Dwarves are one of the 9 basic race types for DnD. They’re a staple of fantasy and role playing, being as synonymous with high fantasy as Elves. But what makes a Dwarf a Dwarf? Whether you’re running Dwarven NPCs, managing Dwarf player characters, or setting up Dwarven civilizations, understanding the core aspects of Dwarves will …
Cantrips are the cornerstone of a caster’s basic abilities. A cantrip is a spell that can be cast at-will and does not use up a spell slot. There are a lot of fantastic cantrips and a large majority of them are basic combat staples which give your casters something to do when they’ve run out …
The following article was written by guest post writer Andrew Bartlett. Welcome to my short series on World Building. I have been playing DnD for a good while now and world building is by far my favorite part of any game I participate in. This series of articles will explain how I craft and manage …
Fantastical Worlds and How to Build Them: Maps and Geography Read More »
The following article was written by guest post writer Travis Scoundrel of Nerds and Scoundrels. Need to make a class recommendation for a first-time D&D 5E player? This list will help give you a recommendation that is friendly to a new adventurer. All three recommended classes have the following qualities in common: they are straightforward, …
I don’t know who needs to hear this but, world building is not session prep. World building is a completely separate task from getting ready to run DnD. World building is important, but it’s no substitute for the traditional session preparations that you need to go through as a DM. Let’s look at the common …
When designing encounters for DnD we typically think about the enemies, their stats, and area they’ll be fought in. These are the basics of any combat encounter, but there’s tons of room for improvement. If you want to really take your encounters to the next level you’ll need to add complexity. Today we’ll be discussing …
Probably one of the most overlooked aspects of DMing is knowing about your players’ stats. You might know a thing or two about them at the beginning and you might have an understanding of their story arc, but it’s easy to overlook a stat sheet. While it won’t ruin your game if you don’t know …
Imagine you’re running a session. You bring your players down a long stone corridor and at the end the path splits in two direction. Down one path you hear the sounds of someone in distress, down the other, sounds of monsters shuffling around arguing. So now you ask the players “What do you want do?” …
Of all the skills you need as a Dungeon Master learning to listen is one of the most critical ones. You might get by just fine as it is, but when you’re running the game you attention can actually be all over the place. It’s really easy for a player to catch you off guard …
Are You a Good Listener? Learn to Listen as a DM Read More »
If you ever find your players looking blankly at you after a long description, take it as a subtle note to try to improve your storytelling. While there’s a million skills you can hone for DnD, storytelling is one of the most important skills of the Dungeon Master. Like any skill, it’s hard to get …
Take 2 Steps to Instantly Improve Your Storytelling Read More »
