If you can easily describe a session with the cliché, “the plot thickens,” then it was probably a pretty good session! We came in to the session with a plan, circumstances changed that plan, and now the situation has changed. In these Campaign Diary posts, I talk about what happened in the last session of the campaign I play in.
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This time, we got to one of the coolest parts of Curse of Strahd’s rising action—the tarokka card reading. The party had a few questions for Madam Eva as well, as they attempt to unravel the tangled fates that reach throughout Barovia.
In this series, I’m talking about how I prep my monthly CoS sessions and the results of that preparation. I’m learning a lot about what works for me and my group!
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The Curse of Strahd campaign is going strong, complete with a new ally and a close brush with death. Here, I’ll talk about what I did to prepare for the session and discuss how that turned out!
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“Mid-boss” is debatable, but we certainly faced off with a deadly enemy this session, and we ended with a huge cliffhanger…! The session was mostly dedicated to this combat encounter, so let’s get into talking about it!
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If you follow D&D streams like Dice, Camera, Action, you’re probably familiar with the occasional guest player—a player not normally part of the group who comes in temporarily to play a character. In DCA, these guest players either play a character of their own creation or an NPC from the adventure Chris Perkins is running.
We can use this idea in our home games, too!
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Spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, like it or not, so that means warmer, weirder weather and no small share of pollen. Do you do seasonal-themed events in your D&D game?
If your game needs some springtime flair, consider these four NPCs below!
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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:
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How 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?
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Adventure 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!
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With 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!
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