Is the key encounter/NPC/Lost Tower of Super Badness this way or that way? Maybe it’s both and neither? Everything in your world can be simultaneously alive and dead until the players open that box and find out what’s inside. Here’s how to use that to your advantage and save time on DM prep.
Even Master Yoda and Obi-Wan lost students, and even the best DMs lose players. While there could be literally hundreds of reasons someone leaves a game, I would like to focus on the biggest and how you can hopefully avoid them.
Even seasoned DMs can get lost spending their time in the wrong places, both prep time and at the game table. Here are 3 tips for managing yourself and your table to make sure game-related time is spent wisely.
Every DM needs to run their first game, and you don’t need a Ph.D. to do it. Here’s the 3 Wise DMs’ advice for mastering the game while you run it.
Custom magical items can add a sense of mystery to the game as well as your own style to the already strong framework of the existing 5E system. I suspect most DM’s and players are open to the idea of introducing non-canon magical items but have valid concerns surrounding these homebrews being labeled either broken or underwhelming. To help find a middle ground between the two, I would like to share four pieces of advice (or, rather. insane ramblings) on how to create custom magical equipment in your game without derailing both your party balance and the game itself.
D&D Traps require the DM to walk a fine line. Balance them right, and your PCs will find themselves in a world of trouble that’s entirely their fault. But overdo it, or make traps too randomly deadly, and the party can slow to a crawl as they check for traps every 5 feet — cursing the DM the whole time. In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about how they build hazards that up the mayhem and force layers to solve problems, without reducing traps to two rolls to avoid random death … at least not too often.
Heroes are defined by their villains. But what really makes a villain worthy of such greatness? Here are 3 tips to help knock your villains out of the park! (Before your players literally knock them out of the park.)
Several years into D&D 5E, they’re still releasing new errata that impact books printed years ago. How do you handle these changes at your table?
Few spells or abilities in dungeons & dragons are as powerful or open-ended as the Wish. Having the power to simply wish for whatever you want, and then have it given to you, is the stuff of legends. As a DM, how do you handle that?
The 3 Wise DMs get old school with their best tips for DMing without maps and minis. Hear what we like about theater of the mind for D&D, what we don’t, and our best tips for making games engaging and fun without maps and minis.
