One bard's take on D&D and other things

Month: November 2018

Taking a Holiday Hiatus

This year, SBotLL is taking a break in December! After the November 30th session (good squad getting back together!), we won’t be having regular sessions until the new year. This will give our DM a break from weekly campaign prep, and players won’t have to worry about squeezing D&D into their holiday schedules.

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Learning from Other Players & DMs

Like many D&D players, I was introduced to the game through a combination of word-of-mouth and through an actual-play show. This is a time where many D&D campaigns are streamed and recorded for anyone to watch, and that’s pretty crazy! There’s Critical Role, Dice, Camera, Action, and so many more.

Watching one of these shows is a great way to improve as a player and a DM. Watching others really helped me as I started (and continue to learn) Dungeon Mastering! So, I highly recommend finding a show you like to watch—you have plenty of options. And, of course, you can learn from the players and DMs you already know.

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Player Tips: When There’s Nothing in Your Toolbox for the Problem

We love D&D because it can throw scenarios at us that we can’t predict. The combination of you, your fellow players, your DM, and the roll of the dice can come together in unexpected ways. Sometimes, this is a delightful surprise for everyone (“somehow, we have an owlbear now” type stuff).

But sometimes, these odd situations can stump you. You find yourself in a sticky situation. You have no idea how your character is going to get out of this.

And as you’re sitting there trying to kick your brain into action, your DM asks you, “what do you do?”

So, what do you do?

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Fortune’s Favored: A Tweak to the Lucky Feat

The rules of D&D are meant to function for many different groups and individuals. They give a Dungeon Master guidance in adjudicating questions in case of unexpected circumstances. But sometimes, what’s written doesn’t quite work the way it should, or the way we feel like it should.

Of course, DMs have the freedom to alter the rules of the game as it suits their table. The Dungeon Master’s Guide has a whole chapter dedicated to optional rules variants and creating your own items/spells/monsters. So, if something’s not working, you can feel free to tinker with it until it does.

For example, let’s look at the Lucky feat.

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A Social System Experiment Follow-Up

Okay, so we tried a social system, here’s how it went!

Last Saturday, I ran a playtest session where we also tried out a social system I had written up. The session was an event in Sigil where the adventurers needed to find out who could provide them with information and equipment to traverse the Shadowfell. There were three players, and I had made nine NPCs who could potentially help or hinder their efforts. Let’s talk about what happened.

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