MadCap's D&D Builds - Sam (Trick 'r Treat) (5e)

Happy Halloween, everybody! Let's finish off Horror Month 2024 with an old new Halloween classic! Sam!

I mean, c'mon. We've had Lord Zedd, Slender Man, Pyramid Head, and Aku... why not the spirit of Halloween itself?

...you guys remember Trick 'r Treat, right? The one that still has a hilarious hyperlink because I was going to review a completely different movie at the time and never changed it?

MadCap's D&D Builds - Slenderman (Slenderman Mythos) (5e)

The Beast. Daddy Long Legs. Gorr'Rylaehotep.

The being known as Slenderman goes by many names. Originally appearing in the Something Awful forums for a photoshop contest, this featureless, tall, thin mannequin in a black suit has gone far and wide since his first appearance in 2009, becoming an internet and a pop culture phenomenon. A legend in his own time, permeating the pop culture zeitgeist.

So, naturally, I decided he'd be a perfect choice for a character build for Horror Month 2024. W̵̧̧̱̫̮̳̠̲̮̳͗͝ḩ̸͕̤͓̭̝̫̍͊̈́̔͒̎͊͗͊́͊̈̋̍̚ͅä̵̧̖͇̱͖̘̳̯̰̹̩̗́̾̓́̐̾́̎͆̆̃̑͘̕t̷͉̪̲͖͌ͅ ̸̢͖͔͚͇͇͈͍̱̼̱̱̣̯̓̈́̈́͋c̶͍̻͚͘ō̸̧̮̭̮͍͛͗̾̏̒̄̈́͆͋̚̕ů̷̬̖̙̝͍͆̄̋͑́͘͜l̶̼̪̱̱̬̣͚̂̀͗͋͛̉̑͆̒̊̆̏̎̆͘d̶̛̪̞͈͔͇̫͓͈͛̽̍͂̂́̐͋͜͝͝͠͝ ̴͓̬̱̩̲̫̩̿̆̆́̏̉̆̿̈́̀̀͐̀̂͘p̴̡̧̛͙͕̱̖̻͔̘̟̬̬̙͔̹͐͐͋͋̑̀͗͑̒̔̓̒̇͘ơ̶̢͖̯̣̝̩̲͔̙̗̥̌̂͑̐͠s̶͇͇͉̼͍̭͙̬͙̞̗̠͙̅̈̆͋̀̀̚̚͠s̷͙͔̙̘͎̤̼͎̬͙̹̮̣̭͒i̴̧̛͍̘̪̯̟̼͚̩͕͉͈͖͈̿͌͋̾̈́̈̀̏̌͘̚͜͝͠͠b̶̖̀̅̄͛ļ̸͔͚̪͇̗̝͍̬̹͎̺̯̺̈̇̾̾̐͜y̵̨͉̲͇̱̼͔̯̩͛́͘͠ ̴̤̟͔̟̀͊̍͋̐̉̅́̃̈̚̚g̷̢̛̣̻̣̤̖͉̳̯̗͚̰̥̾͌́̈́̑̿̏̀̈́̓͐̏͠ö̵̡̧͖̮͍͉̩̱̻̦͈̲̫́́̊͂̐͂ ̸̨̞̣̱͚̤̗͙̹͕͊̋̕ͅw̴̨̧̳̫̪̙̗͚̯̥͗̊͠ř̸̢͓̜̮̤͎̮͉̯͕̗̯̻̼̹̑̑̈́̒̕ǫ̴̢̛͇̭̜̼͚̞͚̠̣̰̜̅̽̐̍̀̎̈͑͗̄̃̃͋́͜͜n̷͇̳̦̝͈͚͍͛̊̿͆̒͂̓̽͑̏̎̽̕͘͝g̶̡̬͈̟̗̣̥̻̥͓̜̮͉̊͜͜?̸̢̞̭̹̻̟̗͉̙͊͆͝ͅ

MadCap's D&D Builds - Lord Zedd (Power Rangers) (5e)

 

With the power and force of lightning, make this D&D build GROOOOOOW!!!

MadCap's D&D Builds - Goliath (Gargoyles) (5e)

1,000 years ago, superstition and the sword ruled. It was a time of darkness, it was a world of fear, it was an age of Gargoyles. Stone by day, warriors by night. We were betrayed by the humans we were sworn to protect. Frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years. Now here in Manhattan... the spell is broken! AND WE LIVE AGAIN!!!

We are defenders of the night!

We are Gargoyles!

MadCap's D&D Builds - The Ghoul (Fallout) (5e)

...what's that? I binged the entirety of Amazon Prime's Fallout series and am now rushing this out in order to capitalize on the pop culture zeitgeist? Well, that's just silly!

...I also happened to really, really enjoy the first season.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Vergil (Devil May Cry) (5e)

And this is power... or it will be in about twenty levels!

That's right, we'll be making Vergil, the twin brother of Dante, the main character of the Devil May Cry series of video games... of which there are only five and there are only four good ones. I'll leave you to figure out which is which.

Also, there is no remake.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Leliana (Dragon Age) (5e)

 

Okay, seriously. It's time for me to get my butt back in gear. I've left everyone hanging down in the mines of Valentine and it's kind of ridiculous how long I've waited to write anything again for the blog. No more of that. It's time to kick it into gear.

And who with? Well, you can read the title of the post.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Jigsaw (SAW franchise) (5e)

Another Horror Month and another set of Halloween builds using 5e rules for Dungeons & Dragons. Now we have a new banner for them - since the Tabletop Tales banner is now a distant memory - let's get into the father of the modern slasher film, John Kramer aka the Jigsaw Killer. A man dying of terminal cancer who uses his skills to put those who deserve punishment into lethal situations that they either sacrifice to get themselves out of... or die horribly as you can see in... well, any of the Saw movies.

I'm not a huge fan of Saw, but Epic Apathy (that handsome devil!) dropped this idea into my lap and it was too good to not go with.

MadCap At The Movies - "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"

I decided to let this one stew for a bit before actually posting it. I'll go ahead and tell you: it's good. Is it good because we just have never had a good Dungeons & Dragons movie before or is it good on its own merits, though? Let's have a look.

As always with my fresh from the theater film reviews, spoilers follow after the cut. If you don't wish to be spoiled, go ahead and go see the movie (and I do recommend that you do!) and then come back here.

Alright. Everybody caught up? Good, then I'll begin.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Dorian Gray Build (5e)

Here we are! The final Horror Month 2022 build! Oooh, so exciting! We've done a Vampire Champion, a sneaky serial killer who was never caught, and MUMM-RA! THE EVER LIVING!!!! With such a rogues gallery, what could I possibly choose to be the fourth and final build for this year? I mean, after a vampire, a serial killer, and a mummy. What can I possibly do to top all of that?

Ah, what the heck! Let's put Dorian Gray to pen & paper.

I mean, it's not like you didn't see the title of this post or the picture above or anything...

MadCap's D&D Builds - Mumm-Ra Build (Thundercats) (5e)

"ANCIENT SPIRITS OF EVIL, TRANSFORM THIS DECAYED FORM TO MUMM-RA! THE EVER-LIVING!!!!"

...hehe.

Oh, bite me! It's fun! Besides, we haven't covered a Mummy yet.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Jack the Ripper Build (From Hell) (5e)

From one Londoner to another... one of the most famous serial killers the world over in that he was never caught. I'm speaking, of course, of Jack the Ripper. Who was he? Or was he even a he? Scholars debate these very questions and more 'til this very night and, while many theories have been proposed over the years since the grisly murders, the killer was never caught and enough time has passed that we will very likely never get a real answer.

So, naturally, I'm going to build him in D&D!

...what? It's in the title. I was probably going to mention it.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Spike Build (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (5e)

Building. A. D&D. Character.

...bitch.

Okay, so that's technically six words, but bite me. And now, you can! Last year, we ended Horror Month with a Champion, so it's only fitting that we start off this year's Horror Month with one! It's Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

MadCap's D&D Builds - Moon Knight Build (Marvel) (5e)

Well, it's been a while since we were off to the races with a 5e build, so let's do us another one! After watching Moon Knight, I struck inspiration... so, obviously, this is gonna be a Darkhawk build!

... just kidding.

Seriously, do any of you know who Darkhawk is?

MadCap's D&D Builds - Dean Winchester Build (Supernatural) (5e)

And now, we have our final build of Horror Month 2021. Since we've spent the month dealing with monsters, I think it's only fitting that we bring in a monster hunter: namely Dean Winchester from the TV series Supernatural. Y'know, that series I've been reviewing for a while. You've probably heard of it.

Dean's a wise-cracking, ass kicking, good ol' boy in need of some major therapy. Life may get him down and even kill him on...many, many occasions, actually. . .but with Sam at his side and himself behind the wheel of his beloved '67 Impala, Dean is always ready to crank up the mullet rock and apply a boot to the ass of every demon on Earth and in Hell and more than a few other things, too.

Ready? Let's kick it in the ass!

MadCap's D&D Builds - Michael Myers Build (Halloween) (5e)

Another October Thursday, another October D&D build. I've seen a lot of Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger builds, but you know what I haven't seen a lot of? Michael Myers builds, and that's a shame. After all, Halloween is what popularized the slasher film genre and allowed either one of those two to exist, and yet for some reason Michael is always living in their shadow...which is where he likes to lurk and occasionally stab somebody from. 

Michael Myers was first brought to us in Halloween (1978) by filmmakers John Carpenter and Debra Hill as a boy who murdered his sister Judith at the age of six, spent fifteen years in Smith's Grove Sanitarium, and he's made his way through ten movies (as of this post) and two abominations that for some reason didn't get a legal ban on Rob Zombie ever making movies again since. So, today, we're going to be building a better slasher with applied D&D! So here we go!

MadCap's D&D Builds - The Creature From The Black Lagoon Build (Universal Classic Monsters) (5e)

Horror Month 2021 has finally come! Get your dice and get ready to roll, because it's time to get spoopy! As is fitting with our tradition at this point, we're going to make a character build based off of a fictional character and work them all the way up to Level 20! This month, we've got some horror builds! Let's see  what we can make of it starting with...

MadCap's D&D Builds - Jack Burton Build (Big Trouble in Little China) (5e)

So, I figured I'd try something new for the blog. The inspiration admittedly comes from the YouTuber Tulok the Barbarian (check him out, he's got a lot of really awesome builds), and I would be remiss if I didn't mention him. So, on the off-chance that you ever actually read this - thanks for the inspiration, Tulok!

I'm following the Tulok formula of picking a fictional character and making them in 5E, I have chosen one of the greatest heroes of the 1980's. Played by the fantastic Kurt Russell in the movie Big Trouble in Little China (which definitely deserves a review in Reel Thoughts...give me time), he is the driver of the Pork Chop Express, knows what he'd say at a time like this, and knows well that that son of a bitch must pay...it's Jack Burton.

Also, there are obvious spoilers for the film below the cut. So, if you wish to avoid them - come back after you see the movie. If you have, then press on...

Madcap's Table Top Tales - "Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters for D&D" aka "That Time I Backed A Kickstarter"

Happy New Year, people of the world! Believe it or not, you didn't have to wait two years for the new edition of Table Top Tales! I know, I know, I am nothing if not a generous overlord over all (of the backwoods internet blog) that I survey! Today, much as I did back in the tail end of 2020 (and thank God we're out of that friggin' year!), I want to do a product review - this one I actually paid money for!

Willingly!

Ah, the joys of Kickstarter!

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition"

A review of a game on PC that not only is a throwback to a more idyllic time in video game history (at least for my generation), but one that also fits the theme of Sword and Sorcery 2020? Y'know, sometimes I surprise even myself.

But yes, it looks like were traipsing back into the world of Faerun, the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons & Dragons! We've been here before, of course, a few times. Boy, were they fun! Now, we return again and it's just like the last time in that it's good - not that it's the same thing repackaged again with slightly shinier graphics.

CC: @Bethesda Softworks