r/rpgpromo

I created a dumb little dice roller that rolls a dice in my garage and sends you the photo and video for proof. Icanroll.com Bear with me since it's a work in progress and I'm doing this as a solo project in my free time. I'll try and post updates on updates.sirsweater.com/projects/icanroll and here if yall actually care about it. Currently there's only a d20 and d6 setup but I'm building those out as fast as I can and as much as I can afford.

Here is the Orc Shaman, a CR 4 spellcaster built to add storm magic, ancestral spirits, and battlefield support to orc encounters.

I wanted this creature to feel like more than just an orc with spells. It can support nearby allies with temporary hit points, empower a warband with primal rage, call down lightning through its Rite of the Storm Gods, and use its voice as a supernatural force that carries across the battlefield.

The page also includes optional traits that let you customize the shaman depending on the role you want it to play. It can become more durable against thunder and lightning, deal extra force damage through ancestral spirits, hold concentration more reliably while wounded, perform ritual movement, or unleash one final spell when reduced to 0 hit points.

It works well as a tribal spiritual leader, battlefield caster, cultic storm priest, or dangerous support monster behind a larger orc warband.

This creature is from Orcs & Orcs, available on DriveThruRPG in PDF and hardcover print!

Orcs & Orcs is the ultimate guide to unleashing the full fury and depth of orc-kind in your 5E campaigns, whether you want savage warbands, disciplined armies, cursed berserkers, or iron-willed mercenaries.

What’s Inside?

• Dozens of Orc Statblocks – From the Orc Bannerbearer to the Red Orc Warlord, each entry includes extra traits and variants to help you customize encounters with brutal precision.
• Powerful Orc Factions – Expand your bestiary with Ironpeak Orcs, Oathsister Orcs, Red Orcs, and twisted Mutant Orcs. Each brings unique abilities, lore, and lair ideas.
• Orc Campaign Tools – Warband factions, tactical lairs, encounter suggestions, and more.
• 70 Orc-Themed Magic Items – Tribal relics, cursed axes, brutal armor, spiritual totems, and more.
• VTT & Art Resources – Includes 27 handouts and 17 creature tokens to bring orcs to life in-person or online.

Orcs fit into any fantasy campaign as enemies, allies, or complex factions. Wherever your world needs strength, rage, and scars earned in battle, orcs are ready.

I’m also working on Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E, an upcoming Kickstarter featuring 300+ magic items inspired by myths and legends from around the world. It includes weapons, armor, relics, artifacts, and scaling items that can grow with the characters over the course of a campaign. You can subscribe to our newsletter to get updates and download a free 30-page PDF preview. We only send emails occasionally, and only when there’s a new release, important news, or exclusive free content and discount codes to share.

You can find more of my creatures and manuals on DriveThruRPG, my Linktree, or by visiting r/JonnyDM!

I do enjoy D&D. I enjoy long campaigns and epic storylines. I have been fortunate enough to have multiple groups throughout the year that have suffered me through multi year campaigns. Unfortunately, at one point I have to admit that regardless of the group and the story, these campaigns became harder and harder to run and well... to enjoy.

I don't think it is a particular hot take to say that high level play is problematic and hard. I always found it to be lacking.

For a long time I tried to find solutions and I looked at 3rd parties, I developed my own homebrews and Iooked at how things were handled in the past. That's how I learned of BECMI. And something clicked. I became enamored with the ideas presented there, it was mostly what I have been looking for. But even BECMI, with all its ambitions had problems and things were wobbly starting from the Master set and became even more so with the Immortal set.

Even with this, I think it is the best approach D&D had to high level so this article will look in depth at why that is and perhaps more importantly, why it failed. We will also try to provide some alternatives for those of you who, like me, will find that conceptually BECMI hits the right cord.

I hope you enjoy the article and I am very much looking forward to see what your experience with it and with high level play is!

Hello, fellow adventurers! Today, we are excited to share the Bowl of the Moon Rabbit and Maneki-Neko Figurine, two Uncommon magic items inspired by Japanese folklore. These entries come from our upcoming Kickstarter project, 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 2024.

Step into a realm of ancient gods, legendary heroes, and forgotten civilizations with Mythological Items, a comprehensive compendium featuring over 300 magical items specifically designed for 5E and its 2024 ruleset update. This manual spans a vast array of cultural traditions, organizing its treasures into regional categories for easy reference and immersive worldbuilding. Each item includes not only full game mechanics, but also lore and background information to integrate it seamlessly into your campaign, whether as treasure, quest rewards, or the key to an unfolding mythic saga. From the storm-summoning weapons of thunder gods to cursed trinkets whispered of in ancient lore, this book brings myth to your table like never before.

This manual offers an extensive collection of magical items that can be incorporated into any campaign, regardless of its connection to specific mythological themes. The items presented in this volume, drawn from a multitude of global legends and folklore, are envisioned to enhance the diversity and depth of any fantasy world. This eclectic array mirrors the inherent blending of elements in many worlds and settings, where influences from various cultures and mythologies coexist harmoniously. For instance, Thor’s Hammer, Mjölnir, could serve as the centerpiece of a divine quest, while Draupnir, the Norse ring of endless wealth, might drive political intrigue or power struggles in a kingdom torn by greed.

Mythological Items also provides a solid foundation for campaigns that wish to delve deeper into the relics of a specific mythology or blend multiple traditions into a larger, interconnected setting. A campaign inspired by Greek mythology could see players donning the Nemean Lion’s Pelt, becoming nearly invulnerable as they take on challenges worthy of Heracles himself, while a campaign drawing from Japanese folklore could involve uncovering the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the fabled grass-cutting sword tied to imperial lineage and divine storms.

We suggest checking our pre-launch page for additional info and an extended 30-page preview of our compendium, scheduled to release in a few months! Alternatively, you can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on upcoming projects, special offers, and important news about our past and future works.

Happy adventuring!

https://the-lone-legend.itch.io/gloam
Happy May Day!

Gloam is a folk-fantasy game that uses tarot cards instead of dice.

In Gloam, you play as bold human adventurers pushing back against a growing darkness. You'll travel through bogs, heaths, and dark forests, encountering rustic village folk, strange mischievous fey, and grim monsters of myth. 

- Designed for a referee and 1-4 players
- Engaging mechanics using Tarot cards instead of dice
- A push-your-luck action resolution mechanic
- A rich and intuitive Lifepath system using the Tarot symbolism
- Characters defined by their Goals, Instincts, and relationships
- Two different magic systems: practical Folk Magick and powerful Arcane Magick
- Beautiful, easy-to use control panel layout
- Rules for Carousing, Hirelings, and Downtime
- Tactical, fast-paced combat
- Wound-based damage system—no hitpoints
- A bestiary of 21 folklore-inspired monsters
- Dungeon, Wilderness, and Settlement generation and exploration rules
- Solo-play Tarot oracles and random tables
and more!

I think I drank some water after Horia with this article...

FKR is his schtick, but I guess it can't hurt if I also take a crack at it. I was discussing Cairn a couple of days ago and thinking about a future campaign I wanna run a campaign with it. I was also thinking how as of late I have been liking minimalist systems more and more. I am running a Realms of Peril campaign and I had a streak of some really good sessions, with some really interesting and outside the box designed encounters. And I really was curious why I can't manage to enter that sort of mental space and design similar things for D&D or other more traditional and crunchy TTRPGs.

And so I started to read a bit more into FKR, cause that is the proverbial freedom holy grail in TTRPG design space, so if I were to find an answer it would probably be there. I was also interested to see where these minimalist systems fall into the whole D&D - FKR scale. And while I was at it, I thought that all of this is quite interesting and with a bit of polish it might be worth sharing with you all. Cause I do think that part of why minimalist systems such as RoP or the examples I stuck by for this article, Knave and Cairn work as well as they do, is due to their FKR-esque tendencies. So yeah, I do hope you will enjoy this piece. And as I said in the article, please do share your experiences with minimalist systems, with FKR and anything in between!

You can subscribe now and get this map by visiting: patreon.com/balatroart

Hi!
I released a cozy solo journaling RPG called „The Keeper of the Grimoire“.

You play as the keeper of a quiet magical shop, helping visitors through rituals, herbs, ingredients, and small acts of magic.

The game combines journaling, dice rolls, cards, progression systems, and printable pages for drawing and storytelling.
You can unlock new regions, grow herbs in your garden, gather rare ingredients, expand your grimoire, and slowly build your own magical practice over time.

I’ve been designing these cozy printable RPGs as a solo indie creator and wanted to finally share this one here 😊

Etsy link (I also make other cozy journaling RPGs there):

https://levandclaritystudio.etsy.com/listing/4493877770

Hi!

Our Kickstarter for a new Mausritter campaign setting (with plenty of whimsy and peril!) as well as at least 8 new adventures, 4 new factions, and a whole host of new creatures and items has entered its last week on Kickstarter. We're fully funded, but would love to reach our first stretch goal to add another adventure. It's inspired by the seasons and nature, and everything is 100% human made, from writing to illustrations. Check it out?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wonderschouw/abundance-and-adversity-mausritter-adventure-collection?ref=75twgt