

d20 Despot is Now on Patreon

I'm pleased to announce that d20 Despot is now on Patreon.  Mostly I'm pleased because that means you can give me money if you want.  'What is Patreon?' you may find yourself asking.  Patreon is a service that seeks to return to the days where artists were given patronage by great men and women who had a lot of money and enjoyed the finer things in life, only this time the artists are internet content creators and the patrons are their viewers (and you don't need to have a lot of money to do it).  It's sort of like an incremental, ongoing kickstarter.

"How does it work?"
If you aren't already on Patreon supporting all your favourite artists, go over and sign up!  Once you're signed up, head over to patreon.com/d20despot, determine how much you would be willing to donate to my cause, and click "Become a Patron"!

Sadly, I don't think their scripts can handle die rolls.

You can donate any amount you want (but I think any donation that adds up to less than 30 cents per month actually costs me money, so please don't do that).  In my case, you would be donating that amount per blogpost.  Don't worry: I won't start posting tons of new posts just to take all your money, and I won't count boring ol' newsposts like this one.  In fact, you can set an upper limit to your monthly donations just to be sure you won't go over budget.  And if you ever get tired of me, just cancel your patronage (note: please don't cancel your patronage).

No Post This Week (Except for This Post)

Sorry, loyal readers and new arrivals.  Things have been pretty busy here at d20 Despot HQ and I haven't had time to get a post done.  Come by next week (June 2nd) for a new Monster Monday entry.

In the meanwhile, why not browse through the archives?

I've recently made minor changes to my advanced language rules and my old post about swords.  I also added an alternate first page of my Improved Character Sheet v2.0 for people who are playing 3.5 Edition D&D and need that super-long list of 3.5 skills.

Or check out the current most-viewed article on this blog: 3 Undead Monsters More Deserving of Cultural Ubiquity than Zombies and Vampires.

If you're looking for ways to support this blog, share it around the internet.  Last month a reader linked my Togbins post to Reddit and gave this site its biggest month ever.  This month, I've noted a ~33% increase in readership as a result.  I'm pretty terrible at self-promotion, so I rely on *you* to get the word out about my blog and all its free content.  The greater my reader-base is, the more comfortable I will feel investing in producing high-quality PDFs and maybe getting a kickstarter going to print some books.  So if you want to someday own a d20 Despot Bestiary full of original monsters and professional artwork, or a guide to my medieval Indian campaign setting of Chattara full of unique weapons, monsters, and class archetypes, help spread the word!

-your absent d20 despot

2013 Year in Review

Well, 2013 is winding down to a close, which means it's time for every blogger to post a year's-end retrospective, because it is a great thing to do during the holiday season when you are too busy to come up with grand new ideas and your readers are too busy to read them.  I thought I'd give some time to all the RPG-related news and exciting developments that have come across in the last year.  First and foremost:

d20 Despot
Obviously the biggest piece of RPG news this year is the founding of the popular blog d20 Despot, which took the internet world by storm with its first post on April 1st (incidentally, that'll mean that I'll have to whip up some fun stuff every April Fools Day).  The blog seeks to provide interesting perspectives on various aspects of the RPG experience, and especially to freely provide open game content for GMs and players.  Wow, whoever runs the blog must be a really cool and handsome guy!