A couple of months ago, I ran a Twitter poll asking ‘Which of these is the most annoying spell in 5e D&D?’ The options I gave were banishment, counterspell, and forcecage, with a fourth option for ‘something else’. It is striking that out of 66 votes, more than half were for counterspell. I can’t say … Continue reading Nine reasons why counterspell is not as annoying as you think
After 20 years of DMing, I’m still coming across things I’ve never done before. Two weeks ago, it was time travel. My friends’ 18th-level characters were pulled back 10,000 years into the past. They not only had a chance to learn some of the world’s lore: they got to change the past. It was fun … Continue reading How to run time travel in D&D
We are now seven years into 5th edition, and, on average, Wizards of the Coast have put out two hardback adventures a year. It’s great to have these on your bookshelf, and there’s a lot to be gained from pilfering them for maps and story ideas. For this post, I’ve gone back through my ten … Continue reading The best 5e adventures: ranked!
By default, D&D uses Vancian magic, and has done since its earliest days, more or less. Vancian magic is where spells are prepared in advance and can only be used a finite number of times. It is sometimes known as ‘fire and forget’ magic, or, more disparagingly, as ‘utility belt’ magic. The term ‘Vancian’ comes … Continue reading New spellcasting mechanic: the Mana Check
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how to start off your mini collection. To recap, so far we have: Five player charactersTen (or more) goblinsTen (or more) undeadA dragonAn imp or a balorFour giant spidersFive wolvesA trollA bearAn ogreA vampireTen orcs or lizardfolk (The numbers are not meant to be exact, by the way. … Continue reading Your first 100 miniatures: how to build up a collection (Part 2)
7 June marks one year since my first post on the site. And what a year it’s been! I want to say thank you to everyone who has commented on, shared, or subscribed to the site. What started as a vague idea last summer has since grown into something that brings me much joy. I … Continue reading Happy birthday, Scroll for Initiative!
Part 2 link: here Two weeks ago, u/LibraryLass posted the Average Fantasy Bestiary on the r/rpg subreddit. It’s a fantastic resource: a survey of 50 well known fantasy RPGs, with popular fantasy monsters listed based on ubiquity. Do have a look. This got me thinking: could we use the Average Fantasy Bestiary to generate a … Continue reading Your first 100 miniatures: how to build up a collection (Part 1)
What type of DM are you? Find out in this article!
How do your sessions start? Many groups find it helpful to start with a recap of the previous session. But who should deliver it? The DM – or the players? Option 1: the player recap In some groups, summarizing the previous session is a job for one of the players. There’s a lot to be … Continue reading How to nail a fantastic session recap
As with the term ‘rules lawyer’, there is considerable disagreement about what ‘metagaming’ actually means. The 3rd edition Dungeon Master’s Guide says that metagame thinking is ‘any time the players base their characters’ actions on logic that depends on the fact that they’re playing a game’. It gives the example of a player who assumes … Continue reading Metagaming is dumb: how to fix it