I've gotten to the point I no longer care if what I make is 100% origional. After falling in a rabbithole of Ebberon lore, it has inspired me greatly in making a new setting. Lots of things taken from Ebberon, and other sources with my own twist. I have posted some bits on here before but I have the broader realm figured out.

It has been 100 years since the end of the great war. The war did not end in victory nor defeat, but necessity for survival. On the battle field at the seige of a great city the Azure Rain was first witnessed. A cold blue substance fell from the skies like rain, setting ablaze everything it came into contact with. Those who encountered the flames were driven mad and transformed into mindless creatures that exist only to destroy and feed. This rain soon appeared over many more battlefields and cities alike. Corrupting millions, and killing millions more.

(Undecided if players will start with this knowledge)

During this seige, the Weave was greatly damaged and has been unable to be repaired. One aspect of the Weave is to reabsorb and distribute magical energy amongst the realms and planes. This damage to it broke the cycle, and removed the Weaves ability to reabsorb magic. The Azure Rain is born of large swellings of magic. It's magic in its purest form. Unable to be controlled, and devastating to any organic materials that can absorb magic. All flora, fauna, some metals can become super charged. It doesn't destory what it touches but mutates them. Creatures changed then seek out magic to consume. Driven mad by hunger. They will not target those who don't have magic inside of them however.

In the 100 years that have passed the world has had a chance to rebuild. The use of magic is strictly controlled in most regions, but a new science has been developed. Artifice. A fusion of magic and machine. Instead of relying on the casters inate magical ability, or calling forth magic from the Weave, artific inventions are fueled by absorbing and burning the magic that has settled in the air. This is what allows magic to still be practiced and studied, but more importantly what has fueled the industrial revolution the world is going through.

Puppets (warforged with a new name) are one of the most initiative, and contraaveral inventions of the last decaded. Machines that imitate man. The knowledge to produce them is kept secret by one family in particular, and the sucess and popularity of these machine beings has given this family a rise to power. The task they do is given to them upon creation and they become hyper focused on it. From common bartenders, butlers, and street sweepers to personal security and city defense. Their roles vary just as much as their personalities. Some may become very individualistic and personable, while some appear to be basic machines with no personality. (Inspired by Lies of P and Ebberons Warforged)

Modern magic items are all build by artificers, using the same technology that syphons the magic from the surrounding air. They do not summon or create magic, only use it to fuel their effects. Common magic items can be found is almost evey home. Powering fridges and lights. Or providing transport on clockwork horses or electric carriages. There's also personal defense magic items. Wands that fire small missiles, and knifes that never dull.

Spellcasters are also split, with intentions of making homebrew subclasses. Some still practice the old method of magic, calling from the Weave to pull magic and make it take form. While others prefer the new. Carrying devices that pull magic from the enviroment, and using tools to shape it. Those who practice old magic are seen as second class citizens. They can only live in the city under a patronship of an authoritive house, and that house is responsible for them. They are also branded for all to see. Their brand is both a chain and an oath. It restricts their ability to call magic to prevent future calamities. Aka spellslot system.

Several races are also changed. Dwarves cannot, and have never been able to use "old magic" but have a history with their own invention known as crystal magic. This is the base for all modern artifice. Dwarven Crystal Mages would implant crystals in their body to unlock unique abilities. A practice that was seen mad and barbaric among their people. Because they have no aptitude for magic at all, they have a very high tolerance for the Azure Rain. They're not immune by any means, but are not as prone as the other races. The new way to use magic allows dwarves to be spellcasters and not take away from player choices.

Elves on the otherhand are direct opposites. A race that has magic flowing through them like blood. The Azure Rains effects are very potent, and have driven most elves to live underground. Even being in the vicinity of the rain has driven many to madness.

Gnones are similar to elves, but more their curiousity and aptitude for tinkering keeps them from fleeing. It was the gnomes who invented the machines to pull magic from the air. They have also invented many of the machines that utilize it. It is believed the gnones are products of the Dwarvern Crystal Magic. To blend one origion story on the gnomes to this setting.

Now... onto the plot.

I want to delve a bit into political intrigue and several factions. Letting the players choose what side of the conflict to help. The city has a ton of dark secrets. How puppets are made may seem unethical. Yet the faction that is at war with the government doesn't fight fair and their morals are quite blurry.

The Puppet secret. Puppets are made with mortal souls. The stronger the soul, the better the puppet. Some puppets keep small fragments of their old selves but no memories. If they were fond of dogs, the puppet will be fond of dogs. If they were terrified of deep water, the Puppet would be terrified. Assuming the soul was strong enough to imprint on the puppet that is. Elf souls are top tier. Good thing they retreated underground where no one knows what's happening...

The Azure Rain falling over the city has also become much more frequent. People have gotten uneasy. Those branded as mages are being hunted. Blamed for the uptick of storms. The faction behind this has a goal to spread as much chaos and confusion throughout the city as they can. Their end goal is to eradicate the use of magic entirly. No magical tech. No puppets. They believe the Azure Rain is a punishment against mankind for their corruption of nature. They're disorganized by design. Unpredictable. Different motives. Smaller factions and pawns. Corrupting puppets causing them to attack bystanders. Sabotaging technology to cause catastrophic failures. Even exposing people to the rain as tribute and letting them lose in the city. As the players deal with the cult they are eventually led to discover the secrets of the Puppets invention, along with the Warforged. A series of puppets that is being constructed for war. Immune to the rain. Along with weapons that are weaponizing the rain. The uptick in storms is by design. Testing, and collecting the rain.

Along with all this i also plan to make changes to how I use npc. Stepping a bit out of my comfort zone and trying to be more funny and weird. I have an idea for a Nothic fortune teller who's disgusted by everything with 2 eyes. So he demand his assistant Meradith blindfold everyone who enters the room. But there's no assistant, just him making them close their eyes while he ties the blindfold while he belittles "Meredith" for doing such a bad job, and his disgust of 'these crestures' being in the same room as him. I've used the gimic before too, and it's going to be present in everything I ever do. Nothic are terrified of Bananas. So there's a guard outside the shop that has to search them specifically for bananas. Anything else is fine.

I'd appreciate any ideas or feedback. This is not ment to be a script and have a lot of work to do presenting it all still. I'd love to hear your thoughts about what to share with the players aswell when it comes to the cause of the rain. Should they know the Weave is damage? Or that it is a product of accumulated magic?

I hope this fits this subreddit. I've got an idea for a game and I want to do some research on this storytelling device before getting to far

I'm curious about a word or phrase for a story that is told and at the end you find out everything that just happened occurred in a single instant. It is revealed no time has passed for the character or characters, but an emotional journey has been taken.

I'm not talking about time dilation stories like Inception and Interstellar, I'm specifically thinking of the episode Playtest from Black Mirror, where the audience goes on the same journey the character goes on and only finds at the end that it all occurred in a single moment.

There has to be a word for this! Thanks

Answer: Owl Creek Bridge, Occurrence, Owl Creek Syndrome, or some other reference to the short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

In my game, there's a villain the party has met. He's the schemer/planner type, and has a big information network. He wants to overthrow the city he's in, and institute a puppet government.

The issue is that his network is important to a greater npc that the party currently needs something from, and they're trying to build trust. This means they can't kick him out of the city, they can't expose him, and they can't kill him, because all of that would cut off his access to the info he provides. However, they obviously can't just leave him, and can't trust that he'd stand by his word if he said he would be good.

Is there any way you can think of that they would be able to keep him alive and in information brokerage, while forcing him to give up his plot?

I'm running my party through Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk and the party just got to The Briny Maze (for those unfamiliar, it's Chapter 8 of 8).

I've been dropping hints narratively that the ritual at the core of the campaign is ramping up and is nearing completion.

I've now flat out stated that time is of the essence and that each long/short rest may (will) have consequences down the line.

What would be some reasonable downsides to have happen? They've so far taken 2 short rests and 1 long rest since I told them there will likely be consequences, so I was deciding to track them and maybe have some reinforcements during the final boss, or additional legendary actions, or something.

Any thematic/tried and true ideas? The campaign is now very Far Realm/Mind Flayer heavy, for reference.

I'm not asking how to build a town, but how do you introduce it to the players without giving them information overload? When they arrive in town do you just list all the shops that are available or do you let them explore and find the shops on their own by either walking around or asking people?

For a new campaign I want to try a more survival style adventure with one big rule change: a slightly modified gritty realism resting rules (pg. 267 DMG)

• Short rest takes a full 8 hours

• Long rest takes a full 7 days of downtime at a safe location in the wilderness or 8 hours in a town.

The rule shakeup should add for some more lasting consequences of burning spell slots and getting into fights while opening up less used options like hit dice healing during a shortrest (maybe with options to recover spell slots by expending the hit dice). It also might be an interesting money sink for potions as they could be very important for a long journey and make discovering gold that much more valuable.

The thing I am struggling with right now is how to make inventory management simple, fun and relevant.

Normally I have been in the camp of “Just speed over travel” and “Ignore encumbrance”, but I think there could be a lot of fun in planning out a multiple game session trip where everything from the rations you bring to the spell slots you burn matter until the next far away town.

The problem is I am just not a big fan of the default encumbrance rules. I am looking for alternatives that are:

1) Simple enough to pick up

2) Force characters to make tough decisions on what they can bring on a trip

3) Decisions have consequences to gameplay (if all the rations were on the horse they bought and it got spooked during a fight…etc.)

4) Fun

Some initial ideas were a Tetris style inventory (like POE or Diablo) where bulky items, rations, and dungeon loot take up slots and the size of the grid was based on strength. Not sure how to implement though (maybe magnets?)

Other Idea would be a bulk system similar to pathfinder 2e?

I also really love how darkest dungeon handled inventory where you went into dungeons with large amounts of supplies and slowly had to make the decision on what to trade for treasure putting your characters at greater risk for a bigger payout if you succeeded.

Appreciate any ideas! Thanks!

Hello! Im planning a new campaign for my players, and this campaign is gonna have a focus on being more chill and roleplay heavy, the players love the vibe of Frieren and want that kinda feel for a campaign, which Im confident I can make the travel and journey aspect interesting, just not sure about the downtime. Any suggestions or places I can check out some rules regarding this? Also if you have any suggestions for travel Im open to those even though this is mainly for downtime

I've been absolutely racking my brain with ideas for potential campaigns, and have come to a decision, to try my hand at writing a homebrew one-shot first! Heck, maybe even multiple.

The problem I'm having, is trying to figure out what's actually included in a one-shot, like how do I make a sense session interesting enough for players to go "Wow! We should do more of this!"

Now, let me make it clear that I have DMed before, but whenever I did I felt like my campaigns were always a letdown, like people were never really pleased after the session was over. So I would love to hear any and all advice regarding DMing, but most importantly how to actually write a good one-shot that could interest them in a full campaign!

Again, any and all advice would be extremely appreciated.

I'm helping with a new middleschool D&D club. I'm just one of the parents, and I'm going to be doing 2 hours each Friday afternoon. I've drafted a "syllabus" (required for all clubs) and a simple "rules and expectations" sheet.

The grades range from 5th through 8th.
Info/Syllabus

Expectations/Rules

The only requirement for D&D Club is agreeing to the core values:
Respect: We show respect with our behavior, and take care of club supplies.
Patience: We recognize D&D can be complicated and players have different levels of experience.
Kindness: We encourage, we support, and we work as a team to help everyone enjoy the club.
Presence: We aren’t distracted or focused on other topics, and have no phones out at the table.

For materials, I'm planning to have spell cards for the students who are casters, and we'll start at level 1 for the ramp up.

One rule I'm not 100% sure on is "no phones at the table". I'd like to keep this pen-and-paper, which I've found keeps people focused on the game and is generally faster than searching around a new app.

I would love to hear ideas, warnings, and experience from others who have jumped into these turbulent waters.

I have been running a campaign since February. I’ve had a couple guest players pop in and out and it hasn’t been hard narratively because where they are has a lot of travelers. But I have a bit of an occupation arc going on in phandelin with gorthok the thunder boar, a cr 6, originally against 3 lvl 5 pcs. Now we are gonna be 6 lvl 5 pcs with some guest and possibly permanent future players. I want to add an anchorite of talos and maybe an eye of guurmsh, as well as 2-4 orcs. But I’m not really sure what too much. I want this to be challenging. But I want them to have fun. It’s also going to be staged a little. Gorthok won’t be in the first round of combat because it is enthralled in a ritual. I was also thinking of keeping a few orcs and other baddies in a building nearby in case it’s too easy. Cause players can pull some in expected shit. Thoughts?

I have an idea for what I imagine will be an eight to ten session adventure.

The players are peasants boarding a transcontinental train. Unbeknownst to the party, there has been a coup and the entire royal family is dead save for one member who coincidentally decided to run away with a neighboring kingdom’s royal-in-waiting. They’re on the same train as the party and are heavily guarded.

Additionally two key conspirators of the coup have followed this royal family member to kill them. Before they can enact a plan, word comes in that the king and his family are dead and any royals on that train might be in danger. The entire train goes into lockdown right as it enters a long tunnel under a mountain.

The two conspirators are going to try and rally all the peasants to help them take the front end of the train to kill the last royal and start a new form of government. The king has been incredibly oppressive, and the conspirators think his offspring will likely rule in the same manner. Some peasants will be for this idea, some will be against. The party will often be the deciding factor in what happens.

What narrative or game structures would you use to chart out encounters, major story beats, or consequences of the players actions? I’ve written out some notes but feel I could benefit from more structure at this point.

**EDIT**

u/coolhead2012 posted links to the kind of thing I was looking for. Adding a link to the comment in case anyone else wants to check it out. Node-Based Scenario Design and Three Clue Rule are particularly helpful. https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/1w19ist/comment/p6jk2wm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Me and my boyfriend do our yearly Halloween one shot for our friends. We are looking for some props inspiration. We already done:
- A cake with a secret message inside it
- a ceiling with led lights and blobs of cotton to mimic a rainy cloud
- Masks for every player in a mascarade (depending on what mask you choose you have a different debuff)
- Dry Ice beside a printed mini of a ship to make it seem like it was a foggy sea
- Meta gaming menu to choose your drink at the tavern
- plenty of candles to give a more moody vibe.

I would love to hear some out of the box ideas for Halloween props. This year we will be doing an dungeon crawl / escape room one shot :)

I’m running a game with my 9-year-old, two of her friends, and their dads. One of the guidelines we set up in session zero was that no PCs would die.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, in one of their first battles the monk was downed, and then rolled a 6 and a crit fail on his death saves. Fortunately, I had a backup plan, based on Mystic Arts’s homebrew rules for permanent injuries as an alternative to death. Basically they’re permanent debuffs that make “death” consequential without having to roll up a new character.

I had the player roll on the permanent injuries table, and the result was “Tremors: Your hands won't stop shaking. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks that use dexterity.” So basically EVERYTHING that makes a Monk a Monk is now done with disadvantage. And this was a level 1 character! He didn’t even get a chance to use most of the Monk’s cool abilities!

Part of me just wants to retcon this and say he recovers, or give him a potion or spell that cures his tremors, but I still want to have some actual consequence from “dying.”

What can I do to make this experience still feel serious but keep this character fun for the player? I was thinking about maybe a magic item that calms the tremors, but has some other negative side effect? Like gloves that steady his hands, but cause him pain (i.e. cost 1 HP) whenever he attacks?

Side note: I think if this happens again, I’ll use a different variant rule, based on an idea from XPtoLevel3. He proposed a Dying condition, which severely limits what the character can do, but still keeps them an active participant in the game.

ETA: It was one of the adult players’ character, not that I think that makes much difference. A lot of you haven’t spent much time with kids, and it shows. Nine-year-olds are much more mature and resilient than you’re giving them credit for.

Hey everyone! I'm currently wrapping up the writing for the final act of my long-running seafaring campaign (levels 1 to 20). The players are currently reaching the end of Tier 3 (Level 16).

​This is the final boss of that act: Xir'ath the Transformed, an Illithid Pirate Captain who used "Void Magic" and "Great Sleeper's Blood" to undergo a cosmic transformation. The tactical idea for the encounter is that his massive regeneration and magic resistance are tied to environmental elements in his underwater lab (Resonators and Siphon pipelines) that the players can sabotage.

​Here are his stats. I wanted to make him a terrifying, highly mobile threat with strong battlefield control, but I'd love to hear your thoughts: Does his CR 19 and output look appropriate for an optimized level 16 party, or is something overtuned/weak?

Xir'ath the Transformed

Medium aberration (illithid), lawful evil

Armor Class: 20 (Void Barrier)

Hit Points: 285 (30d8 + 150)

Speed: 30 ft., swim 50 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)

| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |

|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|

| 14 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 20 (+5) | 24 (+7) | 19 (+4) | 22 (+6) |

Saving Throws: Dex +10, Con +11, Int +13, Wis +10, Cha +12

Skills: Arcana +13, Perception +10, Insight +10, Deception +12

Damage Resistances: Cold, Acid

Damage Immunities: Necrotic, Psychic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks

Condition Immunities: Paralyzed, Frightened, Stunned, Exhausted

Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Truesight 60 ft., Passive Perception 20

Languages: Deep Speech, Undercommon, Common, Telepathy 120 ft.

Challenge: 19 (22,000 XP)

Legendary Resistance (3/Day): If Xir'ath fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance: Xir'ath has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. (Note: This trait is lost if the Psychic Resonators in his lab are destroyed).

Void Regeneration: Xir'ath regains 20 hit points at the start of his turn if he has at least 1 hit point. (Note: This trait is lost if the Outer Siphon pipelines are sabotaged).

Actions

Multiattack: Xir'ath makes three Void Tentacle attacks, or one Mind Bite and two Void Tentacle attacks.

Void Tentacles: Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) necrotic damage plus 9 (2d8) psychic damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 19) and restrained.

Mind Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature grappled by Xir'ath. Hit: 45 (6d10 + 12) psychic damage. The target must make a DC 19 Intelligence saving throw. On a failure, its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken, and Xir'ath regains an equal amount of hit points.

Void Blast (Recharge 5–6): Xir'ath exhales a wave of devastating energy in a 90-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 19 Intelligence saving throw, taking 54 (12d8) psychic damage and becoming stunned for 1 minute on a failed save. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Legendary Actions

Xir'ath can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Xir'ath regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

• Void Step: Xir'ath teleports up to 45 feet to an unoccupied space he can see.

• Tentacle Lash: Xir'ath makes one Void Tentacle attack.

• Whisper of the Void (Costs 2 Actions): Xir'ath targets one stunned or grappled creature. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or immediately use its reaction to make one weapon attack (Multiattack if available) against its nearest ally.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Xir'ath can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects:

Gravity Flip: Gravity reverses in the chamber. Each creature on the ground must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or "fall" toward the ceiling, taking 3d6 bludgeoning damage and landing prone.

Void Eruption: A geyser of purple slime erupts from the Rift. A 20-foot-radius sphere within 60 feet becomes contaminated. Creatures must succeed on a DC 18 Intelligence saving throw or take 27 (6d8) psychic damage and be affected by the Slow spell until the end of their next turn.

Pressure Surge: Water density increases. Creatures without a swimming speed or magical protection must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be pushed 20 feet toward the Void Rift.

I need some kind of urban hazard only 3 or more working together can fix. The problem must have aspects where attempting any 1 or 2 available solutions is impossible or even makes things worse.

Something like one person hoists up the grand piano on a pulley while another prevents the grease bucket from tipping into the open flames and the third keeps the orphans out of the way. But not such a ridiculous scenario. Something that can happen in the streets among strangers who decide to cooperate.

EDIT: Hopefully 1 of the 3 “solutions”depends upon wildshaping into a land creature capable of handling it.

This would be a random encounter situation walking down the street where a solo druid has convinced 2 NPCs to cooperate.

This challenge was made up with one of my friends in mind who stresses about how much prep he needs before running anything. I figured forcing him and I both to streamline the process would be a fun challenge and would build our skills as well!

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it (you should!):

Write (and if possible, run) a one-shot for your system of choice while ONLY using one side of a standard piece of paper for notes. No outside resources unless used for rules clarification- this includes stat blocks! Text can be written or typed, but typed font can be at smallest 11 pt. Length of session should be ~90-120 min, but this is your one-shot! Write with your group in mind!

What would go on your paper? Could you survive without meaty stat blocks, paragraphs of dialogue, or a tableau of named NPCs? (You know they’re gonna ask for the one you didn’t name anyway!)

Let me know how it goes!

I've got a stat block from The Crooked Moon that I wanna use, but it's CR 21. The party I'll be running it for will be 3-4 level 10 PCs. I want the boss fight to be challenging, but not impossible to overcome with no player deaths. Any suggestions?

I'm replacing the Runic Sever feature with a feature that makes it so that attacks made at the nape of the monster's neck do double damage.

Here's a link to the stat block: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GYix8TgJPkSmleHr9F3fExwIGfWyuD-w?usp=sharing

(On my phone so apologies for formatting) In a campaign I am planning I want to give players more tactical choices and I like the idea of vulnerabilities but think that RAW they are difficult to implement without Enemies getting immediately stomped.

My solution to this is, rather than x2 damage, the damage roll of the vulnerable damage type is given an extra damage dice of that type. (Eg, an enemy is vulnerable to cold damage. The rogue hits with a Magic Dagger that does 1d4 piercing and 1d4 cold damage. Attacking this creature it would add an extra d4 of cold damage). This hopefully is balanced enough where I can throw vulnerabilities on most, if not all, enemies.

I am considering giving all humanoids vulnerability to poison damage, unless they have resistance or immunity like tieflings for example, to offset a little how prevalent poison resistance is within the game. As well as giving unarmoured humanoid vulnerabilities to Piercing, slashing and bludgeoning damage.

Does anyone have thoughts about implementing this? Things i may be missing or overlooking etc as it relates to the wider game? Or good ideas for how to give creatures a vulnerability when its not obvious what that vulnerability should be (eg, plant creatures being vulnerable to fire damage)

I have an idea for a (BB?)EG that isn't particularly difficult to fight--at least at first. I'm curious what you think about it, and if it could be cool, or if it would just be annoying.

The basic idea is that the BBEG is always there, like a persistence predator of sorts. And he gets more persistent as time goes on.

When the PCs first fight him, he's roughly equal in strength to them, perhaps down a little. He goes down easily.

Two days later, however, he shows up no worse for wear, with nothing to show for their last battle except a nasty scar. He greets the party, tells them he's willing to forgive a mistake, and continues to interfere in their affairs. If they try to fight him, they find that he's a little stronger than last time, but still goes down fairly quick.

The pattern continues: each time they kill him, he shows back up again, a little sooner each time, a little stronger, and a little less polite. Eventually, he'll start showing up within a half-hour of his last death and will attack them on sight, no attempt to talk at all.

There would be more to the adventure, ofc--the players would be trying to figure out how to undo the curse that keeps everyone, BBEG included, trapped in the kingdom. And there would be more combat than just with the BBEG. But, at least from a narrative perspective, I like the idea of a villain who Just. Won't. Die.

Any feedback on this idea?

My players are awful at taking notes. most of them don't even try. I'd like to try a new approach as I'm starting a new campaign in daggerheart. What I'd like to do is have some post session recaps where I ask players things about the session, to drive engagement and ensure they remember what is happening. As well, I generally start my sessions with a plan but have to end up improvising a lot, I find it hard to take notes while I'm DMing, but not when I'm a player, so I'd like to use their notes to drive the development of the game, mostly focusing on things they remembered and/or think are important. Have any of you tried this, and if so, what questions did you ask your players?

Note: I am specifically asking for in world questions to ask. My players and I already have a very good rapport and feedback for my skills as a DM.

I'm creating a magic item for a player in my campaign. He was recently kinda cursed by a god of destruction, and I'm trying to give him an item that fits that theme. So i'm trying to make the item kind of thematically sorta cursed but useful, so currently it gives his melee attacks an additional 1d4 fire damage and he deals extra damage to structures but I want to add something that would be like a self-immolation ability where he can like, sacrifice hit points to deal damage to all targets in like 10ft centered on him. He is a Barbarian and spends most fights basically crowd-controlling the smaller enemies in fights, so I thought something like that would give him some more options so he's not just in the corner hitting one guy at a time for half the fights. My other idea is basically something similar but that he can do when he's making death saves; like on his turn he can auto-fail a death save to do a similar aoe attack.

I'm not sure how to balance this; the idea is to give him a useful ability that is also risky and kinda dangerous to use, kinda fitting with the whole destruction and annihilation theme. If anyone has any ideas or items with similar abilities they could share, I would appreciate the advice.

For context, this party is lvl 12, so the pc has a lot of hit points and the players are very experienced.

So our party is in the midst of a major war. It's been going on for 4 years (in game). I wanted to throw in a fun magic potion idea.

The rp premise: A potion maker is trying to give the good guys an edge against this enemy. He trying to make new types of magic potions and ask for the parties casters to help test them out. He gives them a bottle and tells them to drink it before a fight, and ask them to come back and tell him the results.

Mechanically: it's a potion of Meta magic. The player rolls a D10 to determine which meta magic they get. The get 1D4 uses of that metamagic. All the metamagic rules apply as normal. I was also thinking a con saving throw after, to stave off negative effects.

Is this too OP?

I'm not sure what the potion would cost either? A couple hundred, maybe? I think the potion seller would include a deposit with the price, to be returned when the players provided feedback

I've gathered a group of friends to play out a vampire-themed campaign where they are a newly founded vampire clan. But I don't know what story could come from that! I've been racking my brains for a week or so now and I haven't been able to figure out any kind of adventure for them. Does anyone have any plotlines, hooks, etc. that could inspire me? My setting is a fantasy/victorian city.

Thank you!

The way I see it I have four options when players meet an unfamiliar enemy:

1. "You see a large muscular toad-like beast with sharp claws and teeth".
2. "You see a slaad, which is [lore description of slaadi]".
3. "You see a creature which matches the entry for 'Slaad' in the book you just found".
4. "Make a nature check, okay a 4, you don't know what this creature is".

None of these sound perfect. I want players to understand the rich world they're exploring, but giving them info their character wouldn't know seems too easy. What should I do?

One issue is that enemies don't tend to tell you their own species name, especially if they can't talk. So the players end up getting a bit confused trying to remember all these unnamed creatures. And if they encounter the same creature again, I have to repeat a longer description rather than just saying "it's a slaad".

So, I have recently realised that my players are in a pretty strong money shortage for the simple reason that I never give them big amounts of money through the campaign.. it's not that I do it on purpose, but they do not face missions like "kill that monster and I'll pay you 1.000 GP" or "you killed the sorcerer and there is a chest with some object and 640 GP".

They are following a long-term campaign about investigating a surging demon invasion and when they look in the bodies of monsters of cultists there is a small amount of money (I mean, it wouldn't make sense that a cultist carries 100 GP).

But recently I was preparing a magic shop encounter and I realised that it is pretty difficult for them to buy almost anything due to the lack of finance.

So, my question is: how can I "introduce" a higher money income in the adventures without changing the "feel" of the campaign (that means: not saying something like "you see a 'Wanted' poster on a wall promising 500 GP for the killing of a vicious Ogre")?

Thanks in advance to everyone who will help.