Recent content by DMrichard

I imagine I'm not alone. Without fail, D&D night excites me. Oftentimes I'll think about the upcoming session days beforehand, meandering through my mind about the possibilities, but never putting pen to paper until the night before or the day of. In these winding paths in my head, I'll explore...

This far into the life of Dungeons & Dragons, many people understand the player characters are important to the game. Without them and their antics, the game dies. However, they're not the most important characters. They are not even the main characters. The player characters may be the...

Rangers are formidable combatants. They make excellent allies in numerous scenarios. As Dungeon Masters, though, we might wonder how they could become foils to our heroic parties or merry vagabond bands. Despite their less-than-welcoming reception in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, rangers...

Even when I take a break from behind the scene, drift away from my ever-growing world of Eldar, and sucked into the sometimes blinding reality of daily life, I strive to improve my leisurely craft. It's why I might ponder about the innards of the game I run or the structure of my setting while I...

For years, I was the forever Dungeon Master. I ran numerous games, multiple campaigns, and introduced plenty of inquisitive folks to Dungeons & Dragons and the greater tabletop roleplaying game scene. However, I was not a consistent player. Sure, I hopped onto the other side of the screen every...

It’s a Dungeon Master’s role to create and populate the many different strongholds, lairs, and other villainous locales that player characters delve within. This means when combat starts it’s also the DM who rolls for the dastardly villains that work against the players. This puts the DM in a...

Many Dungeon Masters fret and worry about the balance of their combat encounters. I'm here to tell you there is no need to lose sleep or overprepare battles in Dungeons & Dragons, at least when it comes to ensuring they are mechanically sound and balanced. Simply balance your combat encounters...

No one expects a rogue as a monster, do they? Well, if you play your cards right, they shouldn't! Do note: I'm not speaking for all the conniving bandit lords Dungeons & Dragons groups battle, the goblins who are quite thieving, or the hill giants who pillage every pantry in sight. I mean...

It's no secret that the future of Dungeons & Dragons is riddled with microtransactions and subscriptions. Before Wizards of the Coast and its parent company, Hasbro, officially announce what new methods of monetization shall arrive with the next edition of D&D, One D&D, I think it's best we...

There's a limitless number of ideas marching around our planet about Dungeons & Dragons. Articles about how to run the game. Videos about crafting compelling nonplayer characters. Entire books dedicated to improving as many people as possible in the craft. Forums of hundreds of thousands...

Ever wish you could pit a battalion of drum-beating goblin warchanters against the characters? How about a four-headed troll that gurgles a disgusting melody to thrust confusion into his enemies and maddening vigor into his allies? Maybe a crime-fighting copper dragon who understands her bars...

Novel ideas for slaadi in our Dungeons and Dragons settings and games are seldom seen. The second piece done on slaadi on RJD20, this article strives to innovate a creature I dearly treasure in my own setting, providing ample opportunity for all of you to steal ideas and craft cooler slaadi for...

Villain Backgrounds Volume I In Dungeons & Dragons, player characters are the protagonists of a campaign or adventure. They roam the world, explore dungeons, slay monsters, and interact with diverse characters. Driving them forward or instigating reactions from them are villains, the...