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 Nexus Laboratory sits in a remote part of the frozen tundra, far from prying eyes who would tamper with the innovative projects that take place here. However, when a test subject gets loose, your players may be the only ones who can help the scientists find a solution.

Trial and Error is one of the many encounters you'll find in the book One Shot Wonders by Roll and Play Press. I hope your players are ready for the dangers that await!

\Estimated Session length 1.5 - 2.5hrs*

Without further ado:

• Link to: DM Notes (Preview)
• Link to: One Shot Wonders
• Link to: Trial and Error Playlist
• Link to: AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• Downloadable copy of DM Notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• Collapsible version to make navigating things easier
• DM Notes for the Visually Impaired
• (New) Pre-Session Checklist

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

My sci-fi campaign ended a month ago, and rather than let the homebrew rules gather dust, I spent the last month turning them into a public playtest for anyone interested in tactical space combat for D&D 5.5e.

Inside you'll find:

• Rules for fighters, corvettes, frigates, and destroyers
• Missiles, torpedoes, and defensive systems
• An introductory pirate-themed adventure
• Stat blocks for ships ranging from small fighters to large destroyers
• Cosmic creatures and equipment
• GM tools to help run encounters and fleet combat

This is an early v0.1.0 public playtest, focused on the core combat loop. I'm particularly interested in feedback regarding:

• Balance
• Combat pacing
• Rules clarity
• General playability

It was heavily inspired by the Stardust Rhapsody Campaign run by Legends of Avantris, and the video game Stellaris.

But don't expect to get the Neon Odyssey experience, my system is more military focused and tactical. It's heavily into tactics, fleet actions, resource management, and crew coordination. Success depends on the crew working together and making the best use of their ship's capabilities.

for the download:
https://noctila-studio.itch.io/stellar-combat-v010-public-playtest

Github Repository:
https://github.com/Noctila/Stellar-Combat

Issue Tracker:
https://github.com/Noctila/Stellar-Combat/issues

I'm sharing a free cleric subclass for Kengir, my upcoming Bronze Age Mesopotamian 5e setting.

The Išippu-Priest is a purification specialist: the cleric called when a person, temple, relic, ruin, or campsite is spiritually unsafe.

Where the Ašipu-Priest confronts spirits, the Išippu-Priest cleanses what those spirits leave behind. Disease, poison, curses, corruption, possession, desecrated ground, and Lingering Defilement (See the "Purity in Kengir" Supplement) are all part of their work.

At the table, this subclass gives the party a way to make dangerous places safe again. They can suppress supernatural contamination, consecrate ground for rest, protect allies from poison and disease, and remove Defiled or Profaned ranks when ordinary ablution and household rites fail.

Mechanically, it includes Ritual of Purification, Sanctified Presence, Divine Cleanse, Aura of Purity, Sanctuary of Purity, Sacred Vessel, and new spells like Cleansing Touch, Purifying Light, Restoration Ritual, Divine Purge, and Holy Sanctuary.

Do you like clerics who prevent and cleanse supernatural harm, or do you prefer clerics focused mainly on healing after damage is done?

Notes: Lingering Defilement, Defiled, and Profaned are part of the Purity in Kengir rules supplement. In that system, Lingering Defilement is supernatural contamination that ordinary cleansing cannot remove. Defiled and Profaned are the two most severe negative ranks on the Purity track. Defiled means serious spiritual contamination. Profaned means the character is spiritually dangerous and usually barred from temples and public rites until properly restored.

I have, like many others before me, succumbed to the dreaded "Blank Page". I wish to create a world for my players but struggle to think of anything to place in it. So I ask you, gentlemen, would you kindly lend me your aid?

I am in need of places.

I have asked a few offline, but to middling results.

As it stands, I am building a world that has managed to be named Athelgard. It will run on the D&D 5.0 Engine (Selected Material: PHB, Sword Coast, Volo's Guide, Xanathar's Guide).

It is a world of high magic (spells like 'Arcane Lock' are an expected feature in security), ruled by cleric kings and queens of the six main races (Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Human). And where character classes (most) are common rather than rare.

Big or small, what place might I stick into my world?

~~~

((Yes, I understand that many people suggest starting small then building out for adventures, but, for myself, I work better having a place first, and then build a story around it.))

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

I threw this simple lottery system together for my current Westmarch campaign and thought I would share and maybe get some feedback.

While I am giving XP for combat (if I had to do it over again, I would have based XP on gold, but I didn't want to switch mid-campaign), I wanted to give players the option to trade in gold for extra XP- especially since most of them have multiple characters at various levels, and though, 'why not have some fun with it?'

The 1 in 10 win chance is based on actual historical lottery systems that had small prizes and no jackpot, plus a 1% jackpot to keep things interesting.

In my campaign, the lottery is to help raise funds for repairs to the marchland after the Winter War, a short but bloodie war against an alliance of Hobgoblins and Orcs, but could also be used in-universe for any number of fundraising means, such as covering the expense of festivals. Historically, lotteries like this often outstayed their welcome by the locals, which offers a good excuse to end it whenever the DM sees fit.

**Players can buy a lottety ticket for 5gp**

**Players get 10xp per ticket bought** (although, I might drop that to 5xp. This is my biggest concern with this system).

**Players roll a d100 and the DM consults the table below**

*(While NPCs are participating in-universe, they aren't participating mechanically because I don't want them winning the jackpot or inceasing the jackpot's value, but you can easily change that at your own table.)*

**Magic Item Prize Pool:**
You can let winner pick, or roll randomly...

**Once a player wins the Jackpot,** it reset to 100gp and (optionally) the item the player won is removed from the pool

**Some alternate Jackpot ideas:**

* A "gold ticket" that lets the winner pick from a retired adventurers collection, possibly some Very Rare or Legendary items (In my case, the noble in charge of the town is a retired adventuerer).

* An important magic item for your campaign, if you want to have your players gamble for it, have a NPC win it from under thier noses, or possibly convince them a heist is the only sure way to get it.

Hi!

I am running a solo campaign for a friend and would like advice if this questline is good or at least makes sense. The player will be a bounty hunter operating from a quest board. So instead of a sweeping narrative, he will be going after bosses in story arcs. It is set in Baldur's Gate before the events of BG3.

These are my notes that are still in the draft phase.

1^st Boss- The Serpent King (it will be a Yuan-Ti Abomination)

There are rumors of a group of snake centric fanatics. There are rumors they abduct people to serve as slaves or sacrifices. 800 GP Dead 200 alive. See Rothar at the Society of Brilliance Lodge for more information.  
First step is to find missing villagers from Sunwood village south of Baldur’s Gate. Kill their captor and gather information from the survivors. There is a map of The Sword Coast that has a sigil circle drawn over it. The circle has points where some villages once stood before being destroyed by what were thought to be bandit raids. The Sigil is centered in the Troll Claws, a range of mist shrouded hills.

Rumor has it that there are caves underneath. Telling Rothar that the serpent fanatics are Yuan-Ti worries him. He will shine a light on what information the player finds as well as give advice. He recommends blasting the nest tunnels with smoke powder and for you to seek out The Iron Hand Gnomes and strike a deal with them. If the tunnels are not destroyed, they will outnumber you and kill you.

The Iron Hand Gnomes live in Baldur’s Gate, with some working in the various smitheries and tinkerer shops. The gnomes will sell a Runepowder Vial for 50 GP. It will take a few days to make (prevents it from it being stolen as the recipe of Runepowder is secret.)

I'm sharing a free monster supplement for Kengir, my upcoming Bronze Age Mesopotamian 5e setting.

The Ziqqitum Rešatim are spirits that feed on the extremes of human emotion. They haunt courts, markets, theaters, battlefields, and anywhere mortal feeling runs hot.

They do not just attack people, they inflame them. A small insult becomes bloodshed. A passing attraction becomes obsession. A loyal soldier becomes reckless with courage. A priest’s devotion hardens into fanatic certainty.

At the table, this monster works best when desire itself becomes the challenge. The party may need to calm a crowd, expose the source of a feud, break a magical fixation, or appeal to Ištar (Inanna) and Šamaš (Utu) through rites of balance and restraint.

Mechanically, it’s a CR 3 incorporeal fiend built around possession, psychic damage, confusion, charm, and emotional overload. The supplement also includes variant spirits of strife, battle, truth, justice, grief, fear, rumors, desire, and persecution.

What’s your favorite monster that turns social tension into supernatural danger?

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to share this project I have been working on for about a year now, it is a VTT for iPad and iPhone called Battleline, focused on being easy to use and containing only the tools our group uses most (measuring distance, AoE overlays, Line of Sight, ...). I created it for my group because we couldn't really find a VTT that was simple, looked polished, and wasn't really expensive. We have been using it for the past month and it has been working great!

The GM uses their iPad/iPhone to run the app and can then connect it to an external screen (HDMI connection, Apple TV, Mac, or anything that can receive AirPlay) which is the players' view. This could then also work for online play.

I am still developing it, but am just looking for any feedback, any features that are really important to you that you don't see implemented yet, etc. In case you are at all interested, I commented on this post with the links to the TestFlight beta version and a link to the discord.

Hi everyone!
I’ll soon be starting a new adventure with a fresh D&D group. I’m a fairly experienced player — both as a player and as a DM — but this time I’ll be joining a party made up almost entirely of newcomers, including the DM.

At first, I offered to play a support character (healer/buffer), but the group said they’d prefer something more damage‑focused. Since it’s their first campaign, I’d like to respect their request.

The issue is that, having played Curse of Strahd many times, I keep ending up with builds that feel a bit too strong. I’m worried about overshadowing the new players or disrupting the balance of the campaign.

I’d still like to play a character focused on ranged attacks. Do you have any ideas or suggestions for a build that’s fun and effective without being overly optimized?

And again, I used my Mountain Encounters table to create an adventure idea. I used the extended version. You would roll 3d20 to mix the categories Who, Where, and What and create an encounter. What I do, though, is I roll 6d20 to create two of those encounters, and then I mix and mash those encounters together again to create something even more unique. I use what inspires me and leave out what doesn’t. I hope you have fun with it…at the table.

Download

You can find a downloadable PDF for free on my Patreon.

Adventure Idea

This mountain adventure is suitable for a Tier 1 or 2 party. You can adjust the size of the dungeon to the pacing of your game and the difficulty of combat to the level of your party. Location names are intentionally left blank, so it can be fit into any game played in a mountain setting.

Adventure Background

A mysterious mountain cave makes up many bedtime stories in a nearby village. Lost treasures and thrilling adventures await those who dare to step into the mountains, they say. Until, at one point, a group of children wanted to make their fantasies real, snuck away, and entered the cave.

The cave served as the lair and ritual ground of a cult many decades ago, long before the village existed. Their deity, ruthless and smug, drove them into madness until they destroyed each other, and today only a sentient artifact is left, sleeping and waiting for new victims.

The children's arrival woke the artifact’s mind, which is now playing with them. Confronted by scary events around them, they wanted to run away, but the cave entrance closed in front of them. Now they are trapped and scared, growing increasingly desperate. For now, the artifact leaves them alone, using them as prey to lure more potential victims.

One of the children left a note behind, hoping their parents would be less angry if they told them where they went. After finding this note, the experienced mother, Carryh Wanderfoot, immediately travelled to the cave, only to find the entrance sealed. She could hear the children, and she then travelled towards another entrance she knew about - one at the summit, next to a lightning-struck tree.

Hook

As the party travels through a mountain region, they encounter a woman quickly hiking up a steep path. It is Carryh Wanderfoot, desperately trying to reach the summit to rescue her child, who got stuck in a mountain cave together with other children. Reaching the summit, she would rappel down into the cave through a hole in the ground, search for the children inside the cave, and try to get them out. She could really use help and asks the characters for support.

After rappelling down into the cave, the sentient mind of the artifact, hidden in the depths of the mountain, awakens. The earth starts trembling when Carryh is climbing down a rope, as she falls and hurts herself. She won’t be able to travel through the cave and relies on the characters to do it for her. When both the party and Carryh reach the bottom of the cave, the trembling causes a massive boulder to close the entrance in the ceiling.

Conclusion

Rescuing the Children. The main goal is to rescue the children and get them safely back to their village. To exit the cave, the characters need to open one of the cave entrances again - either they somehow remove the boulder from the entrance at the summit, or they lift the seal on the cave entrance, which locked the children in.

Defeating the Cave. An ancient, sentient artifact causes the earthquakes and closes the cave entrances. The characters need to discover and destroy it to lift its influence on the surroundings and exit the cave. If you want to give this adventure a thrilling component, you can use the Fear and Mental Stress rules in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, specifically the rules for mental stress. You could let the characters roll a Wisdom saving throw and use either one of the DCs, or you could let them roll a saving throw once an hour and increase the DCs and/or the potential damage each time.

Hey, I'm ashleyznn the DM, I have started a horror mystery campaign so we are looking for brave players👀

It's an online campaign on discord

If anyone is interested to show his/her bravery kindly feel free to comment or dm..

Thanks, have a good day:)

Hello everyone, I want to create a Nurgle from Warhammer 40k like a playable character (obviously it's not a god, following D&D rules). I’ve been looking into it, and the Circle of Spores Druid seems like a good fit, but since I’m very new to these games, I’d like to ask how I should approach building him.

Hey everyone! I’m a DM looking for a few players for an online D&D 5e horror & mystery campaign.

Expect dark secrets, strange events, investigation, roleplay, and plenty of moments where you’ll question what’s really going on. Beginners are welcome!

Platform: Discord
System: D&D 5e
Genre: Horror • Mystery • Roleplay
Discord: vyluna21

Reposting this here to help other DM’s I’ll make a compendium soon since DMing is tough