The Nosey Tavern Owner – Top 5 D&D Things I Saw Today
Hi, I’m Drew, professional Game Master and amateur opinionated guy. I see lots of things posted online and I want to get involved in discussions on all of them, but I don’t have the time to think about reasoned responses to everything. So instead, I’m going to respond to the top 5 D&D related things in my Facebook news feed and see where this take me. Should the GM be trying to kill the characters? Can the world survive a Superman vampire? Read on…
Secret Goals in RPGs and Why You Need To Use Them Now
When playing a roleplaying game in a group, sometimes you want the spotlight to shine down and highlight a character moment. This opportunity for high drama and fun can be greatly improved and made larger by having it pay off character and player motivations. One of the best ways to do this is with secret goals. These missions and quests discussed between an individual player and the Game Masters or Storytellers are ways to entertain the whole table with surprise flourishes to heighten the stakes. I’m going to explain more about why you should use this technique more in games.
Flavour Shots: D&D 5e Paladin Shrines That Use Lay On Hands
Flavour Shots are short descriptions of game artefacts and phenomena for use by Dungeon Masters, Game Masters and Storytellers in their games. Feel free to drag and drop these into your own games, and modify to suit. Let us know if you end up using them. Some will be portals to other realms, some will be magic items, others will be monster encounters. This time, it’s fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons paladins, what it means to Lay on Hands and different ways to use this iconic class feature.
Flavour Shots: Skill Contests for Fighters in D&D
Flavour Shots are short descriptions of game artefacts and phenomena for use by Dungeon Masters, Game Masters and Storytellers in their games. Feel free to drag and drop these into your own games, and modify to suit. Let us know if you end up using them. Some will be portals to other realms, some will be magic items, others will be monster encounters. This time, it’s fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons fighters and the techniques they can use to overcome opponents. A D&D skill contest can be used by everyone, but fighters benefit the most.
Flavour Shots: +1 Weapons
A Flavour Shot is a short description of game artefacts and phenomena for use by Dungeon Masters, Game Masters and Storytellers in their games. Feel free to drag and drop these into your own games, and modify to suit. Let us know if you end up using them. Some will be portals to other realms, some will be magic items, others will be monster encounters. This time, it’s…
Flavour Shots: Demon Portals
A Flavour Shot is a short description of game artefacts and phenomena for use by Dungeon Masters, Game Masters and Storytellers in their games. Feel free to drag and drop these into your own games, and modify to suit. Let us know if you end up using them. Some will be portals to other realms, some will be magic items, others will be monster encounters. This time, it’s…
Flavour Shots: Light Fey Portals
A Flavour Shot is a short description of game artefacts and phenomena for use by Dungeon Masters, Game Masters and Storytellers in their games. Feel free to drag and drop these into your own games, and modify to suit. Let us know if you end up using them. Some will be portals to other realms, some will be magic items, others will be monster encounters. This time, it’s…
D&D Flavour Shot: Dark Fey Portals
A Flavour Shot is a short description of game artefacts and phenomena for use by Dungeon Masters, Game Masters and Storytellers in their roleplaying games. Feel free to drag and drop these into your own games, and modify to suit. Let us know if you end up using them. Some will be portals to other realms, some will be magic items, others will be monster encounters. This time, it’s…
D&D Flavour Shot: Druid Portals
Any Dungeon Master will be able to tell you how hectic running a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons session can get, especially when your players go in a totally unexpected direction and you start having to make stuff up on the fly to accommodate them. To make life a little easier, I’m putting together the Flavour Shot series. They are descriptions you can drag and drop into your D&D campaigns to quickly introduce mechanics for players to make use of.
Worldbuilding: My D&D Campaign Setting Approach
My usual week is taken up with many mundane tasks. Between getting my son up and ready for school, generally keeping the house and preparing materials for games, videos and articles, I keep pretty busy. One thing I try to do is keep my articles about things I think others will find interesting to read about.
A rule of thumb I go by is if someone can read my article and use something in it either in their games or elsewhere in their life (the interdisciplinary applications of the Reroll Rule Problem for example) then I have succeeded in my task.
The Reroll Rule Problem
The Article Abstract: To highlight the issue with confusing rules from one system to another. While it can be very useful for homebrew and discussion, the danger is that it can cause confusion and arguments between friends. The solution, unfortunately, is to simply be prepared for the situation when it comes up and to simply allow the Game Master to adjudicate the situation. Being able to support your position with documentation helps your case, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the GM to keep the game moving and keep it overall enjoyable.
D&D Fluff and Mechanics Make the RPG Go ‘Round
Debates swirl around the various forums and subreddits in the Dungeons & Dragons community; they’re chief among the interactions we have with each other. These debates often vary in their complexity, but a lot of the disagreement with how to even proceed with the debate itself is based on a misunderstanding some have about what the debate is even about. Is this a ‘flavour’ issue or a ‘rules’ issue? What’s the difference? Does it matter?
In this article, we’ll be delving into what ‘mechanics’ are, what ‘fluff’ is and how changing either can change your D&D game, for good or ill. The hope is that after reading, you should feel a bit more confident in your ability to discuss things, possibly even change things, in your games.
