Landon Porter's Blog, page 52

War Stories (D&D Month 4)

No discussion about D&D can really be complete without talking about the stories that come out of it. At the end of the day, after you’ve stripped away all of the arguments about mechanics, all the dumb monsters that you never intended to use in your game anyway, and the edition number you’re a fan of, what really matters are the fun times you had and the geeky tales you have to tell to your date, ensuring that you will never, ever have a second date with them.

So to close out D&D Month (yes,...

Liedecker Institute: Sophomore Year #5 – Rags to Rags Part 5

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Liedecker Institute Volume 4Zane drew back his left arm and his sleeve started to unravel. Or rather, several layers of sleeves began tin unravel. By color of cloth along, Ms. Keyes counted at least six different garments coming undone and the young man’s arm still remained covered.

It also didn’t escape her notice that with so many layers shed, Zane’s arms were frightfully thin. His medical records hinted at as much, but it was still jarring for the tea...

Descendants #75 – Kaiju for Christmas Chp. 5

This entry is part 52 of 52 in the series CurrentEmily Chamberlain was the woman who taught her daughter all about showing people the ‘sunshine side’ of her personality. She went through life with a smile and kind words for virtually everyone she met. Some of the people who knew her best would typically describe her as ‘a little off, but sweet’. Her hobbies included making and printing out collages of adorable kittens from the internet, baking cookies and reading romance novels.

Majestrix was...

Grell, Owlbear, Far Realm: Stupid Monsters All-Out Attack! (D&D Month Part 3)

I love monsters. I love the design, the ecology, the origin stories. Monsters are awesome.

It’s unfortunate then that I don’t like horror movies for… everything that’s not the monsters: the gore, the jump scares, the psychological aspect and in modern movies, the gratuitous and constant torture scenes.

Luckily, there are other places for me to get my monster fix. You might have noticed my love of giant monsters (kaiju), and of course fantasy monsters. And when I think ‘fantasy monster’, I think...

Magic Club 5 #2 – Werewolves of Fredericksburg

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Magi Club 5Jennifer rubbed her hands as she walked. It hadn’t felt cold when she was just walking between her dorm and the dining hall, but the slight chill in the air seemed to be building up as she and the others walked.

The semi-official park along the Rappahanock’s banks where the murder occurred was within walking distance from campus in the same way that student parking as within walking distance from campus. That is to say that it was physically p...

Descendants #75 – Kaiju for Christmas Chp. 4

This entry is part 51 of 51 in the series CurrentMajestrix was confident in her covering fire as the Queen’s Gambit finally set down on terra firma. The Live Metal robot and its unknown biological hitchhiker had predictably hunkered down in the crater in the face of withering fire.

Meanwhile, Zero Point had gone high, keeping out of the line of fire while surveying the situation from the sky. “Something weird’s going on down there.” He announced shortly. “Looks like it’s… melting.”

“Maybe its p...

Lessons of a Dungeonmaster (D&D Month Part 2)

Remember back in the Villain’s Month article where I said there were more ways to show a villain was evil than giving them a huge bodycount?

Well this week, real life offered up a simply amazing example that I simply must share. There is a relevant point to the article, but I also want to share it because I feel people aren’t angry enough about it. By which I mean that I’m pretty sure it’s not physically possible to feel enough anger for it to be the appropriate amount of anger to direct at th...

Rune Breaker: Chapter 46 – The One Who Was Lost

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Evil Unto Evil (Rune Breaker, #4)Raiteria eyed the water around her with profound distrust. Brin told her that the small boats tied up at nearly every dock in Rivenport were public vessels owned by the Historical Society, but Rai was starting to think they should have either spent the coin for a nicer one or just walked around to the bridge. The side of the little boat were, in her opinion, entirely too low and gave her a far too close view of the Emaru...

Descendants #75 – Kaiju for Christmas Chp. 3

This entry is part 50 of 50 in the series CurrentFor a moment, green warred with blue before a teal meteorite burst from Wrex’s mouth. It streaked out over the stables, ricocheted off the roof of the resort’s main building, and bounded skyward in a graceful arc toward the highway.

Zero Point forgot all about the giant monster as he took off the save his daughter, unsure of whether she was hurt of not within the bubble of psychokinetic energy she’d thrown up. He caught up to her quickly and ext...

Practical Magic (D&D Month Part 1)

Greetings, friends!

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons, the granddaddy of all modern roleplaying games and my personal reigning favorite. I owe a lot to D&D, as we’ll discuss in the coming weeks, and if you’ve enjoyed this site, you owe at least that much to it too because in the long view, none of this would be here without me having gotten into it in college.

The entire month of February’s blogs are going to be dedicated to various aspects of D&D, how it relates to m...