Amazing Adventures brings pulp action to D&D

Amazing Adventure 5E is now on Kickstarter!

Before Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, there were modern adaptations of the d20 mechanics for other genres, including action adventure, investigation horror, sci-fi, and supers. Some of the well known adaptations included d20 Modern, True20, and Amazing Adventures.

If you are interested in playing a non-fantasy genre with familiar D&D-like mechanics, you can! Troll Lord Game is Kickstarting its Amazing Adventures 5E (coming in December), which takes its d20-based Amazing Adventures and updates it to include 5th Edition mechanics.

Disclaimer: I have no association with Troll Lord Games other than being a huge fan of their games and adventures.

Class archetypes include the Arcanist, Gadgeteer / Powered, Gumshoe, Hallowed, Hooligan, Mentalist, Pugilist, Raider, and Socialite.The stretch goals are about to unlock the Archer, Gunslinger, and Soldier with the Acrobat, Duelist, and Pirate not far behind. (Just 5 days left!)

An Amazing Adventure 5E preview can be found here!

If you've wanted to play Dakota James, archaeologist and adventurer... or Professor Ann Igma, investigator of the paranormal... or Captain Conundrum with astounding powers of... riddles...? Amazing Adventures 5E has you dialed in. If you've ever wanted to mix magic, psionics, super powers, and super science, Amazing Adventures 5E provides an easy framework to simulate these within a d20-based game.

Need Pirates with black power weapons alongside sword and shield? No problem. Want mobsters with Tommy Guns? Got it covered. A Gadgeteer hero with a repulsor ray? Sure thing. Amazing Adventures 5E gives you the tools to abstract these concepts into familiar mechanics of 5th Edition.

If you can't wait until December, Amazing Adventures and the Amazing Adventures Companion are both available from DriveThru RPG. The earlier version of AA also uses familiar d20 mechanics and is worth checking out!

Lastly, even if you find you are not interested in Amazing Adventures, Troll Lord Game has several 5th Edition adventure titles for use with D&D. My absolute favorites are A0 The Rising Knight and A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge. They are both available in a low-cost bundle!

Review: D&D Essentials Kit

TLDR Summary: The D&D Essentials Kit is essential for your D&D collection... but wait until September if possible.

If you haven't read my preview, you might not know that the D&D Essentials Kit is also set in Phandalin and can be used alongside the adventure in the Starter Set. However, it also stands completely on its own as an introductory box set for new DM's. The adventure within is independent of events occurring in Lost Mine of Phandelver.

Included in the D&D Essentials Kit is

• 64 page "Essentials" rule book (including character generation)
• Dragon of Icespire Peak, a new adventure by Chris Perkins
• 4 panel landscape DM screen
• Double sided poster map with the town of Phandalin on one side and the local region of the Sword Coast on the reverse.
• Quest cards, NPC cards, Magic Item cards, cards, cards, cards...
• Red crystal dice set with 2d20 and 4d6
• Blank character sheets
• Includes a key to unlock the adventure content on D&D Beyond and a 50% discount on the digital Player's Handbook.

GM 101: How to Focus Game Prep

GM 101, Episode 6 - Game Prep

There is a gray space between world building and game prep... In this video, I discuss the different levels of game prep, and summarize how to get the most from your prep time. Hopefully, I can help you find what works best for you.