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D&D Combat

Fatigue and Conditions: An Excellent Mechanic From The Avatar Legends RPG To Add Depth And Roleplay To Your D&D Combat.

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In our most recent episode, we reviewed our experience with playing the Starter Set for the new Avatar Legends RPG developed by Magpie Games, as well as the tips, tricks, and pitfalls we’ve found with running brand new systems that are very different from traditional d20 systems.

During the episode, we got into a discussion regarding one of the mechanics that we were a bit divided on. But I thought it was an interesting way to make the effects of combat more cinematic and narrative, as opposed the the tried-and-true mechanic of hit points.

So, I thought I’d break out the mechanic a bit more in this article to introduce you to something that might inspire you to look at your combat encounters in a slightly different way: Fatigue and Conditions.

DM Chris’ Favorite D&D 5e Subclasses From Sorcerer To Wizard: Part 3 of 3

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Part 1 was the beginning of the class alphabet, Part 2 was the heart of the martial classes, but let me welcome you to Part 3 – the Land of the Spellcasters. Magic holds a special place in D&D. It’s the spark that frees it from the mundane. The classes contained here each take that spark and do something wonderfully unique with it. So as they say, once more unto the breach…

Time Is On My Side: 7 Tips To Run Quick Yet Satisfying D&D Games

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According to the almighty Google, the average D&D game lasts somewhere between four and six hours. This may explain why scheduling is so difficult, because it’s like trying to get your friends together to watch not one but two full games of football back to back. 

So what if carving six hours out of everyone’s weekend just isn’t going to happen? We’ve put together a list of tips which can help you run shorter, but still enjoyable, games. A game that still hits all the beats of a full session (but won’t require everyone blocking off a time slot four weeks in advance that someone will inevitably double book and tell you about the morning before the game). Instead, everyone will just hop on Roll20 or other VTT whenever they are available, for about an hour or two, so the adventure can continue.

Strange Magic – The Best Ways To Adjudicate Spell Effects In Your D&D and TTRPG Campaigns

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Spell effects in Fantasy TTRPGs are easily the times when we as DMs and GMs have to respond on the fly to changing parameters. In systems like 5e, we’ve discussed how they’ve crafted a system that does some of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to rulings. But, no matter how many rules exist, you are going to have times that interesting uses of spells make you have to adjudicate in a completely new way.

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss ruling on how spell effects change the landscape and/or battlefield that we ran into in one of our most recent games. Regardless of your newness or your experience, this discussion helps us realize that the old adage of artists is true… “if you want to learn to paint great bricks. Paint one thousand bricks.”

Underrated: Our Top 7 Mid-Level Spells In D&D 5e That Won’t Disappoint

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While not all created equal, some of the spells between levels three and five are arguably the best in the game. If you don’t believe me, try naming a spell which has dusted more fictitious monsters than Fireball? But aside from Fireball which is even awesome in the D&D board game, we created a list of seven other spells which are true A-listers – which is harder than it sounds considering the competition. But rest assured that each one of these spells has proven to be a game changer on more than one occasion. 

DM Chris’ Favorite D&D 5e Subclasses From Fighter To Rogue: Part 2 of 3

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Greetings, 3WD-verse! DM Chris here. Several weeks ago, we began a journey through my favorite D&D 5e subclasses – from the newer Armorer Artificer to the classic Moon Druid. I wasn’t planning for it to take three articles, but when I started to talk about each there was just too much to say for just one article. Blame my muse, or our collectively shrinking attention span.

Part 1 was the beginning of the class alphabet, but Part 2 steers us into what I consider the heart of the martial classes. My apologies to Barbarian, who is definitely not a guy you want to piss off despite his alphabetic limitations, but here we have the damage dealer’s sweet spot from Fighter through Rogue. Let the fun begin.

Tribute to the Greatest Game In The World: The 3 Wise DMs Share The Lessons Learned From Running A 12 Player D&D Game

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12 players. 2 DMs. 6 dragons. Tiamat. 2 birthday cakes… and a whole hell of a lot of fun! As a companion piece to DM Tony’s recent article, the 3 Wise DMs are joined by some special guests to discuss and detail the lessons learned from running our largest endeavor yet – a massive, multiple-campaign ending game that required 2 DMs to pull off. If you’ve ever thought of running a massive Endgame-style game, or toyed with the idea of co-DMing, this is the episode for you!

The Summer Blockbuster: 8 Quick Tips To Running D&D and TTRPG Sessions With A Ton of Players

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One of the hardest decisions a DM can make is deciding on who they plan to invite on their adventure. Because if you have a huge crew who all enjoy gaming, it sucks not being able to include everyone. Scheduling issues aside, ‘why not just invite everyone,’ you might ask? Well my short answer is that most RPGs fall apart when you have too many players faster than Thanksgiving dinner the moment your uncle starts talking about politics. 

Case in point, In August we were staring at the possibility of having twelve character’s in one game. Which, to be fair, lands between a bad idea and a total disaster. Yet, somehow, we were able to gather more characters at the table than was in the Fellowship of the Ring for an evening and have a great time doing it. This is why we have compiled a list of eight tips which will allow you to run a one-shot adventure where you can invite whoever you want as long as you have a big enough place to host.

To Roll or Not to Roll? The 7 Best Times To Roll The Dice In Your D&D Game And When Not To.

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In the immortal words of The Bard… “To roll or not to roll, that is the question…” Rolling dice is the cornerstone of TTRPGs, because without them, as DM Chris says, we’re just telling a story as we play with our GI Joe’s in the backyard. So, when you’re running a session, when do you decide to have the players, and yourself, pick up the dice?

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave springboard off a listener question that deals with trying to speed the game up in a homebrewed superhero campaign. From here, the 3 Wise DMs delve deeper into the big question of when to roll and when not to roll.

DM Chris’ Favorite D&D 5e Subclasses From Artificer To Druid: Part 1 of 3

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Greetings, 3WD-verse! DM Chris here. Over our many combined years at the table, we’ve created characters in every D&D 5e class available, as well as most subclasses, both published and UA. Looking back across the myriad campaigns, I decided to share my favorite subclass for each class.