Book of Secrets Archives - Tribality https://www.tribality.com/columns/book-of-secrets/ D&D / Role Playing Tue, 05 Oct 2021 17:18:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://www.tribality.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cropped-logo-2020-icon@2x-32x32.jpg Book of Secrets Archives - Tribality https://www.tribality.com/columns/book-of-secrets/ 32 32 How to Use Side Quests to Up the Stakes https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/28/how-to-use-side-quests-to-up-the-stakes/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/28/how-to-use-side-quests-to-up-the-stakes/#respond Tue, 28 Sep 2021 14:00:39 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32928 Welcome back to this series on side quests. Today we’re going to take a look at how to up the stakes of a campaign with a side quest. You can build tension with a side quest. They can grow the threat of a Big Bad or focus on a specific aspect of the story or campaign world.  You can check out the rest of the articles in this side quest series here: How to incorporate side quests What makes a […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/28/how-to-use-side-quests-to-up-the-stakes/feed/ 0 How to Use Side Quests to Genre Hop https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/21/how-to-use-side-quests-to-genre-hop/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/21/how-to-use-side-quests-to-genre-hop/#respond Tue, 21 Sep 2021 14:00:05 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32913 Last week we explored how to use side quests to deliver exposition. But giving the player information is not the only thing that sidequests are good for. They can also be a way to bring a refreshing change of pace to your game by switching up the genre of the campaign for a session.  You can check out the other articles in this series here: How to incorporate side quests What makes a good side quest? How to use side […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/21/how-to-use-side-quests-to-genre-hop/feed/ 0 How to Use Side Quests to Deliver Exposition https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/14/how-to-use-side-quests-to-deliver-exposition/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/14/how-to-use-side-quests-to-deliver-exposition/#respond Tue, 14 Sep 2021 14:00:01 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32873 Today, as part of our ongoing series on side quests, we’ll take a look at how side quests can help further the main throughline or quest of a campaign by delivering important information to the party.  You can check out the rest of the articles in the series here:  How to incorporate side quests What makes a good side quest? What is Exposition? Exposition is defined as a description or explanation of an idea or theory. Most often in fiction […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/14/how-to-use-side-quests-to-deliver-exposition/feed/ 0 What Makes a Good Side Quest https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/07/what-makes-a-good-side-quest/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/07/what-makes-a-good-side-quest/#respond Tue, 07 Sep 2021 14:00:05 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32852 When planning a campaign, a lot of energy and preparation time is spent on the main throughline or the main quest. It is the spine that each session hangs on, providing a sense of continuity and build to dramatic action. So, then where do side quests come in? You can check out last week’s article on how to incorporate side quests here. The Purpose of a Side Quest Side quests can happen at any point in the campaign. If we […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/09/07/what-makes-a-good-side-quest/feed/ 0 How to Easily Incorporate Side Quests https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/31/how-to-easily-incorporate-side-quests/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/31/how-to-easily-incorporate-side-quests/#respond Tue, 31 Aug 2021 14:00:43 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32849 Side quests don’t have to be distracting fetch quests or the infamous escort quests so often present in MMORPG games. In tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, they can be exciting opportunities to explore characters, deliver key exposition, and give a sense of scale and stakes to the central conflict of the campaign.  Today we’ll start our exploration of sidequests by looking at how to incorporate side quests into a campaign. Whether your campaign is episodic or serial, side […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/31/how-to-easily-incorporate-side-quests/feed/ 0 Using Sentient Magic Items to Further Character Development https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/10/using-sentient-magic-items-to-further-character-development/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/10/using-sentient-magic-items-to-further-character-development/#respond Tue, 10 Aug 2021 14:00:45 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32808 Sentient magic items offer a unique way to offer players new opportunities to roleplay their character. Maintaining a relationship with one’s magic sword can become annoying if it is not tied into the overall arch of the character wielding it. So how do we as Dungeon Masters ensure that the player is engaged and the item continues to play the role of any NPC in the campaign: helping to tell the overall story? In today’s article, I’m going to take […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/10/using-sentient-magic-items-to-further-character-development/feed/ 0 Using Rumors to Create a Living World https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/03/using-rumors-to-create-a-living-world/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/03/using-rumors-to-create-a-living-world/#respond Tue, 03 Aug 2021 14:00:40 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32783 As a DM it’s my goal to create a believable world for my players to explore, interact with, and change. Their actions shape the campaign as much as the NPCs and encounters that I built. One way you can add additional detail to your world, and potential offers for players to pick up on is through the use of rumors. Today we’ll look at using rumors in a TTRPG. Purpose of Rumors Rumors are tools that the DM can use […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/08/03/using-rumors-to-create-a-living-world/feed/ 0 Finding a Big Bad: Undead https://www.tribality.com/2021/07/27/finding-a-big-bad-undead/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/07/27/finding-a-big-bad-undead/#respond Tue, 27 Jul 2021 14:01:36 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32777 In our final article of this series, we’ll take a look at a group of monsters so varied and vast that many campaigns have been made to solely fight the scourge that is the undead. Undead are so versatile because you can take any living monster and throw in some necromancy and boom! You have yourself a new potent threat to throw against the party.  You can check out previous articles in this series where I cover every monster type: […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/07/27/finding-a-big-bad-undead/feed/ 0 Finding a Big Bad: Oozes https://www.tribality.com/2021/07/20/using-monsters-beyond-their-stat-block-oozes/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/07/20/using-monsters-beyond-their-stat-block-oozes/#respond Tue, 20 Jul 2021 14:00:11 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32773 The evil shampoos of the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse, oozes are classic monsters that no dungeon worth its treasure would be without. While the monsters with the Ooze type only have a handful of entries, each has potential to test a low level party, and there is even an ooze that could drive an entire campaign. So put on your ooze-handling gloves and let’s jump in! You can check out previous articles in this series where I cover: Elementals, Constructs, […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2021/07/20/using-monsters-beyond-their-stat-block-oozes/feed/ 0 Finding a Big Bad: Monstrosities https://www.tribality.com/2021/07/06/finding-a-big-bad-monstrosities/ https://www.tribality.com/2021/07/06/finding-a-big-bad-monstrosities/#respond Tue, 06 Jul 2021 14:10:42 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=32754 This week we take a look at one of the broadest categories of monsters in Dungeons and Dragons 5e: Monstrosities. The introduction to the Monster Manual defines monsters as being “frightening creatures that are not ordinary, not truly natural, and almost never benign… and in some sense serve as a catch-all category for creatures that don’t fit into any other type.” This category has the most potential to provide a monster of the week for your campaign, whether you’re building […]

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