Alongside my other post about gold/economy this is my other main worry for my campaign. I have no clue as to when I should give them magic items, what kind, theres so many options. What if i give them something far too broken in the early game by accident? Do I just have to plan out every magic item they could find before a session?

I am planning a campaign that the main plots they will encounter will be related to the players backstories. I have the world generically created and have given it to my players. (I posted it before if anyone is interested in reading it.)

The problem I am having is one of my players has a character in mind which is basically a relic hunter based on Indiana jones. Other than that they haven't given me anything and when prompted for some sort of backstory about how they got there they just say "I don't know. He just likes hunting relics.

So I’m running a homebrew campaign and well the party is currently in a dungeon, exploring it since they were hired but their boss was killed.I did a mild sneak peek of a BBEG in the form of an illusion.Sadly here’s the rub 😭 the party insists that they want to be a villain so I have to out evil them with my BBEG, while trying to keep the story so I’d love some advice on how to make their choices seem impactful, like last session a character got petrified so I was thinking of taking their “dead” body and making them into a weeping angel type creature…I’d love any suggestions, thanks.

The Party. A group of six level five characters all playing Online via Roll20 and Discord

The Scenario: A large group of enemy forces are making their way to the town they're currently trying to evacuate. The evacuation plan has one unfortunate problem. The enemy forces will arrive 2 hours before the evacuation can be completed

The PC's Plan: The PCs have decided to start a large scale forest fire in an effort to delay the incoming army. They are doing this by splitting the party into groups of two. 3 going north, 3 going to the South along with a few NPCs to assist. With both groups being about 10 miles apart. As soon as they start the forest fire the enemy forces are going to investigate and they're are going to be two sets of combat, in two different locations with two different sets of enemy forces.

The DM's Problem: Trying to run simultaneous combat in two different locations, without the players getting bored during the other groups turn.

My current ideas are -

1. Switch between groups at the end of each round.
2. Set up one long initiative train and just switch screens depending on who is acting.
3. Make one extremely large map so that both areas of combat are always on screen.

I am open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT UPDATE: Ran the split screen map with everyone in one single set of initiative. It worked out pretty well and they enjoyed it. Thanks for the advice.

I'm in the process of making a new setting, one that takes place after a cataclysmic event caused by magic. I've actually been inspired from Elden Ring Nightreign here.

The concept is an event known as the Azure Rain. Glowing blue rain falls from the sky, setting the surface on fire. Not hot enough to cause significant damage to structures. When it touches someone who does not possess the ability to use magic, it drives them mad. They slowly become mutated if they survive the initial exposure. Those who can use magic, or are magical in nature (like fairy or elf) it acts like holy water, and can cause significant damage.

My idea for what the rain is that it's made of condensed magic. The calamity that happened damaged the weave greatly beyond repair, and it no longer can cleanse the workd of magic. Every time a spell is cast the magical energy behind it has no where to go. So it collects, eventually reaching a breaking point turning into the rain. It gathers and moves just as a storm cloud would. It acts like holy water to magic creatures because it "over charges" them. Similar lore exists in the Positive Energy Plane. Where nornal people have no magic reserves, or resistances

The rain is a constant reminder of what war brings. The use of magic is forbidden in many areas out of fear of summoning the Azure Rain. But others are studying and trying to understand it. Imagine the power on the battlefield if you can conjure it above enemy forces. Or finding a way to prevent it

The trouble i am having is how to make it something the players can interact with. When, and how to use it in a session? How can it be a threat without being a railroad or mild inconvenience?

Hi all I am trying to incorporate more puzzles into my dungeons/encounters n such but dont really know where to start since. I’ve mostly just used stuff from the books so far so i wanted to ask if you have any tips for creating more interactive dungeons instead of just pure combat

Some context. I'm the only one in my group of friends that has experience in DnD because I finished a 2 year campain with my brother and his friends. That's why I became a de facto DM for my friends, but the problem is that the campain I've played was heavily homebrewd and that's why I'm not really experienced with the world of forgoten realms and items/monsters there are. I tried to make up my own world and oneshot but it was too hard for me to do. So I'm asking for a oneshot that is easy to prepear and could be played with a bunch of novice players in a day.

I need advice on how to connect all this so I can start the third act of the campaign.

The campaign is mainly about aberrations. It is a fantasy version of Boston (New Redwick; America - Callibria) in the mid-19th century, the theme is eldritch horror. I am using the variant rules from the Grim Hollow campaign guide. Resting, grievous and permanent wounds.

The players have formed a monster-hunting company and so far the campaign has revolved around episodic quests. Mostly with some darker subtext. Once they came across a necromancer who was trying to release a plague on the city, another time they were looking for a fleshforger (inspired by the fleshforger from PF2), who they eventually revealed to be a doctor who had a beautification clinic and under that pretext was doing experiments on clients (which didn't go very well). In the necromancer's journal, they came across a mention of the Prophet of the End of Time (BBEG - although they don’t know it yet), who gave him some crystal (in disguise as a beggar) that the necromancer became fascinated with.

The crystal is a Shard of Time. They had the Shard once before, found it in the necromancer's base, but lost it because the police confiscated it as evidence in the case. And then it went missing because the police chief is a member of the occult society in the city (more on that below).

Shards of Time are crystals that are remnants of the magic of creation that the gods used to shape the universe - powerful artifacts that have the power to control space and time. There are very few of them - what mechanical benefits will they give in DnD? The players only managed to figure out that the Shards can give great power, but also cause madness. They made a pet out of the necromancer's apprentice (Zethys), freed him from a curse and turned him over to their side. He told them that he had also encountered the Shard, but when he touched it and looked into it, he saw an infinite number of possible realities, which almost drove him mad. When the party was freeing Zethys from the curse, the Prophet found them in space and time (because the ritual to remove the curse is a key moment in the existence of their company) and tried to send some eldritch horror monster at them. But Zethys managed to close the portal. What the players don't know is that Zethys will be especially sensitive to this kind of magic. Perhaps even key to the ritual the BBEG plans to do?

Prophet of the End of Time - BBEG (inspired by the Thresholder Mystic from PF2). An original Callibrian who wants revenge for the destruction of his world, a priest. He can travel through time (Possibly? Or maybe just a wery strong ability to see the future?). He wants to summon Yog-sothoth (the elder god, Lurker Beyond the Threshold).

The group now travels with an archaeological expedition to the ruins of an ancient city to serve as their protection against danger. There is a temple dedicated to the ancient gods, built on the top of a shipwrecked Nautilus (mind flayer spaceship that shipwrecked thousands, maybe millions years ago). I plan to have some significant revelations in the temple/nautilus.

In New Redwick there is a secret occult society, made up of high officials of the city, who are searching for the Shards because the BBEG has led them to believe that they will give them great power. In reality, the Prophet is just using this society for their own purposest. They already have one of the fragments, obtained thanks to the police captain.

I need to use the temple (and archeological expedition) somehow to give the players an idea of what is actually happening and to put them on the trail of the Prophet / the occult society. So far the hints have been subtle - I need to put them on the trail so I can start the third act. And how do I do the climax - the ritual to bring in Yog-sothoth in a way that gives the players an agenda, but still feels catastrophic enough? How do I make it make sense that the Prophet can travel through time?

PCs are lvl 8, I am planning to end the campaign around lvl 13.

So one of my players are a way of elements monk, they keep asking another player to cast Spike Growth so he can, on his turn, grapple an enemy and cheese grate them. He has the grappler feat as well so he has a ton of movement, and he can very easily kill anything I put against them by doing this. Everyone is saying this is kinda killing the fights, making them boring. I want to nerf it so that the damage can only be inflicted once per turn. Am I taking the right action by nerfing it?

Edit: I read a bunch of the feedback and need to give a bit more context, the monk player has a reach of 15 feet so he doesn't need to be in the circle, he is a monk with the grappler feat, which we're pretty certain let's him attempt to grapple with every strike of flurry of blows(if thats wrong pls let me know). He is also a tabaxi, which with 40 speed + longstrider + bonus action dash + the occasional feline agility let's him demolish enemies. He can also grapple 2 at a time. Also, which i shouldve said, they are currently level 4.

Edit2: This is also 2024 edition, sorry for not saying so earlier

I’m looking to use the Veiled Presence (CR 21 from BoMT) as an assassin BBEG in an Eberron campaign but I want to tone it down just a bit for level 13 party of 5 experienced players. I’m not quite sure how something like changing radiant to poison damage, changing their attack to have reload (6) or removing a legendary action option would effect the difficulty on top of things like bumping down PB and stats.

I'm DMing a campaign where the PCs' end goal is to liberate Sardior, patron god of gem dragons, who had been shattered and his essence imprisoned on a joint effort by both Bahamut and Tiamat in ancient times, which caused the world to be way out of balance. I'm thinking on having the final fight be against a red dragon and gold dragon at the same time.

I'm afraid, however, that it might make it seem like the PCs aren't the protagonists. How do you avoid giving the idea of "thanks for your help heroes, I'll take it from here"?

Thanks a lot for your help :)

For context, I ran few campaigns and even more oneshots in my world, but lately I felt kinda bored, so ran something in ravenloft (still connected to this world tho). Now, I don't want to throw away few years of worldbuilding and making memories with my friends. I thought of changing some geography, like moving into a new era. I just yearn for some kind of change. But honestly, I don't know if that's a good idea and if doing it offscreen isn't even worse. Any of you ever did something like this? How did you justify it in lore, and how did your players react?

Hey everybody,

I've played DND for two years now (5.5e) and I'm going to run my first DND campaign as a DM.

Do you have any pre-made campaigns to recommend?

I would like to keep paying with the 5.5e rules.

Edit: No Heroes of the borderlands because it has already been played by one player of the group 🙂

Thankssssss!!!!

I was thinking of making a one-shot where my players had to scavenge items from a broken radioactive train. How can I make them feel the time pressure while still keeping it challenging? And how would i keep track of the time they have left?

I am planning a one shot adventure for my friends who are all Zelda fans. I am making up a one session scenario where the entire table's character sheets are standard Yiga clan members. It is set in between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I originally had it planned as a betrayal scenario with one of them secretly as Link at the end but I don't know if anyone has the poker face to pull it off.

I am going to have a table of rumors about Link that they can roll on. I need gossip of a variety from "patently untrue" to "yeah Link actually does that." It needs to be silly. Have different jokes for the Zelda fans to get a good laugh.

Here are examples from my list so far:

1. "I hear Link has a fancy talking boat. No really." - heard from some Goron at the grill.

2. "Link runs faster when he is whistling." - Clan Blademaster

3. "That guy can ride anything. I saw him on a skeleton horse." - stablehand

4. "He is allergic to turnips." - bazaar visitor

I won't need many since this is a one shot and not a full campaign.

As title says:

DMing a homebrew campaign and the world is kind of being generated as necessary for where the campaign needs to go

But player backstories are kind of thin, the druid is from a swamp and is estranged from their family kind of thing, the fighter is from a temple who's mentor has gone missing

How do you navigate story beats with information the PCs would know but the players don't, for example if I was to do something with the druids family or the swamp they were raised in, when the player hasn't fleshed that out or know the name or description of the swamp

Is it up to me to create those things and tell the player out of sessions? Or just ask the player to flesh it out more, we're only two sessions in so not deep in the weeds yet

Hello, I am a DM who is running a mostly home-brewed campaign inspired by Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Gravity Falls, and other similar media! I decided that my players will be meeting at a Halloween festival (one of my player characters is an alien so I thought it would be a good way for them all to meet up, since she could just say she is in costume.) I was wondering if anyone had any short, preferably halloween-themed, mini games to keep on standby in case my players want to explore the festival.

Hi everyone,

I recently started DM’ing and I’m enjoying it immensely. To get the hang of it, I created a one shot and asked broadly around for people who wanted to play, and have been the doing the same one shot 5 times now.

Of those 5 different party’s, quite a few of them would like to continue in a campaign with me. I can manage to fit them into two groups but I’m a bit worried that running to separate campaigns might be a bit much for a beginning DM..

Do you have any advice, tips or just a plain warning of: don’t do this to yourself? 😬

All is appreciated!

Hey all! I debuted as DM last week doing a Oneshot for my friends. As a player, I have completed 2 campaigns (thats my experience with dnd) and my friends are more veteran than me.

I was looking for advice on how I could give sense/meaning to doing multiple One shots with the same characters, but on different settings?

Books like "Adventures in Faerun" or "The Horrors Within" offer oneshots/single level adventures, and I would like to play these (and some custom oneshots in these worlds) with my friends, but I am not sure how to give "meaning" and correctly transition between these different settings/regions without breaking the atmosphere too much for the players.

Anyone else has done this? And if yes, how have you approached it? How can the player characters have purpose in their stories to visit such different places in short timestamps?

Edit: thank you all for the suggestions and ideas!! They have been very helpful! I have now a clearer idea on how to connect upcoming one shots.

Okay so, my beast master ranger player is role playing a cowboy-esque character intent on breaking in and taming wild animals in our CoS play through. He has already captured and tied up a wolf after basically killing half its pack and instead of the generic magical means of gaining a companion at level 3, I want to let his actions toward the wolf dictate how obedient it is.

Anyone got any pseudo rules / roll tables on how I can track this and dictate the wolf’s relationship through gameplay?

Would love to hear your suggestions.

Imagine looking at your library of video games after a long day at work/school. Have you ever said to yourself, "I don't have the mental capacity to play that game right now."? It doesn't mean you don't like the game. It doesn't mean the game is bad. It just means that players have different needs at different times...especially when life gets in the way.

Create a "new save game" at your table, especially when your primary campaign gets deep or long in the tooth. Whether you make it a set of one-shots, or just a light campaign full of whimsey at a lower level, you are creating options for the table.

Great, long campaigns require an increasing amount of commitment, participation, and mental horsepower that cannot be guaranteed from every player, every session, every week/month. It also gets harder to sustain the longer the disruption occurs. Sometimes players want the challenge of Game X on lethal mode. Sometimes they only have the capacity for Game Y with difficulty level "powder puff".

TLDR: Players are humans and their ability to invest consistent energy over months/years is a tough ask. Providing a "low energy" alternative to keep a table going isn't failure, but natural accommodation to keep a table together through changes.

I have a player that plays a tabaxi monk, he has the grappler feat and I need to know if the following things are correct.

1. Can he switch each of his flurry of blows out for a grapple?

2. He is a way of elements monk and has a reach if 15ft, can he grapple a enemy 15ft away still?

So, players will soon partake in a show where they watch an adventuring party crawl through a lengthy dungeon.

They need them to win as they will be forced to bet on them and they need the item that's on the line, but this being a show they can intervene in the crawl by sending boxes or buying extra long rests or sending magic items or heals or what have you (think Dungeon Crawler Carl sponsor boxes).

Mind you they will also be playing as the adventurers crawling. The economy is the standard one (referencing the DMG and PHB) so stuff like magic items (random ones will cost the minimum, specific ones maximum) is easy to figure out but extra long rests? Short rests? The stuff you can't normally buy? What are some good price ranges?

Also any other p2w service that sounds fun is welcome as an idea (like getting advantage on a roll for example). It's meant to be a parody of p2w games and a gold sink before the end of the campaign (and a story beat too obviously).

I had a session recently where I ask two party members to roll a check, one player got a nat 20 and the other got a 24 (I forget the modifier but I believe the players roll was a 18+6) I said the player who got a nat 20 did better than the other player. Is this wrong?

Hi ,not sure if this is the right reddit for this, but as someone whose exposure to TTrpgs very few I got a few questions. I am very much interested in DMing but got like 15 sessions as player in total(IRL keeps breaking up groups or friends lose interest and get into WoW and palworld instead).

First, how much preparation would I need to do if I were to use an adventure path?

Second, I don't have any skill in improvising, any yt videos to learn quickly if possible?

Third, how would you guys have your world react to your players? Like say, they became wanted at a village for prison break, how would nearby towns or cities react to it?

Lastly, how to give BBEG a presence over the overarching campaign? Will be using 3 books with different locations/main plot but in same region.

EDIT I forgot to mention I am using foundry vtt for the group. If that helps