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I find any flanking rule is already baked into certain monster attacks (pack tactics, etc). For pcs, I’m not a fan. For one thing, I don’t like my D&D games to become technical war game simulations. If players want to flank, they should use aide option to grant another ally advantage. I like...

Ideally, DM and Players need to have trust in each other and have to established the game concept prior to play. Does the DM use pre-existing challenges as created in adventure or does the group allow DM to improvise to add excitement and challenge at times. Personally, I like DMing and...

When I design a campaign, I start with a hub and create a web that may spin off in 3 or 4 directions. The pcs explore the hub and its environs and then touch on the off shoots. They have full choice which to follow. As the campaign grows, I continue the web design, but after a while, it becomes...

Bless, Guidance, Etc. become super attractive with 2d10. Advantage becomes less of an advantage, unless you just add +3/+5 or something rather than rolling 2d10 twice. I like the idea that bonuses are worth more so when you gain that +1 proficiency bonus or your attribute bonus goes up, it...

I hate auto succeed passive checks. Sometimes, I make random rolls vs passive perception so it isn’t always automatic. For example, if the adventure, or if I set a DC of 15, I roll a d20 and add 5 to determine if a passive check works. But honestly, sometimes I forget about passive checks...

Yup, first level got one of our PCs too. Big fighter got crit by a bugbear boss in our 2nd session into Lost Mines of Phandelver. He got pulped!

I use maps and images for orientation and often just use narrative and the combat tracker for theater of the mind exploration and combats. Some combats (larger mor complex ones) we’ll play on a map/grid, but I still ask players to tell me what their pc is attempting to do or target, especially...

Welcome back. I’m running a mostly weekly campaign using Tomb of Annihilation. We started the campaign with The Lost Mines of Phandelver and then transitioned into ToA. The pcs are 8th level now and they are exploring Omu trying to get all the puzzle tiles. My players are friends of mine from...

My all time favorite city to base adventures from is Sanctuary, a city from The Thieves’ World compilation of short stories. Many years ago, I think it was D&D 2nd edition, I picked up a box set (probably a third party publishing co) and I read two of the books edited and compiled by Robert...

I played in a OotA campaign and it was actually fun interacting with prisoner NPCs and Drow guards and getting a chance to escape. I agree with Iserith and others that players should get buy in so it works. It is much easier to get buy in for being a prisoner at the beginning of a campaign than...

Nostalgia and 5e is much easier for me to DM than any other game I’ve been a DM or GM for.

Also remember, OSR, Gygaxian dungeons made no sense. One room could have goblins and another a dragon that couldn’t even fit through the door. (Maybe a slight exaggeration). In old school, dungeons were basically made to test and challenge the players (not necessarily the pcs). That’s one...

To me, I think variety and unpredictability is most important. Some areas in a dungeon should have different ratios, but overall, I’d go about 50 combat with or without traps, 30% exploration with or without traps or hazards, 20% interaction.

The only time I run a full PC as DM is when a player misses a session and the player gives me permission to play it. I try to keep the PC safe. Other times I may have an NPC work with the party. But I don’t really like having a pc stick around too long. NPC are like house guests and fish...

Most games/campaigns I roll in the open, but once in a while my players say they like hidden rolls so I’ll switch. I do whatever the players prefer.

Being with friends, first and foremost. Also, the fluidity of how the game plays. So much is lost when people can’t read body language, movement and other aspects that online play can’t fully capture. I like playing online, but the best is when I can gather with old friends and play for longer...

I love it all, but I have the most fun when I can immerse myself into my character and interact with weird stuff in the game world, like strange magic nodes, tricks, traps, portals, mysterious items, interesting terrain and hazards, puzzles, etc. Add combat, or interaction, or both to that and...

I tried Roll20, but found it didn’t run that smoothly on my computer. I like Fantasy Grounds II. I had to invest some cash and learn how to use it with help from a friend, but it has been worth it for me.

I was at a sleepover when I was about 13 and while everyone was sleeping, I saw the red box on a shelf in the den. I stayed up all night reading it. It blew my mind. Then, a year later, a friend ran a solo adventure for me, and I joined the group he played in. I’m still friends with most of...

The wild die in West End Games’ Star Wars was a d6, 1 being a Complication, and it was rolled inside a dice pool. I found those odds too high. Maybe it would work better if you only roll the d6 on a failed chance, so it would never ruin a success. If a 6 is rolled, maybe it could be a success...