Of Dice and Dragons talks about games and gaming.
Continuing with my project to make dragon-themed transmog sets for the five flights, I have a druid of the green dragonflight. Here’s what went into the set.
Image: World of Warcraft screencap
Of Dice and Dragons talks about games and gaming.
Apologies in advance to all of our non-WoW-playing readers! The World of Warcraft: Dragonflight release is exactly one month away today, so in the weeks ahead we’re likely to talk more about the game than not.
Here’s the announcement video:
Dragonflight Announce Cinematic Trailer | World of Warcraft by World of Warcraft on YouTube
One of the most astounding things to me is that this expansion will fully enable flying, considering how fervent Blizzard’s opposition to giving PCs the ability to fly has been thus far. (Perhaps some of the old guard are out and a new guard is in?)
This week, since the patch, we have started diddling with the UI changes. The larger minimap for sure is nice, but otherwise I’ll just have to see which elements on screen I might want to move. I mean, I’ve tried a few configurations and re-adjusted them multiple times already, but it’ll take a little longer to figure out what really works. The talent trees will take even more time to get used to, and that’s fine.
At the moment I’m more excited about the crafting orders, however. I haven’t found professions very satisfying at all for many years now; it’s about time we get something new.
Soon! 🙂
Image: Dragonflight gardern screencap via Blizzard
Of Dice and Dragons talks about games and gaming.
Want to add some color to your tabletop role-playing games? Here’s a quick method to roll up a random tavern, complete with name, atmosphere, staff, and even the potential for some side stories to shake up your ongoing plot.
First, to name your tavern, roll a d20 twice to get two numbers between 1 and 20. Apply the following adjustment for the quality of the establishment to each number to get two final results between -2 and 23.
| Quality | Adjustment |
| Squalid | -3 |
| Poor | -2 |
| Common | -1 |
| Average | 0 |
| Nice | +1 |
| Fine | +2 |
| Exquisite | +3 |
Find the result of your two rolls on the table below. You can either name your tavern “The Adjective Noun” or “The Noun and Noun.”
Let’s say you’re making a poor tavern and you roll a 9 and a 2. You subtract 2 from the results to get 7 and 0. That gives you The Grim Snake, The Dead Sailor, or The Snake and Sailor (or Sailor and Snake), whichever one sounds best for your setting. If you’re making a fine tavern and you roll a 6 and a 15, those become 8 and 17, giving you The Lost Hero, The Cheerful Hare, or The Hare and Hero / Hero and Hare. (Of course, reroll or adjust if you’re not happy with any of the results.)
| Roll | Adjective | Noun |
| -2 | Hanged | Rat |
| -1 | Drowned | Thief |
| 0 | Dead | Snake |
| 1 | Drunk | Outlaw |
| 2 | Dizzy | Badger |
| 3 | Tipsy | Shepherd |
| 4 | Lazy | Dog |
| 5 | Thirsty | Drover |
| 6 | Hungry | Cat |
| 7 | Grim | Sailor |
| 8 | Lost | Hare |
| 9 | Lonely | Tailor |
| 10 | Wandering | Lamb |
| 11 | Quiet | Rider |
| 12 | Stout | Bull |
| 13 | Drowsy | Knight |
| 14 | Merry | Deer |
| 15 | Lucky | Curate |
| 16 | Cozy | Stag |
| 17 | Cheerful | Hero |
| 18 | Dancing | Lion |
| 19 | Winsome | Prince / Princess |
| 20 | Flying | Peacock |
| 21 | Blessed | Sovereign |
| 22 | Glorious | Unicorn |
| 23 | Regal | Dragon |
Now that you have a name, the next thing to do is roll up the atmosphere and staff. For this roll a d6 and apply the same adjustments for quality.
| Roll | Atmosphere and staff |
| -2 | A rickety old hovel, half falling down, with rotten floorboards and vermin scuttling just out of sight. The staff is surly and suspicious of outsiders. |
| -1 | A dilapidated shanty with broken windows. The wind whistles through chinks in the walls and rain soaks through the uneven thatch of the roof. The staff is gloomy and unhelpful. |
| 0 | A ramshackle place knocked together from an old barn and its outbuildings. The staff is tired and rude. |
| 1 | A worn-out house that’s seen better days; the furniture is unsteady, and the curtains are faded. The staff is harried and disagreeable; they respond to the needs of their guests, but slowly and with lots of grumbling. |
| 2 | A modest establishment with good ale and decent food, but the furnishings are old and threadbare, the beds are uncomfortable, and the walls are thin. The staff is capable but does not take initiative and is hard to get moving. |
| 3 | An old but tidy farmhouse adapted to hosting travelers; everything inside is worn but well cared for. The staff is polite and proud of their inn, but they have limited resources to work with. |
| 4 | A plain but cozy little inn; most of the guests are regulars from the local countryside who come here to see old friends and enjoy familiar comforts after a hard day’s work. The staff is cheerful and helpful, but often distracted by conversations with regulars. |
| 5 | A comfortable and well-kept place; the furnishings are new and pleasant, but not expensive. The staff is proud of their tavern; they are gracious to guests who appear well-to-do, but brusque with any visitors who seem poor or unkempt. |
| 6 | A charming old-fashioned tavern that has been run by the same family for generations; many of the furnishings are heirlooms passed down from the original owners. The staff knows the full history of the inn and will share interesting historical tidbits at the drop of a hat, but doesn’t know much else. |
| 7 | A new establishment, recently built with all the modern conveniences, comfortable rooms, and excellent food. The staff is eager to advertise and encourages guests to spread the word. |
| 8 | A luxurious retreat, built in the style of distant lands and filled with imported luxuries; exotic spices flavor the food and vintage wines fill the cellars. The staff performs elaborate courtesies with an affected air, but are also expert at discreetly fulfilling guests’ wishes, even the more unusual ones. |
| 9 | A palatial lodging built with cut and polished stone, gilded everywhere; the furnishings are immaculate antiques, and the serving wares are the finest porcelain and silver. The staff is highly competent, discreet and unflappable, accustomed to both accommodating the whims of wealthy clients and being handsomely rewarded for their service. |
If you want to add a little extra drama to your characters’ stay at the tavern, you can also roll up a little side story with a d6, applying the same modifier for the quality of the place. How your players deal with this added drama is up to them.
| Roll | Drama |
| -2 | A gang of brigands is dividing up the loot from their latest raid in a corner of the common room. They suspect the player characters may be hunting them, so they try to look innocent, which only makes them look more suspicious. They are likely to react with violence if challenged. |
| -1 | A young traveler spots the player characters and thinks they recognize the person who killed their parents and against whom they swore vengeance. (They may or may not be correct, depending on your party’s backstories and adventuring habits.) |
| 0 | The kitchen catches fire in a cooking accident, and the guests are called upon to help evacuate the inn and fight the blaze. |
| 1 | A very large, very drunk patron spills their drink on one of the player characters and gets belligerent demanding the character buy them a new drink. |
| 2 | The innkeeper accuses the player characters of trying to pay with counterfeit coins. Depending on the setting, local law enforcement may or may not get involved before everything can be sorted out. |
| 3 | A smuggler, on the run from the law, attempts to slip some of their contraband into the player characters’ baggage. |
| 4 | A spy in the service of the player characters’ enemies is staying at the same inn. In their haste to get away before the party notices them, they accidentally leave behind some evidence that helps the party on their current quest. |
| 5 | Two young nobles from rival houses are staying at the inn under false names, having run away from their families together. They fear that the player characters may recognize them, so they take steps to evade, eliminate, or ingratiate themselves with the party. |
| 6 | One of the player characters recognizes a familiar taste in the cooking and discovers that someone from their past is working in the kitchen. Whether the reunion is a happy or tense one is up to you and the player. |
| 7 | One of the staff falls into hero worship of one of the player characters and hangs around making starry eyes at them and being generally awkward but harmless. They may be persuaded to do something to help out their newfound hero. |
| 8 | The player characters are mistaken for visiting dignitaries from an important neighboring power and find themselves besieged by petitioners and sycophants. |
| 9 | A wandering prophet recognizes the player characters and offers to share valuable information about their current quest in exchange for picking up the prophet’s rather hefty bar tab. |
Image: Interior of a Tavern, with Cardplayers and a Violin Player, via Wikimedia (currently Royal Collection, UK; c. 1695; oil on canvas; by Jan Steen)
Of Dice and Dragons talks about games and gaming.
My next dragon-themed transmog is for the bronze dragonflight. Here’s my hunter in mail with a scaly bronze theme and some dragony accessories. You can see the gear here.
You can check out my previous transmogs for the blue and red dragonflights, too.
Image: World of Warcraft screencap
Of Dice and Dragons is an occasional feature about games and gaming.
A couple of weeks ago I shared my blue dragonflight themed paladin transmog. Here’s a warrior set for the red dragonflight. This shield doesn’t breathe fire, but it is pleasingly dragony.
Image: World of Warcraft screencap
Of Dice and Dragons is an occasional feature about games and gaming.
I must’ve been quite absorbed in something—like grinding my last toons through Shadowlands, I think—to not notice until now(!) that at the Seat of the Primus in Maldraxxus there’s an innkeeper called Tapani Nightwish.
It immediately caught my eye because of two things: Tapani is a Finnish male name, and Nightwish is a world-famous Finnish symphonic metal band.
Not being a fan, per se, despite having osmotically absorbed some of their music over the years, I had to immediately look up the band members. It isn’t a case of direct homage, but likely refers to an ex-bassist of theirs, Marko Tapani Hietala.
Woot! LOL! 😀
Image: screencap from World of Warcraft
Of Dice and Dragons is an occasional feature about games and gaming.
With Dragonflight on the horizon, I’ve been messing around with some dragon-themed transmogs. Hopefully the next expansion will give us some great new dragony appearances, but in the meantime, here’s my set for a paladin of the blue dragonflight.
The shield even breathes fire! Here’s the Wowhead dressing room link if you want to look up any of the pieces.
Image: World of Warcraft screencap
Of Dice and Dragons is an occasional feature about games and gaming.
I had completely missed the news that there was a big budget D&D movie in the making! On the basis of this trailer, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves looks kinda bad, but fun kind of bad. Take a look yourself:
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – Official Trailer | Comic Con 2022 by IGN on YouTube
I’ve been playing so much World of Warcraft in recent years that I’m woefully out of date with D&D, but I think I spotted familiar things in the trailer. Also handsome, at least on a quick view; they sure churn out decent special effects these days.
At this writing, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is expected to release in theaters on March 03, 2023.
Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.
Wowhead has made available a talent calculator for Dragonflight on the basis of preliminary info on the upcoming expansion. Hooray, we get to dink around with test builds ahead of time!
At this writing, there are only a limited selection of classes to try: death knight, druid, hunter, priest, and rogue. In addition, the new race / class combo, Dracthyr evoker, is available for preview. Excitement! Below are some thoughts from the point of view of my main toon, a balance druid.
On one hand, there still isn’t quite enough information available. For example, on the Druid Tree, I’d like to pick Frenzied Regeneration, but the description doesn’t say whether it’ll pop you into bear form immediately upon use, which would make it less useable for me. (I assume it does, but the button doesn’t say.)
It’s great, however, that you can elect to skip certain spells. For example, I’ve never taken to Typhoon or Cyclone; they’ve always felt awkward and unconducive to my playing preferences or our joint style when Erik and I play together.
So, assuming that I’ll skip a number of lower-tree talents due to personal preferences, I’m having a hard time assigning enough points to reach the 20 required level. If this tree configuration is retained for the release, I’ll just have to hold my nose, pick talents I’d rather skip, and just not drag them onto my action bars.
On the other hand, I love that a balance druid gets more healing spells than is available in Shadowlands. When we play our druids together, we have quite a bit of staying power. I used to play a healer when we raided, but when it’s just the two of us it’s more beneficial to have a tank + dps combo. At times, though, I could use a bit more heals—the tanks are more than fine—and now I’m going to get it. Yay!
In the Balance Tree, it’s especially delightful that we can choose Convoke the Spirits, a Shadowlands covenant ability. A huge surprise was that they’re moving one of my favorite spells, Fury of Elune, to an end-tree position.
What remains to be seen is how the spells and talents become available as you progress, but so far it doesn’t look too awful. 🙂
Image: screencap from Wowhead
Of Dice and Dragons is an occasional feature about games and gaming.
Besides the Blood Elf subtlety rogue transmog update I already shared, I’ve also tweaked my Dwarven windwalker monk’s mog for Shadowlands. This new look is more sombre and subdued in color as befits the expansion’s theme.
As before, the head and shirt slots are hidden and the bracers aren’t visible. I also retained the two fist weapons mogs (Silithid Claw).
The update is built around the Bronzebeard Heritage Armor set. Since I tend to find the pre-made sets often a bit lifeless, however, I only used the shoulders, chest, hands, and feet, and filled out my new transmog with Dignitary’s Traveling Cloak, Stygian Belt, and Harvester’s Court Leggings. I was suprised how well the diamond-patterned quilting in the Revendreth pants fit with the diamonds in the Bronzebeard shoulders, and the red in the belt exactly matches the pants.
Finally, I added some red tattoos (Gryphon pattern) to match the pants color and the detailing on the shoulders.
If interested, you can have a look at the set in Wowhead’s Dressing Room.
Image: World of Warcraft screencap
Of Dice and Dragons is an occasional feature about games and gaming.
_-_Interior_of_a_Tavern,_with_Cardplayers_and_a_Violin_Player_-_RCIN_405825_-_Royal_Collection.jpg){kind=link}