Have you ever read the Monster Manual? From cover to cover? If not, you really should. It’s a gold mine of inspiration and ideas, easily my favourite of the core rulebooks. Here are 64 mini adventure hooks I found there.
The Best Non-Combat Monsters
Some monsters in the Monster Manual work better as social encounters or ongoing subplots. But which? If you ever feel like you want a break from all the combat, try one of these monsters in your next adventure.
Happy Belated Birthday, Scroll for Initiative!
Whoops: I missed my second anniversary. Can’t believe it’s been two years! Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. To celebrate, here are my top ten posts. 10. How to Run Time Travel in D&D This was quite a personal one for me. I had been playing D&D for 20 years and never used time … Continue reading Happy Belated Birthday, Scroll for Initiative!
Summer D&D: Playing D&D in the sunshine
It’s nearly June – and for those of us in the northern hemisphere, summer! Time to play D&D outside? There are a few practicalities to consider first.
Site-based adventures, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the dungeon
Are site-based adventures going out of style? If you think dungeons are unimaginative, repetitive slogs that only reward combat – read on!
Is rolling initiative a pointless ritual?
Today’s topic is something so iconic within D&D that some people have even named their blogs after it: rolling initiative. Using initiative to determine combat order has a history going all the way back to 1977. But do we need it, really? Or is it an unnecessary hassle? The case for rolling There are two … Continue reading Is rolling initiative a pointless ritual?
Foundry VTT: an exciting alternative to Roll20 (review)
Click here for an older post about online play. For many of us, the pandemic changed the way we play D&D. Our games moved online, and our dice became virtual. For me, though, online D&D was the norm. I got back into D&D after a hiatus of nearly a decade in spring 2016. My friends … Continue reading Foundry VTT: an exciting alternative to Roll20 (review)
Alignment: love it or hate it?
First off, an apology. I was due to write about Foundry VTT this week, but we didn’t manage a full session, so I want to give it another week or so before I write a review. (First thoughts, though: it’s pretty great.) Today, instead, I am looking at a completely different topic: alignment. For some, … Continue reading Alignment: love it or hate it?
Welcome to the Arena: How to Run PvP D&D
If you’re a fan of RealmSmith, you might be following Champions of the Realm, a charity tournament of PvP (player versus player) combat. It’s good fun. They even got Bruce Buffer to do the announcements. If you want to run a PvP tournament in D&D, how do you make it work? Players and scheduling Realistically, … Continue reading Welcome to the Arena: How to Run PvP D&D
My Golden Rule For Making Combat More Interesting
Generally speaking, I don’t believe in telling people how D&D ‘should’ be played. There are different DM styles and different game styles, and that’s OK. Even now, I’m really offering a tip, not an instruction. But if there’s one easy way to improve combat, it’s this: Stop describing every hit and miss. Sacrilige! I hear … Continue reading My Golden Rule For Making Combat More Interesting