I am running my first ever campaign starting this sunday.
I have never played dnd I am playing in a star wars ttrpg.
Anyone got any dm tips and tricks:
What to add to dm screen, what to note things to bring ext.
The more help the better.
Hello, fellow adventurers! Today, we are excited to share a collection of magic items from legends and myths across the world from our upcoming Kickstarter project, 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 2024.
Step into a realm of ancient gods, legendary heroes, and forgotten civilizations with Mythological Items, a comprehensive compendium featuring over 300 magical items specifically designed for 5E and its 2024 ruleset update. This manual spans a vast array of cultural traditions, organizing its treasures into regional categories for easy reference and immersive worldbuilding. Each item includes not only full game mechanics, but also lore and background information to integrate it seamlessly into your campaign, whether as treasure, quest rewards, or the key to an unfolding mythic saga. From the storm-summoning weapons of thunder gods to cursed trinkets whispered of in ancient lore, this book brings myth to your table like never before.
This manual offers an extensive collection of magical items that can be incorporated into any campaign, regardless of its connection to specific mythological themes. The items presented in this volume, drawn from a multitude of global legends and folklore, are envisioned to enhance the diversity and depth of any fantasy world. This eclectic array mirrors the inherent blending of elements in many worlds and settings, where influences from various cultures and mythologies coexist harmoniously. For instance, Thor’s Hammer, Mjölnir, could serve as the centerpiece of a divine quest, while Draupnir, the Norse ring of endless wealth, might drive political intrigue or power struggles in a kingdom torn by greed.
Mythological Items also provides a solid foundation for campaigns that wish to delve deeper into the relics of a specific mythology or blend multiple traditions into a larger, interconnected setting. A campaign inspired by Greek mythology could see players donning the Nemean Lion’s Pelt, becoming nearly invulnerable as they take on challenges worthy of Heracles himself, while a campaign drawing from Japanese folklore could involve uncovering the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the fabled grass-cutting sword tied to imperial lineage and divine storms.
We suggest checking our pre-launch page for additional info and an extended 30-page preview of our compendium, scheduled to release in September! For the campaign duration, we will be offering the manual at an heavily discounted price, alongside tthe possibility to purchase the digital or physical copies of all our past releases!
Years ago, pre-covid, I played with some friends of mine. But now, some years later, we haven’t been playing anymore. That’s sad. But because of the good TV shows and movies, I’ve always liked watching D&D and wanted to play the game again! But somehow, I got a feeling that I am a dungeon master. So, I’m going to give this starter set a shot. I have got some people who also would like to play, now hopefully it’ll stay as a party, and we can keep playing for a longer time and have more adventures!
As the person I am, I’ve heard that it’s better to start with a starting set than build your own world and cities. I would LOVE to build my own world someday, but I think and I hope that this starter set is a good starting point for me as a first time DM.
Anyway, do you veteran players of dungeon masters have some tips and tricks for this new DM? I would love to be the best DM I can be, but for now I am totally blank. The most important lesson I’ve been told is that the table (including the DM) needs to have fun and that it’s not a problem if you aren’t known with all the rules et cetera. But still, I want to learn!
Thanks!
I'm curious what the consensus is on players pre-scripting their roleplay out of sessions. Some of my players have taken to talking to each other about how they would react to certain scenarios or things that they can say during next session. They plan out their roleplay beat for beat and then recite it during session. As a DM, I'm curious if other DMs have rules against pre-scripting, or if you simply feel like it takes away the magic having your players spoil their roleplay. After putting in a bunch of time and effort into preparing the session, I already know what's going to happen because instead of roleplayers, my players are going through the motions.
So I just had the realization that the 2014 dnd that I know now has a 2024 dnd. I know I’m late. I’ve never gotten to play and life got in the way. I was thinking of learning to be a DM and now idk which version I should learn. I have the handbook for 2014 and tbh prob know more on 2014 but I worry that’s all obsolete now. I do have a starter set on the way for 2024 but I worry that more people still use 2014 and 2024 isn’t widely used yet
Some of my players keep getting off topic and distracted by their phones and will just start doomscrolling mid session and its annoying. I will tell them to stop and they will only to get on their phones again in a few minutes. I've taken phones before and it works but I don't really want have to do that every single session. Does anyone have any advice?
Also I've asked what I can do to make the sessions more interesting but they usually blame someone else being on their phone or ADHD
Edit: forgot to say we play at the library
Love the process of generating seeds. But are there any tips for creating and preparing a playable adventure for my group?
ok so im wondering how do i plot/write a dnd campaign whats the point where i should just let the story play along and go from there how do i just let the story play along people just say follow where the story takes you idk what that means it feels unplanned? just tell me what do people mean by follow where it leads you also how should i go about writing my campaign where do i start what should i do first
Dogs are some of the most common companions in fantasy adventures, but an ordinary dog can quickly fall behind once the party starts gaining levels.
So I wanted to give them a proper progression path: Dog → Guard Dog → War Dog → Battle Hound. A simple pet can gradually become tougher, better trained, and capable of surviving alongside an adventuring party without suddenly turning into a completely different magical creature.
And the progression doesn’t stop there. The full dog section also includes stronger options such as the Warhound Alpha, Guardian Mastiff, Blink Dog, and Greater Blink Dog, with higher-level abilities focused on guarding allies, leading packs, protecting companions, and filling more specialized roles in encounters.
These statblocks are from Growing Pets and Animals Statblocks, a manual built around the idea that pets, mounts, scouts, familiarlike companions, and ordinary animals should be able to grow alongside the campaign instead of becoming irrelevant after a few levels.
The book contains 60+ animal statblocks covering dogs, cats, bats, owls, ravens, horses, panthers, tigers, spiders, scorpions, eagles, frogs, lizards, rats, and more, with progression chains that take many of them from ordinary animals into increasingly capable companions or encounter creatures.
The rules page also includes suggested advancement schedules for standard, gritty realism, low-magic, and high-magic/epic campaigns, so the DM can decide how quickly a companion grows rather than tying every game to the same progression speed.
After the original version performed well, I went back and created a full V2 update, commissioning and licensing new artwork throughout the book, cleaning up the presentation, revising existing material, and adding new statblocks and expanded progression paths. If you already own the manual, you can simply download the updated version again from DriveThruRPG.
You can also subscribe to the newsletter for updates on Mythological Items, launching on Kickstarter this September with 300+ magic items inspired by myths and legends from around the world. Subscribers can also download a free 30-page preview.
For more creatures, items, previews, and upcoming projects, you can also visit my DriveThruRPG, Linktree, or r/JonnyDM.
Hi, I'm dming a campaign in dnd 5e, and my party is about to go to a dungeon that i prepared to be a more advanced one. Its not that they get to there to fast, its just that i want to scare them a little, also because it is mean to not be completed (they were sent there with the mission of "exploration as much as they can").
My original idea was a dungeon that they explore for like 2 floors or 3 (its a big dungeon), they got kicked in the ass, they run, and later in the history when they have more levels and are more experienced, they'll come back and complete it like normal.
The thing is, i dont know how to make the barrier. I thought maybe making a difficult combat, an almost TPK, not impossible just too hard, so even they win, they had lost all of their resources so they have to go back. In a normal scenario, they would get TPK, but, i would give them a magical item that lets them escape at that last moment, or when decide its enough.
The problem is that im a new DM and i dont have experience with this type of fight, idk anythign of balancing at that point so im lost. I dont even know if its a good decission to try to almost TPK my party just for the plot.
Anyone has any experience with an almost impossible combat? they are all level 5 btw.
Hi folks,
I'm a pretty new 5e DM, about to run the 5th session of my homebrew campaign. It has been a blast, and I would say very successful overall so far. There are 3 PCs, all effectively new to the game (one played AD&D in the early 90s for 7 years but was a kid and took 25+ years off). All have interesting characters who they are growing into, and have taken the bait and are bought into the story.
2 sessions ago I made a rookie DM mistake and the content I prepped for a 3 hour session is likely to take 3 such sessions for them to get through. Sweet! It's taking longer because they're being curious, investigating things, trying to put together the crumbs of lore I've sprinkled around and are generally pushing me to provide answers for questions I never anticipated as though I had those answers the whole time etc. It's sweet.
Flip side is I've had a few weeks to think about how the game is running with a wider lens. Not to "fix" it, just to make it even better. The one thing I keep landing on is inter party roleplay, and I could use some advice.
In a nutshell, I proactively encourage role-playing and getting them to narrate their own actions with a bit of gusto in some common ways. So when they tell me what they want to do I'll kick back and say "great! I love it. What does it look like when X does that?" Etc. It's starting to work because I think they anticipate that I'll ask them to dig a little deeper and sometimes will just do it on their own now. But when it comes to the pure role-playing, unless it's with an NPC I'm voicing, or unless I ask them, they tend to fall back on a meta style of advancing things, and so far, none of them has roleplayed in character with another PC.
Is this just a case of keep nurturing and encouraging it, and eventually they may get more comfortable and it will happen organically? Are there things a more experienced DM would do in this situation to help with this? Am I off base for feeling like I want it to happen in the first place?
Again, I have next to no complaints about the group or the campaign. I just want for their characters to blossom a bit. I imagine a time down the road where they just go for it with each other and I can watch and enjoy so it feels less like I'm the guy in the big chair, there to entertain them. If that makes sense.
Anyway, this subreddit has been awesome so far. I'll be very interested in any wisdom the hive has to offer me. Being DM has been hugely rewarding and I just want to make the setting I built the most fun that it can be. I have a feeling this group will survive for a good while.
Thanks!
This may be a bit of a silly question but obviously when you are running a DnD session there are certain rules and mechanics a DM has to follow.
I’ve potentially had a bit of an epiphany as a DM. When I run my sessions I like to be fully prepared to the extent I want to know what town the players are in, what’s in that town - potential hooks laid out and also loot and all other gear, shops and food etc. also plans for if the players go “off trail”.
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.
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?
And even after that when in combat - should I always have the MM to my side to find stat blocks for creatures my players could maybe face?
so im a new DM and im trying to start up a homebrew campaign as my first game and im struggling to come up with ideas to include my Player characters backstory into my campaign
my player characters in this are siblings who parents have died by something or someone
and i dont know how to naturally have them figure out that the BBEG had there parents killed on his call i just dont know how to have it happen and im having a hard time coming up with ideas
in their backstory they just said they came home and found their parents dead there was no evidence left behind or something so how should i have them find out?
I've been interested in playing DnD for a long time and have recently managed to put together a group for a digital game. Two of which know DnD while three only know that its a dice based TTRPG. Looking for any advice you guys can give! Especially on how to make learning the game painless and not confusing for them
I've sent a list of the PHB classes and thinking on doing just PHB races too, are there any other races I should include? Its my first time DMing so it'll just be your standard high fantasy world.
Was making a list of races for my players and noticed half-elves were missing from the site I was using. I see this is a 5e vs 5.5e thing. Should I use the latest or go back to 5e. I dont know which is usually seen as better.
I am a new dm and have run a few sessions in the past, bout 5 or 6 where I ran the essentials kit campaign and some of out of the abyss and I have just wrote my first campaign (admittedly it’s quite the un original idea, the party must gather the five gems corresponding to Tiamat heads to seal her, because a cult is attempting to summon her but what they don’t know is that they can be used to reverse the ritual and summon her and the mayor of a town has tasked them with doing such however he is a high ranking with in the cult of Tiamat) so I was just hoping I can get some advice.
TLDR; I am runnning my first D&D campaign about Tiamat and a cult attempting to summon her and I was hoping to get some advice.
Analysis paralysis usually means the players care about the outcome, but the scene has stopped giving them enough traction to act. The answer is not to bully a decision out of them. If the same points have been circling for a few minutes, I step in with structure rather than pressure.
When presenting a scene, make sure the group can identify three things:
For example, if they need to reach a chamber before a ritual is completed and tremors have damaged the corridor, they might see three reasonable paths: continue through the unstable passage, look for another route, or attempt to make part of the corridor safer.
This is not about funneling them into one answer. It gives them enough reliable information that they do not have to invent twenty hypothetical threats just to make a choice.
Groups can spend ages comparing techniques before agreeing on what they actually want. Pull the conversation back to intent first. Ask what the characters are trying to accomplish. That can clarify whether they are trying to open a door, bypass it, learn what is behind it, or achieve something else entirely.
Once the intent is clear, remind them of plausible approaches. If they still drift into abstract debate, bring the scale back down and ask what the character actually does over the next 10–15 seconds. That keeps the decision inside the fiction instead of turning it into an optimization meeting.
Not every scene needs a literal clock. You can create momentum by showing that the situation is changing:
The important principle is that doing nothing is still a choice. The consequence does not need to be dramatic; even a mild change can restart play.
Players often freeze because they assume there is one correct solution. Give them ways to learn by acting. A cautious test might reveal how dangerous a mechanism is. A small attempt can produce information even if it does not solve the whole problem.
If the group asks what they already know, give a modest clue when their skills, background, or passive information justify it. Give them velocity, not the solution.
When discussion starts repeating itself, briefly restate what you have heard: option A, option B, option C. Then ask whether you missed anything.
This does three useful things at once: it shows that the players have been heard, turns a messy conversation into a manageable choice, and often makes someone comfortable enough to commit.
Instead of asking the whole group for another opinion, give one player an in-fiction prompt. Ask what the ranger notices in the tracks, how the cleric views the situation, or what another character's instincts suggest.
The aim is not to appoint a permanent leader. It is simply to give one person the floor and break the loop. Use this gently rather than every time the group hesitates.
If nobody acts, allow the setting to progress logically. The patrol comes closer. A rival group acts first. The NPC they hoped to catch leaves. A creature notices them and reacts.
This should feel like world consistency, not punishment for taking too long. Mild developments are usually enough. The lesson is simply that the world does not freeze while the party discusses it.
For a quick test next session, pick one potentially sticky scene and do four things: make the situation unusually clear, use one soft timer, ask for intent before discussing methods, and summarize the options as soon as the debate starts repeating itself. You are not trying to make cautious players reckless. You are giving them enough structure to make informed choices while keeping the session alive.
We are currently running the starterset "dragons of stormwreck Isle" and we are getting to the end. Now we are getting to the end and as the DM i am now looking for a new Module. It would be nice If it's translated to German but it's Not necessary.
Hi! DM with little experience DM. Preparing a short adventure (about 4 sessions, Faerun setting) for some friends. 2 of them are completely new and this would be their first experience.
We are to do a short session zero and yesterday in the WhatsApp one mentioned he was fine if I prepare two/three characters and he just pick one of those to play with
I’ve no problem preparing some pre-made characters at all BUT I was thinking… won’t he NOT connect to a character he hasn’t actively created? This won’t be a long campaign but I’m not sure if this is a plain bad idea or I’m overthinking it?
Thanks in advance
EDIT: Thanks to all the helpful answers! I have a clear idea. Going to pre-made some characters and help them if they want to tweak or add some more elements to those.
For me, I like to give the players the backstory in advance of the session. I keep this brief, similar to what we might think of as a "movie trailer" or "elevator pitch"
Example:
"You have all been hired as guards protecting a merchant wagon traveling the narrow mountain pass to the town of Ironriver. You have spent three days on the road together and are aligned on one goal: get this wagon to its destination safely so you can get paid."
What are some of your personal favorite tips for running a one shot?
My husband is a forever DM and has always talked about how he would love to be a player. I really want to set up something special for his birthday where he gets to play as a player for once. I’d love to do an actual campaign but I’ve tried before for friends kids and was completely overwhelmed even with a starter book and so I’m trying to do a one shot. But doing just a generic one shot with a sprinkling of encounters for the players to get from A to B seems so underwhelming for someone finally getting to be a player and doesn’t feel like much of a difference than playing an NPC?
I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, and I’ve got 2 months to do it. Looking for advice or ideas from other DMs of what you would like to do if you got to be a player? Or ideas on how to make it special experience for a forever DM?
I’ll have 3 adult players (husband included) if that helps?