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Book of Secrets

Every Tuesday explore worldbuilding, roleplay, character & setting development with Kevin Victor Rae

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Using Monsters Beyond Their Stat Blocks: Giants

Today we’ll tackle giants. Giants evoke the mystery, terror, and fantasy that players have come to expect from Dungeons & Dragons. These creatures are close to dragons in terms of the legendary threat they pose to the players. Like dragons, ...
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Using Monsters Beyond Their Stat Blocks: Mind Flayers

Today we’ll tackle the infamous inter-planer menace: Mind Flayers. Let’s take a look at how a DM could incorporate these monsters into their campaign and what kind of tactics can inform their use in combat.  If you missed our previous ...
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Using Monsters Beyond Their Stat Blocks: Gnolls

Last week we took a look at Orcs, and the weeks before we looked at Goblinoids and tactics they might use. This week, we’ll dive into the gullets of Gnolls. How do you take an enemy described as walking stomachs ...
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Using Monsters Beyond their Stat Block: Orcs

Today let’s take a look at the most fearsome of foes, Orcs, and how to use them beyond their stat blocks. As detailed in the first article, I’ll be taking a more story-centric approach to exploring how to use Orcs ...
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Using Monsters Beyond Their Stat Blocks: Goblinoid Tactics

I know I promised to discuss Orcs in last week’s article, but I had a realization that I missed something in last article: the tactics to use in battle to really set your goblinoids apart from other monsters. This article ...
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Using Monsters Beyond the Statblock: Goblinoids

Recently, I’ve been feeling a little stuck in my encounter building. So, I decided to take a big picture look at what my process is, and I realized I really don’t have one beyond these two questions:  Do these enemies ...
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Character Spotlight: Glint

This week we will spotlight another character build that was inspired by the options presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. If you missed the past two, you can find Sassa the Lorehunter and Captain Thranis Stendor here. Glint takes advantage ...
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Character Spotlight: Thranis Stendor

Welcome back to the Character Spotlight series. We’ll take a look at another character build, this time centered around healing. If you missed last week’s build, check out Sassa the Lorehunter here. The latest supplement Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is ...
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Character Spotlight: Sassa the Lorehunter

I’ve recently become obsessed with creating characters on D&D Beyond. I lovingly craft them, going back over feat choices, spell selections, equipment, and more until I reach a point of madness because these characters will likely never see play. All ...
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Kevin’s Spellbook: Mending

Here in the final glimpse into my spellbook, we will look at Mending. This versatile and often overlooked cantrip has likely the greatest implications for real-world applications. Destroying stuff is very easy, repairing them can be very difficult, but Mending ...