One bard's take on D&D and other things
These posts are just talk, not related to any particular campaign or adventure.
I started homebrewing D&D stuff in the first campaign I ran—mostly magic weapons and other items. We’ve talked about homebrew before, but let’s get a little more granular. There’s just something special about designing an item with a specific player and a specific character in mind! More than that, I enjoyed seeing the creative ways that my players used these items.
Below are some resources and advice I’ve found helpful when making items to deploy in my games:
Continue readingHow does your character see the world—and what do they expect from it?
Our reactions are influenced by our expectations. What are your character’s expectations?
Continue readingAdventure design has a lot of moving parts, so using a pre-written module can make things a lot easier. Additionally, your party might be excited to take on iconic D&D villains like the fearsome Tiamat in the “Tyranny of Dragons” storyline, the deadly Acererak of Tomb of Annihilation, the cunning Count Strahd in Curse of Strahd, and so on.
As the Dungeon Master, you get to bring these (and many other) characters to life—an opportunity that can be both exhilarating and intimidating. Running NPCs from a module feels a little different than running NPCs of your own creation, so let’s talk about how you can prepare to run them!
Continue readingWith just a few words of description, you can make your character’s class abilities unique from other characters of that class, without changing any of the mechanics. Personalizing your character in this way can emphasize that your character is a creation all your own!
Continue readingLife happens. Sometimes, life happens to get in the way of your regularly scheduled D&D session, like a springtime deer in front of a minivan. (Alternatively, like an unassuming squirrel, and you only have to put the brakes on a bit to let it go about its business.)
Regardless—you’re going to have to do some maneuvering.
Continue readingEveryone around the table playing Dungeons & Dragons wants to have fun! But, we’re all aware that “fun” is different for different players. The good thing is that one session (and one campaign) has multiple encounters that can play to those interests.
D&D and other TTRPGs have been around long enough for people to discuss these different players, breaking them down into types.
Continue readingThe new Artificer Unearthed Arcana is here! It’s been a while since we’ve gotten an update on the Artificer class, so I was excited to read through this article.
This version of the Artificer overall seems to have more linear progression and beefier spellcasting abilities. The Alchemist subclass got some major changes, while the previous Gunsmith subclass has been transformed into the Artillerist. The Artificer class now prepares spells from a wider spell list (like the cleric and wizard) instead of knowing spells (like the sorcerer and bard). As well, the new Artificer gets their subclass at 3rd level instead of 1st.
“Well, hey,” I thought, “why don’t I compare the old and new Artificer and post what I find?”
Turns out, there’s a whole lot different!
Continue readingAs a DM, roleplaying deities can be intimidating, because the perspective a deity has and the power they wield is quite different from our own. But unless your setting says otherwise, you’ll probably have to roleplay a god or other higher power eventually—especially if your PCs are clerics, warlocks, paladins, et cetera.
So, let’s talk about it!
Continue readingIf you crack the Player’s Handbook open to about halfway through, you’ll find the Trinkets page—a full-page spread d100 table of a bunch of strange items. The accompanying text reads:
When you make your character, you can roll once on the Trinkets table to gain a trinket, a simple item lightly touched by mystery. The DM might also use this table. It can help stock a room in a dungeon or fill a creature’s pockets.
Player’s handbook, chapter 5
Do you use trinkets in your game?
Continue readingThe 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—
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