A DM’s Guide

Icon by teadrinkersrebellion Using this side blog to reblog any dnd resources that I find. I’m very new to dnd and dming, so don’t be afraid to send in any tips that you’ve got! I’m also planning to possibly chronicle my first DnD world building experience, it’ll be tagged as #shotmyfinger

[5theditionhomebrewing-deactivat]

Shkorse. Shark horse. Really friendly, excitable friends who just want to run, swim, and roll in some mud. Thanks to @naimlyarts for letting me use them 🤘 Twitter (Let’s Be Friends)

[prokopetz]

More inadvisable secret societies for your Dungeons & Dragons game:

The Brotherhood of the Crimson Star, an apocalypse cult with a decentralised cell structure. Approximately half of the Brotherhood’s cells are working to accelerate the prophesied apocalypse, while the other half are working to prevent it. Owing to tight information control and erratic communication between cells, most members are completely in the dark about the schism, believing that all of their peers share their goals and and merely disagree in their methods.  

The Golden Owlbear Society, a philosophical collective of like-minded wizards and warriors dedicated to the improvement of mortal civilisation. In practice, they’re a social club for retired high-level adventurers who like to get high on pipeweed and debate political theory, and they almost never accomplish anything of note, but they’re treated as an existential threat by many nations owing to the absurdly high concentration of power they in theory represent.  

The Thousand Scales, a sorcerous cabal united by the fact that they’re all the illegitimate offspring of a single incredibly randy dragon. The half-human members serve as the organisation’s public face, while the greater part of its roster keep out of the public eye owing to their… eclectic parentage. The cabal’s leader appears to be half dragon, half horse, but guests should under no circumstances remark on this – it’s something of a touchy subject!  

The Vitalist League, ostensibly a band of freedom fighters against the reign of a terrible lich-king. In truth, nearly all of the League’s members are disguised undead infiltrators of various sorts. Most of the infiltrators are aware of this fact, but their superiors generally are not; due to the lich-king’s habit of regularly purging the upper ranks of his secret police, the infiltration’s operational history has been lost, and it’s unclear whether the “original” human-led League ever existed in the first place.  

The Honourable Guild of Shoemakers, a trade organisation that wields immense political power due to its deep connections and numerous highly trained operatives. Their secret is that they really are just a bunch of shoemakers, and have no ambitions or concerns beyond protecting the exclusivity of their contracts and ensuring that their members are allowed to ply their trades unimpeded by state interference. The trouble is, they’ll go to literally any lengths to achieve those goals!

[firebirdeternal]

You know what’s more fun than worldbuilding that makes some fantasy races EEEEVIIIIIIILLLLL!!!!? Worldbuilding that gives the different races cultural differences that help explain why there’s a lot of conflict between them:

Goblin culture doesn’t have a concept of “Property”. A stick on the ground and a tool in a locked shed are equally up for grabs if a thing needs doing. They casually take and leave things all over their communities, eat from communal pots, and genuinely Do Not Understand why the Core Races are so Angry and prone to Violence all the time.

Consequently Goblins who live near Core communities develop a reputation as “Thieves” despite not even having a *word* for that. (The closest word they have is more like “Greedy” and it means a person that hides things so nobody else can use them, and it’s a surefire fight-starter to call a Goblin that)

Common Orc Spiritual beliefs hold that a Soul can only grow stronger by overcoming Challenges in life, and see intruding on another person’s Challenge unasked for as not just Rude, but Deeply Harmful. You’re Stealing their chance to Grow. Asking for help is deeply personal and doing so can be both a way to grow closer with them or a too-personal intrusion, depending on your existing relationship with them. An exception is Children, as far as most Orcs are concerned, all Children are fundamentally the responsibility of the Whole Community, regardless of whose child they are, or even if said child is an Orc at *all*.

This means that Orcs who live near Core neighbors often seem Rude and Standoffish if not outright hostile, because they neither ask for nor offer aid even in times of trouble, and respond to unasked for aid themselves with Anger. There are even rumors that they Steal Children, because if an Orc finds a child lost in the woods they’re pretty much immediately going to start feeding it, and if they can’t find where to bring it back to, or it doesn’t seem to be well cared for, they’re just gonna keep it. 

[crazy-pages]

This. I like this.

[the-ruler-of-rabbits]

When the orcs came, there was no place left for them to claim, for the elves had the forests, the dwarves had the mountains, the humans had the plains, the gnomes had the caves, the halflings had the valleys, and the dragonborn the desert.

And so Grummsh, chief of the orcish gods, came first to Corellon Larethian, deity of the elves, asking

"My people need a place to live, will you share your forests with us?"

"Nay! The forests are for the elves and the elves alone!"

Cried Corellon Larethian, the one and holy.

Grummsh gazed upon the untouched forests, but said nothing.

So Grummsh came to Moradin and Berronar, the Dwarf-father and Revered Mother of the dwarves, asking

"My people need a place to live, will you share your mountains with us?"

"Nay! The mountains are for the dwarves and the dwarves alone!"

Cried Berronar and Moradin in one voice.

Grummsh looked at the undiscovered depths, and said nothing.

So Grummsh came to the human pantheon who refused to pick a ruler, asking

"My people need a place to live, will you share your plains with us?"

A great cacophony arose, but only a few spoke against the howling majority:

"Never! The plains belong to the humans, and only the humans!"

Grummsh bit his tongue and turned away, gazing over the wide steppe.

So Grummsh came to Garl Glittergold, king of the gnomish gods, asking

"My people need a place to live, do you have room to spare for the orcs?"

But Garl Glittergold shook his head sadly.

"If we had more space, we would share with you, but we have nothing to give. Our homes are too small for orcs, and we are hard-pressed"

Grummsh nodded, and promised that the orcs would hold no grudge.

So Grummsh came to the dragon gods that the dragonborn worshipped, asking

"My people need a place to live, do you have room to spare for the orcs?"

Bahumut and Tiamat ceased their endless struggle to answer

"We have not room enough for the dragonborn, and they will soon be scattered. You should scatter your orcs, it will teach them to be hardier"

Grummsh bowed his head, and turned away silent.

So Grummsh came to Yondalla, leader of the halfling council, asking

"My people need a place to live, do you have room to spare for the orcs?"

The council discussed his petition, and Yondalla replied with disappointment clear in her tone

"The halflings cannot give all the orcs a home. We live amongst the humans and in the valleys and under hills alongside the gnomes, and we cannot help all the orcs"

Grummsh nodded, and was about to thank them when she continued

"What we can do is offer you Haven. We have room to spare for your travellers, we have food to share with your children, we have swords to share in battle. The halflings cannot give all the orcs a home, but that does not mean we won't try."

"Your kindness will be remembered, Yondalla. All halflings will have a place with the orcs, and even if we have nothing to share but song we will lift our voices high. We will defend your homesteads from raiders, and if your people need help just call."

But despite unexpected success, Grummsh still needed a home for his people.

So Grummsh returned to Corellon Larethian to ask again for a place in the forests.

"Corellon Larethian, will you hear me out? I ask again for a place for my people-"

But Corellon was angry that this young god dared try again when they had denied him the first time, furious that he dared come petitioning for a home the way no other race had had to, and a seed of white-hot fury was planted in their heart, and all the hearts of elves ever after.

Blinded by rage, Corellon raised their longbow and aimed at Grummsh's left eye.

Grummsh staggered but did not fall or scream as Corellon hissed

"Orcs will never have a place with the elves. You should have done what the other races did and found yourselves a place"

To this day, orcs and halflings share what they have when they have it, Grummsh weeps tears of blood for his children who do not have a home,

and elves aim for the eyes.

[galacticjonah]

Inspiration is hard lately so, I decided to make smth fun! Here’s a simple character prompt sheet made by me! All you need is some time and a D20. Tag me, if you make a character with this sheet, I’d looove to see the results!!

I rolled and here’s my result: A smug firbolg knight with an otherworldly guardian at his side!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Random mansion generator

The Procgen Mansion Generator produces large three-dee dwellings to toy with your imagination, offering various architectural styles and other options. Each mansion even comes with floorplans:

https://boingboing.net/2019/07/12/random-mansion-generator.html

[something-from-elsewhere]

Oooooh! Saving this

[lady-feral]

That’s fun

[vesperlionheart]

Hey, but don’t fall asleep on this Medieval Fantasy City Generator   

[awrenthatwrites]

Reblogging for the last!

[writingquestionsanswered]

NEAT.

[doctorslippery]

Not Another Tavern Generator

[rpgsandbox]

https://thecoppersanctum.github.io/thecoppersanctum/taverns.html

[dungeons-and-danis]

On structuring your campaign’s main plot line... (Part 1)

So i’ve gotten a question or two about how to structure a campaign properly, especially if you’re a beginner DM who has no clue where to even begin when it comes to making a fully fledged campaign story. This will be a simple guide to structuring the plot of your campaign without over-preparing and writing yourself into a corner. I’ll be taking a bit of inspiration from Joseph Campbell’s 12-Step Hero’s Journey, which is a classic story model every creative writer should study.

DISCLAIMER: This guide is meant for people who already have a basic idea of what they want their campaign to be about, but are having trouble structuring it into a solid plot. If you don’t know what you want to do yet, focus on that first and then come back to this guide when you have an idea.

Before we begin, there’s a brief overview of questions you should already have answered about your campaign. We will start with three questions in specific.

What is your Setting Theme?

Decide what the central theme of the campaign setting is. Is it steampunk? Medieval fantasy? Post apocalyptic? Science fantasy? Psychological horror? Dystopia? Talk to your players about this part and see what everyone wants. This should be a unanimous decision everyone has a say in, not just the DM.

What is the party’s Common Goal?

Decide what the main goal of your party is eventually going to be. What will bring everyone in the party together to fight the big bad, whatever that may be? You don’t need to brandish this goal from the start. In fact, it’s better that you don’t do that. But come up with a cause to fight for, and then you can work on making the players care about that cause. This will be the central pillar of your plot. Every story needs a common goal to tie it all together. Otherwise, what is the point in playing?

What is your Campaign Pitch?

How are you going to pitch the campaign to your players? How are you going to make the concept sound cool? A pitch doesn’t need to be well-thought out or explain the entirety of the campaign, which is why I say you should have it ready before you even write all of the campaign. It is simply the thing that gets your players hooked and interested. It is the conceptualization of your plot– the thing that gets you started, the main idea.

Once you’ve answered these three key questions, I recommend you write down the answers somewhere to come back to in case you’re ever feeling lost half way through writing the campaign. This is the foundation of your plot right here, and it is very important to keep these three things in mind as you write.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Random mansion generator

The Procgen Mansion Generator produces large three-dee dwellings to toy with your imagination, offering various architectural styles and other options. Each mansion even comes with floorplans:

https://boingboing.net/2019/07/12/random-mansion-generator.html

[something-from-elsewhere]

Oooooh! Saving this

[lady-feral]

That’s fun

[vesperlionheart]

Hey, but don’t fall asleep on this Medieval Fantasy City Generator   

[awrenthatwrites]

Reblogging for the last!

[writingquestionsanswered]

NEAT.

[forgamers]

[crunchthedeerstroyer-deactivate]

I one time did a campaign in DND where the entire party woke up in a trash heap, memories wiped, when a man in shining white armor approached them. He helped them up, healed them, and helped them escape what was essentially the dump and find their way into the sunlight. He told them of the tale of a wicked king of immense power who bargained for his abilities from a demon, hoping to save his kingdom, and succumbed to the evil after his wife died. The wife had a pearl necklace, and it was the man’s duty to find those pearls, because they held a magic in them that could defeat the king. 

This particular NPC was startlingly overpowered at first, right a long the levels of 6 while everyone else was just starting out, and he helped them along in the most dire situations, healing, defeating, and even resurrecting for them. There would be periods where he would be gone, and the party would have to face a crypt full of mummies together, or dive into the deepest parts of the ocean and retrieve these milky white pearls that would give them the ability to help their friend and defeat the wicked king. Slowly, their memories came back to them, and that was a stark comfort for them, but the entire time, there seemed to be a piece missing. 

After they retrieved 5 pearls (they broke the 6th one), they journied with the man to the wicked king’s castle, and fought their way through endless ranks of guards, undead, demons, and even a lich, until they made their way to the sacred bed chamber of the king, that they all remembered the story of from before they had awoken in that garbage pile. They opened the doors, only to find it empty, save the usual furniture, marred by scratches and the ancient scrawl of demons. The man in the white armor sighed and walked into the bedroom. 

And his armor changed from white to pitch black, and the whole party remembered suddenly. That was the face of the wicked king, the face that smiled at them whenever he healed them, the face that looked stern as they suggested stupids things to find the pearls. Apparently, in lapses of the demon’s control, the king had found a way to set him self up for defeat, by bringing his wive’s pearls along with brave, powerful warriors. Every absence he felt was where he had to return to the demon’s control and become the wicked king again, but he was determined to fight himself, to rid his own evil from the world, to end this curse of immortality and see his loved one again. 

I made the party fight the final boss, and they saw the eyes of a friend. 

They all cried, and I am no longer allowed to DM for them.

[prokopetz]

A female dragonborn paladin with the noble background is the ultimate switch: she can be the knight, the princess or the dragon, as circumstances require.

[grazztthedark]

I’m imagining a scenario where, through a series of misunderstandings, she’s hired to rescue herself from herself. 

[rabidpeep]

Priest: “Sir Aldes of Mosley, the church has evidence to suggest that the Princess Miranda of Foxley has been kidnapped by Firefang the Ruthless. Will you rescue her on behalf of His Holiness?”

Sir Miranda Aldes, born in Foxley, honorarily knighted in Mosley as a Black Knight after winning a jousting tournament, who’s rebellious teenage nickname was Firefang: “So, about all that…”

[otherwindow]

A magical girl series where the girls transform into their DnD characters. 

[otherwindow]

Imagine being a typical shojo super villain and seeing an anime girl transform into a fucking Orc.

[otherwindow]

Not even a cute anime Orc, just a realistically drawn Warcraft Orc named Mo’Gar Skullcrush or something. 

None of the girls in the group transform into cute Elves. It’s just Lady Stormbeard the Dwarf ranger. Skeletal Lich Bellinde Bloodless. GrhhuHghh the Goblin cleric. Every villain they meet is fucking terrified.

[seelcudoom]

Villain lieing down defeated “you cant finish me off, thats the weakness of you “good” guys”

Magical girl: “you are right….” transforms into a 6 foot tall beefcake orc “…But Mo’gar is chaotic neutral”

[rxbiteme]

Human alcohol does nothing for Orcs. Especially mountain Orcs. It tastes like weird water. And looks like unhealthy piss.

Every Orc tribe has their own unique alcohol. The Orcs of the Valley produce sweet wines and liquors that a soft almost pastel colors.

The Orcs of the Desert produce a type of alcoholic milk made from their mounts after being allowed to ferment.

Mountain Orcs brew in a style similar to human ale. Except it's stronger and made from hardy plants that are almost entirely toxic to humans.

The Orcs of the Cave make a drink from the lichen that grows on the walls. It glows and tends to have a hallucinogenic affect. It's usually passed around for ceremonies, weddings and deaths.

The few humans who've been lucky to try any of the drinks and survive were never able to drink human alcohols again. They tasted like nothing.

[dungeonqueering]

In response to the racist fuckbags being racist fuckbags on my post about non-white elves, I want to promote a DnD 5e world setting I came across on Twitter called the Wagadu Chronicles.

You can find them here:

https://twitter.com/WagaduChronicle?s=09

They are self described as "An Afrofantasy World |

5e Pen&Paper Adventures & an upcoming online game"

Honestly it looks rad as hell, and you should all check it out.

[disabledfabian]

some dnd backstory ideas that give your character a reason to leave home that isn’t “everyone in my family died.” (just to say: i have nothing against those backstories (i use them a lot), but its fun to mix it up!)

family/friends/personal

someone close to you is sick. you need to adventure to find a cure

someone stole something important from you and you need to find it

you’ve received a message from a long lost relative and are trying to find them

someone that you love has been kidnapped (maybe you have to earn money to pay a ransom or complete some deed…)

adventuring runs in the family! everyone is expected to complete one quest in their lives

your family/culture sends people out to complete certain tasks when they reach a certain age as a rite of passage

another player’s character saved you in the past so you feel indebted to them and travel with them, protecting/aiding them

there’s a magical drought in your hometown and you have to fix it

your hometown doesn’t have a lot of jobs so you have to travel and send money back home

some childhood friends and you made a “scavenger hunt” where you try and complete a checklist of certain tasks (ie. defeat a barbarian in hand to hand combat, steal x amount of gold, slay a dragon, etc) in an allotted amount of time

quests/jobs

a god/patron has sent you on a quest to do something for them

you’ve been hired by someone to complete a task (and you get sucked into the big adventure along the way)

you’re on a quest for knowledge. maybe it’s to learn the best ways of fighting, maybe it’s something more academic related

your priest received a vision from your god and they sent you on a quest

you’re writing a book about the world and different cultures and you need first hand experience

you’ve found every map you’ve come across is shitty, so you decide to become a cartographer and make your own

you’re a detective who helps solve crimes and need to travel to solve a particular case

you’re a collector of a certain object and travel across the land to find it

you’re apart of an adventuring academy and have to complete a quest to graduate

you’re an artisan and you travel with your wares, trying to sell them. alternatively, you’re trying to spread word of your business and gain new business partners

you worked at a tavern your whole life where an old bard would sing songs of their adventuring party and that inspired you to go and do some adventuring of your own

feel free to add some of your own!

[definitelybeholderrpgideas]

Adding my own here:

You have been hired to find, catalogue, and occasionally contain rare or dangerous magical items

You’ve always had weapons, armor, and/or magical abilities. One day you were bored and decided you should finally use them for something important

Tired of dealing with stereotypes, you’ve decided to do what you can to create a new perception of your people

You don’t really know how you got here, it just kind of happened

[dare-to-dm]

You’re family is alive and healthy, and they annoy the crap out of you.  Thus, you’re adventuring to get away from home for a while.

You’re preparing to propose to the love of your life, but you feel you need to prove yourself first, by accomplishing some great deed or perhaps acquiring a suitable gift

You’re being blackmailed into the adventure by someone who has some serious dirt on you

You’r secretly in love with one of the other PCs, so of course you want to join them on their adventure!

You woke up in a strange place with a wicked hangover and no memories of how you got there.  Than crazy shit started/continued to happen, and now here you are I guess

[prokopetz]

More inadvisable premises for low-level Dungeons & Dragons adventures:

The party has been hired by a local inkeeper to clear a infestation of giant rats out of their basement. Upon investigation, however, the rats demand parley, and produce documents which – they allege – establish that they themselves are the legal owners of the inn. As far as any player character in possession of appropriate skills is able to determine, the documents are genuine.

A group of townsfolk ask the party to liberate them from their terrible wizard-king. When confronted in his private sanctum, the “wizard” breaks down and confesses that he’s a failed apprentice who’s been running a Wizard of Oz scam with the aid of a few minor cantrips. He begs the party not to expose him, claiming that the countryside is home to a band of vicious marauders who’ve only refrained from ravaging the town because they believe he’s the real deal.

The party receives the opportunity to enter themselves into a region-wide martial tournament whose returning champion has promised to bestow her magnificent enchanted blade on anyone who can best her in single combat. The usual tournament shenanigans are afoot, of course, but the true intrigue is that the champion is really just a luckless merchant who’s been possessed by the malicious intelligence of her sword – and it’s looking to trade up to a better host!

A village is afflicted by an apparent curse that’s transforming plants, animals, and eventually people into grotesque monsters. The victims typically aren’t dangerous or hostile – just terribly confused. It’s eventually discovered that a local hedge witch has been improperly disposing of failed personal enhancement potions, and the resulting trasmutative effluvium has tainted the village well.

An evil sorcerer has crafted an army of unstoppable behemoths of iron and bone to rampage through the countryside spreading terror and devastation as a prelude to eventual conquest. However, the sorcerer in question is a member of a very, very small race, so the behemoths are only about three feet tall.

[captainsnoop-deactivated2020041]

theres something very funny about people writing these rich and detailed backstories for dnd characters as if the characters aren’t gonna still be level 1 when they start 

“my elf has been alive for a thousand years and has won ten thousand battles!!!” you’re still level 1 aint ya i guess you those ten thousand battles you won werent all that hard to win 

[captainsnoop-deactivated2020041]

i know this sounds all grumpy but i legit mean it when i say it is hilarious when someone writes it in to their backstory that they were the Smartest Mage on the Planet that has researched magic for A Thousand Centuries and then the game starts and they’re like “yeah i know fireball whats up” 

[captainsnoop-deactivated2020041]

the more detailed your character’s backstory is and the more you boast about the character’s competence and abilities, the funnier it becomes when you roll a 1 and your character just drops their sword and shits themselves. president of the dwarves for six centuries and you just shit yourself in a bar you were trying to find work in.  

[drtanner]

Like I know that this is a Goof Post™ and that you’re generally not supposed to try to offer any explanations for stuff like this for fear of Ruining The Joke™ but I feel like people do this because they fundamentally misunderstand what their character’s backstory is actually for.

The most interesting and compelling part of a character’s life is supposed to be the story you’re going to tell; you’re defeating the object by shoving all of the cool shit into their backstory. The actual purpose of the backstory is to inform your character’s behaviour and choices and the way they react to things so you can play/write them consistently! A solid backstory is a great way to make your character a whole person with a personality that makes sense.

tl;dr - A “cool” backstory doesn’t necessarily make for a cool character. It’s less about who they’ve been and what they’ve already done than it is about who they might become over the course of the story you’re going to tell with them.

[dndaddyissues]

hey! this! this is really really good advice for players!

[tyrantosaurus]

Though also if you’re playing a long lived species, it is entertaining as hell to explain why they haven’t done anything in their life worthwhile. It’s also funny to explain how they did all these incredible things and still can barely hold a sword.

My paladin was a folk hero. Fought off bandits and saved a town. One of the first campaign battles, she rolled a one and yeeted her sword across the room.

Cue her going very red and stammering about how she was usually more proficient than this but you know. She had hurt her arm. And slept weird last night. You know. Perfectly reasonable explanations for not knowing how to swing a sword.

So I guess my advice for new players is to make whatever backstory you want. If you were epic beforehand and want to grow as a character still? Lean into it. Explain why they’re at level one. Did they land in a coma for a year, and their muscles atrophied? Did a wizard cast a spell on them? Did they just fall off their horse and hit their head really hard?

Anything is possible. And there are ways to do it serious and gritty if you want- say they took a serious blow protecting a loved one or even just an ally, but corrupt energy in the wound prevented magical healing and it didn’t heal right. They have to relearn everything left handed because they lost their right. The whack on the head was by an enemy attacking their group and they only survived because they passed out and the enemy thought they were dead. They have constant splitting migraines that make it hard to focus. There are so many ways to explain why they’re back down to level one.

And any answer is fun. Even if that answer is just “things are easier where I’m from.”

Play with it. Make a character you want to play. No matter who that is.

(My paladin, for reference, got arrested for stealing food when she was starving and lost her skills while she was in solitary confinement for 60 years.)

[dndaddyissues]