Recent content by Jubles

The wizard in my campaign started with LMoP and has the Glass Staff. She never has to use spell slots and uses Shield nearly every time something attacks her. She is level 12 and has had it since very early. To be perfectly honest it hasn't often been a big deal. She has gotten pretty...

There are a few things I make sure I have handy before I DM any game. 1. A small whiteboard or mirror or something else for initiative. I have the players roll their initiative and one of the players collects the scores and writes them in order on a mirror on our wall while I roll monsters...

I definitely take inspiration from other sources, often fiction. The Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher are a goldmine for DMs. My party was venturing into a large story arc taking place in the Faewild and there just aren't many sources out there for 'Truelands' content. The fourth Dresden...

I agree. I wish that bards did not get access to expertise. Speaking of Scanlan, I believe part of the player's recent motivation regarding that character relates to his near perfection in persuasion and deception. Persuasion in particular perturbs me with modifiers of 13+. It removes a...

Bards as a class are not silly, they're just often roleplayed that way. In my game the bard's music and/or speech taps the weave of magic the same way as a wizard's incantation or a deity's blessing or a druid's attunement with nature. A bard's song of rest does not make everyone feel warm...

I don't disagree. I definitely use active insight for most things, I just like to supplement scenes with the passive sometimes. For example my party recently stumbled into a monastery of rock gnome monks except the leader was a big firbolg monk who called himself Papa Gumble. I presented...

If an enemy is lying, passive insight is a check against deception. If there is a blatant deception I probably wouldn't reveal that through passive insight. However I don't like to subjugate player builds and abilities to make my job easier. In my campaign we have a druid with an insight...

I like your system and if I was a player in my own game I'd probably like it. I think it's probably more than my players want to track and keep up with. The only homebrew difference in my inspiration is I will very occasionally give a "super special DM double inspiration" when something...

Hi everyone, my name is Paul and I've been lurking on these boards for many months now and finally decided to sign up. I DM a live group in a campaign that started from a few merged versions of LMoP into HoTDQ and early into Rise of Tiamat before it went off the rails. As of writing this the...

Homeland by R.A. Salvatore is, to me at least, the ultimate source for the depiction of drow society. It's the first book in the Drizzt stories. The protagonist is a favorite of many but the way the author immerses the reader into the society of Menzoberranzan is incredible and fascinating.

For a first time DM you've done a great job fleshing out the story. I'm not sure if you've played before and are new to DMing or just getting into the game but you seem to have a good instinct for running the game. I never played OoTA but I've run LMoP a few times. I won't be able to help...