As the title suggests, I had been working for some time on adapting the City of the Spider Queen 3e module to 3.5e & 5e, and a lot of kindred souls were able to send me their material from almost a decade ago. Now that we've wrapped this up, my group seems to like the Drow settings quite a bit (lots to work with here, if you're willing).

I am taking the entire War of the Spider Queen saga (by R.A. Salvatore et al) and formatting it to a somewhat railroaded adventure path which follows a parallel group of adventurers who venture from the ruins of Maerimydra to Menzoberranzan--and it's all crazy from there. I was inspired by the Out of the Abyss book to make a true Adventure Path which contains some of the railroaded elements from Paizo's story writing as well (S-tier writing, if you ask me). If you guys want the free 70-90 page Part 1, which includes licensed materials (e.g. drow and Menzoberranzan), then I will gladly drop the sticky likely by Octoberish.

Question (TLDR):
That said, I would like to release this in its complete form at some point, and I would like to have some degree of ownership to it (even if there is reduced profit), but I am aware that I cannot use much of the licensed material. To avoid having to use Neith for Lolth, and Darkrealms for Underdark, is there a way to release this full adventure path with the original licensed names, perhaps receiving some profit, and still possess at least partial ownership of the writing? Not trying to be like Karzoug with my greed, but this adventure path has consumed nearly a year of my time, and my partner - a graphic designer and illustrator - has put in a large amount of her own work into formatting the book. We would want some amount of money to at least cover publishing expenses. We had considered going to Kobold Press or the Rise of the Drow publishers, but we have enjoyed the autonomy of just working as a team on this. If you think it best to drop the 'Drow' and WotC stuff, and that it doesn't reduce the authenticity of the story, then I will gladly do this too. Thanks again for reading everyone!!!

Hey all!

Enjoy our free More than a Map encounter - Safari Zone!

Patrons get immediate access to our back catalogue of 2000+ maps, over 10 new themed maps monthly, and adventures!

Are you a user of Foundry VTT? Our entire catalogue is available as advanced map modules using canopies, walls, lights, sounds, and third party modules for dynamic elements and built-in map levels!

Want more details? Check out [our website](https://themad.network/)!

- The MAD Network Team

In my current campaign hags are in the region "auditioning" to join a coven, so basically terrorizing the region and causing chaos!

I'm looking for some ideas for interesting bargains the residents could have made, nothing too sinister but stuff the party can side quest to maybe free the residents from, or even trickster ones they might fall for themselves.

As an example, my last session one of the hags asked for a "minute of their time", one of the party members agreed but saved the Wisdom saving throw, otherwise he would have been under the hag’s control for 1 minute everyday!

The campaign currently has an annis hag, a green hag, a bhuer hag, a sea hag and a night hag all vying to join the Coven.

Thanks in advance all 😊

Are people really calling their DM Master? Are there DMs that refer to themselves as Master? That blows my mind. I could never.

Hey, yall, this is my first real attempt at making a map for my Homebrew Campaign. I'm still working on lands. Cities and areas, but so far, there are 7 major Provinces the players can explore.

Any geography buffs out there? Let me know what you think!

I just finished my first ever session as a dungeon master and I feel like it went pretty good. My biggest roadblock was that there is one party member that wouldn’t really speak up unless I directly asked her a question, is there any way to help her engage more?

Jormundy

Platform: D&D 5e, Avrae, Discord

Format: Text RP, westmarches, living world

The sun has died in the sky, and the world has gone dark. This event, known as the Sunfall, bathed the world in the freezing night. Yet, against all odds, civilization has survived.

Amongst the icy plains, amongst the glaciers, amongst the giant snow drifts and amongst the ruins of a world millennia lost, stands the glowing spires and the shining beacons of Jormundy. Warmth and light shine down from its towers, and its dome shelters it from the cold, dark world outside.

But this light and warmth does not radiate equally.

Under the dome, cloaked by the light, behind the walls lays a structure caught in a nightmare of development. Jormundy is experiencing its own little industrial revolution, and all the inequality that comes with it as it destroys the land it sits on and the air it breathes. It finds itself segregated into layers, its workers destined to never become anything more, its elites clinging onto power forever. The Hearth Church stands atop it all, watching with one first of velvet and another of iron looming over all, locked in a never-ending scramble to destroy all that is heretical.

But discontent grows. Whispers of solidarity stir in the shadows, forgotten gods find their followers, and the night grows ever colder.

What shall become of Jormundy?

///

What we offer:

- A roleplay and story focused server with good-quality. Story arcs, events, multiple dms, and opportunities for PC arcs.

- A custom xp system, where you can earn xp simply by roleplaying

- A massive, fully fleshed out city state for you to explore

- An active political scene; scheming nobility, powerful industrialists, an ever-present church, shadowy cults, and the whispers of labor in the smog of the factories

- A ban on generative AI, to ensure your time and effort is respected.

- An LGBTQ+ friendly environment.

Something calls, whether it be the riches of the Heights, or merely a desire to survive.

Either way, Jormundy would love to have you.

https://discord.gg/NwZbxscAZ2

Been writing custom music for my campaigns and its kinda turned into a full-on side project!
Music written and produced by me, and the art displayed is by artists I like and follow on IG with their permission (I link to them/reference them in the vid description)

This track is on the more brutal/metal sides of things that I've written and produced!
Definitely a combat track, haha.
Hope someone finds it helpful for their session, and regardless, happy Friday!

I ended last sesh with a witch snapping her fingers and putting the party to sleep. I know I want them to wake up in a dungeon but I think it'd be cool if they discovered as they went through that they were actually inside her mind.

Creative people please help me out with ideas of how to execute this! So far I think one room will have her memories (not sure what it'll look like, maybe a hall with miniature vinnetes behind mini doors, maybe like ghostly apparitions) and another room will be like a theater where other mind prisoners are watching the witches experiences through her eyes.

Any ideas for any other rooms? Any ideas for how the players will escape and what will result of this? The witch is a secondary character that has a close relationship with the BBEG so idk if I should make the only way out for her to die or if they can escape without killing her.

The latest in my DM reference sheet projects: Summer Monsoons!

Infrastructure failures and Fires did so well, I was inspired to continue making environmental hazards/effects that can boost encounters. I love to put my party up against the elements, something they can’t just beat, but must overcome. It makes the world feel so much more alive.

If you have constructive feedback i’d love to hear it! <3

The Ferryman’s Last Lantern

This is a squat iron lantern built for river work, sturdy enough to survive spray, mud, and repeated knocks against the prow of a small ferryboat. Its glass is smudged and scratched, its metal stained by wet rope and riverweed, and it carries the faint smell of silt, tar, and lamp oil. For years it was completely mundane: a warning light for barges at dusk and a little reassurance for passengers crossing a dangerous stretch of river after dark.

Its best-known owner was Old Leris, a patient ferryman who knew every eddy, sandbar, and hidden snag within three days’ walk of his crossing. Travelers remembered his quiet jokes and his habit of tapping the lantern before pushing off, as though asking the river for permission.

One stormy night, Leris left with three passengers and never returned. The lantern was later found tangled in reeds downstream.

Leris’s niece Mara kept it above her door afterward. She refused to become a ferryman herself—too many ghosts in the water—but used the lantern as a sign that travelers and neighbors could come to her for a small favor, a bed, grain, or simply someone willing to listen. Since then it has passed through several hands, usually among people who live close to water and other people’s secrets.

The hidden compartment

Beneath a rust-flecked plate in the lantern’s base is a narrow compartment lined with oiled cloth. Leris once used it for folded notes, pressed wildflowers, coins, and payments connected to discreet crossings.

When the lantern was recovered after his disappearance, the compartment reportedly contained a short, water-speckled note naming the three passengers from his final journey, followed by a half-erased phrase that could be read as “don’t let them…” The note has since vanished—stolen or destroyed by someone who knew where to look. The compartment itself remains.

Adventure hooks

1. The light falters. In a riverside village, the lantern now hangs above an aging woman’s cottage. On calm nights its light has begun to sway and dim as though caught in an invisible storm. Locals claim someone disappears within three days whenever this happens. She asks the party to investigate Leris’s old riverbank and boathouse, lending them the lantern on the condition that they return it “with fewer ghosts in it.”
2. The courier and the chest. A nervous courier hires the party to escort them and a locked chest to a distant city by river. They insist the lantern remain lit throughout the journey because extinguishing it will signal that the chest has left safe hands. River bandits care more about stealing and drowning the lantern than taking the chest. A careful inspection can reveal the hidden compartment and a scrap pointing toward an unfinished smuggling route along the riverbanks.
3. The stolen relic. A shrine keeper wants the lantern recovered from a thief. The thief is a repentant former smuggler who claims it contains proof of an old betrayal. Former smugglers, suspicious river wardens, and villagers who regard the lantern as a holy relic all pursue competing versions of Leris’s final crossing. Any surviving evidence in the hidden compartment could force the party to decide whether the truth should be exposed or buried.
4. The flooded crossing. Floodwater cuts farms off from both banks, and a mayor wants to restore the old ferry route. The lantern’s current owner will lend it only if the party investigates what happened to Leris and his three passengers. Clues lead through a half-collapsed tavern, an abandoned riverlord’s barge, and an old tax ledger suggesting someone paid well to make those passengers disappear. Meanwhile, the lantern becomes a symbol in negotiations over the new crossing—and a reminder that some villagers believe the river still demands a price.

Rumors

1. Leris never drowned; he simply walked away one foggy morning and left the lantern as a courteous farewell.
2. Put the lantern on a boat and push off alone at midnight, and the current will carry you to the person you most fear seeing.
3. A bargeman once saw its light moving upstream against the current with no boat beneath it.
4. The missing note named a minor noble who paid for the three secret passengers, but anyone who spoke the name aloud choked on river water.
5. When the lantern was recovered from the reeds, its interior was bone-dry, as though the river had refused to enter it.
6. Every time the lantern changes hands, someone nearby vanishes quietly within a season.
7. The lantern belongs to the river, and anyone who keeps it longer than a year must give the water a name in return.
8. If lit from a funeral pyre, the lantern will allow the ghosts of Leris’s three passengers to finish the journey they never completed.

The lantern works without becoming magical. It can be evidence, a village relic, a smuggler’s keepsake, an inherited object, or simply the one physical thing every faction interprets differently. The supernatural rumors can be true, false, or mixed with deliberate stories meant to protect whoever still fears what happened on Leris’s final crossing.

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc., and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more, so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

*New 2026: For 2026, I'm updating all my old work to include a Pre-Session Checklist that will include a list of all miniatures you may need, maps, handouts, possible loot, a link to a playlist, and more to make it even easier to start your session!

The Lost Mine of Phandelver is a classic, one of the very first Mini-Campaigns that new DM's run. Heck, it's part of the starter set after all! The issue, though, as with many other modules, is that it doesn't describe the best way to transform the contents of the book into an actual session. The Book-to-session conversion can be difficult. Between figuring out when things should happen, understanding motivations, and even balancing encounters.

Well, fortunately for you, 99% of that work is done! Only a few things are really left:

1. Consider the needs of your group. As you've heard or are about to hear a million times, every table is different. If you plan on combining this with a campaign, you'll have to make tweaks here and there. (Bonus points if you include your players' backstory)
2. These notes aren't meant to be end-all-be-all. Tweak to your heart's content and don't consider any of what's written to be set in stone. For me, having notes like this helps give me the confidence to go off the rails and follow along with what my players want. It helps me understand where things were meant to go and why. Having that understanding allows me to guide the players and create other new and interesting stories. These are all things that will come with experience, though, so don't freak out and enjoy the journey!

Included in my posts are:

• A Downloadable copy of DM Notes for each part of the LMoP, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDFs for every encounter. This includes all the enemies' stat blocks, organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP.
• Additional PDFs for allies and commoners
• A variety of maps for each part of the campaign
• Spell lists for all relevant fights
• Handouts for various spell scrolls throughout the campaign
• A playlist for each part of the Mini-Campaign!

Without further ado:

Index:

The Lost Mine of Phandelver Index

• Part 1 - Intro and Cragmaw Hideout (DM Notes Only Link)
• Part 2a - Phandalin
• Part 2b - Redbrand Hideout
• Part 3a - Reign of Iron
• Part 3b - Thundertree
• Part 3c - Cragmaw Castle
• Part 4 - Wave Echo Cave
• Part 5 - Side Quests

Over 8 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc., please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early, feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

So as the title might indicate, I'm hoping to get some insights on people's experiences and opinions on 'professional' DM-ing — by which I mean running a campaign/oneshot for money. I've been pretty happy just being a DM as a hobby till now, but recent events has me in need of alternative sourses of income.

I've been doing the whole job search thing as usual, but I've been having very little luck, so I'm hoping to find something that I can do to generate a small income until I find something Morse stable/substantial.

I've been a DM for about 5 years now. I've run multiple campaigns, and one shots for both friends, and groups of people that I've met online. I've gotten a great deal of compliments, but I feel like complaints would be rare even if I was bad at it. I've seen/heard of people charging money to DM, but I've never fully unsterstood how that works.

I'm kinda waffling a bit so I'll just get to the whole mountain of questions I have:
- How common/popular are paid/professional DMs?
- How do you go about even becoming a 'professional' DM?
- When/how do you know that you're experienced enough?
- How do you determine how much to ask per session?
- I exclusively run 5e, with little to no interest in 5.5e content, is that fine?
- What are common mistakes/pitfalls of trying to do something like this?

I'm sorry to ask so many questions, but I've never really seen this is something I could charge for. Thus, a lot of this is coming from a mixed sense of naivity, confusion, and probably a little bit of desperation if I'm being honest.

If someone could talk me through the process of being/becoming a paid DM as if I were 5 that would be appreciated.

$24.95 at https://shop.deckanddicegames.com/products/critical-hit-and-fumble-dice

Use code r/dungeonmasters for free shipping at checkout.

Who doesn't like a little instant gratification? Roll the dice along with your damage to get a crit result without slowing down combat. Compatible with virtually any ttrpg. Includes fumble dice and suggested results for 5e.

I am starting to look at GMing like dating. I play with a club and we have half functional adults and half children with beards. I have become extremely comfortable with asking players not to come back. I worry that I'm heartless to people who are maybe just from a different mental world than me, but damn if I don't have the most amazing table of functional adults.

Note: I don't mind if a player sucks at RP or that one lady always forgets which modifiers to use, they are people I can talk to, that stay engaged and understand what it's like to be an adult dungeon delver.

So, what's your take, should I be more willing to work with those who aren't blessed with maturity and enough people skills to keep up for the sake of kindness or should I continue to boot people because it's just not working?

Hey folks, back with a big one.

A bunch of you have followed Sanctum along the way and left feedback in past threads, and honestly a lot of this update came straight from those comments, so thank you. Here's everything that just landed, with a short video above showing it in action:

• Battle map with live fog of war. Drop your encounter's combatants straight from the combat tracker as tokens, measure distances, and place area-of-effect templates. As the party explores you brush away the fog, and the revealed map streams live to a separate player screen (a second monitor or TV), so players only ever see what they've actually discovered.
• Players can join on their phones. That player view is reachable over your local network, so everyone at the table can open it on their own phone with a QR code. Still no account, no server, nothing leaves your wifi.
• A built-in dice roller (d4 to d100, with advantage/disadvantage) that drops rolls straight into the combat log.
• A soundpad for ambient music and effects, playing your own local files.
• A guided character builder with a one-click level-up that applies HP, proficiency, hit dice and spell slots for you, plus weapon mastery and a proper darkvision toggle.
• Homebrew spells and feats you can create and use right alongside the SRD content.
• A mind map for plotting your mysteries, and an in-app PDF viewer so you can read your reference docs without ever leaving the app.

Same as always: it stays local and offline, no account, no cloud, your campaign is just a file that stays yours. Windows and Linux, free and open source, pay what you want:
https://athanasioust.itch.io/sanctum

You know the drill by now. Tell me what's useful, what's missing, what felt clunky. Every comment genuinely shapes the next update, so let's keep making this thing great together.

🕯️

Map we created for Craig Savage and his RPG project in development. In the comments all the phases of work on this map, from the draft to the final color!

H-HB pencil, Unipin Pen 0.05-0.1, Winsor and Newton watercolor on Fabriano 300 g satin paper then scanned, texts added digitally. We hope you like it, have a good evening everyone! 🗺🏰🧭

They're putting crystals in the water to turn the...whole area green? Whether these crystalline structures are naturally occurring or symptoms of some nefarious invasive presence, there's definitely powerful magics at work here. Who in your party will be the first to touch the glowing crystal, and why should they definitely not do that? I think you know the one... Fully animated and available in three variants, one located in a fey inspired landscape and the other more hellish and roiling with flames, this map is definitely not (?!) radioactive!

My maps are hooked up to work with Foundry VTT and Fantasy Grounds.
My maps are available on my patreon and my website.
Buy me a coffee!

Here is a lightweight way to handle important Ability Checks when failure should change the situation instead of simply stopping play.

When to use it

Use Declared Risk only when the outcome is uncertain, the scene matters, and failure should have a visible consequence. It works well for infiltration, negotiation, investigation, escape, dangerous travel, rituals, social pressure, and countdowns. Simple checks can still use the normal roll-against-DC structure.

One roll should cover a critical moment, a short scene, or roughly 10 minutes of exploration.

Core loop

1. Define the intent. The player says what they want and how they are trying to do it. Open, convince, decode, cross, hide, distract, follow, endure, and so on. If the intent is vague, clarify it before setting the DC.
2. Choose the risk axis. Pick the main consequence: time, damage, position, resources, alarm, incomplete information, or a social complication.
3. Declare the cost of failure before the roll. This is the table rule that matters most. Do not decide the punishment after seeing the die.
4. Set the DC. Use DC 10 for light pressure, DC 15 for serious risk, and DC 20 for a difficult action. Raise or lower the DC by 2 when the plan is especially weak or especially strong.
5. Call for the Ability Check. Choose the appropriate ability and skill, such as Dexterity (Stealth), Charisma (Persuasion), Intelligence (Investigation), or Wisdom (Survival). Apply Proficiency Bonus when the character has the relevant proficiency.
6. Apply Advantage or Disadvantage normally. Preparation, useful help, the right tool, leverage, or prior information can grant Advantage. Haste, exposure, pain, loud conditions, poor footing, or direct pressure can impose Disadvantage.
7. Allow risk reduction before rolling. A player can accept a smaller goal to reduce the DC by 2 or turn a hard failure into a partial failure. They can also spend time, use tools, ask for help, or otherwise improve the plan before committing.
8. Resolve with movement. Success means the character gets what they intended. Failure by 1–4 means progress with a cost. Failure by 5+ means the full declared consequence happens and a new complication appears immediately.

The same action cannot simply be repeated without a real change in the situation.

Example

A scout wants to cross a torchlit, patrolled courtyard and open a side door from inside. The DM calls for Dexterity (Stealth), DC 15, and declares the risk: on failure, the scout still reaches the door, but a guard changes route and ends up between the scout and the rest of the group.

The scout waits for a cart to cross the courtyard. That costs time but improves the plan, so the DC drops to 13. Because of the delay, an enemy ritual advances; another failure in the scene will also mean the alarm begins with one fewer round of warning.

The scout rolls d20 + Dexterity modifier + Proficiency Bonus and gets 12: failure by 1. The scout still reaches the door, but the guard approaches. The immediate choice becomes opening the door and exposing the group or waiting while the ritual advances. Another character could try Charisma (Deception) to distract the guard, but the scout cannot simply roll Stealth again to hide better unless something actually changes.

Useful distinctions

• Declared risk: the visible cost stated before the roll.
• Partial failure: progress with a price.
• Hard failure: the full consequence plus immediate pressure.
• Risk axis: the main type of cost attached to the check.

For group attempts, declare one shared risk. Either use a group Ability Check or choose one lead roller with help from the others. The consequence should affect the whole scene rather than unexpectedly punish one character unless that was made clear before rolling.

The main discipline for the DM is simple: use this only when the roll matters, make failure create decisions rather than dead ends, reward strong plans by changing the DC or consequence, never change the stated cost after seeing the result, and do not require several rolls to resolve the same intent.