Hi all! I've been a fan of DnD for about 6 years and a player for 3 years. I've finished up my last campaign a few months ago and I volunteered to be the DM for the next one. I have a rough idea of how I want to start off the campaign. I plan for the party to start off at level 3 as that's how our group has always played. For the plot I wanted to have the party do a guard mission for an NPC who will be integral to the overarching plot, they'll be going from a coastal village all the way to the capital with some twist and turns along the way. but I'm unsure when to introduce these detours/subplots. Like when should I introduce combat encounters like would it feel rushed to have combat in the very first session. We also might be having a first time player joining us so I'm trying to be mindful about that. I'm planning to have this like travel arc to be the first arc in the story so I'm unsure of how many session to plan it for, we do like 3 hours a week. Sorry for all the rambling but I'd greatly appreciate any and all help, as well as any recommended resources for DMs, Thanks <3

Hi everyone

I'm an experienced D&D player with some DMing under my belt (circa 40 sessions over 10 years).

This weekend I'm going to begin DMing a homebrew sandbox game, all based in one city, focusing on characters personal arcs

Any last minute advice from the veterans here? Any valuable lessons learnt running this style game?

Thanks in advance!

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These awesome cartography pieces were featured in one of our full-ledged adventures, House of Krampus. On our Patreon page you can get it in PDF format. The downloads include hi-res images for the maps. There are two PDF variant versions, designed for Dungeons & Dragons and Shadowdark RPG.

If you’re in my party and you see this, shoo. Go on, git.

I’m about to start running Curse of Strahd with a party of three people! Session 1 is this weekend. Two of them are very new to DnD so these are only their second characters ever. We have a necromancer, wild magic sorcerer, and a battle smith artificer. None of them are really built for the front lines, so I will definitely need to adjust some combat to avoid them getting stomped. I don’t want to make every battle design long-range or soften it so much that it’s no longer challenging.

I’m considering starting them off with a limited DMPC whose sole purpose is to take close-range punishment in combat and take some heat off the PCs. Not a damage dealer, just a meat shield. He’s not going to butt in on any roleplay/decision making and I won’t force him to stay with the party if they want rid of him. I might kill him off for the plot once it feels like a good time to take off the training wheels.

What do y’all think? Would this be a good or bad idea? Any other suggestions for how to accommodate this type of party in a way that feels natural? Thank you all for the help!

EDIT: maybe DMPC is too strong of a word for the idea! If I give them any sort of companion/NPC I’d want them to be as unobtrusive as possible. But yall are making very good points about that idea, so thank you for giving me a lot to think about!

These are two ethnic groups that I am going to be implementing in my next campaign. They are based on Yuan-Ti Purebloods, but all of the artwork I saw for them looked too creepy (which makes sense, but isn't the flavor I am going for). They are humanoids that are a mixture of elven tribes that came in contact with the God-Kings "The Dragon" and "The Fiend" (I'm still workshopping these names, but I don't mind the vagueness of them because its kinda ominous). Over thoasands of years, they are now a semi-serpentine Empire that is led by the same God-Kings, and reign over the “Woodlands” which is a tropical rainforest region of Rhündal, the world my campaign is set in.

The Scaled Clan have more serpentine genetics which manifests in having dark scales on their foreheads. They are master artisans with silk. While most speak the common tongue of the Painted District, the Scaled Clan language has become reserved for holy writings, known mostly by priests and clerics. It is the language that the Archpriests use to converse with the God-Kings.

The Painted District are more elf-like and aren't born with scales on their face. This puts them at a disadvantage, because scales are attributed with the divinity of the God-Kings, and so they have a cultural practice of tattooing scale-like shapes on themselves at a young age. They are known for their ceramics craftmanship that you can find along many port cities within reach of the Empirial Bay. Before combining with the Scaled Clan to form the Empire, they spread their territory east to the Lizardfolk lands. Although their kingdom collapsed with the rise in Lizardfolk populations, many Painted District loan words are now found in bordering Lizardfolk dialects, and so they can communicate rough ideas with eachother if needed.

These two groups maintain harmony despite the asymmetrical social hierarchy that place the Scaled Clan above the Painted District in status, which leads to occasional episodes of ethnic conflict. They both enjoy a great amount of prosperity as the only two cultural groups in the region that have developped writing systems.

Please let me know if you have any advice on how to turn these groups into playable races, or what encounters my players might come across within their territory!

My Tomb of Annihilation game will wrap up eventually so part of me is interested in running the Campaign through Tiers 3 & 4, and so I am coming up with a story that I think will satisfy.

It will involve an ancient plot to unleash Dendar the Night Serpent by The Sarrukh (ancient creator race for the Yuan-ti)

Part of it I'd like to send them to check on the integrity of Dendar’s prison by crossing The World Tree where it intrudes into the Prime Material.

The Ice Giants are (borrowing from Norse Mythology) afraid of Ragnarok when the Dragon Niddhogg is prophecised to gnaw through the roots of Yggdrasil - a cultural reflection of Dendar caught in Ubtao's trap in the lower Plains - as a part of The Apocalypse.

Anyway I'm having not much luck finding adventure material for a high level juant across the bows of The World Tree that I could either incorporate or use for inspiration.

So, Reddit any ideas?

Over to you.

https://reddit.com/link/1v3ltjo/video/pwjfvrgk9teh1/player

I started DMing in January for my husband and my son. I was nervous about it, because although I'd played for years, I'd never run a game before.

I ran a couple sessions from DOIP, and was bored with the story, so I made changes. Those changes evolved into a whole new storyline, set in an alternate reality along the Sword Coast.

After about 6 sessions, a few of our friends asked if they could join my game, (bring our PC total to 8) and things got more involved and everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Lately, one of my players has been having a lot of issues getting to our game, or not feeling good and so we end earlier than we'd planned to. 2 of my players are in it for combat more than story, and I'm ok with that.

But the last couple sessions, no one seems to be interested in more than bare essentials, and I really want to be able to highlight the intricacies of the storyline.

To be clear, the players have been deciding where they go and how they do things, not me. I've woven in backstory for the players who've given me one, and done all I can to give each player decent table time, and moments for their characters to shine.

Any suggestions on how to increase the excitement?

This is the first long term campaign I have done (3rd time as a dm). I am doing a bit of home brewing by mixing water deep dragon heist and curse of stradh.

The basics are that before it was waterdeep, it was barovia and a group stood as a resistance. They created a ritual spell of banishment and planar shift to get rid of strahd and all the vampires he ruled. While trying to finish the spell there was something that had gone wrong and it teleported part of barovia (which is now the harbor of waterdeep) but strahd was not part of it. He has been in waterdeep the whole time due to being weakened by his separation from his powers. He has tried to get back, but the way to get back is to break the spell book that first cast the spell, which was locked in the vault. He has since taken control of and is leading the zhents in waterdeep to look for the spell book which he knows is in the vault.

The stone of golor is a medium that shares part of the memories of the time when they were ruled by strahd and it shares the location of the keys (which will be vestiges from the party that fought him and made the banishment spell). Each key is made to fit the players class and backstory, each will be a tool of some kind that exposes one of strahds weaknesses.

Strahd will assist the players throughout the game until they get him in the vault, where he will help kill the dragon with the players or by himself to get to the spell book. He will break the spell and this will send them all to barovia where we will start the curse of strahd campaign. His goal in the pocket barovia is to amass an army, return to waterdeep and take over the continent.

Ive never played DnD before but really wanna get into it. Id like to get into the game by just playing a few oneshots, but finding a group has been hard. I heard that people are always looking for Dms so Ive considered just doing it myself, since I wanna be a Dm at some point anyways. Am I in over my head as someone who has never played before and isnt a particularly good roleplayer?

​Hey everyone,

​I could really use some advice on how to upgrade my tabletop setup. There are so many ways to go about it, and I’m completely torn right now.

​Currently, I’m just using a standard dry-erase battle map and throwing some scatter terrain on it. It works and it’s okay, but it’s just not that awesome. I want to take my game to the next level (I briefly thought about a TV table, but decided against it for now).

​I’m currently debating between two main approaches and would love your input:

​Option 1: Crafting DIY Terrain (XPS foam or cardboard)

​The Pros: Total creative freedom. I could easily make curved walls, round rooms, and custom shapes.

​The Cons: It’s a massive time investment per piece. Also, if I want different biomes or ground textures, I’d have to craft a ton of different pieces. Plus, they don’t naturally interlock, so I’d probably have to mess around with magnets to keep the board stable.

​Option 2: 3D Printed Systems

​I’ve been looking into 3D printed tiles (like OpenForge Click & Lock, or grid systems where you can insert individual floor tiles and attach walls).

​My Ideal Setup: I’d love a system with a base grid where I can just swap out the floor plates (water, swamp, city streets, cave floor, etc.) and securely plug in walls, hedges, and pillars so they don't constantly get knocked over during play. (Obviously, I could still just place regular scatter terrain on top of it).

​The Cons: Everything seems so strictly square! I can hardly find any curved tiles. Furthermore, there are so many different systems out there. I haven’t found a perfect "all-in-one" system on Maker's World yet (maybe I’m just using the wrong search terms?).

​The Question:

​I am going back and forth on this. What do you guys use and what would you recommend?

​Should I start crafting and use magnets? Should I go for a 3D printed Click & Lock system? Or a Grid system with inserts?

​Any advice, system recommendations, or specific search terms would be highly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

So many changes in so many playlists is difficult to keep track. Of immediate notice, links to Charles Dexter Ward’s and The Maker And The Source’s profiles with dozens of curated lists. Obviously the playlists include some of my own projects so you’re warned. Let me know what kind of music you need right now, I have over a thousand playlists, I should have over that fits like Strahd’s gloves!

Here are some works-in-progress and pencil maps that Angela and I have been working on over the past few weeks (the maps currently lack the text, which will be added digitally at a later stage)... We hope you find them interesting and enjoyable...🧭🗺️🏰

Support our art on: https://ko-fi.com/morenopaissanmaps/shop

How many of you employ "behavioral guardrails" on your sessions? In particular, restrict the use of phones/laptops while engaged in play. Not talking about maintaining contact with loved ones or something like that, a game always takes a back seat to that. (Need to take or make a call use the phone step away from the table type stuff)

How many of you have had to call BS and institute such guardrails after players have demonstrated they will repeatedly behave this way?

And perhaps the most important question, is how have these efforts helped or failed to help your group's fun level?

Edit- It is interesting that so many posters have something to the effect of "I don't..." Not talking about you as you likely are on top of what's going on. What about the ones who, when asked "ok, what do you do?" reply with "So, what's going on?"

There have been other comments well the game is simply not engaging enough. Maybe. But- if you are told "this is freakin awesome!" and still behave this way??

So the paramount question is IF you'd have to do something like this, what was the outcome?

I keep an invisible loyalty score for recurring NPCs. Merchants, hirelings

Not every shopkeeper and guard needs one. I only use it when the party interacts with someone repeatedly, becomes invested in them, recruits them, or depends on them to do work off-screen.

The idea grew out of the old reaction and loyalty systems. Daddy Gygax tied hireling loyalty to things like Charisma, pay, treatment, alignment, and behavior in the AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide. Baldur’s Gate 3 uses a modern visible version through companion approval.

At my table, the players never see the number.

I usually treat it as roughly a +5 to -5 scale, but I don’t use a rigid formula. A meaningful event might shift it by two or three points. Sometimes I roll a d4 when something big happens. Most of the time I move it according to the NPC’s wants, needs, and red lines.

That last part is the important one: the same action should not affect every NPC equally.

Killing an innocent might be a catastrophic loss for a paladin friend of the party. Giving away valuable services without getting paid might be the equivalent offense to a hardened fence. Loyalty is not a universal morality meter. It measures what this particular person thinks of their relationship with the party.

When the score reaches the bottom, NPCs also break differently:

- Some stay and begin undermining the party. I would highly recommend this one at some point.

- Some attack immediately.

- Some leave quietly in the night.

- Some leave after taking whatever they believe they’re owed.

- Some defect to someone who understands what they want.

Always take notes on the ones who leave badly. They’re callbacks waiting to happen. When they show up working for the bad guy, whether it's knowingly or unwittingly through the player's actions, the juice is worth the squeeze. When done correctly.

One of my favorite examples was a rogue who brought nearly all his stolen goods to the same fence. They had a deal. The Fence could pick through all of the stuff that they bring back first and get the best bits. The rogue became reliable business and effectively the fence’s only major client. Loyalty climbed, prices improved, and the fence became more willing to take risks for him. Do favors, risk his life perhaps.

But what would destroy that relationship wasn’t the same thing that would offend a lawful NPC. Working with the authorities or breaking the fence’s professional code would do it. If the score hit bottom, this person wouldn’t challenge the rogue to a duel. They’re thieves. Things would quietly start disappearing from the party. Oceans 11 the bastion.

The system cuts both ways.

A high-loyalty NPC with a habit of scrying everything AND on the party once noticed that a character had been ambushed alone in a marketplace. Assassin that had been shadowing them since session zero. Absolutely gutted a player in a crowded marketplace. That NPC’s intervention via loyalty, plus merciful dice, saved him.

The best consequence came afterward. Nobody introduced a travel rule, but the party started moving through town in pairs or trios. The world had pushed back, and their behavior changed naturally.

The score itself isn’t the game. It’s a reminder that recurring NPCs remember how they are treated and make decisions when the party isn’t watching.

Do you track relationships mechanically, by instinct, or only when a specific NPC becomes important? Anyone else have a brew like this?

-LIDM

Hi all,
My first homebrewed campaign/world was a low-medium magic setting.
For my second, I want it to be medium in present day, with traces of higher magic from previous centuries.
I’m having trouble with ideas on how to get this done in an interesting way.
Any ideas and resources appreciated!

So in my game last night i was dm for my friends and i was a little confused on one part of the combat. The creature i was using has a weak spot on its eyes and when the hp of the eyes goes to 0 and it becomes blind. The only sense it has left is a tremor sense (it's a huge insect monster). Does it still suffer from the blind condition if it still has tremor sense and get the negative effects of it like having disadvantage on attacks and advantage on attacks against it? Or do those effects only occur outside of it's tremor sense?