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Make getting enough money an end goal. The TTRPG “Trophy” does this. Collect enough gold and your character retires. Now, you’re more likely to meet your demise, but it gives your character some drive. I’m currently playing a 5e Dwarven noble fighter, who is looking to amass wealth to raise an...

I feel this. Started using proficiency dice and players just straight up forgot to use them. It got to the point where I just stopped reminding them because it happened so much. A lot of failed rolls could have been successful.

I have also found simply slowing down levelling has helped a lot. Been playing for a year (once a month mind you), and the characters are only level 4. I find the players really lean into the handful of powers/spells they have and use them in creative ways.

Yeah, I just ripped it from OSE. Has made running encounters way easier and punchy.

I run initiative every round. But I also run it as side initiative so I’m not having to slow things down by figuring out what order everyone goes in. Basically a player rolls a D6 and so do I as the DM. If the player ties or beats my roll, the players go before the enemies. I’ve found this to...

Isn’t this how 4e handled it? Build a budget and each creature has a related “cost”? Or am I remembering it wrong?

I too have a problem with the fiction of using a healers kit. I’ve ruled that characters at zero HP die if not healed before the start of their next turn. Not a solution but paints a picture that they are bleeding out and need help now.

The Venerated or Revered Ones. Holy might be a little too on the nose but its meaning is that of something set apart; different than in a good way.

It’s been an age (undreamed of), since I last played it. They did a great job with the lore/history of the Hyborian Age. Theres some good crunchiness to it, but I never felt like the game dragged on. A lot of the mechanics allow for some great story telling through play (Doom dice). The overall...

Have you looked into the Conan TTRPG by Modipheus?

If anyone is looking for a way to track ammo that isn’t bean counting, I suggest a little game called “Stay Frosty.” It’s a rules lite TTRPG about being a space marine. It uses ammo dice.

Some slightly untested homebrew ideas for wizards. At first level you know 1 first level spell, 1 second level spell, and 1 third level spell from any classes spell list. The only way to obtain more spells is by copying other spells into your spellbook, or researching new spells. You may cast...

Roll every level, including first, and don’t add CON modifier if you’re looking to spice things up.

Curious as to why you think it should be a feat. Off the top of my head, all the classes that normally get it at 5th level, will already have the prerequisites. Is it so wizards and rogues can be beefed up?

I’ve been running Barrowmaze for almost two years, with a 5E homebrew rule set that dials back the power levels of PC’s. When it came to levelling, I used gold for xp. 1 piece of gold equals 2 points of experience. The party shared gold and I kept track of what was found and spent. All magic...

For the first 4 levels of a megadungeon campaign I did gold for XP. Started with a 1:1 ratio, but then realized that was a little too slow, so I bumped it to 1:2. Once the party achieved 4th level, they had enough gold to stop worrying about paying for things, so I switched to milestone. I...

We do a one shot holiday special. I am the forever DM for our group with the exception of this one session. It’s usually a high level, gonzo adventure that revolves around some sort of Christmas theme. Last year we had to recover Santa’s sleigh from an island fortress where an Enter the Dragon...

Yeah. I was running a megadungeon and wanted to entice the players into risking their characters lives for loot. The goal was to get rich or die trying. I know it’s not the average gameplay style at most tables, but I wanted to capture the feeling and experience of the characters going from...

I was running Barrowmaze and decided tweaking the treasure drops for the sake of pacing was going to be way too much work for my feeble mind. I was flying by the seat of my pants because I didn’t know what the rate of advancement was going to be like. I actually started with a 1:1 ratio and it...

Use gold for xp for the first 4 levels. 2:1 ratio. Watch how important gold becomes. Also downtime activities and lifestyle expenses are a fun, off camera way to use gold.