Search results

This thread resurrects itself every 3-4 months and generally bogs down into the "that won't work and I'd never use it" and "we use it and it's great" camps. First, let's get past the 2 big points. Disclaimer: I've been using a variant of what the OP discussed for 5+ years. It's great. Rules...

I have about 1% proficiency in coding and no subscription to Adobe for making ordinary PDFs searchable. I've been happy to link/open up the underlying coding to whoever wants to tinker with it, but our campaigns have moved to other settings and I haven't returned to update anything.

So after I ran this possible idea by my gamers, I got feedback from what I'll call our "most avid" roleplayer, and he endorsed the original hook, said it made him far more excited to play than being given too much up front: A group of friends parted ways 5 years ago to seek out proof of the...

Hehe, it would probably piss the players off quite a bit to have all that flavor text and the room didn't have one mystery in it. If I'm making this adventure up as I go... To the Rogue: The floor is well maintained and ground level. It doesn't squeak. You don't find any keys to the desk in...

That might be a novel approach to it all. Alternately they might keep the staff and seek to freedom fight anyways. While they can't realistically win (when a flight of dragons can simply raze the troublesome area like long-range bombers), they could keep resources trapped to this zone for a...

That's where the stained gloves came to mind. They could purely be a red herring, but a good investigation should always have them. I tend to avoid letting players "get away" with using their brains by making a "skill check." That sucks a lot of the fun out of it. Instead, I'd ask them...

Two things to accomplish with this post. (1) Share an idea for any DL enthusiasts and (2) seek out ideas to convert spell slots to abilities for divine characters who don't get their powers to start the game but should be able to do something. DLE1, Dragons of Despair, is an AD&D adventure...

Cool, while podcasts can be fun, for some it's mimicking how someone else has fun rather than figuring out how you and your group have fun. I also like to read up on certain blogs, reviews of product I might use (including old AD&D stuff), and read some old Dungeon Magazine DMing articles to...

Does the merchant live above or around the Office? Rogue: "I'll search the floor first to see if it makes any noise. Then the desk for traps/locks, if I don't find any keys. I'll look behind the wall map next and then that shield." Wizard: "Did I remember to cast Detect Magic before we...

CONS: Everyone spends more time not doing anything while the DM and other players roll a lot of dice. Since the DM has more monsters to manage, throwing a bunch of foes with 2d4 damage weapons leads to longer turns for the DM, leading to players sitting around. DM begins house-ruling all...

This. You'll have a page-long writeup of a town that you spent an hour making with NPCs and the party will pass it by or only inquire if it has a place to sleep for the night. If you're providing an adventure hook, then build what you need because then it will matter. Finally, if PCs pass up...

I go overboard a bit sometimes but feel the theatrics show that I'm all in on the game. In 2019 I made a Dark Sun intro video for our 5E venture (and in return some of my gamers made terrain and props). A decade ago, I made a powerpoint movie with a voiceover for a Realms campaign. In a Curse...

We house-rule the chance goes up by 1 every time a spell is cast, reset on a long rest or a surge. Thus, after 1 spell, the next chance of a surge is 1-2 on d20, then 1-3 on d20, and so on. The power of the spell is irrelevant (consistent with prior editions), but enough casting and a surge will...

Aha, that may end up being how this goes. Clerics without powers? Count me out. Wizards with rules? No way.

Are you talking about schools of magic that originally were only for a particular Order (e.g. abjuration for White Robes)? Might be an interesting way to preserve that without barring any schools from players.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2 often sums up my gaming experience. My players are off to Dragonlance in several months when we finish our current campaign, and here's my proposed Moon Magic rules (for those not in the know, arcane casters of the setting are affected by the...

It's hard to "crash course" DMing in a webinar or two or use a "top 10" clickbait article to learn to DM. Power Score's blog site has links to amazing advice articles and DMing tips from some of the greatest names in the game. Chris Perkins is highlighted because it's great stuff, but you'll...

Good find! I couldn't recall from memory, just remember it being cool and mentioning in the hands of a leprechaun they could pick their effect.

That was my experience in the AD&D days. While not quite "nothing else" to do, there would be times (1) you ran out of spells (none of this infinite cantrip stuff), or (2) you ran up against something you couldn't affect. In those instances, trying something crazy was better than doing nothing...