level 3!

* ~ Welcome to level 3! ~ *

Congratulations to Aramis, Mara, Shetân, & Strikes-in-Silence!

Black Dragon: How To

from: RedSky1895 on Reddit

Any dragon would be plenty capable of being social, so there's no reason he wouldn't find some allies to help solve a problem. It's also possible, being young, that he's more impressionable to such a lesson and merely learns from it, perhaps even seeking out the one that defeated him to form an alliance - after all, there was obviously not enough animosity there to actually kill him for some reason.

I tend to not treat dragons as being immutably bound to their racial descriptions and instead formed into them on the average by a combination of nature, upbringing, lifestyle, and perception. Each is an individual in no lesser way than any of us. As such, I use the racial descriptions as points of personality rather than overall life outlook and decision making: I've played a neutral good red dragon in the past, and his 'destructive, chaotic evil nature' appeared in the form of quickness of temper, impulsiveness, and easily-violent protectiveness of those he cared about rather than constantly having bad intentions. Basically, you can have a destructive nature and not use it to be an ass to everyone, and that can apply to dragons as well.

I'd recommend treating him as more of an NPC. What is his personality? His life story up until then? His goals? How do those things interact with what happened to determine a course of action? Obviously you don't want to waste a lot of time on such things for a minor character, but he could play as large of a part as you wish, and you can be as quick and vague about answering those questions as you feel sufficient. In the end some of it will be determined by how much you want to stick to dragons being pre-programmed despite being sentient and intelligent: I find it to be contradictory at face value and rectify it by balancing between the two, but YMMV.

Edit: Adding a few example 'revenge' ideas below if that's more what you're looking for here. Most of these came from games I have played in rather than run; some were done by NPC dragons, some by a couple of my better PCs from the past (also dragons).

1. Learn of their history and goals, and meet with them to send them astray or into a trap. Leaving this one generic since it can be used in all sorts of ways, and it's not necessary to be disguised at all (though the example I pull this from was two dragons meeting, so it wouldn't have mattered much since they both already knew).
2. Go after people they care about and can't protect at all times. Flight is powerful, use it to be faster than them and crush them with hopelessness trying to stop it. You can turn this to your advantage pointing back to #1 with false flag ops, which is rather similar to how the example of #1 came about in the first place.
3. Make deals with their allies and spread word against them. Again, a disguise is not necessarily required: People want a dragon as an ally, and you can always be one genuinely (always recommended) since you will be getting what you want out of the arrangement. This is generic as well since it can be whatever fits in your game.
4. Fight dirty: You have wings, that guy doesn't. You can kill him with utter impunity if you think through the problem a bit. Drop heavy things on him. Pick him up and drop him, for that matter...especially if he sleeps outside while traveling.

Note that none of these, save for the fighting dirty in the specific methods described, apply only to dragons. That's really the point. The main thing a dragon brings to the table that any other NPC might not is enough personal power to be easy to sell and persuade with.

As another aside: Acid is the most useful breath weapon, especially if you consider that 'non-weaponized' uses of it probably don't consume uses or require recharge. Acid can do everything from destroying metal bonds and opening locks to severing ropes, rendering water sources unusable, pocking rock faces to make them more climbable (bonus points to anyone who knows where that idea, relevant to dragons, came from), destroying sails on ships (that one too), and many, many other creative uses. Even fire is not as versatile. Think it through a bit and you can be pretty clever with it.

For more tips on playing Black Dragons, check out this other handy guide from Reddit.

DM Burnout

Some great advice from roll-for-romance on Tumblr regarding how they deal with DM burnout:

Hello everyone! It’s about time I hunker down and discuss one of the more plaguing issues as a DM: DM burnout. DM burnout can be described as the dungeon master’s equivalent to writer’s block. Sometimes, after playing a lot, a DM can experience this feeling. They’ve burnt through their best content. They’re run dry of ideas and inspiration. Heck, maybe they’re even getting bored of playing. The same ‘ol thing every session can get drawl. Whatever it is that triggers this state of mind, DM burnout can be one of the most frustrating things for a DM (And even the DM’s players) to experience. Hopefully this’ll help ease the load.

Guys, let’s get something straight right off the bat. DM Burnout is a normal thing. Experiencing a bump in your inspiration, especially if you play frequently, is something that can definitely happen, and it’s often tough to approach. In my experience with it, I found it the most difficult to approach my players with it. I was uninspired, unmotivated, but still enthusiastic. I loved playing, but I couldn’t quite find the reasons to get excited to do so. However, my players were still ready and rearing to go, and I had trouble bringing it to their attention. I didn’t want to offend them, or make them upset. I didn’t want them  thinking I disliked playing, or get any sort of wrong Idea.I was left at an Impasse, and i had no idea how to go forward with it. Here’s how I went about dealing with DM burnout.

For starters, The first step is to bring it to the players’ attention. This can be tough, but players, you need to be kind to your DM. It takes a lot of effort to DM and make the amazing game you play fun. You can’t blame your DM for burning out. I understand if  you really like your campaign, and not playing can be agonizing, but you need to give your DM time. DMs, the second thing i’d do is take a break. Take however long you need, but express to your players how you’re feeling, and make sure they know that you just need a little bit to regain yourself. This doesn’t mean your game is over, it means that there’s a bit of a intermission between acts. Take some time off to find your place again.

Next, I recommend you shift focus. Instead of planning more again, you need to find what it is that makes you so motivated to play. For example, in my case, My favorite thing about my campaign is watching how my PCs interact with NPCs. So, I dug back and looked at my best NPCs, and looked back on the best moments I had with them. What made them so great. This got me thinking again, and it even started to fire me up again. It took a few days to get there, but once  I got there, I was ready to move on to the second step.

Next, I began to plan again. But, I used a different formula. I began to plan something I’d find fun to DM for. Because, believe it or not, the DM has a right to have fun too! The DM’s job is to make a world for the players to explore, but it’s no shame to create something that you’ll enjoy DMing for. Of course, you should be sure to make sure the players also will enjoy your new idea, but spend time making something interesting. What that’ll do for you is make you eager. Make you hungry to try your grand plan. Your master scheme.

Lastly, I’d say that the best thing to do is to take just a bit more time to make sure you understand what brought forward this burnout, and make steps to avoid it next time. But remember that DM burnout can come around more than once in your DMing lifetime. So don’t be shy or upset when it happens. Take care of yourself as a DM, so you can continue to make great stories for your players to explore as a part of this amazing game!

To review, here’s the steps again.

1.) Bring it to your player’s attention.

2.) Take a break.

3.) Find your spark

4.) Make something to look forward to!

5.) Reflect and identify the reasons behind your burnout.

6.)  Get back to the action!

Hope this helped, everyone! 

DM's table!

Managed to add a DM's table to the end of our playing area, so hopefully I can stop taking space away from my players and have the space I need for the Giant Binder and other things.

I'm also going to make an attempt to streamline combat as best I can, just so I can be better prepared.

24 d4s....

I'm just going to leave this here for a minute. :)

modules on sale!

from dmwisdom on Tumblr:

I’m not sure if you guys are necessarily into the module, but the Hoard of the Dragon Queen is currently only $19 on Amazon. Usually listed for $30. Most adventures purchased in-store will run you about $50 (although I’m not so sure about this one since it’s older).

This module was, I believe, the first 5e module produced. There are some problems with it, but if you want to run something without having to create an entire world or spend a butt-ton of moolah, this may be handy for you.

Doubly awesome, The Rise of Tiamat is only $18 on Amazon. Usually listed for $30. This adventure is the follow-up to the Hoard of the Dragon Queen. So what I’m trying to get at is you could be playing two adventures for less than what you might spend on a single adventure otherwise.

Hoard of the Dragon queen runs levels 1-7.
Rise of Tiamat runs levels 8-15.

Both adventures have 94 pages of content, so 188 total pages. I’m not really sure why I’m including this, but there ya go.

map tiles (2)

an arcane lab maybe?

portal to another world?

map tiles (1)

new tiles!

2nd boat!

Trinkets!

Trinkets from my Dungeon Crate!

character journal on the right from CritforBrains

Anyone know what this is?

front

back

pin

It's a box!

Absolutely loving my first Dungeon Crate! Thank you guys so much for such a fun product!

Chessex Dice

New dice! (as if I needed anymore)

New from Critical Role!

Brand new series from the amazing folks at Critical Role! Oh my gosh so excited!

Hoping to learn whatever I can to better provide content for my players. ^^

NPC List

Dax Ferdelas
            Half-Elf Cleric, War Domain

Velki Esrath

            Tiefling Sorcerer, Draconic Bloodline

Mathias Orren
            Human Blood Hunter, Order of the Ghostslayer

Imkesh
            Half-Orc Rogue/Thief

Merribeth Edenwald
            Human Warlock, The Fiend

Allura Vord
            Aasimar Bard/Warlock, College of Lore

Lanak Wildcaller Kolakatake
            Goliath Barbarian, Path of the Totem Warrior

Kaia the Ruthless
            Valkyrie Barbarian, Path of the Storm Herald

Kruosk the Disgraced
            Half-Orc, Fighter/Samurai

Kaslos
            Aarakocra Wizard, School of Necromancy

Amara Durthan
            Dwarf Monk, Way of the Kensei

Uilleam MacRieve
            Werewolf Blood Hunter, Order of the Lycan

Ravoxan Imrean
            Dragonborn Sorcerer, Draconic Bloodline

Faye Ironstorm
            Gnome Paladin, Oath of Vengeance

Ashlyn Farsorrow
            Human Monk, Way of Shadow

Jeren Berug
            Gnome Fighter, Arcane Archer

Mere

            Air Genasi Warlock, The Fiend

Mozeth Dardendrian
            Dragonborn Barbarian, Path of the Berserker

Loli
            Succubus Bard, College of Glamour

Pidge the Small
            Kenku Rogue, Arcane Trickster

Kagil Stonefist
            Goliath Rogue, Arcane Trickster

Sari Imahna
            Elf Druid, Circle of the Moon

Eve Valwynn
            Elf Ranger/Hunter

Nyla
            Firbolg Druid, Circle of the Shepherd

*~*~*~*

That's all for now! Maybe I'll write out some of their stories later, or maybe just as they show up in the story. ^^ A few of them are inspired by Critical Role, and some of them don't even really have backstories yet, haha.

But! I will say that there's an Easter egg in here. . . can you find it?

Homemade Minis!

What do you think, guys? Are my players spoiled?

Glad to have made this little project! I hope they’re surprised. :3c

Campaign Outline 1.0

All right so the plan thus far is as follows:

• get through the beginner adventure (Pathfinder Beginner Box) (end at level 3)
• try out the adventure I wrote Lost Temple (end at level 5)
• Kord's Festival 

After that I have a pretty loose plan, but I'm not sure. Definitely going to be studying how these 3 events go before I start planning anything too soon. I'm thinking I might start working on character story arcs at around level 9ish? So I just have to find things for them to do until then, haha.

It all depends on the players, though. I'll definitely be planting campaign story line, however, so there will be no shortage of things to do, really. ^^

Amazing!

Oh my goodness I would love to make something like this! So beautiful!

DM's view

from my Instagram

This was my view after Thursday's game - not bad if I do say so myself! Definitely need to polish a few things, like placement of the Giant Binder and things like that, but otherwise went great for a first session and I'm so happy!

?!?!?!??!!?!!!

WHAT THE HELL MONSTROSITY IS THIS?!

Level Up!

To my players,

   Welcome to level 2.

Byebye Memikus

So I have a quick update to post: Memikus is no more. He didn't die or anything, but the caricature that my husband came up with was, he felt, too much. He pulled me aside about 10 minutes before the session started and let me know, "Hey, I'm going to play this a little differently than we've been talking about, what do you need to do to prepare?"

So I made sure to remind him that he does have a wondrous item, the Hat of Disguise. I also let him know that, unless otherwise stated, I am assuming he's just casting it every hour. I wanted to make sure he had a way to protect himself because he wanted to ambush some goblins as his entrance and I let him know, "Dude, if you come leaping out of the trees as a raptor, the party may attack you, so... maybe use your disguise?"  And he says, "Yeah okay sure. I look like a human but oddly-proportioned. I have three fingers on each hand and I hold my arms fairly close to my chest. Have you seen Watchmen? Yeah, I have a mask like Rorschach's but without the design. It's just an off-white color because it's old,".

Finally we decided that he has trouble with speech because, well, raptor lips. So right now he learns by mimicking and by level 5 I figure he should have a decent handle on speech, just maybe some difficulty with certain phonemes.

Anyway! So yes, Memikus is gone and has been reborn instead as Shetan the raptor gunslinger. I'm really looking forward to how the party interacts with this new dynamic and I'll be sure to update you guys on how it goes.

:D

I tried so hard to update last night but everything was happening so fast !

I’ll do my best to describe what all happened in a follow-up post but! I will say that I got a standing ovation & clapping for when I was done which was really good. ^^

& one player said, “See, I knew you’d be on your way to being a great DM because you have such an amazing attention to detail,”

while the other said, “You’re gonna be such a great DM because you have an ability that – I’ve seen others try to do buy you really nailed it – you make the world feel alive,”

And I’m standing there blushing & praising Matt Mercer in my head like he’s a legit God of Gaming & stumbling over myself because I’m not used to praise.

Last night was good. :)

Ready, Set, Play!

My current DM, Steven, is starting to experience burnout so we agreed to alternate weeks, & he’s just really glad to be able to sit & play rather than plan everything out. To try & throw him for a loop, as well as my other player, who has the monster manual mostly memorized, I’m running the Pathfinder Beginner Box adventure, just for some extra flavor. ^^ 

If you guys have any advice or suggestions, I’m happy to hear them. I’m super nervous for tonight but overall it’s about having fun & I hope to be able to give my players that.

Looking forward to hearing from you, keep an ear out around 6pm EST / 5pm Central / 3pm PST for live updates as I can make them.

Here’s the adventure I’m running to start: [Pathfinder Beginner Box pdf]

Full Party!

Memikus Raptorid Gunslinger	Strikes in Silence Tabaxi Monk
Mara Dotsk Aasimar Rogue	Aramis Dontez Drow Half-Elf Warlock

D&D tonight!

My first time DMing for a group of 4 - decided to alternate weeks with my current DM to save him from burnout. First session is today at 6pm!

Clean Slate

Here's the bracket setup for when my players get to Kord's Festival. I'll have to put names in a hat to draw new matches, but I'm pretty excited that I may finally be able to reveal it, haha.

Who do you think will win? PCs or NPCs?

1							9
	x					x
2							10
		x			x
3							11
	x					x
4							12
			x	x
5							13
	x		WINNER			x
6							14
		x			x
7							15
	x					x
8							16

new Kord Festival invitations!

What do you think? Are my players spoiled?

Hexblade Patron help?

Anyone have any ideas for a unique Hexblade patron? I unfortunately don’t know much about the character yet, but he comes from a place that’s very black-and-white: monsters are bad, people are better. There is no gray, no in-between.

As such, when the PC found out his father was dabbling in some darker magics, well, he killed him.

I was thinking of having the deceased father be his patron, but I wanted to ask you guys what you thought. ^^

PS; guys, I just had a thought. What if one of the members of Vox Machina was the patron? My players haven’t seen Critical Role, so they’d have no idea. Doesn’t even have to be Vox Machina, but really anyone in Critical Role would do.

Surprise!

The Party Thus Far. . .

Memikus Raptorid Gunslinger	Strikes in Silence Tabaxi Monk
Mara Dotsk Aasimar Rogue	Unknown

Festival Bracket

Oh gosh, guys, I just realized I have to completely redo the whole bracket for Kord's Festival. 😭

When I first wrote it out I only had 2 players with 14 other combatants for a total of 16. Now I'll have 4 players with 14 combatants. . . so I have to get rid of 2 of them.

Well, I'll just draw names out of a hat until only 2 are left, then those 2 will be eliminated. Seems fair, right?

Here's hoping!