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Gods and Cheese: 5 Tips for Running RPG Deities, Demigods and Super-Powered NPCs

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Every fantasy RPG setting has its share of super-powered beings worthy of legend. And as the DM, it can be extremely tempting to introduce one of these mighty beings directly in the game to establish a presence. But such an NPC can cause numerous problems that easily do more harm than good, even derailing your campaign. This is why we’ve composed these 5 tips on how to introduce and run extremely powerful NPCs without wrecking the continuity of your game.

RPG Weather, Puzzles and Ritual Challenges: 3 Ways to Make Your Campaign World More Immersive

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We’re all looking for ways to make sure our players have fun, but also have new experiences in the game that make it feel more like characters living out a story and less like tabletop Diablo. Thorin, Tony and Dave dig into three messages asking about different ways to make your RPG world a bit less hack-n-slash and a bit more immersive with interesting puzzles, rituals, and weather mechanics.

6 Ways to Get Everyone at the Game Table More Involved

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Ideally, you want all of your players getting the most from their gaming experience instead of just one or two players stealing the show. Rather than trying to coach several of your players to be more involved, there are ways you can adapt how your game runs to accomplish this painlessly. This is why we’ve composed a list of tips to get all of your players more involved in the game without it feeling forced. If done well, these will help your party not only function as a more effective team but perhaps enjoy the game itself even more. 

Keeping Your Story Straight: How We Manage All the DM Details of Our RPG Campaigns

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No DM’s plan survives contact with the players. Between remembering the story you’re trying to tell, the details you had to improvise, and the players’ actions (which may or may not have made sense), it can be hard to keep the details straight in your RPG campaign. Thorin, Tony and Dave each have their own tricks for keeping their stories straight.

5 Tips for Building Interesting Encounters, Random or Otherwise

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What does a good encounter look like? While not every battle should push the characters to their limits, whether in or outside on the main story arc, they also shouldn’t come off as material from a filler episode. If done well, these seemingly random battles should not only set the tone for your campaign but also promote its lore. So, let’s take a look at developing encounters, so yours can be memorable for all the right reasons. 

I’m on a Boat! Running Sea-Faring, Space-Faring and Other Ship-Based RPG Campaigns

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When you take your RPG campaign to the high seas (or under the seas, outer space or anywhere else they need a ship to survive), all bets are off. Sure, you could run it like any land-based campaign using the ship for fast travel, but is that really what a ship-based campaign is all about? Or are they about ship-to-ship combat, unlimited freedom, and unimaginable treasure? Here’s what Thorin, Tony and Dave think nautical gaming is all about and how they bring it to life for their players.

A Bad Day for the Black Dragon: 5 Mistakes I Made DMing My First D&D 5E Dragon Fight

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Dragons! They are the logo monster of Dungeons & Dragons. They are fire. They are death. They are the winged nightmares of any fantasy citizen. … Except the one my party chewed through in about 3 rounds. *sigh* So, the party had fun, and good for them! But on my end, mistakes were made, and here’s what I think they were.

D&D Dragons: Why We Love Them and How We Run Them

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When you decide to put a dragon in your campaign, you know it has to be special. But how do you make sure it hits the right notes for your players?

D&D 5E Wrestling Rules – Homebrewed Fresh in 3WD’s Curse of Strahd Campaign

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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?!”

How to Bring WrestleMania to Barovia: DM Dave’s Curse of Strahd Goes WAY Off Book With a Homebrew Wrestling PPV

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Sometimes you want to change the game up completely, even if it’s just for the night. Maybe you want to have a night of gambling games, a carnival with an archery contest, a little football, or, like DM Dave’s Barovia, a werewolf wrestling match to put the WWE to shame! When you have that urge, how do you make that happen? The 3 Wise DMs call them minigames, and in this episode, they’ll use Dave’s wrestling escapades to break down how to make these sessions fun for everyone.