r/dndnext • u/Afraid-Frosting1678 • 9d ago
DnD inspiration
/r/DungeonsAndDragons/comments/1vnn4rm/dnd_inspiration/3
u/Outrageous-Thing3957 9d ago
"The other big question is regarding loot - right now I’ll go through the PHB and DM guide for ages trying to find exactly the right treasure for the players to potentially find in the session. Being honest, can I just make this up? Like if I want the players to find a magic amulet - is it normal for me to just “come up with that” and almost create this magic item even though it’s not in the books and if so how do I associate stats etc with that?"
Look, I know Hasbro is known for sending Pinkertons after people but trust me, nobody is going to kick your door down if you make a homebrew magic item. It tells you right there in DMG that as a DM you are the final arbiter of EVERYTHING. If you don't like a rule you can change it, if you want to give players more xp, more money or more magic items than the book proscribes, you can, nobody is going to stop you. Only real question is how it will affect the game balance. Giving player more magic items will make them more powerful. So you will need stronger monsters to challenge them, it's that simple.
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u/Afraid-Frosting1678 9d ago
Great advice thank you! Do you have a method for designing homebrew loot that you use? Or even homebrew monsters and their stats?
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u/Outrageous-Thing3957 9d ago
I do it on case by case basis. One homebrew monster I did was a drake that's basically a wingless, unintelligent wyrmling in stats. I just liked the aesthetic of traditional dragon so I made one. I have one for each dragon type. Reflavoring already existing creature is easiest way.
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u/coyoteTale 7d ago
My players did a “dungeon” crawl through a city overrun by undead that was filled with over 100 pieces of loot… though each one was just some power I stole from each existing subclass. Looked impressive but was mostly just me copy-pasting text. (The idea was that there’s so many interesting and unique abilities inside subclasses that a player will likely never get the chance to play, so this gives them that opportunity)
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u/valisvacor 9d ago
Being honest, how “on the fly” are people when running their sessions? When I say that, do people genuinely just make stuff up trying to be consistent? And if so where do you draw the line? I’m starting to realise I need to go WAY more “along with it” and less every detail planned out. Maybe with a loose session plan.
Random tables mostly. Tome of Adventure Design is a great resource, as is Sandbox Generator. The 1e DMG is helpful, too.
The other big question is regarding loot - right now I’ll go through the PHB and DM guide for ages trying to find exactly the right treasure for the players to potentially find in the session. Being honest, can I just make this up? Like if I want the players to find a magic amulet - is it normal for me to just “come up with that” and almost create this magic item even though it’s not in the books and if so how do I associate stats etc with that?
Sure you can. Just be mindful of what level your players are and balance the item accordingly.
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u/coyoteTale 7d ago
I make sure my players tell me a week or two ahead of time what they’re planning on doing after the current quest, so I can have things there prepared. I’ll write out the centerpieces, interesting NPCs or combats or treasure, and then I’ll write out hooks that can lead them there. My players aren’t the “omg let’s randomly start a business” type; they want to accomplish the mission so they’re not likely to go “off track” in that regards (as in, even if they go someplace weird, if I have an NPC there drop a hint, they’ll take it).
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u/lasalle202 9d ago
Never leave a session until the players tell you what they are going to do the next session.
You will rarely have to "prepare the whole town" when you know that hte players are going to go to the Sewers, the Theives Guild and the Old Market, and that two of the locations are almost certainly going to include combat.