Mapping Skills I’ve only had one D&D game where a player was tasked with making a map and keeping track of the group’s position in the dungeon. This was in a very unconventional 4e game in early 2012 and it […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Gesundheit Verbal and somatic components – and the majority of material components – are pretty useless. They have no hard mechanical effect, but instead serve to differentiate magic beyond damage types. This way the firebolt dealing an average of 10 […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Where it Lies Loosely inspired by Episode 114 of Critical Role. As a DM it’s tricky to determine if a player really rolled a cocked dice: where a pencil or piece or paper interfered with the proper roll and the side […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Super Cute Halflings looks like small children. They probably sound like small children. An angry cursing halfling probably sounds like a five-year-old swearing like a sailor. This is both disturbing and hilarious. And nothing makes an angry person angrier than […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Tomb of Replacement Characters Reading through the generally excellent Tomb of Annihilation I noticed in the titular tomb there were a number of replacement Player Character options included. Trapped heroes or adventures turned to stone or just the survivors of a […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Sick Day There’s a few days delay between being exposed to a disease and displaying symptoms. This can translate into a couple sessions. This creates an interesting disconnect in cause-and-effect where they get exposed and several days later – perhaps […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
All Part of the Plan As a Dungeon Master, your plans seldom go as expected. The players *always* do the unexpected. However, most of the time, their actions are relatively expected, and not so completely out of the blue that […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Feed the Beast There’s lots of options for managing the locations of player characters. I like minis and battlemaps, but you can also use minis or tokens on index cards representing locations. There’s also cardboard pawns or papercraft minis. Candy […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Moment of Privacy How do you keep adventurers out of a room? Locks won’t stop rogues. Warning signs are invitations. Traps are a sign you’re on the right track. But hints you’re about to walk in on two ogres boning… […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Barrier to Entry Ahead of you is an ironwood door, sealed by adamantium chains and guarded by a wall of green flame… which are totally decorative and not keeping you away from glorious treasure. Someone totally went to all the […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Hot Stuff Coming Through Another strip pulled directly from my home game. Is lava rock to be made muddier? Mud to be turned rockier? Does it become fast moving boiling mud or steaming red-hot stone? So many questions and so […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Epic Outside Low level adventurers are continually offered small mundane tasks throughout towns. But epic tier adventurers will typically only find level appropriate tasks. They’re not going to be asked to perform menial guard duty or tasked with exterminating some […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
