Dave 
Does what you’re currently running still feel fresh and fun? Are your players as invested in it as they were in the beginning? Does something feel missing? Are you burning out?
Beginning to look at what Session Zero does for us at the start of a campaign can assist us in gauging what is happening in an ongoing campaign.
Our recent article on running scenes outside of your game sessions caught some attention by none other than the official D&D podcast Dragon Talk! So, Thorin and Tony got the chance to sit down with Dragon Talk’s co-host, Shelly Mazzanoble, on their “How to DM” segment to discuss the devil the in the details!
In our recent episode on faction building in your TTRPG, we discussed how we design, develop and implement factions in our own games. But, in case you need to develop factions before this week’s game, I decided to break down three specific ways to approach faction building in your own game.
“The four ancient stones near the windmill were erected centuries ago by the valley’s original human inhabitants. Each moss-covered stone bears a crude carving of a city, each of which is associated with a different season. The city of winter is shown covered in snow. The city of spring is arrayed in flowers. The city of summer has a sunburst overhead, and the city of autumn is covered in leaves. If the characters ask any of the priests or scholarly NPCs in Barovia about the stones, the characters are told that ancient legends tell of the Four Cities, said to be the cities of Paradise where the Morninglord, Mother Night, and the other ancient gods first dwelled.” – Curse of Strahd
In our recent episode on “How Many Players Are Too Many for One D&D Game,” we answered a listener’s question regarding “How big is too big” for adventuring parties. The challenges this creates can be confusing for both beginners and advanced DMs. So, I decided to share two examples of running 5e games with eight players to reflect on how I did it, what worked and what didn’t, and, hopefully, help you agree that, while having too many people wanting to play is a good problem to have, it’s still a problem.
I’ve made no secret of the inspiration and enjoyment I get from being a fan of Critical Role, the D&D live-play stream that has taken the TTRPG world by storm. Now in its third season, the show’s creators unveiled the much-anticipated animated series on Amazon Prime, The Legend of Vox Machina, dramatizing (or comedyizing?) some of the adventures in their first season. There are things to learn about ways to improve our games from these types of creators.
5e’s Curse of Strahd contains a double entendre. While it seems as if the big bad Lord of Barovia is the curse that follows the players around, the deeper truth is that the curse is his own. He cannot leave. Barovia is his prison. Having just completed our run of this infamous adventure, I found an even deeper curse lying within the module: Strahd just isn’t powerful enough to handle the heat of the epic, final battle when the players are level appropriate and have recovered the artifacts.
How do you run a vampire-laden, gothic horror Christmas one-shot, you ask? Quite easily, actually. One has to look no further than the Joe Hill novel, and later television show, NOS4A2. Charlie Manx. Abducted children. Christmasland. A chance to run my Curse of Strahd party against a vampire almost as powerful as the published CR 15 Strahd. So, in its entirety, here is 3WD’s Christmas gift to all of you – a joyful, dread, merry and gothic one-shot that checks all the boxes for vampires and Christmas!
discussion centered around the costume dinner party I threw when the players finally accepted the dinner invitation from the Master of Ravenloft, Count Strahd von Zarovich. With all of the players buying in and coming in costume, the table was set for what is, arguably, THE set piece for the entire adventure. What followed was a wonderful session full of tension, dread, laughs and a knock-down, drag-out Round 1 to the epic conclusion of our Curse of Strahd. Here are some points to consider when really playing up the immersion during your horror games.
What do you do when a player brings a character that begs for something far outside the normal scope of your game? As an example, let’s say you have a player that brings a barbarian into your Curse of Strahd campaign that is, in no uncertain terms, Hulk Hogan. As I see it, you have two options: Shut it down or lean into it. What follows are the wrestling mechanics we’ve been developing in our Curse of Strahd campaign as well as 3WD’s paean to the wrestling memories of our youth … “Whatcha gonna do when Hawkamania runs wild on you, brother?!”
