Jamison Stone's Blog, page 10

Glass Elementals - Walking Shards of Magical Destruction

The base elements; air, earth, fire, and water, make up a lot of the world according to alchemists. Elementals are living beings made up of living air, earth, fire, water. It's common for twisting beings made of flames or loping giants made of twisting earthen hilltops to be seen striding the wild, magical places of your Dungeons and Dragons setting. But what if those elements were to mix? It's unlikely for an elemental hybrid to exist, but why should that be unlikely?

We've discussed at length what certain elemental hybrids could be like. The mixture of earth and water makes a slow moving guardian of river deltas, while the mixture of air and fire is a destructive, pyroclastic force. I said we'd covered every elemental pair, but sike, there was another pair. Rather, another way to imagine the most interesting pair.

Glass Elementals

When you think of the pair of elemental fire and earth, minds go to the inside of roiling, active volcanoes. They see magma spewing over the earth, and people falling about scalded by the immense heat from the bowels of the earth. But what about when actual fire meets elemental earth; fine, raw earth in the form of sand.

The looming shape, made of shards of deep black glass - Glass Golem by Glen Angus

Certain kinds of sand under intense heat fuses into glass. This happens naturally in places of the most extreme heat, and has been used to make glass across many civilised places in Dungeons and Dragons.

Glass Elemental Stats Generated with Homebrewery

Beings made of living elemental glass resemble Earth Elementals closer than most other beings. They're humanoid shaped stacks of dirty black glass shards, stacked over each other. The intense sound of grinding and crunching sounds as they move. Loose sand yet to be smelted seeps from gaps in their form while their joints are held together with intense heat smelting the glass as it breaks down. The elemental has full tactile control of all the glass in its form, be it the immense shards that make up its body, or the tiniest, needle shaped splinters it launches when provoked.

Raw, natural glass like this is tough compared to the clear material most windows are made from. This makes Glass Elementals incredibly sturdy. They're still incredibly prone to shattering, but far less so than traditional clear glass. What makes them interesting is the properties of the glass itself. Natural glass already has properties that make them valuable to those who make crystal, and people who study minerals. Glass from these elementals are also suffused with raw magical energy. Elemental glass makes for an essential reagent in many potions and magical implements.

Glass Half Full of Adventure

In places of elemental magic or turbulent weather, the glass elemental wanders, as well as the conjuration of mages who seek to bind them into service, good and ill. A glass elemental can be a true threat for any band of adventurers who cross them. Hunting one down to harvest its magical glass for research and craft purposes has been a time honoured tradition for Adventurers Guilds across many worlds.

Now we want to hear from you. How would you use glass elementals in your game? Are there other elements you can think of animating into a wandering monster? Let us know in our discord server or in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes , or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere . Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

The Horror of the Moorland - Documented by a Survivor

The worlds of Dungeons and Dragons are populated by beings of myths of our world, and figures created brand new for the game itself. I'd consider myself a veteran game master, and someone deeply in love with this system and tabletop role playing games as a whole. Dreaming up scenarios, situations to pit my intrepid band of adventurers against every single week is tough.

By playing this game with people that have gone on to become life long friends, I've also been able to find myself surrounded by some of the most inventive, interesting, and creative people in the world. It should come as no surprise then, that these creative people inspire me to feed back new and strange things for campaigns they'll eventually run through. Inspiration like this goes in a circle. It's the circle of ideas. Proceed to fling a lion cub from the top of a bunch of rocks.

I've decided to convey the monster stats in the form of prose fiction, from a scared ranger scouting through the wilderness. It matches the art from the dear, inspiring friend.

I sketched it as best I could remember from that fateful night - art by Faye Sutherland

The Horror of the Moorland

From the Journal of Suther Fayeland

The range should have been simple. I've walked these moors since I could walk. There is nothing terrifying out here. Until now.

The horrendous shrieking started in the night. A few weeks ago. The shrill screech rattled my bones. The call of a bird, but nothing like I had ever known. We ranged multiple times in the following nights, but we found tracks only. Hoof prints in the mud. Feathers tangled in the treetops. The cuts of great bladed weapons left in the barks of trees. A great battle took place here.

Things only got worse as the livestock started disappearing. The farms down the hill were raided by a beast far bigger than any fox or bandit. Hoof prints, feathers, and great cuts. What beasts are taking the farmer's cows and goats, but sparing their horses and chickens?

It should have been clear to me, but how could I have imagined a beast so unlikely and profane. We found it on a range on the eighth night. The screeching left a path in the air for us to follow. It's nearly impossible to ignore such a sound. The further we ventured to the wilderness, the more my company felt its presence. One by one, each man fell catatonic to the sound of the beast, until I stood alone.

Facing it in the clearing has profoundly changed me. It stood on the body of a horse, with the body of an immense chicken. Two things had been shunted together by a crux of magic. It's clucks filled me with fear while the beating hooves charged towards me. The beast left its scars on my face, but worse on my memory. I will never forget the beast, but pray never to see it again.

The Thing Most Foul

A stapled together monstrosity is a classic of both myself and Dungeons and Dragons. It will always be an easy way to make a monster, and I owe it to a dear friend for dreaming up this abomination.

The Horror of the Moorland Stats - Generated with Homebrewery

Now we want to hear from you. Did you enjoy being told about this strange monster through a character's account? What other strange beasts lurk on the fringes of your games. Let us know in the comments below or on our Discord server.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes , or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere . Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

Lava Elementals - Walking Volcanoes of Destruction

Elementals are a classic monster across so many different flavours of fiction. As a writer and Game Master, I love them as often as I possibly can. There's just something so evocative of this immense form made of howling winds and crumbling stones. The forces of nature that we see as placid outside our windows or terrifying in the tropical climates of the world, are given a humanoid shape for us to truly fear.

In a lot of these stories, the elemental is an incarnation of only one of the classic alchemical elements. Air, earth, fire, and water. What would happen if there were a mixture of two elements together? The volatile combination makes the creature far greater than the sum of its parts.

This is the final elemental hybrid in the series, and I wanted to save my personal favourite for last.

Lava Elemental

There is no clearer vision of what the union of fire and earth could be. The intense heat inside a volcano or the molten core of the earth is not technically fire, but elemental fire is the embodiment of true heat (which makes me wonder if there's an incarnation of true cold...).

When Volcanoes walk, run - Pyroclastic Elemental by Svetlin Velinov

When the heat inside the earth bubbles up to the surface, it melts the rock and earth around it. The magma knits together the loose rocks that tower together into an earth elemental. The dripping ooze of molten rock scorches and eats all that's around it.

The lava elemental has the wanton desires of destruction of the wildfire elemental. The heat within it seeks to grow and spread as is the way of a fire unless it's doused. The key difference between them and wildfire elementals is the lack of a clock on their lifespan. When a lava elemental breaks down a stone structure like a hill or building, it reduces it to magma and absorbs it into its growing body. As it gains size and mass, it gains further intent to aggressively attack and add more to its hulking, burning stone form.

The growing desire to destroy alongside the immense heat makes lava elementals instrumental in the war efforts of beings of elemental fire, red dragons, and fire giants. The persistence and single minded nature of the fire elemental leads it to wander climes colder than the inside of their volcano nurseries and level the worlds of gods and men.

Lava Elemental Stats generated with Homebrewery

The lands that have been visited by a lava elemental and survived, have changed for the better. The soil ravaged by volcanic flame have been left rich and fertile for farming and gardening. A destroyed kingdom can resurrect itself on the trade of rare igneous rocks and metals smelted in the immense heat. Some say that islands in the distant shores of many worlds in fantasy RPGs were created when colossal lava elementals cooled and died naturally.

Magmatic Forces

The lava elemental is a formidable threat and a great wandering monster. They occur naturally in geologically active places in your world, and a great guardian for a villain's volcano lair. In the event they're somewhere far from a naturally magmatic place, they may have been conjured, leading the party to find what destructive conjurer brought this being to the area. Once they've dealt with the being of course.

This wraps up the elemental hybrid series we've had here on Apotheosis Studios. There have been ideas for other elemental beings that ought to get their own stat blocks for your Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons games, so keep your eyes right here to see them. Now we want to hear from you. How would the lava elemental feature in games you GM? Which elements could you imagine striding the earth? Let us know in our discord server or in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes , or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere . Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

The Height of Magical Fashion in Icy Wilderness - Eversummer Silks

The climes, environments, and locations that a player can go to are as limitless in a fantasy or science fiction role playing game as there thoughts in a Game Master's mind. Players are just as likely to trudge through a city on stilts built in bogs, as well as walk up the face of a mountain that distorts gravity.

Wandering the worlds of your RPGs is a perilous things, but future tech and magical conjuration makes the journey safer.

Eversummer Silks

The first explorers in our world and worlds of ttrpgs were well prepared - Arctic Explorer by Anton Juntunen

On the slopes of the most immense mountains, and in environments of intense cold and endless snow, most adventurers would die from cold exposure if they trekked too long. Most RPG systems have their rules, or ways to logically adapt it. Beasts and natives have their way to survive in the cold. For visitors, there are eversummer silks.

Eversummer silks were first woven as the principles of magic were being conceived of by the earliest civilisations in Dungeons and Dragons. As the cold places of the world were being explored, the temperatures began to get to them.

The thick wools and tweed that explorers wore to keep warm on treks were soon suffused with safe, heating magic.

The earliest garments and clothes with these enchantments always have the sources of heat facing inwards. The temperature ranges between five and fifteen degrees Celsius.

As the magic that suffuses heat into eversummer silks became more refined, the magic to them became potent in less and less insulated cloth. Silks that mirror the fashions of warmer climates became common among the wealthy in wintry settlements. The heating auras in modern eversummer silks exudes as an aura of warmth from otherwise not warming clothes. This prevents snow even settling on a person's head, let alone ones clothes. High fashion still staying functional in the cold has become increasingly common.

Clothed in Glory

As eversummer silks became magically refined, the height of fashion became beautiful whilst still keeping the wearer warm - garment and photography by Firefly-Path

The trade of eversummer silk varies depending on how GMs want to use them in their settings. These are just a suggestion based on how I've used them in my previous games.

Eversilk is an incredibly valuable and rare commodity, made by masters of the craft in a specific corner of the world. It's imported at a very high price across the world in immense, warm spools of cloth to be crafted into the styles of the wintry region.

Players may be asked by a wealthy lord or merchant in the arcane weaver's guild to ensure the safe passage of a spool of eversummer silk. A crime lord at the head of a Thieves' Guild may want to pull a great heist to seize the valuable commodity for themselves and turn a great profit.

There's room for quests and story beats centered around things of high value in the player world. All are worth exploring. Now we want to hear from you. How would eversummer silk feature in games you GM? What strange commodity would feature alongside magically warm cloths. Let us know on our discord server or in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes , or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere . Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

Magical Fruits To Make Your Games Immersive and Sweet

The world of tabletop roleplaying games is vast and strange. The strangest monsters imagined by your Game Master populates the fantastical townships and distant planets your games happen in. The situations have the fate of worlds hanging off your technical and magical mastery.

Such big and otherworldly things leave players excited and overwhelmed. These are the events that draw players in every single time. Details about the world, how bodies govern, how countries operate, customs, rituals, and social norms; these are what build immersion. This is what makes the player feel like they're somewhere real and lived in. But immersion doesn't even need to have anything that grand or elaborate.

Mystical Fruit

The village market or grand bazaar is a place that unites all people of many walks of life in a town, city, or settlement. The wares of traders and peddlers across the realm is varied and essential for a person's day to day. In a world of magic and mystery, the things that are on offer should hold some amount of magical mystery to match the world it's in.

It's fundamental, people have to eat. The fruit stall is an institution. It caters to everyone and has featured as a turning point in many stories. Apples, pears, bananas, and quinces are always going to be on sale, but I enjoy bringing magical and weird fruit to the marketplace.

The golden sheen of the sun apple is an alluring thing for those on a quest.

Sun Apples

The myth of golden apples are consistent in many worlds. They've been written in myths and legends as a thing to truly quest for.

Sun apples are the more common name for gold skinned apples found in many worlds. The skin of these fruits are a shiny yellow, with an almost metallic sheen to it. There's a noticeable sourness to these apples compared to red or green ones.

Ice Pears

The notorious ice pears have featured frequently in the games I've GM'ed for years.

The deep blue skin of the ice pear holds the most and least delicious thing you’ve ever eaten.

These relatively common fruits grow in wintry biomes at high altitudes. They grow easily in mountain soil and against harsh elements. Planting as few as one seed will usually grow a reasonable tree within the first year, making them a common crop for those living in arctic environments.

The unique thing about ice pears are their unique and wildly differing tastes. Like most pears and apples, they go brown when left out in the open air. Ice pears go brown very quickly which has a huge impact on their flavour. Ripe, fresh ice pears have a thick juice and a warm sweetness has been described by bards worlds over as the most delicious thing they've eaten. That flavour is fleeting. When the brown sets in, all that sweetness vanishes. The ice pear has an intense, ashy sourness which often repulses anyone out of finishing it.

The most delicious thing anyone's ever had has to be eaten quickly to be enjoyed.

Fruit's Basket

Exploring fantasy tabletop roleplaying games involves exploring fiction. As a fiction writer as well as a Game Master of over 5 years, good fiction makes for good games. Now we want to hear from you. How have unlikely story tidbits made the games you've GM'ed all the better? What strange magical fruits would appear on your grand bazaar stall? Let us know on our discord server or in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes , or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere . Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

Wildfire Elementals - the Living Inferno Strides through Ashes

Elementals are a classic in fantasy and science fiction. Immense beings made of air, earth, fire, and water always seem evocative, powerful, and scary. Staring down a figure made of swirling winds, jagged stones, or swirling water is something most adventurers should reasonably fear.

In most fantasy tabletop roleplaying games, we see archetypal elementals. Beings made of just one element. This is part five of six where mixing the elements together has lead to strange wandering monsters for adventurers to find, fight, and flee in fear from.

Wildfire Elementals

The air we breathe is just less than a quarter oxygen. If there were much more, the air would ignite and breathing pure oxygen is deadly to most living things.

A beastly wildfire elemental leaving a town burned and behind it - Scourge of Geier Reach by Jung Park

Certain air elementals can change just how much certain parts of the air is in its swirling, rippling body. If it changes the air the right way and catches aflame, the rare and truly destructive wildfire elemental is created.

Wildfire elementals are truly destructive and as mercurial and shifting like the air and fire they're made of. Some resemble the vaguely humanoid shapes of usual elementals. Most wildfire elementals grow as they take more searing hot air into their bodies. This makes their forms swell and take on unusual and animalistic shapes.

Wildfire Elemental stats generated with Homebrewery

The wildfire elementals have the generally destructive attitude given from the effects their fire has on the world they stride through. Their touch and very auras bring furnace like heat. As more burns, the smoke, steam, and hot air is slowly drawn into the elemental, increasing its size and strength.

Not all wildfire elementals start their existence as pyromaniac monstrosities. Though a very dramatic name for a being no bigger than a fingernail, some wildfire elementals are very small and surprisingly docile. Smaller elementals are no bigger than a flickering candle flame. They hop between spots to burn. They live comfortably and briefly on candles in every world.

Searing Blaze

Ultimately, the large and destructive wildfire elementals always grow to immense sizes to seek out things to destroy. Trails of powdery, ashy footprints herald their passing. The cleansing fires that clear out overgrown forests and historical blazes that level cities are usually caused by striding, swirling flames. The buffeting fists and blasts of fireballs can surge across a landscape, and the heat of the surrounding air can lift the immense shapes of these beings far higher than if it were solid.

For a party tracking the blazing footfalls of a wildfire elemental, there's little to miss. Destruction and the victims of the worst levels of burning are always abound. A party could very well be tasked with tracking and slaying a wildfire elemental as they hit tier two of play. It'd make a challenge and a truly heroic act for the nation they're in.

Now we want to hear from you, how will you include wildfire elementals? What shape will these living infernos take? Let us know on our discord server or in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes , or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere . Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

The Treasures of Adventure Found in a Magical Loot Drop

Magical items are the treat every player character in fantasy tabletop roleplaying games. The things in the treasure chest at the end of the long, winding underground tomb. The presents handed out by the eminent benefactor at the end of a job well done.

Things which would be easily made out of tech for people in our world or a science fiction setting, is fuelled by the magic of the particular high fantasy nature of your own setting. They can be relics ancient and powerful, or the most mundane object found in every home, with the smallest zing of enchantment. All depends on how you Game Masters want to handle magic. I personally love highly magical worlds.

The Loot Drop

Your party has wandered across the realm, and this unusual chest lies abandoned in the forest. Your rogue has pried it open to find these contents within. Welcome to the first instalment of The Loot Drop, a series of blogs about magic items great and small. We've covered cursed axes and ever-growing maps on this blog, but here is the place to talk about equally powerful, but just as off-the-wall magic items.

The items below are described with flavour set high but very few mechanical terms. This makes it easy for you to apply it to whatever game system you're GM-ing with.

The Hand Salon

Photo by Sydney Jewish Museum

Fantastical hairdressing has made its way to this blog before. As unlikely that may be. The need for an adventurer to get their hair brought to a much more manageable shape and size is relatable to us.

This strange, silvery comb is light to the touch and is always a little slick with moisture. Combing through hair with one side will bring wetness and foamy lather as it washes your hair as it combs. Flipping the comb and using the other, oddly warm bristles heats the hair and slowly dries it.

The Unfortunate Tail

The ancient, strange coin looks very different between settings - Stygian Coin by TedEd

To the untrained eye, this coin looks like any other minted by the banks and bullions of the realm. It may have a slightly different shape or markings than the rest of the realm's currency, but gold is gold when you need something. This coin has greater valued when not spent.

When this coin is flipped by a person who's magically attuned to it, it will only ever land on tails. When flipped by anyone else, it is random like any other coin. All attempts to check if the coin is fake or loaded will show it to be real. The minor twisting of probabilities means you'll almost always get your way when you say “lets flip for it”.

Who would attack family? - Screaming Shield by Titus Lunter

The Familiar Shield

The immense silvery shield has a blank, resting face moulded into the metal. When the user of this shield is attacked, the face on the shield quickly shifts into someone the attacker knows and would otherwise be opposed to attacking. The expressions of surprise, shock, and sadness would dominate the immense sheet of metal.

Tools of the Trade

The possible uses for these items are fascinating to consider. The overtly groomed hero needing to stay constantly clean with the comb whilst another cheats their way to all manner of places with a loaded coin that really doesn't appear so.

Now we want to hear from you! How will items like these appear in your games? What other unlikely magical items exist in games you GM. Let us know on our discord server or in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes, or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere. Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

Magical Navigation Made Easy with The Eternities' Map

The lives of an adventurer is constantly changing. The wandering of immensely described set piece to the place of high action and intrigue can be quite a journey. Personally when I'm at the head of the table, Game Mastering, I love to take my players on the odyssey both inside and outside. The story is always the thing, and the setting is the immense stage that the story lives in.

While a player can have the immense knowledge of the setting they're playing in – whether it be the immense map given by the adventure, or the dream of the GM's imagination, often the character is at a loss. The characters in the game only know as much as the players do about their own surroundings. We know our neighbourhood, do we know what's leagues away? Do we know how far a league is? We need a map...

The Eternities' Map

a character may Never be lost again - Expedition Map by Scott Murphy

It was first devised by the first map makers in the formation of most worlds in your fantasy RPG. In the ancient times when things were better, people put very big, grandiose names on their magical items. Some living people still do that.

When a person first attunes with one of these, they will start off feeling very disappointed. The Eternities' Map starts off as a blank piece of paper, ranging in size from twenty to forty inches on any side, usually a rectangle or sometimes a square. The paper, once magically attuned to whoever uses it, will then begin to fill in by itself. As the owner of The Eternities' Map begins to travel or explore, the lines on the page will slowly appear. They will trace the roads the character walks as they walk it. Labelled names of the buildings they enter will appear on the map as they enter and leave it. Important locations will get those names as they get the visit.

The map itself adds the information based on how useful the adventurer finds it. A spot that the character keeps revisiting will keep its label and details as the surroundings slowly fade. There's no other means to mark the paper. Drawing pencil lines, using ink or paint on the Map has no effect, and fall away as though the surface were completely waterproof. If torn or heavily creased, those blemishes heal themselves when next unfurled. The only way to destroy The Eternities' Map is to burn it in fire from holy oil.

Endless Directions

The compass marker in the top right corner is not static. If an adventurer holds it open to navigate, the compass marker turns to face north as though they were holding a real compass. An adventurer can hold their finger to the map to move the image along to see other areas that may be on the paper. Pinching at the map makes the details zoom in, while the opposite zooms it out. Tapping on a labelled place on the map brings a short few sentences on when you were last there and for how long.

When no choice looks good, think of where you’ve been - Fork in the Road by Jung Park

Everywhere the person has been is remembered by the map. As long as the road was travelled, they will find all they need from The Eternities' Map.

Now we want to hear from you. How would your characters use their Eternities' Map? Where would you Game Masters have these found? Are they rare, or essential gear for those in an Adventurer's Guild? Let us know on our Discord Server or in the comments below!

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes, or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere. Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

Noble Dwarf Printing Are Serving Up The Magical Draught of Malice

Apotheosis Studios are one of many ambitious, talented creators bringing their ideas about Dungeons and Dragons and other fantasy tabletop role playing games to your gaming table. Kickstarter has brought these great ideas to life many times, and we're proud to watch newfound friends bring their visions to life.

Our friends at Noble Dwarf Printing have taken their talents in the world of 3d printing and sculpture to a whole new dimension. Detailed props enrich the tabletop experience, and the creators at Noble Dwarf have put a sinister spin on their original product.

Dwarven Craftsmanship

Everything you need to know about the Magical Draught of Malice - pledge now right here!

Noble Dwarf Printing is a premier retailer of custom designed canvas maps, fantasy art, t-shirts, and miniatures. They have been serving the RPG industry for over ten years, and are looking forward to many more. No corners are cut; you can always count on a Dwarf!

The uncountable list of items in their store is always finished with great detail. Their dice resembling sleeping dragons are richly detailed, and their shirts for all designs and styles suit any player's tastes and needs.

The Noble Attraction

Their latest Kickstarter is showing off their most anticipated product yet! The second instalment of The Magical Draught Series brings us The Draught of Malice.

Much like their first release, The Magical Draught of Virtue went down a huge treat, much like the potions within. Now their next bottle brings us a sinister flavour.

Like a Magic 8-Ball, The Magical Draught of Malice has a liquid chamber inside. Giving it a little shake (even making a player mime drinking out of it) then looking on the bottom will show you what your character has just sipped on. Accompanying cards with The Draught of Malice give you exact description of the gruesome drinks you just gulped on.

The customisation doesn't end there with this great tincture from Noble Dwarf. The Draught of Malice is 5.5 inches tall and made of durable plastic. The true magic comes in how it looks, as that's up to little old you! The bottle arrives unpainted ready for you to prime and colour exactly as you want. The contents could look a mystical toxic green or an otherworldly, dangerous purple. The skull bottle top could be the bleached pale bone, or the dusty grey ash of a magical mishap. The choice is truly yours.

Delicious Elixir

This is a Kickstarter that we here at Apotheosis Studios truly love.

A charming and useful prop is very helpful while at the table. Tabletop RPGs inspire the deep, shared imagination of the players. Handing your players a little potion bottle for them to sip on really brings them physically into the game. A potion bottle like this makes for a great prop in a Live Action Role Play too! When you pair that with the random effects that the Draught can bring, you can get an endless possibilities from your next gaming session.

The draught in its box on its way to you! Pledge for yours right here!

The Kickstarter Campaign is close to the finish line, and all the pledges bring that goal closer. Put your pledges in to consign your player's fates with a sip of this deadly brew.

Now we want to hear from you! Is this a project you've backed? Better get in to show your support soon to get your Draught! What horrible effects are you hoping (not) to drink from your bottle? Let us know in the comments below or on the Apotheosis Studios Discord Server.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes, or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere. Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.

Dust Elementals - The Desert's First Caretakers

Elementals take our minds back to classic fantastical stories, even beings in science fiction can be made of living air, earth, fire, and water. A hulking figure made of roiling flames and whirling winds can make for a terrifying presence.

It's quite a common thing in these stories that they're only one element. In past posts on this blog, we have seen what kind of creatures can come into being when the elements combine. The contemplative elemental of earth and water watches over the rivers, while the short lives of cloud elementals turn them quickly into storms.

Dust Elementals

Shifting sands are never still - Sand Runner by Gianluca Rolli

In places of the world where arid air, hot with desert sun, meets the endless earth ground fine into sand, there's bound to be dust elementals.

The immense tornado like shape of the air elemental makes up the usual look of the creature. The yellow grey of whipping particles colour the creature. The sand inside its body takes on many shapes, that the creature strongly controls. Huge clumps around the face and limbs give it a readable face and otherwise humanoid expression. Entire chunks of clumped sand spin inside the creature, sometimes keeping whole forms, breaking up and reforming constantly.

These beings are more than air elementals that have picked up the sand. That's common to see in most arid deserts. The elusive sand elemental is made of cascading sand that reshapes and changes its form as it slinks across the dunes.

The dust elemental is the air and the earth together. The sand that brings these elementals into being makes the sand strong inside the whipping winds of the creature's body. The speed and flight of the air elemental is given the immense stern strength of sand clumped together. The sand can be reshaped as the creature wills to move or defend against the strange creatures found in the scrublands and sand wastes it lives.

Dust Elemental Stats generated with Homebrewery

Doom of the Dunes

The dust elemental is often the precursor to immense sandstorms, and exist on the fringes of the desert, in the places where the heat and weather are most extreme. As the heat kicks up hundreds of tonnes into the roiling clouds, the dust elementals swirl around it. Many are born out of such storms as a feedback of elemental energy.

As the storm ebbs and passes, the dust elementals usually remain, wandering the sands looking for whatever may live. They may warden living things through the intense heat, or have every desire to use the speeding winds and sharp particles in their bodies to pick clean the bones of the living and the dead. Personally, there's an ancient dust elemental that wanders the greatest deserts of my world making sure the random cow skulls are bleached white and visible wherever the action is.

Now we want to hear from you. Where would dust elementals appear in settings you GM? They make for an amazing wandering monster, what interesting challenges would they make for your players? Let us know in our discord server and in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com , he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes, or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere. Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.