Month: February 2019

DM Tips: Controlling the Camera

February 18, 2019 / Fen / 0 Comments

The Dungeon Master is in charge of many elements of Dungeons & Dragons. They set the scene, call for initiative, and move the game along, all while adjudicating the rules of the game and prepping for the next encounter.

I’ve been watching MCDM’s new D&D stream, the Chain. At one point during the first session, Matt Colville, the DM, describes a short series of scenes for the players. These scenes don’t take place anywhere near the player characters. There’s no way the characters know those scenes are happening. But, for players and audience, those moments give a cinematic feel to the events, and they’re foreshadowing something.

That got me thinking—

a picture of a bookshelf with many old books on it. the text says "sbotll campaign diary part three"

SBotLL Campaign Diary: “Nefarious Business”

February 15, 2019 / Fen / 0 Comments

This session picks back up after last month’s cliffhanger! I had a lot of ideas for how the session might go, but our DM and the other players always surprise me. No combat this time, just a lot of roleplaying, and I think our group has a lot of fun with that. Let’s get into what happened!

DM Tips: An NPC’s Purpose

February 11, 2019 / Fen / 0 Comments

The world of D&D would be pretty empty without NPCs (non-player characters)! These people give a voice to your campaign. They’re the personalities that your players will interact with throughout the game. Your players will clash with, negotiate with, protect, fight, and stand beside these characters.

But what makes a good NPC?

Homebrew from Both Sides of the Table

February 8, 2019 / Fen / 0 Comments

My thoughts on homebrew (custom content) have changed a lot over my time playing and running D&D! This is something that is unique to each person—some DMs start out ready to take on anything the players bring to the table, whereas I was pretty wary of any option that wasn’t from the core books. I’m more confident in running (and making) homebrew content now, since I (like to) think that I’ve got a good handle on the game as a whole.

Let’s talk about using homebrew content on both sides of the table—Dungeon Master and player.

Tips for Playing a Martial Character

February 4, 2019 / Fen / 0 Comments

It’s fun to mix it up sometimes and play a class you’ve never played before! On the other hand, delving into an unfamiliar class can also be intimidating. On Friday, I posted about playing a spellcaster. Here’s the counterpart—playing a non-spellcasting class when you’ve never done it before!

Obviously this isn’t as much my strong suit, so I talked to my husband + Dungeon Master, who’s played a lot more of the martial classes than I have. These tips are some of the things we talked about!

Tips for Playing a Spellcaster in D&D

February 1, 2019 / Fen / 0 Comments

Distract and charm your enemies! Protect and heal your allies! Roll a bunch of dice, do a bunch of damage! Raise the dead! Make a wish!

Magic in Dungeons & Dragons is great! It’s crazy and weird, and you can use it in super creative ways. Or you can just cast fireball on a horde of monsters, I’m not judging, that’s fun too.

I have a huge bias towards spellcasters, since that’s most of what I play. If you’ve avoided magic classes so far, I’d encourage you to pick one and give it a try! I’ve got some tips here that might help you out.