You know the scene. The corpse of the hero lies lifeless on a cold temple slab, his pale flesh lit by flickering orange candlelight. Meanwhile, the fate of the known world lies in the hands of the priests whose orations to their god represent the only chance to bring this chosen warrior back into the […]
Category: DMs Tips (Page 2 of 6)
The Dungeon Coach is one of the best D&D 5e homebrewers out there, in my opinion, and in this video he talks about the inferior damage output of two weapon fighting (aka dual-wielding) in 5e, vs. two-handed weapon fighters, and why he feels that’s unfair. After all, both these offensive styles require using both hands […]
It took me all of five seconds to pile in on various feats and class abilities I felt were too deadly when I first started this blog in 2016… but it’s taken me five years to tackle 5th edition’s most commonly-occurring damage spike: sneak attack. The reason being, of course, that when it comes to […]
When I wrote Dragonbowl, on top of writing the storyline, I found myself including little bits of advice that DMs might profit from in their bid to extract maximum drama from the adventure. Perhaps the most interesting was a box out about plot armour. And the reason it’s interesting (for me at least) is because […]
A while ago, I proposed six alternatives to the overused trope of starting your D&D adventure in a tavern. When M.T. Black recently asked his Twitter followers what fun variations they had seen to the “you all meet in a tavern” adventure beginning, I shared my article and then condensed my six alternatives (plus the […]
Ever since I watched Matt Mercer DM in Force Grey, I’ve been thinking: wouldn’t it be cool to have a list of Mercer-esque descriptions for all of D&D’s most common incantations to hand come game night? The chance of me being able to ad-lib something as evocative as Matt’s description of tongues, when the target’s […]
Back when Dungeons & Dragons was about clearing out dungeons, there were some tasks that players performed in EVERY room they entered, more or less in this order. Search for traps / hidden monsters Loot the corpses of dead monsters (having killed them) Search the room for additional loot and Search for secret doors / […]
Things I like about Sharpshooter feat: It reminds me of my favourite drum’n’bass anthem from the mid 90s. Things I don’t like about Sharpshooter: Everything else. It feels like a while since I’ve had a good old moan about one of 5e’s little foibles, and if nothing else my negative posts on Divine Smite, Lucky […]
When I first starting playing 5e, guidance leapt out as an easily spammable cantrip that was almost certain to be abused on the D&D table. Guidance Divination cantrip Casting Time: 1 action Range: Touch Components: V, S Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute You touch one willing creature. Once before the spell ends, the target […]
I love a good ruck, and while I enjoy all the pillars of Dungeons & Dragons, combat is my favourite part of the game. The more you enjoy something however, the more you crave just the best of that thing. In the same way that a wine connoisseur turns their nose up at cheap plonk, […]
