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For me, if I think the story would be more interesting if a PC detects some sign, I'd make it happen or at least give the PC a wisdom check to get some sign. In my Princes of the Apocalypse campaign one of the prophets scryed on a pc and I gave him a chance to perceive it. He ended up rolling...

I feel the same way you do, Charlaquin. I like to take into consideration what the scores are, but for the most part, if it seems logical for the intelligent wizard to understand something or the strong fighter or barbarian to be able to move or break something, I just handwave it as done...

Session 35 and 36 - Back to Vallaki - Strahd Makes an Appearance (about 3 hours of play) Before leaving the church, Brigby casted lesser restoration upon Fid, just in case. With that, Fid had a strange vision. He saw a bathing pool somewhere and Esmeralda was there doing some kind of remove...

I've been running all of my games on Fantasy Grounds so it is easy to change monster HP toggling Average, Roll and Max. I like to switch it up. Some encounters are average, some roll and some are max. I use max when I want to scare PCs.

Lots of good advice in here and honestly, I haven't DMd a huge group (over 5) for 5e yet. Even with a group of 5, I tend to give monsters max hit points (every other encounter or so) and then I try to give some of them (usually the leader of each encounter) one or two special features. The key...

I see what you mean. However, there may be different classes of powergamers, one who plays the game and contributes to the story and fun, and the other who is hyper competitive and doesn't play well with others. The first type isn't a problem. The second one surely is. That's the one you are...

Been meaning to post this for a little while. We had a near TPK (my PC got really lucky). We were stupid 3rd level PCs...well the rest of the party was stupid. My PC had an escape plan. Session 13 – Green Death – Venom Fang After resting, Rasputin re-disguised himself as one of the Dragon...

Like iserith said. For the chase, you can have the PC make a series of checks depending on what he/she is doing. Most of them will probably by Strength (Athletic) checks, but you can always switch it up and allow attempts for Dexterity (Athletic) if it seems like the task could use that...

I changed the drowning rules for my games. In my games, as soon as a pc/creature is in a stressful situation while holding its breath, it has to make a Con save (DC 15 or more depending on situation). On a failure, the pc can't hold breath any longer and only has Con modifier rounds before...

Session 34 – Doru (another short session) Brigby was able to convince Donovitch that we needed to release Doru from his torment as a vampire, but Donovitch could not watch. He went off into the other room as we waited by the door that led down into the basement. I sang my bladesong and pulled...

Building on what others have said, decide the type of feel you want for each encounter and either add more foes (especially if they are weaker foes), or give the existing foe or foes max hit points. I wouldn't do it across the board though. Part of what makes D&D interesting and challenging...

Session 33 – Dretches in the Rain and Back to Barovia (A short session) We woke in the morning inside the magical dome I had created inside the cave. We got into our carriage and rode toward the hags’ mill that had collapsed after we had vanquished (yet not killed) them. We decided to drive...

Here's a quick list of ways to impart world/creature knowledge: NPC's like you mentioned. Rumor PCs can witness events that they can later explore or react to DM can use descriptions and imagery to create dominant impressions or drop hints DM can have dreams or visions for appropriate PCs...

Session 32 – Arabelle, Madame Eva, and The Bonegrider As we were getting ready to leave Vallaki, we were suspicious that people would notice Arabelle, so I broke out my old performing disguise kit and tried to make her look like an ugly boy. She enjoyed the game of pretend and I made a...

Session 31 – Burton Westcoat is a Turncoat – Saving Ann’s Soul Brigby stepped closer to the woman in the glade and the woman spoke with him. She told him “their spirits must be brought together…you know where she’s buried.” But before we could question her further, her image disappeared. We...

The way a DM describes a situation along with past experience of near deadly encounters (or deadly encounters) sets the tone of the game. This, in turn, influences how players approach encounters in future sessions. If a DM uses near deadly encounters and even lets PCs get into situations...

Session 30 – Into the Bog Again – Looking for Ann. We all slept really well in our rooms at Westcoat Manor, so much so that we didn’t wake up until late afternoon. Instead of leaving to search the bog area, we decided to wait until the 3 am ghostly spectacle. Douglas came to us and told us...

Session 29 – Westcoat Manor We fled the regenerating Bog Hounds trying as best we could to get out of the bog. I nearly collapsed from my wounds, but the others urged me to keep going. We felt as if we were making headway, but soon we heard the sound of the hounds baying and growling. From...

Like some of the others, I don't think it is necessary to limit flight. I had an aarackokra pc in one of my games and his ability to fly was cool. He could scout ahead and catch up to fleeing foes, which benefitted the entire party and made him feel good as a player. Inside a dungeon he was far...

From my experience, tension in party is ok, but once it crosses the line into pvp it turns sour and ends the campaign. When I was a teen, we played an evil campaign for 2 1/2 years. We would tease and threaten each other in character, but when we realized our mutual survival depended on our...