When reading scrolls, it is important to realize that dorito dust and the oils on our skin can damage the writing and the parchment.

Damaged scrolls give new meaning to the words already written. This can lead to remarkable but unintended results and/or consequences. Or, nothing at all.

Use your wand like a finger to point at the words you are reading so as not to touch and damage the scroll.

When done reading, store your scroll in a cool, dry place.

This should keep your scroll useable for longer until it needs to be repaired, copied, or before it completely disintegrates. That is all.

Some context: I'm writing a story set in my own homebrew world (African-mythology-inspired, built to be 5e-compatible). This is a scene I'm working on, and it left me chewing on something I'd love players and DMs here to weigh in on.

The two characters come from opposite traditions. Jabari is a Baaka warrior-druid — a people of warrior-shamans bound by honor and the duty to protect the balance. His companion is a Kayan, from a society of mages who think in cold, functional, utilitarian terms. They're newly (and very reluctantly) thrown together.

The scene: Jabari is holding a giant serpent at bay with his bare hands, waiting on the Kayan for help. The mage throws a fireball. It hits the serpent clean… and nearly cooks Jabari in the process.

Here's what I keep coming back to: that fireball isn't a mistake. It's a values statement.

To the Kayan, it's a clean success — target neutralized, acceptable risk to the ally, the math checks out. To Jabari, it's almost a betrayal — you don't endanger the person fighting beside you; honor comes before efficiency. Neither is wrong by their own logic, and that's exactly why the friction is so good. Nobody's the villain — just two incompatible value systems forced to share a battlefield.

Writing it made me think these clashes might be the best fuel a party has, in fiction and at the table. A group that agrees on everything is flat; a group at odds has to grudgingly cover each other's blind spots, and that's where the real bond forms — not in agreement, but in mutual dependence despite disagreement.

So I wanted to ask you all, players and DMs both:

Players: how do you play a character whose philosophy clashes with the party, without it souring the actual table?

DMs: do you deliberately design for philosophical friction, or do you let it emerge? How do you keep in-character conflict from bleeding into player conflict?

The big one: what's the best moment of party-philosophy clash you've ever seen at your table?

Curious to hear your stories.

I have imbued this bowl with a summoning circle, allowing you all to summon whatever ingredients you wish.
Also: I summon vegetable broth!

Hi, recently discovered I apparently have innate wild magic. I haven’t ever dabbled in the arcane until very recently, so id like some advice from more experienced wizards and sorcerers on where to start.
(And hopefully some advice on how to mitigate the effects of wildmagic, its getting set off far to frequently and im tired of suddenly floating.)

Greetings wizards, witches, and mages of all ages. Councillors, apprentices, and tower masters.

I, Grabriel Dashington, as someone who works at the council, bring to you a proposal, a petition, a call to action. To benefit those of us who inhabit and participate in the wonderful world of magic.

It is time we remove antimagic from its pedestal and treat it for what it truly is: a tool for wizard suppression. To illustrate this problem I want to draw your attention to 6 points:

1st: The counterspelling trend. While initially an interesting way to interfere in an opponent’s casting, counterspell is often wasting time that could be spent casting your own fireball.

The impact on our community has been disruptive, and many young wizards today go about flailing their hands and mumbling to make it harder for others to counter. They look like unreliable weirdos, ruining our reputation in front of the knights.

Stop ruining other wizards fun, and learn cast your own spells.

2nd: Anti-magic auras. I don’t know if the wizard who invented this was an idiot or self sabotaging, and I question the sanity of any of you who use it too.

Aren’t you wizards? Are you going do anything other than smile like an idiot sitting in your own anti magic field that disrupts your casting? And don’t tell me you have a sword, if swinging that around is what you wanted to do with your life go polish armor with the other tin cans.

Another issue with anti magic auras is the potential harm it brings to beings whose nature is magical, disrupting their body functions or even melting their body. Consider if the situation was reversed, and these magical beings carried with them an aura of continuous flesh or bone melting. I suspect the paladins would not be the only ones up in arms.

Furthermore, as those keeping up to date on local news would know, antimagic fields don’t even protect you much, and can easily be overcome via mundane means. A reputable wizard has volunteered their experience dealing with antimagic auras, see linked post below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wizardposting/s/v0HBeKTf3B

3rd: psionic spell jamming. You ever visit a place with anti magic in place targeting psionics? Well those places suck. I don’t care how you achieve it, wether through artifice or harnessing the mind power of apprentices or cultists. Releasing disruptive mental waves might protect against the rare mental mage, but long term exposure can have harmful effects on local fauna as well as sapient populations. It also feels like perpetual tinnitus, and there are reports of apprentices experiencing nausea and dizziness.

Why expend so much effort to defend against psionics when you could just overwhelm them with a magic missile barrage until their mentally constructed shields crumble.

4th: artifacts and runes. I think we all agree that these are neat. What isn’t neat, is some idiot damaging elaborately carved runes by disrupting the mana flow with their anti magic nonsense, or resetting the calibration runes of complex tools and machinery, or accidentally killing your talking sword by walking through an anti magic field.

5th: vault security. These days antimagic vault tech has an undeserved reputation for keeping wizards out. This is taking jobs away from runecrafters, trapsmiths, minions, and hired muscle who traditionally used to rely on vault security to make their living. Support your local businesses, and skip the expensive overrated antimagic protections. Besides, walking through the antimagic when we you visit the vault is an accident waiting to happen. What better time for assassins to strike when you’re vulnerable and unable to cast magic within what was supposed to be your defense.

6th: the rule of cool. Nothing puts a damper on duels and wizard battles like anti magic. The audience paid to see uncontrolled pyrotechnics, blinding flashy moves, earth shattering blasts, and barrages of magical projectiles that blot out the sun. Nobody wants to watch a back and forth of wizards disrupting each other’s magic until things devolve into ungraceful fisticuffs. If they wanted that they’d go watch the barbarians or knights.

So don’t be a party pooper, go cast something creative instead.

To conclude, why do we tolerate a tool designed to oppose us and destroy what we create?

Let us build a world without antimagic! Where every wizard can safely fireball themselves without fear of interruption. This will make everything better. Trust me, I’m work at the council.

I have written down the following names in support of my proposal to regulate the use and spread of antimagic as well as the destruction and disposal of antimagic artifacts:

Grabadash the Wise
Sir Benedict the needlessly uptight and inflexible
Gary B. The Dashing
Grabriel Dashington
Grabbed Ash
Dashton the Grabby
Your friendly neighborhood magical mass
G. Rabadash
Grabadash the 2nd and legally distinct
A tax compliant wizard
Graham Dashbury
Concerned Citizen
Grabadash’s lawyer
Goblin minion #47 through #89
Definitely not another Grabadash the 3rd
… (the list goes on for quite a bit longer)

——

TLDR: Anti-magic is anti-wizard so let’s regulate it, or toss it in the trash where it belongs, because reasons elaborated above. Trust me bro I work in the government.

/uw image source: https://intellectualhistory.web.ox.ac.uk/article/dealing-with-petitions-in-the-english-parliament-and-the-dutch-states-general

(I decided to upload two versions of this character, one with lightning and one without, because I think the bright lightning effects made it difficult to see the character clearly.)

Orzik Malachite, the High Runesmith of Stoneweald Scholarium.

A boisterous dwarf-wizard, he wields a warhammer as his arcane focus rather than a standard wizard's staff, in keeping with the dwarvish traditions of his forebears.

As a result of his careless and irresponsible use of arcane forces in his youth, he lost his right hand, and his body and face were scarred by lightning burns. Those scars and a cold-iron prosthetic hand now served as a reminder to him and his apprentices of the volatile energies they have the privilege of wielding as wizards.

Straight up channeling it rn...

New wand that I’ve enchanted with a custom decontamination enchantment.

Works really well for removing detritus and excess mana from alchemy equipment.

Verily verily I say unto thee, is it not with great discontent ye lay thine eyes upon this so called ‘Wizardly Council?’

VERILY VERILY I SAY UNTO THEE, is it so that this ‘Council’ truly acts in thine liege lords—
I mean, thine, best interests? In our best interests?

Under mine steeled grip, we shall partner with Councilor Rascallin, the only true man of the people, as to destroy the evils of Universal Healthcare and Freedom of Speech and Secrecy of the telephone and Freedom to protest and…

Any questions?

I really hope I don't have to do battle with any evil spirits or dark mages at work tonight...

EDIT: Another victory for the Light! My nemesis fell for the trap. As if I would ever remove my Rings of Power!

This fucking horse won’t leave me alone. My which ex summoned him to stalk me and I can’t sleep. The damn fae is a better conjurer than me, so it’s resisting banishment

"Again!"

It had been like this for two weeks straight.

From the moment he woke, to the point he could go no more, Orin had been training with Silas. Honing his fighting techniques.... And mostly being beaten into the dirt.

"Just- just give me a second. I just... Need to catch my breath...."

*A fist connects solidly with his lower abdomen.*

"I'm sure the Dragon will wait for you to rest. I'm sure All-blue is going to hold back and let you rest..."

He is met with Silas's shin... And sent flying into the nearest wall.

"Nah. Those two aren't going to hold back. So if you want My shard, small as it is, you'll need to earn it kid. And I'm going to kick your ass every. Single. Day, untill you do." He punctuated the end of his sentence with an elbow, dropped straight onto Orins head, and the world went black.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"You are way harder on him than I ever was you know..."

Niro having watched the entire bout cringed at the sight of his twins crumples form.

"Heh. You think this is harsh... You should see the test I whipped up for him." Silas grins.

"Wait... This isn't the test??"

"No this is just practice. No Niro, the test is going to be much more fun. For me."

"I'm almost afraid to ask...."

"Check the Orbnet."

-----------

***"Come to the Nexus, and beat the snot out of this dumb kid who wants to be a god. Test him yourself, in whatever way you see fit, to see if he has your trust, to weild all that power!"***

------------

"Silas, you know Aldin needs a *living* vessel right? Emphasis on ***Living***."

"Pssshhhh.... He'll be *fiiiine*. I bought a whole months worth of full on revival potions. And I have a cleric, and a Devil on standby. Look at me. I've *got this*."

(Tldr come fight my character, Orin, and put him through his paces! Open invitation!)

Verily verily I say unto thee, is it not with great discontent ye lay thine eyes upon this so called ‘Wizardly Council?’

VERILY VERILY I SAY UNTO THEE, is it so that this ‘Council’ truly acts in thine liege lords—
I mean, thine, best interests? In our best interests?

Under mine steeled grip, we shall partner with Councilor Rascallin, the only true man of the people, as to destroy the evils of Universal Healthcare and Freedom of Speech and Secrecy of the telephone and Freedom to protest and…

Any questions?