Here they are, right up front: Either the PCs acquire/rescue/deliver the macguffin (it might not be an object) or stop the bad thing from happening (STBTH). The objective can be/use just one, the other…or both (doing one makes the other happen)! For example, on the macro scale, a campaign usually ends with the PCs stopping […]
Category: General DMing
Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself
I’ve been really, really active over on a DnD influencer’s discord. It’s like I’ve found my purpose in life, hanging about their advice and questions channel, throwing out advice while also learning new things from others. One thing that I keep seeing come up over and over again there is that people keep trying to […]
A Better Way to Use Passive Perception
I’m relatively sure you’ve read blog posts and watched YouTube videos on Passive Perception, Passive Investigation, and Passive Insight. If so, thank you for giving one more article on it a try. I don’t like the way the DMG handles passive skill checks. And I don’t like many of the other homebrew takes on it, […]
5 Questions for Boss Fights
I’ve been working hard, very hard, on prepping a fight with the big bad evil guy (“BBEG” in RPG lingo) in my Dungeons and Dragons game. I’ve spent at least the same amount of time preparing this encounter as I would on three regular sessions. I am fully prepared for all that work to be […]
Goblins Are Awesome
Goblins have come up in a couple of YouTube videos lately. Arlentric has a fun video here about the diverse lore, use of, and types of goblins. And The Guild Masters Guides has the awesomely-named “Kill Your Party With Goblins” video right here. This got me going. I couldn’t NOT write about goblins. I LOVE […]
In Defense (Sorta’) of Railroading
First, I don’t condone straight up railroading. But if done right “railroading” isn’t so bad. It’s complicated. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ For an example of what I’m talking about, let’s look at a WotC, published, Dungeons and Dragons campaign: Tyranny of Dragons. Tyranny of Dragons was initially published as two campaign books: Hoard of the Dragon Queen and […]
What if I DM a Bad Session?
We all fear it. You get your group together to play Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder or Shadowdark. And then it happens: Things are just not clicking!!! It doesn’t matter how much you prepped. Or maybe it was impossible to prep enough due to all the moving pieces involved. Or you just couldn’t improv that […]
D&D Modules and Campaign Books are not Incompatible
A few days ago (as of writing this), I got to watch this very interesting video by Matt Colville. In it, he basically says that old-school modules, which used to only be maybe 30-60 pages, are superior to campaign books and that most people would rather play modules. Maybe he’s right. Maybe he’s wrong. I […]
CR is Broken. Use It Anyway.
I just watched the most recent (literally two minutes old when I watched it) video on The Guild Master’s Guides YouTube channel. It’s titled, “Understanding CR: It’s Not Broken, It’s Misunderstood.” The guy there (sorry, I don’t know his name) puts forth the bold claim that you read in the vid’s title. Give it a […]
“Plans are Worthless, but Planning is Everything”
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE FOR MOST DMs! This quote is taken from Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States. Now, he was talking about military planning, but it’s so true for most DMs, myself included, especially when running either published campaigns or homebrews that have an overarching narrative. Why? Well, the Quote […]