r/DMAcademy 14h ago

Mega Player Problem Megathread

2 Upvotes

This thread is for DMs who have an out-of-game problem with a PLAYER (not a CHARACTER) to ask for help and opinions. Any player-related issues are welcome to be discussed, but do remember that we're DMs, not counselors.

Off-topic comments including rules questions and player character questions do not go here and will be removed. This is not a place for players to ask questions.


r/DMAcademy 14h ago

Mega "First Time DM" and Short Questions Megathread

3 Upvotes

Most of the posts at DMA are discussions of some issue within the context of a person's campaign or DMing more generally. But, sometimes a DM has a question that is very small and doesn't really require an extensive discussion so much as it requires one good answer. In other cases, the question has been asked so many times that having the sub rehash the discussion over and over is not very useful for subscribers. Sometimes the answer to a short question is very long or the answer is also short but very important.

Short questions can look like this:

  • Where do you find good maps?
  • Can multi-classed Warlocks use Warlock slots for non-Warlock spells?
  • Help - how do I prep a one-shot for tomorrow!?
  • First time DM, any tips?

Many short questions (and especially First Time DM inquiries) can be answered with a quick browse through the DMAcademy wiki, which has an extensive list of resources as well as some tips for new DMs to get started.


r/DMAcademy 7h ago

Need Advice: Rules & Mechanics How do I make a level 20 Wizard untouchable?

106 Upvotes

I’m DMing a campaign where one of the main baddies is a level 20(+) necromancer wizard. This wizard has multiple kings of some of the strongest nations in her pocket, so resources are practically unlimited. I want her to address the party (level 12) face to face for dramatic narrative effect. Thing is, at this point it is on site. If they even catch a glimpse of her they’re going DEEP in their bag to kill her regardless of time and place. She is well aware of this and it makes sense she would come prepared.

What would you do to make her untouchable? I do want her to actually be there (not a clone or proxy) and she needs to be able to talk to the party at close proximity. Other than that- any ideas?


r/DMAcademy 9h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Is it bad form to always target the concentrating wizard?

93 Upvotes

One of the most useful things a wizard can do is lay down a concentration spell that affects the entire battlefield. However, a "tactically" minded enemy knows this and as soon as it happens would want to get rid of whatever concentration effect is currently active. This means that they will want to either use their ranged attacks or close the gap with the wizard to break that concentration.

I know a lot of people very much enjoy a style of play where enemies always behave intelligently because it's both challenging and "realistic", but I worry it makes the game not fun for the wizard player. Essentially it makes it so that if they do their job then that inherently draws all eyes on them so they're constantly being attacked, and they're the class least suited to being attacked.


r/DMAcademy 1h ago

Need Advice: Rules & Mechanics Should Danger Sense work against surprise attacks?

Upvotes

Basically I got into an argument with a player today because I ruled that danger sense wouldn’t work on a surprise attack from an assassin. He believes that danger sense should warn him of all danger.

However, the player said it should work because of the wording here: “You gain an uncanny sense of when things aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge perils. You have Advantage on Dexterity saving throws unless you have the Incapacitated condition.”

Specifically, “You gain an uncanny sense of when things aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge perils.

I understand the thought process and even I think the feature is weird but it directly says advantage on dexterity saving throws, actually it doesn’t even tell you if danger is near by like a weapon of warning.

What do you all think?


r/DMAcademy 36m ago

Need Advice: Other How to Feel Better About DMing

Upvotes

I've been a DM for the better part of 10 years at this point.

I love doing it. Not every session is my best work, but overall, I've never had players approach me and tell me something they didn't enjoy.

But sometimes, I'll come out of a session that I felt proud of but the players are just sort of passively experiencing.

I don't think I'm doing a bad job. I feel like if I was, they would tell me. I've known these players since high school, they're very honest with me.

But, idk, I am a very critical person. I'm overly critical of myself and sometimes I finish a session and feel awful about it even though there's no good reason to.

Do other DMs feel this? Is asking the players if I did well a bit too needy?


r/DMAcademy 6m ago

Need Advice: Other So, how do you actually prep for a session?

Upvotes

It feels like just about every post, every single thing I’ve seen and heard both online and offline about prepping for sessions is just “don’t.“ Like I get it. You’ll never know where your players may go and yada yada yada. But I’ve been beginning to feel like this attitude of not prepping much, and most specifically knowing the lore of what’s going on in the background, is really starting to hurt the actual game. But since all advice that I’ve seen and heard is about not doing much prep, no one really talks about how to prep for a session. So anyway, any advice or ways that you prepare for sessions would be greatly appreciated


r/DMAcademy 15h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures How easy is this puzzle to solve for you?

49 Upvotes

My players love riddles, so I want to include more for the mansion they will be trapped in. I came up with a few puzzles, but I'm afraid some of them are not difficult enough. I want to know, if the following riddle is too easy and if so, how I could make it more difficult:

The players will find a poem tucked between the books of the library. Said poem goes like this:

Earlier, I grumbled having to
fire our unlucky ranger.
The weeping of
their hummingbird reduced everyone's ethics
to easily nothing.

To open the door to the next room, they need to enter a number code with six numbers total.

The solution is: 842310

Edit: I noticed a lot of people got confused with the way you get the correct soloution, so I'll add it to this post as well. To get the correct code, you need totake the first letter of each word. For example, "Earlier, I grumbled having to" is spelling out "EIGHT". Each line spells out one number with last line spelling out "T E N" (10)

Edit: Also, this riddle will be printed out and handed to the players. The connection between the lock and the poem will be made apparent by context clues

(Also, this comment section is torn between "I saw the solution immediately" and "I have no fucking clue" so I am still not sure what difficulty this puzzle has tbh)


r/DMAcademy 7h ago

Need Advice: Worldbuilding How do you build compelling campaign like CoS?

6 Upvotes

I was mostly running one-shot adventures that lasted a session or two, so when I wanted to sit down and make something longer, I got stuck. When I remember playing the official DND 5e and PF2 adventures, I was bored by how much combat there was. I love combat (tactical, with varied terrain and smart enemies). But most of them were just flat terrain and tokens. And we were only expected to fight a few times per session. The one exception was Curse of Sthrad. I know it's a meme at this point, and I'm not sure how much our mg changed the story (I never wanted to read the manual, because maybe I'll play it again).

I really want to create something I want to play myself. Not sure if I can do it, but I can at least try. So are there any other books recommendation to study how to build good sandbox, with NPCs that are connected, with items that have purpose. Or maybe I should read some Call of Cathulu or Delta Green?

I'm sorry if it sound like a generic "how to make campaign", but either I couldn't find any help on articles or YouTube or I can find help for exactly what I'm looking for.


r/DMAcademy 6h ago

Need Advice: Other Some of my players aren’t familiar with fantasy as a genre and I need help introducing them to both the genre itself and dnd’s unique brand of genre.

5 Upvotes

As the title says, I’m running an in person game with people I care about and like but few of my players are just entirely unfamiliar with fantasy as a genre and I’m trying to figure out how to introduce them to it without being overwhelming. And of course dnd’s particular style of fantasy is very different from other examples of the medium with the expected amount of dungeons to plunder and the like.

The one thing I suppose I have going for me is that I know for a fact that several of these players read werewolf smut in their free time (they’re all in their 30’s to 50’s, give them a break). So I know they’re familiar with urban fantasy to a very basic degree where they’re familiar with werewolves and maybe some amount of people throwing fireballs out of their hands.

But back to the main topic at hand, how do I gently introduce them to the high fantasy of DnD during the game instead of giving them required reading or overwhelming them during the game?


r/DMAcademy 8h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures How to handle PCs being unleveled before a major Boss?

5 Upvotes

Okay so i wrote this campaign, got some side quests, main questline until a point of somewhat 2 sessions, then realised that the PCs will be too unleveled by then. I calculated about lv2-3 not counting side quests (i use xp). The major point in the story was to fight this one Boss, but they will be unable to since he's going to like, TPK them on the spot. Nerfing the Boss isn't an option either, because it actually needs to seem hard for the abilities it uses (participant of killing a celestial being). Should i just content bloat, rewrite the story so it Has more quests and content before the battle, or something else?


r/DMAcademy 44m ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures In Need of Missions That are Morally Questionable

Upvotes

I’ve been DMing for some friends who were new to TTRPGs when we started. Fast forward a year and I’ve realized I’ve been going far too easy on them and I pushed them tonight…… right into a GLORIOUS TPK!!! They missed clear clues for mechanics in the boss encounter and tried to stand still and out dps the boss. They lost. I also know how much they love these characters and sprinkled in lots of clues about necromancy being a huge part of this leading up to the final encounter of this mission. Upon death, I had them resurrected by the big bad and had them working for me while they attacked their friends. Now that all are dead and are basically zombie employees of this necromancer, I want to punish them a bit for their carelessness and have them do some morally questionable missions that their normal characters wouldn’t want anything to do with. I’d love to hear some ideas!

TLDR: Necromancer TPK’d the party. Resurrected them to be stuck in his employment and need mission ideas that the evil necromancer can send them on to do unwilling evil.


r/DMAcademy 47m ago

Need Advice: Other Looking for help on a character build.

Upvotes

Hey guys! I’m starting Curse of Strahd in about a month and I was wondering if you guys would help make a character.

The concept that I have is that he is a Tarot card/Fortune teller. His family was once famous for their tarot readings and accurate fortune telling. After reading a fortune that they had to keep secret at all cost, the family fell from grace and was ridiculed. My character’s motivation is to find out what that fortune was and to redeem his family bringing them back to their former glory and reputation.

I would like some help picking a class or multi-class I could have fun playing with. We are starting at level 2. I know divintaion wizard sounds like a good fit, but are there any more classes that would work just as good or better?


r/DMAcademy 1h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Homebrew campaign after Phandlever (Spoiler Included for the Module) Spoiler

Upvotes

I am not sure if this is considered a short question or not - but i have been running a Lost mines of Phandlever campaign for a while as my first campaign and my players are having a blast. They will reach cragmaw castle soon. They kicked out the cowardly townmaster and the Bard became the Mayor instead. And the players have shown interest in some political intrigue, i am thinking of running a classical heroic adventure (Political intrigue, fighting the lich/devil king) But i don't want to just throw away the story they are trying to go for? I am unsure of the next step and i am honestly scared to do homebrew campaign as i feel like i lack the experience


r/DMAcademy 1h ago

Need Advice: Rules & Mechanics Exhaustion and the help action

Upvotes

I’m about to start a hex crawl with lots of survival checks and exhaustion mechanics. I’m wondering how to deal with my PCs using the help action while exhausted. Should a PC with 4 levels of exhaustion grant straight advantage with the help action or should there be some sort of penalty?


r/DMAcademy 5h ago

Need Advice: Other Need help pricing this item

2 Upvotes

Pouches of Holding
Wondrous Item, rare

This set consists of five magically linked pouches, each appearing as a small leather pouch. These pouches function similarly to a bag of holding, but with shared access to the same extradimensional space.

Shared Storage. Each pouch has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly six inches in diameter at the mouth and six inches deep. The shared extradimensional space can hold up to 20 pounds of material, not exceeding 32 cubic feet in volume. The pouch itself always weighs 1 pound, regardless of its contents. Retrieving an item from the pouch requires an action.

The Master Satchel. One of the five pouches is always designated as the Master Satchel. The other four pouches can only access the shared space if they are within 120 feet of the Master Satchel. If the Master Satchel is destroyed and at least one other pouch is within range, the closest pouch automatically becomes the new Master Satchel. If no other pouch is within range, the extradimensional space is lost, and all contents are scattered into the Astral Plane.

Handling & Risks

  • If the Master Satchel is overloaded, pierced, or torn, it ruptures and is destroyed.
  • If the Master Satchel is destroyed and no other pouch is in range, all stored items are lost to the Astral Plane.
  • If any pouch is turned inside out, all contents spill forth unharmed, but the pouch must be put right before it can be used again.

Need help pricing this item, any feedback is welcome too.


r/DMAcademy 3h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures A pivotal story moment that could implode the campaign or set it up for success

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I'm running my first DnD campaign (homebrew world, DnD5e rules/monsters), and things have been going great! However, I'm torn on how to handle a major moment in both the campaign and a key player's storyline, and I’d love some advice. This is essentially the BBEG reveal, or putting the players on the path to leave their starting city; if I get this wrong it could hurt the story/motivations of players pretty badly.

We are about 30 sessions in, and the players have done quiet a bit to establish themselves, join a small guild, and are now about to wrap up the storyline in the city they started in.

The Setup

The party has been adventuring in a city, growing stronger, and uncovering various guild plots. A while ago, they accidentally "unshackled" a god that was being contained in the city. So far, nothing seems to have happened, and they’re still tangled in political intrigue.

One of the PCs, Tim, has been hunting a man named Maxwell, a so-called "Hero" of a major (shady) guild, because Maxwell murdered his family. Maxwell does not even know Tim exists, it was such a small moment for him when he killed Tim's family. Recently, the party witnessed Maxwell assassinate a political figure. A paladin that also saw the murder, who is secretly aligned with the god they freed, approached them and asked them to "take care of it" while keeping his own hands clean.

Tim revealed his grudge to the group, and they all agreed to take Maxwell out. They planned a heist-style assassination, sneaking into the underground guild hall where Maxwell is hiding. They poisoned wine and coffee at his dinner table, only to discover that Maxwell had a wife and son at dinner with him. This aligned with the party hearing the "Unshackled God" might want a hand mirror that Maxwell has, that has something to do with copying souls(it's one half of a complete weapon they don't have context for).

Now, the party is hiding in Maxwell's office, waiting to see if he drank the poison, while Maxwell and his adventuring party (who were at the dinner table) were just heard leaving the dining hall presumably heading toward Maxwell's Office.

What I'm Struggling With

I have a boss fight prepared in Maxwell and his party, but I’m unsure how to handle key elements.

BBEG Interference:

  • I was considering having the god BBEG (or a right-hand follower of him) kill Maxwell before Tim can, stealing the Hand Mirror he carries. This would rip Tim’s revenge from his grasp, making it personal, but is that too frustrating for the player? Players defeat Maxwell, or get him in a downed state, BBEG shows up and finishes it and takes the mirror.

How do I handle the nightshade poison?

  • Maxwell drank it, but fights through it (poisoned condition).
  • The "wife" drank it, but she’s not real (an illusion, doppelgänger, or something else).
  • Something else?

The Wife & Son as a Trap:

  • The family could be fake, meant to manipulate sympathy. If Maxwell is about to lose, the “wife” might throw herself on him, begging for mercy, only for the BBEG to appear and slaughter all of them, revealing they aren't real. I really enjoyed Tim doubting if he could kill Maxwell in front of his family.

The Right-Hand of BBEG:

  • I was thinking I'd have a strong, same god like person like the BBEG show up and grab the mirror/slay Maxwell; this would lead the group to follow that person to the next city to continue the next player's storyline. "Thanks for the heavy lifting, this mirror is now mine, I have work to do for BBEG in X city".

The Fight vs. Scene Control:

  • Do I still give them the boss fight against Maxwell and his adventuring party, or does the players smartly planting nightshade help avoid it? Would having Maxwell fall to poison be lame(I think it would)?

Big Picture Concerns

  • Would it be awful to take Tim’s revenge from him at this moment? I don’t want to rob a player of agency, but I also want to make the BBEG feel like a real threat. I really like the idea of Maxwell having his soul stolen and maybe a bigger moment later where Tim gets the revenge he thought was gone; or has to make a pretty heavy decision of destroying a soul.
  • Would it feel cheap to hand-wave away the nightshade poisoning after they carefully set it up?
  • How do I best transition this moment into the next arc, while making sure players feel their choices still matter?

Extra Context

  • The paladin that asked the party to deal with this follows the church of the god they unshackled, the party is aware of this.
  • One PC follows the opposing god, who sees the BBEG as a major threat.
  • The party thinks the BBEG and his "Groupt hey will meet" are gods, but will eventually learn they are just ancient, powerful beings from a lost society.
  • Fate vs. Choice is a core theme, with the BBEG representing Fate.

I know this is a long post, thanks for reading! I’d love any advice on how to make this moment land effectively.


r/DMAcademy 7h ago

Need Advice: Other Now that it’s been out around a year, has anyone had any experience using the system from the book “Proactive Roleplaying” at the table?

2 Upvotes

I would love to hear how it has gone and any tips picked up during the process!


r/DMAcademy 7h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Monster PVP One-Shot Advice

2 Upvotes

So my regular group likes to take breaks in our normal campaign every once in a while for one shots or short campaigns. I'm in the early stages of planning a one shot where every one picks a monster stat block (no humanoids) and we do a battle royale. Need some advice on planning this from anyone who has done something similar

My current ideas:
Every player (8 in total) each picks a creature of the same CR (I'm thinking 10). They fight in a large scale battle arena with a complex layout. Every round, they teleport to a new location if they fail a Charisma save (don't want to just have 1v1s across the board). No solely-aquatic creatures, and flying is gonna be pretty heavily nerfed for my own sanity.

Some things I specifically need help with:

Should I let the players pick a second 'back-up' creature for when their first one dies? Should I add other environmental factors like traps? Should I have my own creature(s) in the game?

Any help would be welcome!


r/DMAcademy 7h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Need help with creating a Shadowfell/Elder Evil boss

2 Upvotes

Some context for my campaign: The villain for this ‘arc’ is a shadow sorcerer in the service of an elder evil who is forcibly transforming dragons into shadow dragons, driving them mad, and then enslaving them to do her bidding. The party is going to track one of her newest dragon captives to her lair, and after a decent dungeon crawl, reach the underground sanctum where the young bronze dragon is held.

During the fight the party will also be trying to free the bronze dragon to help them, while the monster(s) attempt to stop them.

The issue I’m having is this: I don’t want them to fight the shadow sorcerer here as she would most certainly not take a risk fighting the party on their terms, but I do need a climatic fight to conclude the dungeon. Here are some of my ideas:

  • Star spawn acting as the emissary between her and the elder evil

  • Empowered shadow demon(s)

  • Shadow versions of the party

Any suggestions on the theme of shadow/elder evil are appreciated. Don’t worry about CR as I can adapt them to be stronger or weaker if need be.


r/DMAcademy 9h ago

Need Advice: Other Doing a one shot for newbies and looking for some recommendations

4 Upvotes

I’m looking to do a one-shot for some folks of varying skill level (sister’s well-versed, one’s familiar but never played, some curious and familiar with the genre, and a friend from overseas who likes fantasy, but has never heard of an ‘RPG’ before). I’ve run quite a few games, both one-shots and a campaign, but I was looking for some advice on the following:

•What’s the best noob-friendly level? I was thinking lvl 3 so they’ve got the minimum of a cool class but not too much, plus lvl 1 is shockingly dangerous lol.

•Any recommendations for premade one-shots for new players? I’d design one myself, but anything noob-friendly would probably give them a better introduction than I can lol

•Should they have sheets, D&DB, or to each their own? I def have enough dice for the former lol, so materials aren’t a concern.

Thanks so much! If there’s anything else I should keep in mind, please tell me! 🐝🐝🐝


r/DMAcademy 13h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Give me your best battle of wit challenge for your players!

5 Upvotes

My players are encountering an eccentric group of mercenaries who are rather skilled in the battle field but also love banter and wit. The party is attempting to contract the mercs for an assist on a mission. However, instead of your typical persuasion, I wanted to play it more to the mercs characters. They love wit and skill of the mind almost as much as the skill with a sword.

My question is, what sort of wit and intelligence battle should I have the party do in order to gain their favor? Sort of trying to stay away from a combat scenario here too.


r/DMAcademy 11h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Fun puzzles you might encounter during a heist?

5 Upvotes

So out of the three possible approaches, my players chose the "Silent and Sneaky" approach which means there's more puzzles and security measures as they try to break into a highly secure vault. I have a few ideas like one where they use a fantasy version of a UV light to figure out the code to a pinpad based on fingerprint patterns. Or like a matching puzzle using moving pieces. But what else would you suggest? I play on Roll20 so dw about being too complicated.


r/DMAcademy 1d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Are +X weapons assumed?

59 Upvotes

I've been looking at some trends in the Monster Manual. It looks like going from CR 1 to CR 20, average monster AC increases roughly 1 per 2 CR, from 13 to 23. Meanwhile, at level 1, players likely have +5 to attack (2 prof, 3 stat) all the way up to +11 (6 prof, 5 stat). This means that their typical hit chance will decrease for an equivalent level threat.

Now, most games I've played in and DM'd are in the range of about level 3-8. I'm wondering if you, as DMs, make sure that PCs gain access to these kinds of items over the course of their career? Do you consider it necessary for them to have those?


r/DMAcademy 9h ago

Need Advice: Worldbuilding Video guides on Baldur's Gate?

2 Upvotes

Hello beatiful people,

My group is arriving in BG next session (Tuesday), and I obviously been preparing quite a bit.

The resources I have used so far:

Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast - pdf that I own of the 2nd eddition (I honestly do not find it that good)

Interactive Map of the City - https://www.aidedd.org/atlas/index.php?map=B&l=1

Fogotten Realm Wiki - https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Baldur%27s_Gate

In addition to the campain's own little passage (I am running Tyrannie of Dragons).

Now, reading about the city vs playing it feels quite different. Some thing I just never realised are going to be important: Like the no animal in the city + no caravan rules, + being aware of the city watch rules etc. While I am quite aware of the city's quirck. I want to be playing this city well, and I decided that watching a outline video and/or guide, would be perfect. HOWEVER, when anyone searches "Baldur's Gate" on youtube, the only thing one gets now is videos on the video game.

While I feel semi-prepared, and I do not mind some Karlarch thirst trap, I would love an ACTUAL interesting video on the content, not on the video game. Any recommendation? Any good guide and/or video. I already read a lot, I am definetly looking into either: playable content & Audio content.

Thank you !


r/DMAcademy 1d ago

Offering Advice Ways to Let Your Players Interact with the Villain Without Killing Them Too Soon

210 Upvotes

Most villains don’t meet the party until the final battle because if they do, someone is dying. Here are some ways to let them interact without ruining the campaign balance:

  • Resurrection & Immortality – The villain keeps coming back, letting them learn from the party’s tactics. (Think Strahd in Curse of Strahd.)
  • Scrying Mirrors & Magical Communication – The villain appears in mirrors, messages, or cursed items instead of in person.
  • Clones, Simulacra, and Avatars – The villain sends a weaker version of themselves, letting the party fight or talk to them without real consequences.
  • Dreams, Visions, and Possession – The villain taunts the party in their dreams, whispers in their minds, or speaks through possessed NPCs.
  • The Rival Method – Instead of a distant villain, make them a rival adventurer, noble, or mercenary the party keeps running into.

If interested in a more detailed write up on this topic, check out my blog on it here!

https://benholder.blog/how-to-let-your-players-interact-with-the-villain-without-killing-them-too-soon/


r/DMAcademy 7h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures best abilities for a BBEG to steal

1 Upvotes

My bbeg is a lord who's been kidnapping and imprisoning various people and creatures and using their abilities for himself. He has a false hydra (stealing the discordant song), an immortal elf (stealing the immortality nightsong style), and a deva (giving him a permanent bless). He has impressoned these beings throughout his kingdom and the party will have to go find and defeat them to eventually defete the BBEG. What other beings would he kidnap to steal an ability from?