Custom Backgrounds

We're at an exciting time in my local gaming group, talking about starting a new campaign! There's a few options on the table, one of them being to run something in the Legends of Alba setting again. The rules I've been writing for the setting could do with some (a lot?) of playtesting before diving into a long-term game with people, so we'd be looking to run it in 5E again.

As a player in 5E games, I've been impressed by how big an impact Custom Backgrounds can make on getting into the mindset for a setting. So I've been thinking about writing some Custom Backgrounds for Legends of Alba!

...And immediately ran into trouble, haha. In 5E the backgrounds usually represent a profession, what your Character did for a living before becoming an adventurer. This is relevant in LoA, but so is a Character's Homeland and Clan. And then I start thinking about Species and how they fit into it all, and it'd probably be a good idea to review the Equipment list and make sure players don't end up with tools that would either not exist or serve no purpose in an Iron Age setting, and suddenly the task of writing some fun and evocative Custom Backgrounds has become completely lost in the weeds of noodling with the Character Creation system for 5E. Time to simplify things.

What's in a Background? 

Here's what you get from a background as per the 5.2.1 SRD :

• An Ability Score boost (either +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1) and a choice of 3 Abilities to spend them on
• An Origin Feat
• 2 Skill Proficiencies
• 1 Tool Proficiency
• Equipment

I'm trying to cram a Homeland, Profession and Clan into there.

Let's take Clan out of the mix - the benefits of being in a Clan are mostly non-mechanical. I could offer Heroic Inspiration for players going out of their way to honour the Oath of their Clan. OR have it replace Alignment...

So that leaves Homeland and Profession. Can we split a background between those?

Homeland

• Ability Score boost
• Origin Feat

Profession

• 2 Skill Proficiencies
• 1 Tool Proficiency
• Equipment

That maps pretty neatly IMO! I'm slightly concerned that I've taken an aspect of the 5E Character Creation system, already one of the most granular and fussy ones out there, and subdivided it further. But there's an intention to this. It is really important for Characters in Legends of Alba to start the game with a tie to the land itself. Alba makes it's mark on Characters, just by living there, and having that on the Character sheet will help convey that connection to players. Similarly the Professions are not just providing Characters with tools for adventuring. The Clans of Alba are each a community, and if Characters are to get anything from those communities, they need to bring something to the table. Some downtime helping out the local smith, or foraging in the nearby woods, or sharing stories round a hearth fire is more valuable to most communities than gold, and such acts will be rewarded in kind.

So that's it, problem solved. Now I just need to write these backgrounds!

-Till Next Time!

I can forge weapons for you...

Brightsmiths

Smiths who learned their trade in The Otherworld can imbue mortal weapons with power. Bring them a Smithing Stone and they'll do it for the love of the craft.

Smithing Stones

Found in The Barrowdeeps, the power of these stones can enhance mortal weaponry. Seek a Brightsmith to fortify a weapon with a Smithing Stone.

Example Stones and their effects on a fortified weapon:

• Hardstone: Add MIG to Attack Bonus
• Sharpstone: Add AGI to Attack Bonus
• Clearstone: Add AWA to Attack Bonus
• Spiritstone: Add CHA to Attack Bonus
• Flamestone: On causing a Wound, all nearby enemies suffer a Wound as well.
• Brightstone: On causing a Wound, also blinds enemies who saw it for one Round.
• Coldstone: The attacked enemy can’t move for one Round.
• Venomstone: On causing a Wound, the target suffers an additional Wound next Round.
• Lightningstone: On causing a Wound, make a Ranged Attack against an enemy you can see.
• Thunderstone: On causing a Wound, enemies next to you are flung in a direction you choose. 
• Bloodstone: Attack with help, then take one fatigue.
• Thornstone: Attack an enemy, gain +1 to Attack Bonus vs the same enemy next Round (stacks).
• Moonstone: Weapon gains the Ranged [R] property.
• Shadowstone: Wounds cannot be avoided using Armour.

Black Sands

 

One of my intentions for this year has been to get back into a writing habit. How's that been going? Mixed. I've been doing some writing. I've developed a bad habit of justifying RPG related stuff as writing. Although, in fairness to myself, it kind of is. I've read so many more RPGs than I've played, and I don't read anything I don't enjoy. So good writing belongs in RPGs. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, we're not aiming for good. We're just aiming for writing, whatever writing is. So I wanted to bite the bullet with this post. Sit down, write something, post it. So here it is.

-Till next time!

Black Sands

You wake upon a dark shore.

Pale fires light the sky.

The lake is flat calm

The surface swirls iridescent.

A tuneless song hums from

A tiny tent, wax canvas

A fishing rod rests on

A bone tripod

The angler asks

What brought you here

You think

but 

can’t 

remember.

They laugh as they tell you

That the palace lies over the hills

Beyond this beach you see

The high and rocky round-topped hills.

The screech

Of a terrible bird

Echoes unseen across the lake.

You’d best be on your way.

But, of course, you still have questions.

What do you do?

Creature Feature: The Kelpie

If the tales are to be believed, Scotland is lousy with Kelpies. It's one of the most widespread mythical creatures: We have rivers, lochs and coasts all over the place, said to be haunted by a Kelpie.

Hippocampus and fish, Fantasy animals (1596–1610)
by Anselmus Boëtius de Boodt. (public domain via Rawpixel)

Often there's not much of a 'story' to go along with The Kelpie, wherever it might appear. They're usually a cautionary tale, a warning to steer clear of dangerous rivers, strange horses, strange men. The 'classic' Kelpie ploy is for it to appear as a horse at the side of a river, waiting for someone who needs to cross. When they do, the horse kneels down, inviting its victim to climb onto its back. No sooner have they done so, than they find themselves stuck fast to The Kelpie's back. It takes off into the river, dragging the victim down with it. Some variations have The Kelpie as a kidnapper, taking the victim to The Otherworld. Others have it as a murderous beast which consumes its victim, leaving only their lungs, which float to the surface in evidence of their fate.

I have come across a few stories that stuck out though:

Taming The Kelpie, which I heard on the excellent House of Legends podcast, read by Daniel Allison. It's a beautiful take on The Kelpie as not so much a malevolent force but a primal, essential one. In the story, a poor ploughman loses his plough horse to old age during a rough Winter. Without his horse, he's left destitute, unable to make a living. But through a series of favours he performs for a Hag, he gains the means to tame a Kelpie, securing his livelihood indefinitely. But he cannot bare to see such a creature - magnificent and wild - bound to his service, and releases it.

"The Kelpie" in Peter Berresford Ellis' Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths And Legends treats the creature as a singular being: The Kelpie, Each-Uisge, lord of the deeps. He's very impressive, but also gives off vibes of a conceited Fey Prince. In the story, The Kelpie falls in love with a mortal woman, and kidnaps the heirs of every Chieftain to bargain for her release to live with him in his domain under the sea. Understandably, she is not keen on this deal, and with some magic of her own tricks The Kelpie during the Saimhuin festival.

Then there's a couple of legends around The Stone of Morphie in Kincardineshire, which I read about in The Lore of Scotland by Westwood & Kingshill (never far from my desk). This is an origin story for the stone, suggesting it's all that remains of the House of Morphie. The Lord of Morphie had somehow managed to bind a Kelpie to his service through an enchanted halter, and forced the beast to drag the heavy stones which were used to build his castle. One of his human servants, took pity on the Kelpie and removed the halter. The Kelpie, now free, took off to wreak havoc and revenge on The Lord of Morphie, destroying his castle.

So these were some of the inspirations for writing "The Water Horse" as a Legend for Legends of Alba. I ran an early version of this in D&D 5E and it was a really memorable set of encounters, with a satisfying final confrontation and resolution as one of the Player Characters got to decide the fate of The Kelpie. So this is the updated version intended for use with Legends of Alba.

***

The Water Horse

The torrent owes nae debt o' thanks

Fir bursting free it's shackled banks

Augurs

1. A crumbling broch, flooded with silt grey water. Youngsters, drunk on salvaged whisky, plunder the treasures of Brightstone (see below), ruined stronghold of The Trueanvil clan.
2. A raging grey river blocks the way. The Kelpie, as a silver-haired lord, offers to calm its flow for a safe crossing: A trap. D6 Silt Bogles lurk in the shallows.
3. A woeful stonecarver bargains with a grumpy mare, overburdened with salvage from Brightstone. He carries the iron bridle that once bound The Kelpie, broken and irreparable by mortal craft.
4. Horses graze by a silted riverbank, The Kelpie among them as a silver-maned stallion. Any who sit on its back become instantly stuck as The Kelpie carries them off to its domain.
5. Druids from the nearest Stronghold, marooned in their boat as Silt Bogles torment them from a driftwood skiff. The druids know of a secret entrance to The Kelpie’s domain.
6. The Kelpie, as the trampling river, floods the Legend Hex. The river spreads, flooding one hex per day, towards the nearest Stronghold, to be dragged down into The Kelpie’s domain.

Cast

The Kelpie, Each-Uisge, Vengeful Shapeshifter

C25, Trampling hooves [M], silken voice.

Toiled for centuries in service of The Trueanvil Clan, now hates all mortals.

Silt Bogles, misfit subjects of The Kelpie

C10, Silt clod [R]

Launch ambushes from the river, retreating if they lose the upper hand.

Oskar Trueanvil, Woeful Stonemason

C10, fine clothes

Released The Kelpie out of pity. Regrets it.

Treasures of Brightstone

D6	Item	Tainted by
1	Whisky barrel	Greed
2	Golden cup	Sorrow
3	Exquisite cloak	Hubris
4	Carved idol	Guilt
5	Restorative tonic	Cruelty
6	Clan brooch	Avarice

***

If you've read this far, you might be wondering where the Silt Bogles came from. Bogles are a specific type of thing in Legends of Alba and might even get their own post some day but they're in the category of Weird Little Guys that I like to feature in adventures. Some goblins to The Kelpie's Jareth .

Till next time!

Weapons & Attacks

When it comes to rules, my general approach with Legends of Alba has been to build up from a rules skeleton, rather than starting with a fleshed out template and cutting back. So anything that gets added has to earn its place. I'm looking at Weapons and Attacks today.

Celtic Weapons, Edinburgh (public domain)

Characters get Weapons (and Armour) from their Clan, and up till this point there's just been two attributes: Melee [M] and Ranged [R]. But as I've been writing up the Clans I've been kitting out some of them with great weapons, some get paired weapons, others start with a shield. Mechanically there's no distinction between these loadouts and this doesn't feel right to me. At the very least there should be some advantage from using both hands to hold weapons, since you have to sacrifice the potential for wielding a shield to do so. So I added a third Weapon attribute, Two-Handed [2H].

But what sort of advantage do you get for a [2H] Weapon? I thought about a couple of different options:

• A Special Bonus (e.g. +2) for Attacks made with a [2H] Weapon. I didn't like this because this would be in addition to whatever Talent Bonus you're using to make the Attack, and this is a very early stage to be introducing messy stacking modifiers.
• Similar to the above, but the Bonus is determined by a die assigned to each Weapon (e.g. a sword might roll a D6 and a warhammer might roll a D10). I didn't like this for the same reason as above, with the added niggle that you're already rolling a D20 for the Attack, so added more random variance seems bad.
• Attacks made with [2H] Weapons are considered to have Help (so roll to D20 and pick the highest). I didn't like this because now [2H] Weapons can't benefit from setting up creative advantages with terrain or their allies in combat, which is more what Help is supposed to represent.

Playing Break!! recently I was reminded that Attack Bonus in that game is essentially its own stat, which gave me an idea: What if Attack Bonus was defined by Weapon? Completely separate to Talent? I had to think about it a while because I'm changing the core rules of the game here to accommodate a Weapon attribute in a game where combat is not the main focus.

However it is important. There monsters both mundane and magical in Legends of Alba so fighting is going to be important and necessary. And I know for a fact that as a player I'd be baffled if my Character was actually at a disadvantage if they wielded a greatsword vs a knife and shield.

So here's how Attacks and Weapons are laid out now. As you can see a few more attributes have crept in, might delete later.

Attacks

A Character risks life and limb in an attempt to Wound an enemy. Attacks are resolved as Tests.

The Attack Bonus is defined by the Weapon.

The Challenge is defined by the enemy.

Success Wounds the enemy. A Wound is enough to kill or incapacitate most enemies.

On a failed Test, the enemy Wounds the Character (there's a separate procedure for this)

Weapons

Each weapon defines the Bonus to be applied when a Characters attacks with it (e.g. [+3]).

Bastard [B] weapons can be wielded one-handed, or with both hands to improve their Attack Bonus by 1.

Melee [M] weapons can only target enemies next to the attacking Character.

Ranged [R] weapons can target any enemy the attacking Character can see. Characters only suffer Fatigue or Wounds from failed Ranged attacks if their target also wields a Ranged weapon.

Two-handed [2H] weapons require two hands.

Thrown [T] weapons can be used as Ranged weapons but must be recovered before they can be used again.

Example Weapons:

• Dagger [+3][M][T]
• Battleaxe [+4][M][B]
• Spear [+4][M][B][T]
• Longbow [+5][R][2H]
• Paired Blades [+6][M][2H]
• Greataxe [+7][M][2H]

D&D 2024 Thoughts

When the new Player's Handbook for D&D 5e was released in 2024, my wife and I began incorporating it into our games almost immediately, and moved fully over to the 2024 ruleset as soon as we could.  I find the 2024 core books to be, overall, a big improvement. They don't 'fix' 5e: I have my own personal frustrations with the system, but it wasn't broken. The biggest improvement, in my opinion, is in layout, presentation and organisation. These books provide a better onboarding experience for new players to the game, they are easier to use at the table, and they inspire me to play and run the game.

A beautiful book

Having had over a year with the system now, I wanted to use this post to talk about a couple of changes from the most recent edition vs the old: Something that's been lost and something has almost worked for me but not quite.

What's Been Lost?

Traits, Ideals, Bonds & Flaws were, to me, one of the best features of Character Creation in 2014. They helped guide towards a simple set of statements hinting towards a 'vibe' for your Character. As a player, I'd often look to these if I was unsure how my Character would react to a given situation. They made sure that your Character was not a blank slate, that you had something to hold on to for role-playing inspiration. They were more important to me than backstory. As a player, I was surprised and disappointed these were gone.

On the other hand, as a DM, I'm not sorry they got cut. Since they were tied to the inspiration system - DMs were supposed to reward players for inspiration for taking action that leant into these traits - I was constantly forgetting about it. Now that I think about it, I'm not surprised, DMs have enough to think about without keeping 4 things in their head for each Character at all times in case a player triggers one of them. For a standard table that's 16 things. No way, haha.

If I were to bring these back, I'd either put it totally on the players to make 'bids' for inspiration based on their traits. For example, if a Character with the Flaw "I can't keep a secret to save my life, or anyone else's" overshares during a tavern conversation with a new friend, their Player might ask if they could inspiration for saying something they shouldn't.

Alternatively but still keeping the onus on the player, I'd be tempted to treat them more like purviews from Break!!. In this case, players would get advantage or disadvantage on Skill Checks where their traits were applicable. So if a Character has the Personality Trait "Nobody stays angry at me or around me for long, since I can defuse any amount of tension.", the Player could point to this and ask for advantage on the Persuasion roll to calm down that hot-headed City Watch Sergeant.

Almost But Not Quite

One of the things that really bugged me about the 2014 PHB was that the Ability Score Increase you got at Character Creation was tied to Race. I'm all aboard with the move to Species for the 2024 books and was glad to see the Ability Score Increase was gone. If I choose to play a Dragonborn it shouldn't be for that +2 Strength and +1 Charisma (or whatever it was), it should be because I want to play a Character that looks a bit like a dragon and can breathe fire! I feel a lot more free to focus on the fiction now when choosing a Species for my D&D Character.

But the problem is not gone, it's just been shifted. The Ability Score Increase is now tied to Background instead, and I don't like this much. The Backgrounds already come with the Gear, Skills, and a Feat to represent your Character's pre-adventuring career, does the Ability Score Increase need to be here as well? I don't think so. In my experience it has mostly just led to a lot of annoying cross referencing to make sure that I'm not messing up my Character's stats by choosing to play a Paladin who is a reformed Criminal.

I sometimes stop and ask myself if the numbers matter that much. But, when it comes to D&D 5e, when the Character I build is more than likely going to be with me for the entirety of whatever adventure or campaign I built them for, I'd say 100% yes. I know I am going to be making so many Saves and Skill Checks with this Character, so a +1 on any of the 6 Ability Score modifiers is a really big deal.

My fix for this would be to lose the Ability Score Increase altogether and alter the standard array to 17, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8, since that's where most of my Characters end up anyway.

Till next time!

Some Intentions for 2026

I'm not really one for New Year's Resolutions but I am one for the practise of goal setting. I try to set up my life so that time is spent doing the things I want to do. I've got a few streams of hobby activities on the go and balancing them all is a big challenge that I constantly struggle with (second only to the far greater challenge of finding and/or making time for hobbies at all). So in this post I'm just going to lay out some things I want to do:

Tabletop/RPGs

• Keep the local groups going
• Schedule more ad-hoc tabletop games
• Learn a new game
• Keep developing Legends of Alba
• Put something on itch.io (for free/pay what you want)
• Run a game at Tabletop Scotland

Writing

• Get back into The Writing Habit
• Blog weekly
• Submit a portfolio to Uni of Glasgow

Mini-Painting

• Clear WIP
• Paint a Frostgrave warband
• Paint my Rascaltown Goblin
• Paint Krethusa

So that's step one: Intentions set. As with most things in life any plan is better than no plan and this is a sort of a plan. While I'm writing these here in part for some accountability - it'll be interesting (hopefully!) to look back on this post at the end of year and see how things have held up - I'm also very much just laying out my thoughts as they sit in my head just now. There's a good chance I've forgotten something important. There's a good chance one or more of the things above won't seem important a few weeks from now. So another intention is that I don't want to give myself too hard a time if things don't work out or my intentions change. We'll see how we go and try to have fun because that's what hobbies are for.

Till next time!