Free DM's Guild Five-Star Freebies

Xethreau · Jan 25, 2016

Hey guys,

I've been sifting through the DM's Guild, trying to do my part as a member of the community by checking out free products and reviewing them. There are lots of great free (and pay) resources on the DG already, but only a scant few make the "top ten" list. So I wanted to share with you guys some diamonds in the rough, the articles I gave 4- and 5-star, or I just think are special. If you guys joined in, that would be swell! (If the article you link is not free or pay-what-you-want, please say so in your post!)

And if anybody is a DM's Guild author who needs a review, feel free to private message me. I'll see what I can do for you! Please though, save this thread for posting reviews (and not advertisements).

So let's begin!

Races Revived: Rare Elf Subraces
Description: For those of us who want elves with wings and gills
Positive: This is a thorough and flavorful set of options to elves of the Forgotten Realms. The research was well-conducted, and it is nice to see the return of familiar elven faces. The presentation is professional, and it would make a great printout! The visual transition near the end of the document ominous and its finale was very rewarding.
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars!

Druid Subclass - Circle of Swarms
Description: Turn your druid into a pile of rats!

Positive: This is a very clever, very awesome druid subclass! Swarms are an important part of nature and mythology, so it is good to see them get some love. The writeup is straightforward, effective, and fun! The presentation is also professional and effective!
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars!

Oath of the Pilgrimage
Description: A paladin sub-class for wise world-travelers.
Positive: I was so pleasantly surprised by this article! It makes me want to roll-up a slightly grizzled ex-crusader type character. This article is well-researched, well-written, fun, and useful. Its 20th level power really surprised me!
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars!

Thirty Rules of Horror
Description: Like so many content sites, the name says it all!
Positive: Solid DMing advice from people who clearly know their stuff! The presentation is effective and professional too. I will be sure to consult it the next time I plan to run horror (or any time, really)!
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!

Wizard Tradition: the School of Chronomancy
Description: No, it isn't for whovians
Positive: This article looks like it's the cousin of Blood Hunter or the Gunslinger! Seriously! And for a time-magic user, it cleverly avoids easy pitfalls of broken-ness! Simple and straightforward!
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!

Recipe Crafting for Consumables
Description: A crafting mod for 5e!
Positive: This impressive libram introduces us to a crafting system that is simple to learn but considerable to master. I actually got excited about crafting! The items presented here took no small amount of time to stat-out, and we are very fortunate to get this article for free!
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!

Anybody else have articles to share?

CapnZapp · Jan 25, 2016

Thank you for this.

I especially want to thank you for not merely linking us elsewhere (to, say, a blog) but to share your actual content fully in your forum post. I really appreciate that!

I do notice none of the articles are adventures.

(Four of them are new player options, and I don't plan on adding 3PP player options to my game, only official stuff such as the EE spells or the SCAG player options)

Anything related to magic item crafting is interesting though. I will check out that "crafting mod", while I wait for somebody to bring over the 3E magic item crafting model to 5E through this new DMG!

Xethreau · Jan 25, 2016

Hey, thanks [MENTION=12731]CapnZapp[/MENTION]! I'm hoping that my post is a model for the community and other posters in this thread.

CapnZapp said:
I do notice none of the articles are adventures.

(Four of them are new player options, and I don't plan on adding 3PP player options to my game, only official stuff such as the EE spells or the SCAG player options)

That's really the trick, isn't it? At this point people are flooding the DG with with player-oriented content. And I love that, but just as you say. I am glad for the explanation of banning 3pp player options; that helps me better attune myself to the greater audience.

Jer · Jan 25, 2016

CapnZapp said:
I do notice none of the articles are adventures.

Is it just me, or is it really annoying that DM's Guild doesn't have a category for "Adventures"? I was looking for cheap adventures to pass to my nephews this weekend and was really annoyed that I couldn't find a filter to just get adventures. (ETA: Nevermind - I just found it buried under "Sourcebooks" - where I'm sure I looked before. Oh well)

So this is me saying that reviews of good adventures on DM's Guild would be much appreciated. Especially ones that I could pass to 10-12 year old boys who are really into D&D and are at that age where they have the time to play it a lot...

kyalan · Jan 25, 2016

Any other good free dm guild files ? I've downloaded a bunch and found most to be ... well ... bad, I've seen far better homebrew on the forums on average (thought some were actually pretty good)

and is it me or does the "by rating" sorting gives all the one vote 5* first ? that's somewhat annoying

Xethreau · Jan 25, 2016

[MENTION=19857]Jer[/MENTION] and [MENTION=6811808]kyalan[/MENTION] - I am in the midst of reviewing a set of additional products--mostly adventures! Hopefully I will be done with them sometime tonight.

In the mean time if you guys or anybody else wants to contribute reviews, please do so!

MwaO · Jan 25, 2016

I've done a few of them. The Simple NPC Casters seems reasonably popular - I took the relatively complex NPC casters from Monster Manual and rewrote them to be easy to play - it seems to be holding its own in terms of popularity - it has sold for money 23 copies so far and keeps barely ending up in the top 100 list.

Mystic Theurge has also sold well, but I think that's to a certain extent that it was one of the first ones up there. Simple NPCs: Eldritch Knight seems too specialized and narrow focused in retrospect.

In any case, just threw up a Simple NPCs: Priests of Deception and Murder - a variety of Faerun-themed CR 1/4 and 2 malevolent priests that all should run differently. Umberlee, Mask, Bhaal and Bane.

They're all 'pay what you want', but I like the Simple NPCs from the Monster Manual and the Priests the best.

Xethreau · Jan 25, 2016

[MENTION=12749]MwaO[/MENTION] - To be clear, this is a thread about reviews. What are articles on the GM's Guild that you enjoy?

MwaO · Jan 25, 2016

Xethreau said:
[MENTION=12749]MwaO[/MENTION] - To be clear, this is a thread about reviews. What are articles on the GM's Guild that you enjoy?

Just pointing out things for you to check out - you were interested in those too for the thread.

In any case...

I like Adamantine Chef by Teos, but that's a pay adventure - he's the ex-head of the Living Dark Sun campaign.
And the High History of Impiltur by George Krashos - really good free thing.

Xethreau · Jan 25, 2016

Kitsune Player Race
Description: Play as a tricksy fox spirit
Positive: This race is well-written, simple, and fun. Excellent for anime lovers and quasi-Japanese campaigns.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars!

25 New Combat Feats
Description: More ways to punch enemies in the face
Positive: Diverse, flavorful, balanced, and exciting! Even thought the language is sometimes not technically perfect, each feat is limited and useful. Makes me feel like I know a little about HEMA!

Rating: 4 of 5 stars!

Gallery of Blackstone
Description: 1st/2nd level characters must kick goblins out of a haunted art museum before time runs out!
Positive: This is a short, straightforward and diverse dungeon crawl. You don't have to read a bunch of backstory to run this bad boy, and its versatility makes it great for basic-intermediate players/GMs. For its shortness, there is a lot of cool exploration that can occur. The authors recommend using a map and minis to chart the exploration, and I think that would work well for this adventure.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars!

DnD 5e Epic Level Handbook
Description: Because they could
Positive: As reluctant as I am to review this, it is a very professionally formatted text that provides a simple and straightforward introduction to play on the epic tier. Naturally, if you use this you can kiss your campaign world goodbye! But it is nice for those of us who at least expect something for epic play, even if we don't use it all the time. Added bonus: it looks like it gets updated regularly!
Rating: 5 of 5 stars!

Okay I promise--MANY more adventures in my next post!