This is part two of a series on gear and equipment: how it worked in real life, and how it contributes to your character’s story.
Gear with Grit and Story, Part Two: Weapons!
Table energy: what boosts and drains your DM?
It isn’t just the DM’s prep that keeps a game alive: it’s the rhythm of the table. Some things energize the session and keep things flowing, but others quietly drag it down. If you’ve ever left a game feeling weirdly drained, this post might help explain why.
The ultimate lazy tool for making your character unique
What if there was a way of making your character unique without any new rules? A way of making them more distinctive, more memorable? What if there was a way of creating new spells monsters without complicated new stat blocks? What if you could make the game your own with a quick and simple hack? It already exists! And it’s one of my favourite tools as a player and DM.
The Complete Guide to Charms and Enchantments: Part Two
This is the second part of a series on charms and enchantments in 5e. I focus on five spells: suggestion (and its high-level counterpart, mass suggestion), compulsion, geas, and dominate person.
Being a good sport: how to ‘play fair’ at the table
D&D is many things: creative, imaginative, social, collaborative, and immersive. But it’s also a game. And as with any game, good sportsmanship is essential.
Five reasons why you should be taking notes
As a DM, I have played with many, many brilliant players over the years. Some are quiet, some are energetic, some are hilarious, some are proper thespians. But the absolute best players take notes.
How to roleplay every NPC (almost!)
I recently came across the idea of a psychological gesture from Justin Alexander of the Alexandrian. This is a technique created by Michael Chekhov where actors use a physical action to capture and express their character's main emotional or psychological state. I've been trying it out a bit, and it's fun and really helps me get in character quickly.
Deeper character creation: dramatic poles revisited
One of the most powerful storytelling tools I’ve encountered this year is also one of the simplest: dramatic poles.
A Complete Guide to the 13 Damage Types in D&D: Part Three
Today is the final article looking at the 13 different damage types in 5e D&D. For this post, I am looking at what I consider to be the four ‘magical’ damage types. These ones don’t actually exist in the real world, so we have a bit of creativity as to how we imagine them.
A Complete Guide to the 13 Damage Types in D&D: Part One
Have you ever wanted to dive deep into the different damage types in D&D? If so, this post is for you. The aim is to help DMs (and players!) understand what damage means in D&D and how best to describe it.