Brandes Stoddard, Author at Tribality https://www.tribality.com/author/brandes/ D&D / Role Playing Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:48:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.tribality.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cropped-logo-2020-icon@2x-32x32.jpg Brandes Stoddard, Author at Tribality https://www.tribality.com/author/brandes/ 32 32 UA 2025: The Psion Breakdown https://www.tribality.com/2025/06/06/ua-2025-the-psion-breakdown/ https://www.tribality.com/2025/06/06/ua-2025-the-psion-breakdown/#respond Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:48:31 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=35543 Not even the Ranger has had as many UA releases thrown at it as the Psion (née Mystic). Searching through the dusty, moldering archives of this very website, I see that I last wrote a UA breakdown about psionics in 2020, but it was already in good company. I was genuinely surprised to see a new attempt, because I honestly thought the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, Psi Knight Fighter, and Soulknife Rogue were WotC’s last word on the topic. Psion Class […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2025/06/06/ua-2025-the-psion-breakdown/feed/ 0 UA 2025: Horror Subclasses Breakdown https://www.tribality.com/2025/05/18/ua-2025-horror-subclasses-breakdown/ https://www.tribality.com/2025/05/18/ua-2025-horror-subclasses-breakdown/#respond Mon, 19 May 2025 03:26:13 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=35479 I haven’t written an UA breakdown in a hot minute—the last one was before the three core books of 2024-25 dropped!—but this drop sucked me back in. Part of this is to find out where the reading audience is these days. I’m sad to see that they’ve dropped bylines for UA articles; I liked knowing whose ideas I was reading. Also, the very short turnaround on this feedback window is a travesty. I’m sure they have reasons, but since the […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2025/05/18/ua-2025-horror-subclasses-breakdown/feed/ 0 Dungeon Master’s Guide 2024: Some Highs and Lows https://www.tribality.com/2024/11/25/dungeon-masters-guide-2024-some-highs-and-lows/ https://www.tribality.com/2024/11/25/dungeon-masters-guide-2024-some-highs-and-lows/#respond Mon, 25 Nov 2024 20:50:26 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=34898 As with the Player’s Handbook, there’s an enormous amount of absorbing to do of this text, so today I’m giving you some favorite and least-favorite changes or new ideas offered in the new DMG. This book is immense and picking is going to be a challenge. At its core, this book is for new DMs. I’m not one of those and it’s been thirty years since I was. But until and unless they plan to release a DMG for people […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2024/11/25/dungeon-masters-guide-2024-some-highs-and-lows/feed/ 0 Shadow City Mysteries: The Roleplaying Game on Backerkit! https://www.tribality.com/2024/09/10/shadow-city-mysteries-the-roleplaying-game-on-backerkit/ https://www.tribality.com/2024/09/10/shadow-city-mysteries-the-roleplaying-game-on-backerkit/#respond Wed, 11 Sep 2024 02:31:27 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=34744 I am very excited to tell you about a new crowdfunding project on Backerkit: Shadow City Mysteries is a new 5e setting and rule set for clockwork noir that blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural. I’m a writer and editor on this incredible project, and I hope you’ll read on and find out more! The City The sprawling metropolis the locals call Shadow City is far from the front lines of the war but at the heart of […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2024/09/10/shadow-city-mysteries-the-roleplaying-game-on-backerkit/feed/ 0 Entromancy: Definitive Edition Kickstarter https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/21/entromancy-definitive-edition-kickstarter/ https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/21/entromancy-definitive-edition-kickstarter/#respond Wed, 21 Aug 2024 20:38:30 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=34726 I’ve written about Entromancy before, including a review of the first book. Now, Nightpath Publishing is back with a Kickstarter for a new Definitive Edition that combines the fantasy-cyberpunk of the original Entromancy with all of the additional content found in the Orichite Age series, as well as a six-page comic. My original review gives a deeper dive into the character classes and other core concepts of the game, so check that out too. What is Entromancy? ENTROMANCY is a […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/21/entromancy-definitive-edition-kickstarter/feed/ 0 Player’s Handbook 2024: Some Highs and Lows https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/13/players-handbook-2024-some-highs-and-lows/ https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/13/players-handbook-2024-some-highs-and-lows/#respond Tue, 13 Aug 2024 15:50:07 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=34713 You’ve probably seen an enormous amount of coverage of the new Player’s Handbook all across your Usenets and your BBSes, but this is surely the first one coming to you live and uncensored from your very favorite website. I bet your pal who went to GenCon has already faxed you all the juicy deets, but I? I’ve got a hot new technomagic here called a blog. Gotta keep with the times, that’s what I always say! …anyway. I’ll do more […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/13/players-handbook-2024-some-highs-and-lows/feed/ 0 Sly Flourish’s City of Arches Kickstarter https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/09/sly-flourishs-city-of-arches-kickstarter/ https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/09/sly-flourishs-city-of-arches-kickstarter/#respond Sat, 10 Aug 2024 00:29:16 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=34708 Today I want to tell you about another Kickstarter that is running right now: The City of Arches: A High-Fantasy 5e RPG City Sourcebook by Sly Flourish, the double secret code name of Mike Shea. I know Mike mainly through the many episodes of the Tome Show that he appears on, including the excellent Behind the DM’s Screen series, but he also has a lot of great products that you very likely already know and love. (This Kickstarter is a […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/09/sly-flourishs-city-of-arches-kickstarter/feed/ 0 Moonsoon Kickstarter – Ending Soon! https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/06/moonsoon-kickstarter-ending-soon/ https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/06/moonsoon-kickstarter-ending-soon/#respond Tue, 06 Aug 2024 13:54:27 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=34701 I hope you’ll take some time today to check out the Kickstarter for Moonsoon, to be published by Arcane Minis. Not just because it’s a great, colorful project infused with tons of imagination, not just because I worked on it, but also because it shares a lot of the seafaring high adventure sensibilities of Tribality’s Seas of Vodari setting. From the Kickstarter page: Moonsoon is a brand new 5th edition campaign setting packed with over 600 pages of amazing content! […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2024/08/06/moonsoon-kickstarter-ending-soon/feed/ 0 The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 – Review https://www.tribality.com/2024/06/17/the-making-of-original-dungeons-dragons-1970-1977-review/ https://www.tribality.com/2024/06/17/the-making-of-original-dungeons-dragons-1970-1977-review/#respond Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:43:48 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=34646 What do you do, friends, when a mysterious traveler (i.e., a mail carrier) leaves a tome of extraordinary size (576 pages!), esoteric in its content, on your doorstep? You review it! The book comes to stores tomorrow: June 18, 2024. The book, in this case, is The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 from WotC, with document curation and commentary by Jon Peterson. What the title alone doesn’t quite communicate is that it is chiefly a reproduction of early […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2024/06/17/the-making-of-original-dungeons-dragons-1970-1977-review/feed/ 0 Surviving Strangehollow – New 5e Setting https://www.tribality.com/2024/02/29/surviving-strangehollow-new-5e-setting/ https://www.tribality.com/2024/02/29/surviving-strangehollow-new-5e-setting/#respond Thu, 29 Feb 2024 17:30:24 +0000 https://www.tribality.com/?p=34586 Today I’m excited to tell you about a new third-party setting for 5e, which will be crowdfunded by an upcoming Kickstarter! Accidental Cyclops Games is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of “Surviving Strangehollow,” a captivating supplement for Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition. This thrilling new chapter will debut on Kickstarter in March 2024, inviting players to embark on an unforgettable journey into the wondrous and perilous land of Strangehollow. Key Features: A Legendary Creative Team: “Surviving Strangehollow” brings together […]

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