If you have played 5th edition D&D in Tier 3 or 4, you will know how difficult it is to challenge players at these levels. A well-optimized party can steamroller through encounters without breaking a sweat. So how do you stop the game getting stale?
Low fantasy is gritty, grounded, and high stakes. How can we make that work in 5th edition D&D?
I have recently enjoyed watching Baron de Ropp’s YouTube videos about fantasy geopolitics, and it got me thinking about how we can do so much more with the monsters and factions in our games. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this post is ‘geopolitics’ per se, but that's certainly part of it. I think this approach … Continue reading Make Your Goblins Unique: Thinking in Depth about Monsters and Factions
With just one week until Halloween, many of us will be getting ready to run Ravenloft again. Widely considered one of the greatest adventures ever written, the original I6: Ravenloft was updated to 5th edition in 2016’s Curse of Strahd. It’s a lot of fun, and many players and DMs have said that it’s their … Continue reading How to run Strahd von Zarovich as the ultimate Halloween villain
Just two weeks until Halloween! How do you run a spooky four-hour game that's easy to run without upsetting anyone?
Description is probably the most powerful tool we have at our disposal at the table. But it's hard. How do we get better at it?
Some house rules are great, some are OK, and most are unnecessary. Which are worth adding to your game?
Vecna is, quite simply, one of the most iconic D&D villains of all time. So how can you run him like a boss?
Encounter balance is a big worry for lots of new DMs out there. Here’s my take on the subject.
Caves have been one of the ‘go to’ dungeons since the earliest days of Dungeons & Dragons, and some of the most famous dungeons in the game are caves. If you play through the D&D starter set, Lost Mine of Phandelver, the first and last adventure are both caves. They’re iconic. So why don’t they … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Cave Adventures More Interesting