Product Review - Unearthed Tips and Tricks Volume II

I have known of the Crit Academy for quite some time now. They are a part of the Crit Nation Fellowship, along with Interparty Conflict, which is how I came to know Ian and Justin. Gabe, of Interparty Conflict, helped write this game supplement and reached out to me to see if I would like a copy to write a review from. Unearthed Tips and Tricks Volume II is a 49 page supplement designed for Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons, available on the DMsGuild, which Crit Academy has graciously given me a free review copy of.

Every book starts with a cover and I really like this one, which was done by Luiz Prado. Even with none of the text on it, the cover conveys well that this book is tied in some way to fantasy adventure. From a more technical level, the cooler colors of the overall art work well with the purple accent theme they have chosen to use. The tagline is a bit long, but I understand that with a book that focuses on all aspects of the game, it is hard to make that clear on the cover without more words.

Inside the book you will find 25 each of: Character Concepts, Monster Variants, Encounter Concepts, Magic Items, Dungeon Master Tips, and Player Tips. All of these concepts and ideas are things that Crit Academy has discussed on episode 25-50 of their podcast. False Mage. Gravebear. Elemental Whirlpool. Socketed Gems. Wandering Monsters. And Someone Else Is Talking. These are just a few of the ideas found in this book.

Character Concepts

Now, when it comes to character concepts, Unearthed Tips and Tricks II takes an interesting approach where some of these can fit into any game, while others will really only work when you get some buy in from the Dungeon Master. For example, we have The Big Show, which is fairly self-explanatory. The Big Show is a boisterous character who takes great pride in their abilities. This is the type of character who gets into fights by taking their shirt off, flexing their muscles, and taunting their opponent. Or maybe this is a less physical character, who chooses to set off fireworks, magical or otherwise, and announce their assured victory with an amplified voice. This is a character concept that is completely on you as a player to work into the game and realize.

However other concepts, like Stumpy, explicitly mention working with your Dungeon Master, a phrase which does appear several times within this section. As you may have inferred from the name, a Stumpy character is missing, at least part of, a limb. On the one hand, some suggestions are things, like a weapon, that can be placed on the stump, which can make the interesting concept take a back seat in the most important part of the game, combat. On the other hand, there are no real mechanics in D&D for a missing limb mechanically, which puts the responsibility on the Dungeon Master to decide how to handle such a major set back. While it is possible to use these character concepts without any sort of mechanics behind it, I do feel it is worth pointing this out.

One thing that I absolutely adore about this chapter of the supplement is that each concept starts with a quote – “How dare you challenge my magic ability! I would turn you into a newt right now… if I, uh, wasn’t out of spell slots.”

Monster Variants

I’m not sure there are many more creatures in Dungeons and Dragons quite as iconic as the Gelatinous Cube, which is why I am not surprised to see that Crit Academy has give that creature a bit of a twist with the Illusionary Ooze. If you have used a Gelatinous Cube in your game before, then the Illusionary Ooze will feel very familiar. The basics of the stat block remain unchanged, which is what makes it a variant after all, with a couple abilities added on. Hallucinatory Terrain allows the ooze to project a 150 cube of visually altered terrain. A dangerous path may be made to look clear. An otherwise clear path may be made to look like a dark swamp. Though this is an area of illusion, a well chosen guise can lure in an unsuspecting traveler. Phantasmal Engulf is nearly identical to the standard Gelatinous Cube’s Engulf, with the key difference being the damage type.

Existing in myth and folklore for millennia as the gatekeepers to hell, the hunters of lost souls, and an omen of death, not many people are unfamiliar with the hellhound. Crit Academy has decided to give a twist to this ancient canine in the form of a Storm Hound. There is a clear change in theme when it comes to introducing the Storm Hound, fire and brimstone has been traded in for thunder and lightning. Aside from a change in damage type, most of the stat block is unchanged, as before. To give an even greater twist, the Storm Hound has been given an additional recharge ability know as Thunderous Transport. With a flash, the hound turns into a bolt of lightning, which strikes an area within 40 feet, buffeting all who happen to be standing near with the boom of thunder.

While these variant creatures will probably have no problem slotting into the same spot in an encounter as their base counterparts, I do feel that it should be noted that while these have been given new, and arguably more powerful abilities, in Unearthed Tips and Tricks II, they are given identical CRs. Unfortunately, I am not sure if the abilities added are enough to cause either of these creatures to jump a whole CR level, but keep in mind that the changes in damage types alone can make these more powerful than the creatures they were based on. As a result, I suggest using some caution when using these for the first time. If balance is on the edge, err in favor of your players.

With the main focus of this section is going to be on the statblocks themselves, each creature is given a brief bit of flavor and description to help give you a springboard for any lore you want to associate with it. The Gravebear lives on beyond death, rising again and again in service of its undead hunger.

Encounter Concepts

Every game of Dungeons and Dragons is going to be built around encounters. Depending on how much time you have to prepare for a session as a Dungeon Master, it is handy to have a handful of encounters at the ready. Unearthed Tips and Tricks II provides you not only with healthy amount of encounter ideas, some combat and some not, but also has some ideas for modifying encounters that you come up with on your own or take from the rest of this section of the book.

Your players are exploring a dungeon filled with twists, turns, vaulted ceilings, and grotesque statues. It is eerily quiet as they wander through the halls, no longer sure of how to turn back. Suddenly, they are engulfed in magical darkness and the sounds of scurrying creatures fill the area around them. A perceptive player may notice that those statues they had seen before are no longer on their pedestals. As one of the characters in grabbed away into the darkness, it is up to the Dungeon Master to decide what is really going on in the Labyrinth of Darkness.

Perhaps you’ve already got an idea for an encounter, you’re just looking for a little bit of spice to kick up the action. Unearthed Tips and Tricks II has some answers for you as well. Call of Lightning is an encounter modifier based on a change in the environment. As the encounter gets underway, the dark clouds over the heads of the party start to coalesce and thick rain starts to fall. Rain isn’t something that is usually going to have an adverse impact on the way a party engages with an encounter. That is, until you start throwing down lightning strikes all around the group that doesn’t care if someone is a member of the party or an enemy combatant. That makes things more action packed with higher stakes.

Magic Items

What greater reason is there for adventurer than sweet sweet loot? And what loot is sweeter than magical loot? Unearthed Tips and Tricks II has magic items of a range of rarities from common up to very rare; from a Bag of Pebbles to the Coven’s Kukri. Each item has a short visual description with some relevant lore to the items creation or use, as well as the mechanics behind what the item does.

Every once in a while, an adventurer may find themselves in a situation where they are either invited to a fancy dinner party or hired on as a discreet bodyguard. In these rare occasions, it may not be proper to be seen in their normal adventuring gear, including their armor. However, these situations can still pose a threat, so they would certainly like the option to wear it without giving it away. Though it’s name may not make it obvious, this is exactly where a set of Ghost Armor would come in handy, which will allow any armor to appear invisible to those who do not know someone is wearing it. Additionally, this armor will give a +2 bonus to armor class for the first time the wearer is stuck with it. At uncommon, I initially thought that the +2 was be strong, but since the bonus really only applies once during a given combat, I feel that it balances out well and I have utilized mechanics in the past to give players armor that is considered hidden for public events.

As a spell caster, one of the best get out of jail free cards is the Shield Spell. That gets even better with the Mirror Force Pendant. With this uncommon magic item, an attack successfully blocked with the Shield Spell will also be pushed back onto the attacker. The thwarted attacker will make a Dexterity save and take 1d10 damage on a failure. Even better for the spell slinger is that the attacker has disadvantage on the saving throw if the attacker is within 5 feet.

Gems gave always been valuable items of shiny indulgence. However, in the hands of a powerful artificer or mage, gems and crystals hold a keener power. Unearthed Tips and Tricks II includes 27 Socketed Gems to add to your game.

DM Tips

While everything so far has been a specific type of game mechanic, Unearthed Tips and Tricks II has some general tips to make the game run better on both sides of the table as well. When it comes to being a Dungeon Master, you are ultimately in charge of the narrative and direction of the story. The longer you play, the more you will learn about shaping a story and adding your own twists and spins and methods of doing things. If you are lucky, you will have already played under an experienced Dungeon Master and have been able to learn some things from them already. If you weren’t so lucky, great job on deciding to be a brand new Dungeon Master, but also, this book has a few things to teach you to kickstart that learning curve. No matter your experience level, you will be able to take some inspiration from the DM Tips in this book.

To amplify their words, I will emphasize one of their tips that I already do and strongly agree with. Create a Campaign Calendar. It doesn’t really matter if you go all out and create a custom calendar with different months, different lengths of the week, or different days to each month, or if you just decide to grab a blank calendar off the internet, having a clear timeline for reference is a great way to draw players in. I personally keep a print out of my campaign calculator in my session notes binder and fill in the important story things that the party did on each day. Not only does this mean that I can keep track of how much time passes between events, but it also means that if I over hear them talking about a previous event I can reference how long ago it was for their characters in game. I think this is especially important because often times, what can take us months to cover in the real world, may only be a few short days to the characters in our worlds. Creating a calendar is also a great way to further develop world building by creating special days for festivals or other celebrations that you party my find themselves wrapped up in.

Something that I haven’t already done, but I am going to start doing after reading through this is a variation of creating Index Card Tents. My slight variation stems from the fact that I already keep an index card with a players character name clipped to the inside of my DM Screen. In Crit Academy’s example, they suggest having the players take an index card and fold it so that it will stand on its own. This card can be filled with reference information about the character, like their name, their max hit points, their armor class. Find yourself asking a player a certain question every session? Add it to the Index Card Tent. Or, do what I do, and just clip it to the inside of your DM Screen.

Player Tips

Now players, don’t think you are off the hook. Unearth Tips and Tricks II also includes a bunch of tips dedicated to your side of the table too to help create a better environment for the group. While the Dungeon Master largely focuses the direction of the story, they are usually outnumbered by the players when it comes to physical presence at the table. As a result, small tweaks made as a player can have exponential effects on how the game runs, especially if all of the players work on the same tips at the same time, and not all of them happen just within the game.

As a Dungeon Master primarily, I have become quite in tune to something most players don’t think about. Most players tend to pick their weapon when they create their character and unless they get a magic item, they don’t give much consideration to other items. I mean, why would you? You probably picked the best weapon available to you at the start so have little reason to make any changes to what you carry. You might think that. Until you start running into things with resistances and immunities. Or, until I tell you that one of the player tips in Unearth Tips and Tricks II is to Bring Several Weapons. Aside from being able to overcome resistances, carrying multiple weapons also prevents you from being left empty handed if the enemy is able to disarm you.

One of the more powerful out of game tips that Crit Academy has for players, can equally be helpful to a Dungeon Master as well. When we are immersed in a story, it is very easy to kind of block out what is going on at the table around you. Don’t Be Blind To Those Around You is a concept with two meanings. Part of the concept is to remind you to be aware that there are other players around you and to be considerate of their time and space at the table. This means sharing spotlight with them, involving them into your scenes, and passing a scene off to another player if they are set to take the reins. Another interesting take that Crit Academy has give for this concept is to make sure that when you describe things in a scene, that you describe them in a way similar to how you would do it if you were describing it to a blind person. Paint a picture in a way that everyone else in the room will be able to see what you are seeing.

And a final piece of advice. Something I have heard before. Someone Else Is Talking. If you are going to interrupt someone, do so with intent.

Closing Thoughts

Unearthed Tips and Tricks II is a compact that is filled with exactly what it says on the tin. I would be surprised if anyone could read through this book and not take something away from it. Keep in mind, though a lot has been written here, I have chose to only cover two topics for each chapter of the book, there are over twenty other tips and tricks to read up on in each one. As someone who isn’t a listener of Crit Academy the podcast but came into a copy of this book through a friend in their network, I think I am going to have to start listening to hear some of the discussion that goes into creating these tips into such a compact and condensed form.

Some Critiques

While the content of Unearthed Tips and Tricks II is pretty solid, I do feel that in giving a fair review, I need to address some of my critiques that came up for me while reading through it. I am choosing to have my review itself focus on the content. These are minor personal issues that have little bearing on the important parts of the book, which is outlining hundreds of Dungeon Master and Player tips, tricks, options, and variants.

Not Printer Friendly – As someone who is not really a fan of reading a digital PDF and would prefer to print this out (or have it printed at an office store), I wish there was a printer friendly version without the page background and in black and white.

Title Page – I feel the title page was cut a bit short. I think the Table of Contents should have been pushed to the next page and fill the space with more art and/or the version and copyright stuff I have seen in other supplements.

Table of Contents – I get what they were going for, but the table of content is a bit bloated. I think a cleaner version of this would drop the individual items and just focus on the chapter titles. For some reason, Magic Items is also missing the individual items listed.

Introduction – I don’t think it is brought up after this section but I don’t think a book should try to abbreviate it’s own title. The url for the website is also given in 2 consecutive sentences.

Some Art Placement – I actually like a lot of the art chosen for this book. However, there are a few issues with placement and transitions. Some pieces are placed in the lower corners and either cover up the page number or chapter reminder. There are also a few pieces that have very harsh borders, which stand out when many of the art pieces had a more intentional border or a fade into the background.

Column Overflows – I think this book would have benefitted from having 2-3 more pages and spacing things out a little more deliberately. I know that part of what they were going for was everything in alphabetical order by heading. However, many sections end up carrying on into the next column or even the next page, sometimes for only 1 or 2 lines.

I want to reiterate one last time. Yes, these are some nitpicks I have with the books. No, I do not think it is worth lowering my review score over. None of this takes away from the actual written content of the book.