Above Table – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Whether power through sacrifice, a connection with primal life force or gothic vampiric sanguimancy - blood magic runs through much of the fantasy genre. Often forbidden or dangerous, we explore how you can bring blood magic to the table. From safety tools on self-sacrificial mechanics and hemomancy wizards to blood domain clerics and even blood archers, this has everything a bloodthirsty table needs.

The content of this episode covers sensitive content including mentions and use of self-harm for in-game magic is a mechanic that can be triggering for some. If you or someone that you know struggles with self-harm, suicidal thoughts, or if you or a loved one are experiencing a difficult time, know that you are not alone.

Available resources:

Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/

Suicide Prevention UK https://www.spuk.org.uk/

988 lifeline https://988lifeline.org/

Shout https://giveusashout.org/

Chapters:

(0:00) Intro

(07.25) The Critical Role Blood Hunter class

(13:44) Exploring blood magic in Tal’Dorei Reborn

(24:44) Simple homebrew rule for blood magic

(28:48) Blood magic class options

(58:38) Spell rundown

(1:00:00) Trinket of the Week

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

https://linktr.ee/abovetable

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Featured on this episode:

Blood Hunter from Critical Role

Monsters of Murka: Chromatic Gamut from Bonus Action

Tal’Dorei Reborn from Darrington Press

Trade Blood for Power with D&D Blood Magic from Nerdarchy

Blood Magics from DnD Unleashed

Blood Domain from DMDave

Blood Archer in Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt from MonkeyDM

Hemocraft & Bloodmagic from Dungeon Bros

The Bloodmire from The Griffon's Saddlebag

Blood Magic Spells resources on the website!

Blood Crystal from Loot Tavern

Project of the Week: Witchfyre A Dark Fantasy RPG

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Music:

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under CC Attribution 4.0 License

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever mused with other players on what it would be like to play as the bad guys? Well now you can. In this episode Josh & Phil discuss the pitfalls and issues of playing evil, character alignment and intraparty conflict, before serving up solutions. From player options to pick-up-and-play adventures that will scratch that evil itch, listen out for everything you need to conquer the world!

Chapters:

(0:00) Intro

(2:24) Defining evil in D&D and considerations for playing

(13:55) What the new Dungeon Master's Guide says about playing evil

(20:23) Running better pickpocketing

(31:14) Having fun playing the classic evil villain

(41:28) Let's start a cult

(53:11) Honourable and devious mentions

(57:12) Trinket of the Week

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

linktr.ee/abovetable

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Featured on this episode:

The Dungeon Master's Guide

Tessa's Guide to Pickpocketing and Pilfering from Paul T Dean

Villainous Champions of the Shadow Keep from William Martin

Remarkable Cults & Their Followers from Loresmyth

Grim Hollow from Ghostfire Gaming

Corpus Malicious from DRS Publishing

The Dark Archetypes from Nikolas Totief & Alexander Kami

Best Subclasses For Evil Character from The Gamer

Treasury of the Macabre from Legendary Games

On Being An Evil Character from Matt Colville

Embracing Villainy from Alyssa Visscher

Project of the Week: Necromancers of Monastis from Brave Alice

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Music:

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether cute cub companions or ferociously territorial monstrosities, owlbears are an iconic D&D creature. This week we discuss different sub-species stat blocks, solutions to the Wild Shape problem and a range of different ways to get one of these a feathered fluff balls of fury as a character's companion.

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

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Twitter - abovetablepod

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Featured on this episode:

Sympathy For The Monster from Curious Archive

Druidic Shape Charms from Griffon's Saddlebag

Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book from MCDM Productions

Baby Bestiary Handbook Volume 1 from Metal Weave Games

Owlbear Tamer in Tavern Tales Vol.1 from Escape Plan Games

Even More Owlbears from FrostBladestorm

Creatures Compendium: Owls from Starsail Games

Monster Manual Expanded (5E) from Dragonix

Parrotbear in Battlezoo Bestiary from Roll For Combat

Build An Owlbear from varansl

The Shining Shrine from Loot Tavern

Owl Helm from The Griffon's Saddlebag

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Music:

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back trope-busting again - this time with a fury (or lack thereof?). In this episode Phil quizzes Josh on why he feels rage at the barbarian's rage feature not making sense. We then discuss everything homebrew, from different types of rage and re-working those abilities to a variety of subclasses that veer away from any barbarian tropes and give a fresh take on such a well known ability.

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

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Twitter - abovetablepod

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Featured on this episode:

Alternate Barbarian Rages from Brandes Stoddard

Fury Barbarian from Mr. Wizardly

Alternate Barbarian from LaserLalma

Path of Nightmares from The Griffons Saddlebag

Path of the Infernal from The Griffon's Saddlebag

The Iramancer from The Griffon's Saddlebag

Path of the Tideheart from The Griffon's Saddlebag

Valda's Spire of Secrets from Mage Hand Press

Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt from MonkeyDM

Brutal Barbarian Paths Heirlooms from Flail Snail's Mail

Project of the Week: Monster Trainer's Handbook from Dungeon in a Box

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Music:

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bookish character options and enticing tomes explored, but what do the final pages of our book-themed trilogy have in store? We hunt out unique libraries and their distinct librarians. We analyze mechanics and advice for researching and learning from texts in game. All in our final quest to integrate books into campaigns, storylines and downtime for any book-loving party, player or character. The End... for now...

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

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Twitter - abovetablepod

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Featured on this episode:

Chapter 1: Bibliophiles

Chapter 2: A Physical Copy

Strixhaven Mysteries #1: The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces from RBSkald

Librarian's Guide to Knowledge from Diego Pisa Artworks

Amaranthine Archivists from Bonus Action

Illuminated Manuscript Card from Dungeon Scribe

Magwa's Magic Item Compendium from Knights of Vasteel

The Kleptogoblicon from Cardboard Anvil

The Ancient Library of Knowledge from DMSlash

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

Accursed Library from Phylea

Project of the Week: Fantasy+ from Monument Studios

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Music:

Drama Music Sampler | Fantasy+

https://www.youtube.com/@monumentsounds

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not all spells are written equal. Some are must haves, whilst others you never see cast. In this episode we twist the Weave to shakeup spellcasting for players and GMS alike. From nuanced replacements for under- and over-powered spells to a streamlined system that lets players and NPCs add new aspects to well-known favourites, this episode is sure to spark the imagination of any spellcaster who is bored of Fireball or True Strike and any GM who is fed up of Guidance and Silvery Barbs.

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

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Twitter - abovetablepod

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Featured on this episode:

Spells That Don't Suck from somanyrobots & Omega Ankh

Spell Masteries from Mythmaker

Incantations from Metal Weave Games

Elemental Spells 2.0 from Kibble's

Project of the Week: Gobber's Guide to Hearth and Home from Unlimited Realms

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Music:

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Olympic fever gripped the world once more, we dove headfirst into the sports of D&D - 10s across the board! From some barebone rule sets to boardgame visualisations this week's episode explores everything from dodgeball and capture the flag to how to make any type of race exciting. Go Sports!

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

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Content featured on this episode:

Mage Tower & Silkball from Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

Chain Lightning from Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

The Shankha Trials from Journeys through the Radiant Citadel

Swimming Race from Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep

Snail Racing from The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

Dinosaur Racing from Tomb of Annihilation

The Fantasy League: A Guide to Running Sports in D&D from Mike Bernier

Annotated Tomb of Annihilation from Micah Faulkner

Tomb of Annihilation Companion from Sean McGovern

Strixhaven Supplemental Vol.2 from Alex Crews

Marauder featured in The Halcyon Coast from Aripockily

The Winter Crown from Aripockily

Siegeball featured in from Valda's Spire of Secrets from Mage Hand Press

Zephyr Boots from Strixhaven Supplemental Vol.3 from Alex Crews

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Music:

Intro clip: Sports Go Sports by Garfunkel and Oates https://youtu.be/2fraSdN-PG8?si=IhnZUigk9r4y-zaC

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And so our tale continues... We have our cast of intrepid bibliophiles to face every plot twist and cliffhanger. But what are book-lovers without books? This episode dives into the stacks to bring you whole shelves laden with everything from themed spellbooks and spell scroll art to training tomes and magical origami paper.

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

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Twitter - abovetablepod

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Featured on this episode:

Every Book & Tome in D&D 5E from makalawizard

Atypical Spellbooks for Wizards from Dichotomy Games

Themed Spellbooks from gr8artist

Spells Daily Vol. 1-5 from Dungeon Scribe

Hush's Bibliography from lebiro

Tomes of Teaching from Bonus Action

Origamiracle Paper from Bonus Action

Book of Misspells from ArdisFoxx

Book of Misspells from mrjamesgifford

Tome of Living Memories from Loots Tavern

Scroll Artwork from Bonus Action

Age of Wonders 4 - Tomes

I Search The Bookcase from Dev The DM

Books of All Sorts from OrkishBlade

Adventurer's Bookcase from Bonus Action

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Music:

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You busy? We're busy. We're all busy people. So whether you want a fun one shot for friends and family on a weekend or you need a filler session in your regular campaign but you just plain don't have the time… this episode is for you. Josh and Phil discuss some supplements that you can literally read through and run at very short notice.

Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

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Twitter - abovetablepod

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Content featured on this episode:

Sly Flourish

The Alexandrian

One Shot Wonders from Roll & Play Press

Dungeons & Lair from DMDave

The Arcane Library from Kelsey Dionne

Sanctum of the Moon Elves from Kelsey Dionne

The Wild Sheep Chase from Winghorn Press

Monsters of Murka: Restaurants and Retail from Bonus Action

Project of the Week: Moonsoon

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Music:

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we’re chatting with Rose and Niels aka r-n-w and rpgtoons. Together they create cute and useful tools for D&D, as well as one shots, mini campaigns and settings that are unlike anything else. Their current Kickstarter project, Traveller's Guide to the Seasong Islands, is a 5e tabletop supplement of tropical flora, fauna, food, and potions…which comes with an in world guide you can hand players!

Check out Traveller's Guide to the Seasong Islands on Kickstarter

Find more their work on www.r-n-w.net & www.patreon.com/rpgtoons

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Get in touch: hello@abovetable.com

Instagram - abovetablepodcast

Twitter - abovetablepod

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Music:

"The Path of the Goblin King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.