The DM's Guide to DMing

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

As a DM, I highly recommend taking a look at The Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master by Sly Flourish; I think it's $10 or so on Amazon, and it's about doing as little as possible as a DM, and basically just creating the rough framework of NPCs, locations, and encounters, and being really flexible and rolling with it. Completely changed how I prep for games, and made DMing a lot less stressful.

A ton of YouTube videos by Sly as well.

bhchrist wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

As a DM, I highly recommend taking a look at The Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master by Sly Flourish; I think it's $10 or so on Amazon, and it's about doing as little as possible as a DM, and basically just creating the rough framework of NPCs, locations, and encounters, and being really flexible and rolling with it. Completely changed how I prep for games, and made DMing a lot less stressful.

A ton of YouTube videos by Sly as well.

Yep. He's also got guides and a few cheat sheets on how to calculate CR for encounters better, NPC names, and other stuff. Really helpful.

Oh yeah, he has revolutionized my D&D game. SR has been a little more complicated, but i'm trying to fold it in.

Curious how Shadowrun would work; I tend to think 5e is a great system for high fantasy, and an awful system for everything else. Something like Firebolt or Eldritch Blast has what's considered a really long range, which is 120 feet. Movement is incredibly slow comparably speaking, autofire weapons do ludicrous damage compared to pointy sticks . . . it's a big jump.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Curious how Shadowrun would work; I tend to think 5e is a great system for high fantasy

I'm pretty sure that we're talking about Shadowrun 5th edition, rather than D&D 5th edition hacked to play Shadowrun.

MikeSands wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Curious how Shadowrun would work; I tend to think 5e is a great system for high fantasy

I'm pretty sure that we're talking about Shadowrun 5th edition, rather than D&D 5th edition hacked to play Shadowrun.

That is, indeed, very different.

Playing in a Baldur's Gate: Decent to Avernus campaign that Chavyn is running. This is a phenomenally fun campaign. Dark yet outlandish. War Machines, colorful NPCs. An absolute blast, so far (Level 8 currently of a 1-13 campaign). Really impressed so far. Anyone looking to run a prepped campaign, I would highly recommend it. It is Chavyn's first (he has been a player in mine the past 1.5-2 years) and it is just a great time.

Prederick wrote:

Unrelated sidenote: I've been running a D&D game with PCs that know the rules so well for a while now, I forgot how mentally taxing running a game where you're basically explaining all the rules and core concepts while playing are. My brain is absolutely taxed out.

This is why I ran Dungeon World the last time I DM'd. A lot less rules overhead to teach players, but y9u can still use all the D&D tropes.

Also, there are a ton of good DW youtube resources, particularly by one of the authors of the game, Adam Koebel. His video on how to run a one-shot was super helpful for me.

Koebel is on everyone's sh*t list right now though, for good reason. So i've opted out of his vids and Dungeon World, personally.

bhchrist wrote:

I know a fantastic shopkeeper drop in called Rosna's Vault.
.

Tee Hee. Thankee for the plug
FWIW, DMs Guild is apparently having a "100% royalties for creators" sale from the 4th of may onwards so....should anyone be wanting to pick up a copy of Rosna's Vault, or one of my current PWYW side dungeons, that would be a super helpful time to do it! <3

bhchrist wrote:

Playing in a Baldur's Gate: Decent to Avernus campaign that Chavyn is running. This is a phenomenally fun campaign. Dark yet outlandish. War Machines, colorful NPCs. An absolute blast, so far (Level 8 currently of a 1-13 campaign). Really impressed so far. Anyone looking to run a prepped campaign, I would highly recommend it. It is Chavyn's first (he has been a player in mine the past 1.5-2 years) and it is just a great time.

Yeah I'm in the same game as BH and I second this comment.

pyxistyx wrote:

Koebel is on everyone's sh*t list right now though, for good reason. So i've opted out of his vids and Dungeon World, personally.

Well, that's disappointing. I'll have to speed up my reading of Scum and Villainy, I think.

pyxistyx wrote:

Koebel is on everyone's sh*t list right now though, for good reason. So i've opted out of his vids and Dungeon World, personally.

Oh, damn. I just did a quick search. You are totally right. Pretty surprised at that. I have watched some of his DM roundtable stuff and a few of his games, typically when I was interested in an official module. I would not have expected something like that would come from him. He has run games with that group for a long time as well. Disappointing is an understatement.

pyxistyx wrote:

FWIW, DMs Guild is apparently having a "100% royalties for creators" sale from the 4th of may onwards so....should anyone be wanting to pick up a copy of Rosna's Vault, or one of my current PWYW side dungeons, that would be a super helpful time to do it! <3

Your Mormesk ones, right?

yep

I keep meaning to do more of them (I've got a couple of half finished ones) , it's just a matter of finding an extra spare couple of hours in a day!

I just started DM'ing for some colleagues. I myself have played a couple of campaign before but never DM; my players consist of 2 people with similar experience as me, and 3 complete beginners to TTRPG.

We are using the presets from the D&D Starter set (Lost Mines of Phandelver), and running on roll20/discord right now.

I'm having a bit of trouble getting my newbies to engage in the roleplay element, hoping some of you can advise me on how to nudge them in the right direction.

=-=-=-=-=-
Last night's session, the group finished a hideout and captured one of the key villain, who gives a lot of information on the backstory (Glasstaff in the city of Phandalin for those that have played LMoP before).

The combat went very well in my opinion. My players approached the hideout meticulously, used various abilities, and communicated with each other on the best course of actions.

One of the more vocal players (the veteran) started with the roleplaying, tried to obtain information out; that goes on for roughly 10 ~ 15 minutes of back and forth convo between us. The whole while the rest of the players are doing nothing. I don't like the way I handled the interrogation, as that's 15min of play time my 4 other players just sitting there idling.

Any tips on how I can include my other beginner PCs into the interrogation, if they're not sure how to engage themselves?

The first question you should ask is do these players want to engage in the roleplay? Some players are content to sit back and be entertained. This video does a good job talking about some different player types (and if you haven't seen them, the rest of his Running the Game series is excellent for new DMs):

Other new players may just take some prompting. If you pause and ask them what their characters are doing, that can give them a chance to respond if one person is hogging the spotlight. It may also just take time for some newbies to open up to roleplaying - I don't think I really got into it until after my first campaign (which went all the way to level 20!).

pyxistyx wrote:

Koebel is on everyone's sh*t list right now though, for good reason. So i've opted out of his vids and Dungeon World, personally.

bhchrist wrote:

Oh, damn. I just did a quick search. You are totally right. Pretty surprised at that. I have watched some of his DM roundtable stuff and a few of his games, typically when I was interested in an official module. I would not have expected something like that would come from him. He has run games with that group for a long time as well. Disappointing is an understatement.

Yeah, much like you I have watched a bunch of Koebel's games in the past and hadn't heard anything about this incident. The thing that shocks me is that stuff like what he did are the kinds of stories you hear so often when people are talking about their worst roleplaying experiences.

We had something of the sort happen in a game many years ago and it put an end to us playing with that GM entirely, plus it didn't even involve a PC but an unsettling depiction if sexual assault. I just remember my friend cutting off the dm and saying, "I charge in and attack!" She kept trying to "set the scene" and he continued, "Please stop talking, I attack."

I run a game for a friend, his two kids, and my two kids (all age 15-18). In my case, my daughter loves roleplaying and my son likes the tactical aspect of planning how to move and attack in combat. They both have fun. If I tried to make my son roleplay, he'd quit. Basically, everybody has fun in their own way, and that's what's important.

Yup, some PCs are only in it to whack monsters, some could care less about that.

Also, like, I've only been back into 5E for 8-9 months now after being away from D&D since 3.5 and I just did not realize just how horny for Tieflings everyone apparently is. Like, so horny for Tieflings.

Anyway, quick Q, because I can't find a good explainer anywhere, what specifically would you do if you were adding a Hit Die to a enemy to make them a little more robust? Like, if I wanted to make a Displacer Beast that could take a few more hits, would I just add a full d10 or only half of that or what?

Prederick wrote:

Yup, some PCs are only in it to whack monsters, some could care less about that.
Also, like, I've only been back into 5E for 8-9 months now after being away from D&D since 3.5 and I just did not realize just how horny for Tieflings everyone apparently is. Like, so horny for Tieflings.

Literally AND figuratively!

er... I mean...

*serious face* yes. I have noticed this. also. *shifty eyes*

Prederick wrote:

Anyway, quick Q, because I can't find a good explainer anywhere, what specifically would you do if you were adding a Hit Die to a enemy to make them a little more robust? Like, if I wanted to make a Displacer Beast that could take a few more hits, would I just add a full d10 or only half of that or what?

There is a formula in the DMG but, after close to 2 years, I largely throw daily CR out the window. Given the archaic daily encounters style that we just do not run that it is based on, it is really not worth more than a rough estimate. I have thrown encounters that are the full daily target at my group that they have handled. Hitpoints are one option, but I like adding a different flavor, like a damage resistance, or some other twist (cause acid/poison damage in a radius if hit with a melee attack or the like).

I'm definitely a fan of adding twists and new attacks from different creatures to spice things up (for example, I just made a mimic that can projectile vomit up broken gemstones and sticky slime as a little mini breath weapon).

Works great on players that 'know everything' when it comes to classic monsters!

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Prederick wrote:

Yup, some PCs are only in it to whack monsters, some could care less about that.

Also, like, I've only been back into 5E for 8-9 months now after being away from D&D since 3.5 and I just did not realize just how horny for Tieflings everyone apparently is. Like, so horny for Tieflings.

Anyway, quick Q, because I can't find a good explainer anywhere, what specifically would you do if you were adding a Hit Die to a enemy to make them a little more robust? Like, if I wanted to make a Displacer Beast that could take a few more hits, would I just add a full d10 or only half of that or what?

Just give it however many hit points you feel like it should have. There are some guidelines for how to tweak the creature’s CR when you make adjustments, but (as several people have noted) the overall encounter guidelines are pretty weak (especially past lower levels).

Since you mention your last D&D being 3.5e, it’s worth noting (if you haven’t picked up on it already) that monsters in 5e are not built like PCs. You pick a CR, which gives a base set of statistics, and you tweak from there. This is quite different from 3e where they tried to build monsters like PCs with feats and stuff being tied to hit dice.

So! As mentioned previously, the DMs Guild is doing a two week offer of 100% royalties for all creators on the site. So if you are interested in a couple of quick little side dungeons, or a fleshed out shopkeeper with a little mini campaign framework attached to it - or you know someone who would like that, then this would be the perfect time to grab a copy of them from my page on the site

The first two are PWYW, and Rosna's Vault is under £5.

IF you can promote these around for me or grab a copy for yourselves that would be awesome!
Even better, if you can leave me a review/rating that would also help a LOT (you'll need to have paid something for the PWYW versions to leave a review, if memory serves).

Thanks Links and details below...

Mormesk's Diversions : Trials of the Heron's Gaze

“Mormesk’s Diversions” are what I hope will be a series of quick mini-dungeons and encounters, all based around the “mysterious map” discovered in the lair of Mormesk the wraith, during the finale of The Mines of Phandelver, although it would work just as well in any other location or forest-adjacent setting with very little effort.

"Locked within a series of trials in a hidden underground shrine, a weapon blessed by the forest goddess Mielikki lies waiting for someone worthy enough to claim it. "

Trial of the Heron’s Gaze is a short puzzle dungeon with a handful of smaller combat encounters, which should act as a short palate cleanser between “Mines of Phandelver” and the players next big adventure.

As such it is balanced for a group of four level 5 characters, but should be easy to modify for groups of higher or lower level as required simply by upping the danger in combat.

The dungeon should be playable in a single 3 hour session, depending on how easily and quickly the players solve the various puzzles.

Mormesk's Diversions : Legacy of the Mechanist

"Beneath the rubble of the River District’s reconstruction zones, the legacy of one of Neverwinter’s more...eccentric mages still waits to be re-discovered..."

A short post-Phandelver dungeon for levels 5-6

This is the second in a series of quick mini-dungeons and encounters, all based around the “mysterious map” discovered in the lair of Mormesk the wraith, during the finale of The Mines of Phandelver. Legacy of the Mechanist is a short underground one-session dungeon, designed to work on it’s own, or to act as a potential link allowing the PCs to move from “Mines of Phandelver” directly into “The Lost Laboratory of Kwalish”.

As such it is designed for a group of level 5-6, but should be easy to modify for groups of higher or lower level as required simply by changing the danger in combat or the deadliness of any traps. This booklet contains everything you need, including battle maps, new creature statistics and tokens to use on online RPG systems such as Roll 20.

Includes custom maps and tokens!

Rosna's Vault - A magic item store for use in your urban adventures

A Magical Item store and side-campaign for use in your Urban Adventures!

During the early days of the recent reconstruction of the city of Neverwinter, In a shady side-alley away from the snooping eyes of the mercenary guards or fearful townsfolk, a bright flash and the faintest of rumbles announced the arrival of the wizard and planeswalker Rosna Elebranore Fisk. A native of Sigil, and a retired magic user and adventurer of not insignificant power, Rosna was searching for somewhere to settle down, maybe set up a small shop to sell her magical trinkets and generally try to have a quiet life for once...but it seems that one of her old adversaries may have a score to settle...

* * * * *

Rosna's Vault is a complete magic item shop that can be used as-is or expanded and modified as suits your play style/party level. Contents include an inventory of unique goods and services on offer as well as the framework for several connected side quests that can be fleshed out by the DM and spread out across an adventuring parties career.

Example of the adventure outline format used:

Prederick wrote:

Anyway, quick Q, because I can't find a good explainer anywhere, what specifically would you do if you were adding a Hit Die to a enemy to make them a little more robust? Like, if I wanted to make a Displacer Beast that could take a few more hits, would I just add a full d10 or only half of that or what?

One thing to note is that the hit point values in monster stat blocks are usually an average value. For example, the Displacer Beast block in the MM has 85 HP, but it’s hit die are listed as 10d10+30. So a normal displacer beast could have anywhere from 40 to 130 HP. If I want to make an extra beefy version of a monster I usually just give them higher than average HP, or even just max HP for a “boss” version of that monster.

Thanks to the peeps who chimed in on my previous post.

I took the advise and checked in with my players before our latest session. They are happy as to how the roleplay scenario are currently being handled. One player mentioned he isn't as good at coming up with response when given a open-ended "what would you do", and suggested if I could have the NPC ask him more direct line of questions he'll have an easier time.

Latest session turned out combat free. It was a bridge episode between two parts where they're just picking up a bunch of side quests. Players are excited for the their session :).
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DM's Guild
Just took a look. Is this like a platform for (clearly expert) DM to share the modules they created?
I opened a couple of them and they're pretty damn professionally done...

DMs Guild is specifically for publishing Dungeons and Dragons material that is either (a) setting agnostic or (b) set within specifically established official settings (i.e. Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, etc). You're allowed to use the D&D name and all D&D IP, but share a 50/50 split with WoTC on all sales and it can ONLY be available through Dms Guild.

And obviously WoTC have made a LOT of classic AD&D, D&D and other classic modules and supplements available on there too.

For making your OWN "5e" stuff (without using the D&D brand, or limiting yourself to just the Open Gaming licence stuff) then Drive Thru RPG is probably a better option since you get a much better deal on royalties (I think there are different levels based on whether or not a product is exclusive to Drive Thru or not) BUT, you miss out on using a lot of cool IP stuff. (so you can't make an adventure set in Neverwinter, for example, or use any creature or magic item stat blocks that aren't part of the OGL, but you COULD make a brand new cyberpunk campaign guide using the 5e rules ). You also literally can't use the trademark D&D or Dungeons and Dragons. Which is why you always see people writing "for the worlds greatest role playing game" or similar for their non-official 5e supplements.

If that makes sense!

lucci.tonight wrote:

DM's Guild
Just took a look. Is this like a platform for (clearly expert) DM to share the modules they created?
I opened a couple of them and they're pretty damn professionally done...

Pyxi offered a wonderful explanation, but a couple of minor notes: Not necessarily "professional," there's writers of all levels, but there are definitely a lot of "semi-professionals" doing exceptional work. It's enough of a cottage industry that there are tools to help them get a really good look and layout.

I found it very helpful when I learned how useful the filtering capabilities are, and try to let everyone know right away. If you filter to "Product Type: Adventures" you can then filter by "Tier" (approximate level). Throw in "Setting" or "Storyline," and it becomes way easier to browse for something that will fit your current campaign.

I love DM's Guild, especially since WotC is mostly just publishing campaign books now.

Thought I'd share this video on how to set up monster templates and macros. It was extremely helpful for a roll20 beginner like myself.

Useful tips it covers:

  • You can drag and drop monster or spell from compendium onto character sheet and it'll auto load (instead of manually key in values for 20 minutes like I did)
  • Useful macros for most monsters (attack, multi attack, saves, etc)
  • General habits on setting on monsters for wilderness encounter

Found on Reddit, love this idea for more flexible games.

IMAGE(https://i.redd.it/08bnr1hvg8x41.jpg)

So…my PCs want to breed velociraptors for food.