and i love the way you hurt me ;

savannah. 22. entp. tiny blonde. slytherin. chaotic good. former online fantasy roleplayer, upcoming tabletop gamer. +

[loghainmactir]

if you definitely 100% own all of the dnd 5E content after spending hundreds of dollars on it whether physically or digitally (or both!) u should use this site here as a quick n easy reference point for the content you definitely already legally own because you’re a law abiding citizen who has paid hundreds of dollars for a shittonne of books.

[dwarfstarscast]

i’m curious about this reward-based system you have with your players. what is it exactly? it sounds interesting, and i’d like to use it with my new players, as they aren’t as motivated to creat a good character backstory.

A lot of the credit will have to go to a DM and friend of mine, Ashley! When I played a campaign with her, she implemented this idea and I loved it so much I took it and edited it for my own personal use in this campaign.

The essential idea for me is that… well, I think it’s a bit silly for player characters to start on a completely blank slate. Surely some of them have been on some adventures before, or at least given a family heirloom or something, right? And this is a way to give them that chance - but they must pay the price of writing some juicy backstory details for you! I find it especially helps players who don’t know what their backstory is or many details about it. More importantly it rewards them for doing so!

For DS&D, I wrote up a “character creator” document. This had setting information, deities, and other notes, including a section I entitled “Assembling your Character.” This section was broken into subsections to be answered or tasks to be completed:

Basics/Personality (mandatory)

Backstory

Interaction

Self-Reflection

Writing a short story from the characters’ point of view as if it were a novel

Creating a collage of images relating to your character (10+ pictures, with an example later)

Assembling a playlist of 8+ songs that your character might like or relate

Each subsection answered or task completed and sent back to me earned the player 1 point, for a total of 7 points (to note, all of my players earned 6 or 7 points out of 7! I love them all so much). Each point earned them a tiered, non-stacked reward, as follows:

Nothing! Wah wah wah…

An extra 50 gold

An extra 100 gold

1 potion of healing

+5 hit points

+1 to any ability score of your choice

One free feat or a low-grade magical item at my discretion*

*This magical weapon could either be selected from a list I provided or a custom-made magical item that catered to their character. Three people earned 7 points - Corbin (who asked for a specific magical item, which I approved), Shannon, and Travis (who asked for customized magic items).

More detail on each of subsections under the cut!

So let me go back a second and and talk about the questions in each subsection. Each section’s questions took up one-half to three-quarters of a page (mostly of blank space), and almost everyone gave me back each subsection as a full page of detail.

The Basics/Personality subsection included… well, the basics, so I made this section required! It asked race, class, pronouns/gender identity, sexuality, height, weight, skin colour, home world, hobbies, if they had any tattoos (and of what), and such. I also required they give some simple personality qualities: four positive traits (ex., generous with money, selfless, honest) and two negative traits (ex., stubborn, argumentative).

The Backstory subsection included questions like, “What were/are your character’s parents like? What did/do they do for a living?” “How many siblings does your character have? Do they get along?” “Describe in brief one life-changing event.” “How did your character earn the skillset of their class?”

The Interaction subsection focuses on how the character interacts with the world around them. “How does your character treat strangers? How do they treat friends?” “What does your character look for in friends? In significant others?” “How does your character handle stress? What are their fears?” “How does your character handle issues of morality?”

The Self-Reflection is about how the character views themselves. “What is your character’s opinion of themselves?” “Does your character have a motto or code of morality or philosophy?” “What does your character hope to gain in this campaign?” “What would your character say are their strengths? Their weaknesses?”

As far as the shorty story was concerned, most people sent me an in-character view of a significant event in their life. Shannon, for example, wrote me a lovely piece about the last ceremony Reydira attended before leaving her commune to join SEO - a goodbye ceremony from her fellow commune members. She described the nervousness and excitement that Reydira - a woman who had never left the commune before, a commune people rarely left in general - felt as she got up on stage to say goodbye. I didn’t add a word limit, and only asked them to write what they felt comfortable to write about.

For the playlist, some of my players made me a spotify playlist to subscribe them, while others wrote a list and sent it to me, while others sent me the occasional youtube video like, “Oh, this is SO my character!”

The collage one got a bit more questions from my players, mostly about what I meant or what I wanted. I used this as an example:

I did this one for my DM Ashley of my 3.5e binder, Amysthea (who became the basis for the goddess Setyri, a member of the pantheon of the Five Stars)!

As far as I was concerned, my players were free to make their own art or pillage it from the internet. Some of my players ended up putting together collages like this, while others hopped on pinterest and made entire pinterest boards for their character. 

Just so you know, my players had, like… 2 months to answer all this stuff! Most people turned it in within a week or two, though, haha.

[kenkuarchive]

Massive DM’s Toolkit (Online Resources)

This post in based on a post from reddit by u/Apollonaut13. They’ve collected a shit ton of helpful DM sites and you should definitely check them out when you first start DM’ing. Links and other things under the cut. 

Keep reading

[dungeons-and-danis]

very neat idea for anyone who enjoys puzzle making!

[pwbi]

5th Edition Class Specific Character Sheets - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

5th Edition Class Specific Character Sheets - These are colorized and customized variants of the 12 classes contained within the 5th Edition Player’s Handbook.

Saturday Showcase

These are some pretty nifty character sheets, each one has its own special design and art style for a particular class

in addition to that, it seems like they list class features next to the equipment section for quick reference

[birdhism]

[doctorslippery]

[mythologicalmusings]

Hi all! Within the next two months, I’ll be starting my very first attempt at DM’ing a D&D campaign. If you have any tips, advice, suggestions, or know of any good blogs to take a peek at, pls send them my way!

[lady-sarenrae]

Dungeon Master Apps

Dragon + is great for updates to current content, it is a endless well of information that should spark anyone’s creativity. It’s all around a great publication.

RPG Sounds: Fantasy is awesome for atmosphere and an alternative to the YouTube which plays adds, or constantly has you searching for a new song to play.

Trello connects to both your phone and computer and is a great alternative to physical note cards. My favorite for session prep.

Story Cubes always pull me out of writers block. Some of my favorite game moments came from a random roll of these die.

Time Tree my least favorite side of D&D is organizing the best time for everyone to play. This app allows all the players to upload their schedules and makes life so much easier.

Can anyone recommend any other apps that make DMing easier and more fun?

[1000ballbearings]

In dnd, resurrecting PCs becomes so easy at higher levels, and though I think that’s a positive, I really like the idea that dying has lasting consequences or triggers events in a PC. Here’s a simple table of interesting but hopefully not game breaking or character destroying ideas. Thoughts? Improvements?

[r-n-w]

A short ‘n sweet explanation of the 8 schools of magic from 5th edition!

[hackmydungeon]

Hack #17 All in the Cards

I’ve asked my players recently to help me with the world building of the campaign. I allowed them to each bring a few Magic The Gathering cards and the ones we pick I must use for influence in making the campaign.

Using these I got inspired to make deities, NPCs, magic items, dungeons, legends, and new encounters for the players. This gives them a stake in creating the game world while helping you understand what kind of themes and challenges the players want to see in the game. The world is now a part ownership with the players and a collaborative effort that can connect them to quests without exposition dump.

[mythologicalmusings]

yes, hello, i had no idea that i still had the login for this account?

this blog believes 100% that black lives matters.

[neyruto]

the best feeling in the world is when your teacher says “these essays/papers sucked” and getting yours back with a “nice work!” and a lil smiley bc success is so much sweeter when you know others have failed 

[abuiltinremedy]

[firelord-fried]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[elliotofrph-blog]

Mermaid aesthetic 

[leoholzer]

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