A few weeks ago, I was falling behind on things. It started with being behind on editing an episode, and that followed to not having anything written for World Building Wednesday. From that, The Week of Excuses was born. It was originally a pretty tongue in cheek statement to explain not having content on time, but I decided to run with it. At the end, I said that when I got to the calendar building portion of things, The Week of Excuses was totally going to be a thing.
Month: December 2017
Through The City We Go – Mieveht Story Ep9
Our adventurers make their way back through the under city, sure that they have no loose ends left to tie up. After a brief altercation in The Commons, they make their way back into Cyrin to find transport back to Thelnea. Though there is some debate over payment to easily return home. With Xanphia back safe in The Den, the group settles in for a meeting with Cassien.
| Player | Character |
|---|---|
| Damian | The DM |
| Chris | Sug |
| Christa | Willow |
| Caitlin | Lassair |
| Chantalle | Chalul |
If you like what we are doing, considering supporting the show on Patreon. For only $1 a month, you will gain access to our “Lost Archive”, episodes that were recorded in a quality we weren’t happy with. Your support helps pay for the shows hosting and will help to further improve it.
| Track | Artist |
|---|---|
| The Path of the Goblin King | Incompetech (Intro) |
| Impending Boom | Incompetech (1:33) |
| Syrinscape | (3:55) |
| Ossuary 7 – Resolve | Incompetech (6:04) |
| Syrinscape | (10:08) |
| A Cold Presence | Adrian von Ziegler (14:59) |
| Syrinscape | (16:47) |
| Galdrar | Adrian von Ziegler (19:39) |
| Catacombs | Tabletop Audio (22:26) |
| Constance | Incompetech (28:11) |
| Blood Eagle | Serpent Sound Studios (29:41) |
| The Hunted | Jamie Brace (32:01) |
| Stormfront | Incompetech (34:55) |
| Catacombs (cont.) | Tabletop Audio (36:42) |
| Syrinscape | (40:40) |
| In the Shadows | Tabletop Audio (43:21) |
| Dawn | Serpent Sound Studios (45:24) |
| Abandoned Fair | Tabletop Audio (47:42) |
| Ghostpocalypse – 8 Epilog | Incompetech (51:03) |
| Abandoned Fair (cont.) | |
| What Lies Beyond | Vindsvept (58:57) |
| Overland with Oxen | Tabletop Audio (59:13) |
| Resolution | Serpent Sound Studios (1:07:56) |
| Last Stand | Vindsvept (Outro) |
Something Different – D&D Tools in Alpha
When I originally started to use this website as a blog as well, it wasn’t really my intention to only ever do the World Building Wednesdays. But alas, with a family, a full time job, and a podcast to edit, finding the time for that has been difficult. Aside from the world building, I will probably never have a consistent blog schedule, but I want to start fitting more in. For today, there are some tools I am in the alpha for that I wanted to write about.
D&D Beyond – Mobile App
As a group, we have been using D&D Beyond since it’s official launch. It’s been a great tool for keeping a digital copy of (most) of our characters. It also gives me a good template follow for creating homebrew for Erylia. Two of them have even been approved for public use through D&D Beyond.
- Erylia’s Second Chance (spell to replace Revivify)
- Bloodthorn Powder (consumable item with some draw backs)
Last week, D&D Beyond launch it’s upcoming app’s alpha. I had pre-ordered a copy of Xanathar’s Guide To Everything on the site, which got me into the alpha test group. So far the alpha is in its early stages and can only be used for downloading and reading the content you have purchased. I have been taking advantage of this by using it to fill in more names for a random NPC generator spreadsheet while on breaks at work using my phone.
Even without the app, I have found the D&D Beyond website to be a very mobile friendly experience. I have used it on my phone while running the game to quickly look up information. I also play in a game of Storm King’s Thunder that Chris is running, where I exclusively manage my character with the mobile website. I am definitely looking forward to future updates to the offline app though. After the holidays I know they plan to work on updating it to bring more features like character management and creation.
If you’re interested in how testing is going, here is a link to the feedback forum for the alpha.
DungeonFog – Alpha v5 Update
I have yet to do any sort of write up on DungeonFog at this point, but it has been mentioned on the show. It is a pretty straight forward map creation tool for table top gaming. The maps are created on a grid, so it’s main focus will probably be battle maps or virtual tabletop maps for now. I haven’t done any sort of write up or review for them yet because I want to shine the best light possible on them when I do. I have personally submitted a lot of feedback while using it, but since it is in alpha, it is not quite where I want it to be before doing a full review. However, the guys there have come a long way since the alpha went live.
Just this week, Alpha v5 was released, which is their first iteration with the dynamic GM notes they have been working on. I am super excited for this to help with giving me written text to explain what is on the map. I think they will be great since the podcast is an audio medium, so if they tool is working well, it will hopefully aid in visualizing the setting for listeners. They have also announced that they are about to move from their Alpha stage into Beta testing early next year. This should open up the pool of testers quite a bit and increase feedback and conversation within the testing group. If you are interested in helping shape the tool, and just can’t wait to use something like it, you can pre-order it and gain access to the alpha and beta test groups!
Early Stages of The Calendar – World Building Wednesday
I made a calendar for Erylia pretty much back when I started working on it. It’s not very good and I never really did anything with it once I had the base started. I decided that it is time to start working on it. Not only because I want to start thinking up holidays and festivals (and the week of excuses), but the cycle of time should be important to the story as well. Continue reading
Damian the DMs Recent Guest Appearances
Hey guys! I’ve been busy over the last couple weeks guesting on some other shows.
Meet Your Masters (Of D&D)
First, I had a “video” call with Stephen, aka DarkLordFlufffy, to talk a bit about the podcast, about being a Dungeon Master, and about Dungeon Fog.
I had a lot of fun with this interview and having a chat. Since doing this episode with Stephen, I have even gotten a webcam, so the next I am on his show, you’ll go some video from my side of things as well. Our chat had a pretty wide reaching range of topics and was a fairly casual interview. We talked about what the podcast is and how it works, what it is like being a newer Dungeon Master, running a game for new players, and a little bit about the word of Erylia. We also talked briefly about Dungeon Fog, which is a map making tool that I was a Kickstarter backer for and is currently in Alpha testing. Stephen and I met initially through the forums for the alpha test and when he learned about the podcast he asked if I was interested in doing an interview.
Inter-Party Conflict
Also this month, I was a guest host on an episode of Inter-Party Conflict, a podcast that I have been listening to for quite some time now. Gabe, one of the hosts, and I have been chatting over on Reddit for quite some time now. He was actually one of the first people to review the show, and gave us a shout-out a few months back.
Gabe, Jeff, and I discussed one of the questions I brought to the table, “When does an NPC become a DMPC and should you try to stop it?” We also discussed some house rules and homebrew, including the spell Erylia’s Second Chance, which I created to give death a little bit more impact.
All of these guys are great and I highly recommend checking out their shows beyond just what I was involved in. Gabe, Jeff, Stephen, thank you all for giving me the chance to be a part of what you do.
Patreon is Stepping Back on New Fees
Hey again Adventurers!
Last week I had a bit of a rant because Patreon had announced they were going to changing their fee structure to pass the fees on to patrons. I was against this as both a creator and a patron for many others. Well today, they have told us they will NOT be following through with this change. Here’s the email we received.
Dear creators,
From the bottom of our hearts, we’re truly sorry. Last week’s service fee announcement caused a tough week for you, your patrons, and your teams. We were trying to solve a problem for creators and, in turn, caused more problems for you and your patrons.
You’ve spoken loud and clear. We’re not going to rollout the changes to our payments system that we announced last week, and are currently assessing other options.
Our CEO & co-founder, Jack, explains more here:
READ JACK’S POST
Sincerely,
The Patreon Team
This doesn’t make me completely okay with what happened last week, but them stepping back was what I needed to continue staying on the service and not pursuing another option. I’m still hesitant about what they plan to do to solve the issues they attempted to solve now, but this is a first step in the right direction. Stepping back is a good change for small creators like this podcast.
Bloodthorn – World Building Wednesday
This week for world building Wednesday, we’re dialing down to something smaller scale. My intent when I started these wasn’t to have every post be as long as they have been. However, it was kind of necessary to be able to lay the foundation for future world building. This week, we will take a look at the first bit of botanical world building I have done.
Sewer of Flying Daggers – Mieveht Story Ep 8
Our adventurers finally find Xanphia, chained to a wall in the sewers of Mieveht. While the rest of the party helps to free her, Sug listens in on a conversation from her captors. Knowing they are in no shape to confront the cult who had captured her, the party quickly flees from the sewers. But will their lack of previous exploration come back to bite them?
| Player | Character |
|---|---|
| Damian | The DM |
| Chris | Sug |
| Christa | Willow |
| Caitlin | Lassair |
| Chantalle | Chalul |
| Track | Artist |
|---|---|
| The Path of the Goblin King | Incompetech (Intro) |
| Death Dance | Adrian von Ziegler (1:37) |
| Sewers | Tabletop Audio (6:24) |
| Lost Time | Incompetech (8:07) |
| Sewers (cont.) | Tabletop Audio (11:29) |
| Beyond the Veil | Adrian von Ziegler (14:31) |
| Syrinscape | (16:29) |
| Despair and Triumph | Incompetech (22:41) |
| Syrinscape | (24:16) |
| Lost Frontier | Incompetech (27:29) |
| Syrinscape (Continues under next song) | (31:30) |
| Haunted Corridor | Adrian von Ziegler (32:12) |
| Sewers (cont) | Tabletop Audio (35:43) |
| Satiate (Strings Only) | Incompetech (37:22) |
| Syrinscape | (40:18) |
| Sewers (cont.) | Tabletop Audio (42:31) |
| Slay Them | Jamie Brace (43:47) |
| Syrinscape | (48:35) |
| At the Edge of the World | Vindsvept (1:00:21) |
| Syrinscape | (1:04:53) |
| The Hidden Scroll | Adrian von Ziegler (1:08:22) |
| Last Stand | Vinsvept (outro) |
Editor’s Note
I have been using a new audio editor for the last couple of episodes, Hindenburg Journalist. I have been using it on a trial that ends a few days after this episode is published. I have really enjoyed my time with it and feel I have learned a lot about it and plan to purchase it for use in the show once Christmas is out of the way. This episode is probably the one I am most proud of as far as sound design goes and I hope you all agree.
In lieu of the problems going on with Patreon at the moment, I am not going to be asking for support their this episode, as we may not be continuing to use the service if they follow through with their change next week. If you’d like to know more, you can read my rant about their changes in this blog post.
I Need To Rant – Upcoming Changes to Patreon
This post is not the norm here, but as a creator and a supporter on Patreon, I feel pretty strongly about this. This week, Patreon announced an upcoming change that I feel is the end of it’s use for a small creator like me. This change is set to go live on the 18th, and if they don’t chose to revert it by then, I will be looking at other options for supporting the show.
Syvahl, Erylia’s First Land – World Building Wednesday
So far, world building Wednesday has been pretty all over the place. Today, continues that trend! I’ve been trying to tackle things in what I feel was their most important order. In Dungeons & Dragons, the gods are tied to so much, so they needed to be introduced early, in case they played a part in future posts. Characters dying is a very real possibility, so my unique take on how death would work needed to be explained before it happened. Mieveht is the city that is home to the first arc, so I needed to get some of its scale and interconnectivity laid out.
It’s time to zoom out even further. To open up a little bit of room to ask question about the world of Erylia, and to allow some focused questions on different areas, this world building Wednesday is about the continent of Syvahl. Syvahl is the first continent I worked on, and is the most fleshed out of all of the lands. I have vague ideas and drawings for some of the other continents of Erylia, but none as worked on as Syvahl. There is a lot of content to overview here, so the goal is to only give a brief description for each area. One important note, in the current state of Erylia, the main continents do not know of each other. If you’d like to know more about anywhere specific or any cultures, please email us at feedback@adventuresinerylia.com. I’d love to have some focused direction for these posts.
