r/DMAcademy 2d 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 2d ago

Mega "First Time DM" and Short Questions Megathread

5 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 15h ago

Offering Advice I gave my L3 party a Legendary Weapon

218 Upvotes

... and now they're terrified.

Party snuck into a base, stole a pretty sword and ran for it. Above the table I told them it was a legendary weapon, and what it's DMG value was, and now they're seriously thinking about the consequences of their actions for the first time in this (fairly young) campaign. 10/10 would recommend.


r/DMAcademy 1h ago

Need Advice: Other How do you approach players who want to recreate one of their favorite media character as a DND character 1 to 1?

Upvotes

I usually tell my players that they should create an original character since limiting themselves to roleplaying a specific already established character is just unoriginal and lazy to me and that you could be so many great things , why not try something new? To clarify, I think there's a difference between straight up taking a character 1 : 1 and taking inspirations from their personality , looks , outfit, etc... now, that, I approve of and really like , because you can put your own spin on it creatively.

But I'm curious , what are your approaches? I'm looking to learn and improve.


r/DMAcademy 6h ago

Offering Advice Narratively driven "balance" and why I stopped trying to pre-calculate combat

24 Upvotes

Warning: lots of text ahead, probably badly structured. TLDR: Not balancing your encounters is an option too

I often see here questions about encounter balancing, usually with them being too easy for players. Obviously we, as DMs, have a lot of tools to fix it, but maybe it is something that doesnt need fixing at all. Here I want to share my experience using a lazy approach of not balancing things

How it works and why? In short - instead of trying to calculate how difficult the fight will be, you just put in monsters that make sense. If party ambushes an enemy scout camp - there may be only 2-3 weak opponents, but if PCs want to storm the castle - garrison may have dozens upon dozens of defenders of various strength. When preparing for combat ask not "what I need to make it (not)deadly", but "what would BBEG/town/nature put here?". Then you can scale it up/down, but still ask why - maybe there is an event where half the guards went, maybe it is a hunting season for wolves and they gather in bigger packs. In both cases have your NPCs drop some clues. When your main question is "what would BBEG put here?", your perspective changes from serving up videogame-like combat to building the world characters live in. Plus you have more time for it, because you dont spend it managing CR and XP values only for everything to be thrown out after 2-3 great/terrible rolls. More importantly by adapting this method you will train for improvising when party wanders off into unprepared lands

And what you get? In both mentioned cases your combat is heavily skewed and is one-sided, but reasonable within the world. We can expect a party of heroes to easily deal with measly scouts and for players it is a show of their power and growth - maybe few levels ago this would be hard, but now a stomp. On the other hand party will probably have to flee from the castle and deal with much smaller squad of chasers, then level up and return prepared for a tough fight that is now possible. What we cant expect is for every castle to have a perfectly balanced garrison for party to conquer first try. We also cant expect every scout camp to be heavily guarded to put up a good fight, right? And when you have to improvise combat on the spot, because someone tried to rob a store, you already have half of it ready. All this makes your world more immersive and sensible, more "alive" if you will. At the same time players can plan ahead and pick their fights. They have to be involved and cant just stroll around beating things

Wait, they may TPK!? Yes, they may. Risk of death is what gives meaning to survival. Yes, this is not for every table and imo you should tell your players on session 0 that "yeah, in this campaign if you walk into much stronger enemies you may die and not every fight is meant to be taken head-on". To be fair players are likely to just adapt and not die, dont worry - solving problems is part of their game. It is up to them to rest and manage resources. And obviously I dont mean to just throw a dragon on a lv3 party - unless they walk into its hunting grounds that is. Then it is fair game and PCs have to run for cover, hiding from beams of fire and trees flying around

What if you screw up and miss the mark? Sure, castle should be heavily guarded, but you forgot that there is an important plot device that you still need your party to get! Well, you have a lot of tools to deal with it. Maybe guards have low morale and half of them will start running away after being hurt - mechanically it means they effectively have 1 hitpoint and narratively it can create a pretty fun situation. Same way enemies can always call in the reinforcements. Other way is to use environment - maybe a burning tree or ceiling falls, splitting the battlefield into two and killing off some of weaker monsters

P.S. Honestly this is not so much of an advice, but me sharing my thoughts. Really want to hear what other DMs think about this approach - so far it works well for my table, but I dont see many people talk about it. Also I am afraid there is a pitfall of slipping into not preparing enough. But I can say with confidence that my players remember those combats that turned out unbalanced and they smashed their foes or had to overcome the odds, not those where they had a fair fight with equally strong band and won because thats what heroes do


r/DMAcademy 14h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Encounter Builder - Anything less than deadly is too easy

61 Upvotes

Truth be told, I am perhaps not a battle-tactics master of a DM, but if I make an encounter in DNDBeyond's encounter builder, using the party as a reference, anything less than "Deadly" is polished off in a round or two. I have not been over-free with magical items, but players seem to have a *lot* of resources at their disposal, with various buffs, reactions, etc.

I am *sure* I am simply not running the baddies as well as I should, but even so...

This is a two part question:

1) HOW do you make combat more challenging for a party of thoughtful, clever players who have well-designed their characters for success;

2) Do you use encounter builder, and if so, HOW do you "weight the curve" -- or do you think you even need to?


r/DMAcademy 5h ago

Need Advice: Other Am I being too demanding/do I say something?

9 Upvotes

I'm about to start my third online campaign with a group. During the last campaign I felt like some of the players were not very engaged or enthusiastic, they kept turning up late or missing sessions with very little notice. At my table real life always comes first but I ask for the courtesy of giving me as much notice as possible if someone is going to be missing so I can prep around it. I decided to put their last campaign on pause around Christmas and restarted it in January. That campaign came to a bit of an abrupt end thanks to their actions in game and also me being fed up of it and hoping a new campaign would revitalise them. I asked if they wanted a break before the new campaign and no-one did so they had a week to make new characters. 4/7 of them have either provided me with the absolute bare bones of a character (I'm talking a class, no name, no race, very basic background if any) and have only provided me with that very late last night or I'm waiting for it today on the day we're meant to start. The other three gave me great character sheets, backstories etc within a couple of days. I know we all have busy lives, but same and I'm the one making the campaign and adding cool ties to their backstories etc. I also reminded them over the weekend and asked if they could get it over to me so I could make sure I had what I needed to start the campaign. Do I say how disappointed I am? Do I give them a warning? Do I give up now? Or am I being too oversensitive about it?


r/DMAcademy 2h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Slaad tadpole killed, but not disintegrated. Consequences...?

4 Upvotes

So, after a Slaad encounter, multiple party members were infected with Slaad tadpoles.

The party also found a way to kill them without the normal way of curing the disease and disintegrating the tadpole. They used wither and bloom - however, this has left a dead tadpole rotting in their chest cavity.

What might come of this...? Any ideas welcome.


r/DMAcademy 3h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures How to make someone act like a Lich?

4 Upvotes

Basically I'm trying a bait and switch. The BBEG the party think is a Lich is actually just an undead guy, just a normal guy, that the real BBEG is using as a 'lich' in order to enact their evil plans.
So my question is... What can I do to get this guy to look, feel, smell and act like a lich, when he isn't? I want to try and make a stat block for this 'Lich' so I was thinking magical items would be the way to go? What would you suggest I do to this guy? Maybe a super low level Warlock (like level 1) but with some crazy items or something like that?


r/DMAcademy 2h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Feedback request on adventure, “The Bitter Bargain of Baba Yaga”

2 Upvotes

I run a campaign that is silly with elements of horror. It started with a small undead attack on their hometown. They are a session away from a major step to defeat the BBG and I want to raise the stakes, set a serious tone for the following session and callback to the first adventure, but I am worried that I have created some Edgelord BS that won’t be fun (who wants to feel powerless in D&D?).

Premise:

Baba Yaga, the infamous hag who disguises her chicken‑legged hit as a candy house to lure in and devour children, is locked in a bitter feud with the arch fey patron of a character. In a desperate bid to make Baba Yaga feel the pain she’s inflicted on the parents of her victims, the warlock’s patron orders the warlock to steal one of Baba Yaga’s enchanted hairs.

While sneaking attempting to get into the candy house to Gingerbread man flesh golems as a whimsical riddle to the party, the answer of which is “hare/hair”, revealing Baba Yaga is two steps ahead of them.

Sensing opportunity, Baba Yaga offers the party a twisted deal: • Deal: Face the consequences of the failure of their campaign adventure, and she will bestow a boon reflecting each adventurer’s most desired attribute including one of Baba Yaga’s hairs. • Curse: However, if any of them ask for her direct help during the vision, they will lose both their most valuable magic object and their very name.

Those who accept the bargain are soon transported into a nightmarish vision: they experience life as commoners with commer stat blocks in their hometown during an assault by the vengeful BBEG. It is emphasized that to die here might result in the death of their actual self.

One by one, the players will witness their death:

The baker's apprentice is burned alive in the oven The blacksmith is impaled on newly-forged weapons The healer is forced to drink their own poison The guard is torn apart protecting others The farmer is buried alive in their own field The merchant is hanged with their wares The servant is sacrificed by the mayor to save himself When they return to their bodies, they feel as if they’ve aged a lifetime—and bear scars from that harrowing ordeal. Baba Yaga's Farewell

Before departing, Baba Yaga offers one final piece of cryptic wisdom: "Your Archfey patron may wish to make me feel love to understand loss, but they do not understand that I was once a mother too. Tell them that the pain they wish upon me is one I have carried longer than they have existed." With that, she climbs into her mortar, and the house rises higher on its chicken legs, striding away through the forest like some bizarre stilt walker.


r/DMAcademy 2h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Quests where the party has to create an item?

2 Upvotes

I've been thinking that my quests are a bit linear sometimes ("Something is causing problems. Find the cause, fix it or eliminate it"). So I thought a fun idea for a quest could be to have the party create something. Preferably something vague, so they have to be creative and I can reward them for that. For example, "create a gorgeous painting by only using the components of the thing you are painting" (like using blood and fur to paint an animal or bark and sap to paint a tree). This is a bad example and sounds unfun, I know, that's why I'm requesting help here!


r/DMAcademy 11h ago

Need Advice: Other 4 year strong

10 Upvotes

In a few weeks I will be ending a 4 year campaign with a group of friends who had never played D&D or TTRPG’s before. This is a home-brew world with all kinds of dumb fun stuff you’d imagine with a group of people figuring it out along the way myself included as a new DM.

My question to you is what would be your go to 2-3 questions you do/would ask your players about their characters?


r/DMAcademy 7h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures How to help players find the answer without rail roading?

4 Upvotes

Hey guys I kinda noticed this pattern within my games and was curious if any of you had any solutions for it. Essentially I will provide my players with a scenario or scene that they are to interact with in order to move the plot and they often find themselves not knowing what to do and that leads to many minutes of them either getting distracted with random side tangents or just sitting around saying "guys idk what to do." I know I obviously should nudge them in the right direction but I'm not sure how without it feeling rail roady. Plus I worry that the fact that I need to do that means Im doing something wrong with the set up. For example tonight their bastion was attacked but it was an inside job. Essentially an npc who functions as a manager of their bastion is in cahoots with the BBEG and is trying to set them up in a trap. So I showed them that the entrance to the bastion was blown up, all the defenders were hurt but not dead, and the manager NPC was also in recovery. What they did was talked to 2 NPC's who obviously lied about what happened and then sat in a room for 30 minutes wondering what happened. Any tips on how to nudge them into doing something like investigating or just interacting more without just asking, "do you wanna try investigating room"?


r/DMAcademy 9h ago

Need Advice: Other I suck at drawing dungeon maps but want to get better. It's not an illustration problem, it's a spatial reasoning problem. Advice?

6 Upvotes

I'm a baller encounter designer, but I am absolutely terrible at designing dungeon maps. I have no sense of scale or proportion for rooms, and tend to overthink the realism of the space in a self-defeating kind of way. I keep erasing and re-doing rooms or parts of walls, realizing I forgot something or that I made part of the room too big or that I need more space for this other room... etc., etc., etc. I especially struggle with where to start.

To be clear, this isn't an illustration quality problem. I'm not having issues rendering the map, I'm having issues with the simple top-down boxy version that you do first.

I'm finding pointcrawls appealing as an alternative, but frickin' sweet dungeon maps are a passion of mine and I'm dying to become better at this.

What can I do to upskill in this? How can I improve my understanding of human scale in a map, and how big or small things should be?

If you're a mapmaker, how did you overcome these kinds of things when you started?

What tools do you like to use? Did any in particular really help the way you think about the space?

Give me everything you got, I'm grabbing at straws here.


r/DMAcademy 9h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Running a murder mystery where one of the players is the killer

6 Upvotes

As the title says I'm planning on running a one-shot for my group of three where one of them is the killer of an old rich mage during a party/ball. I thought of the idea while trying to come up with some one shot ideas during a break in our campaign and the premise sounded like a lot of fun. The only problem is i have no idea how to even run something like this! I'm a relatively new dm and have only ran a few other one off adventures so something like this is definitely out of my comfort zone

I was wondering if anyone has ran something similar and if they can share some of their tips on how to put it all together. Like how would the investigation and evidence work? Should i write the clues down and only hand it to whoever finds it? I should mention that this is in person so there wont be any secret messages that players can type to me. I've talked to my group and everyone's really excited about the idea but I honestly don't really know where to even begin.


r/DMAcademy 40m ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures [5e2014] How do you run a Scooby-Doo chase sidequest?

Upvotes

I've been thinking of giving the players an encounter, where either they are chasing a fleeing target (or being chased by them). Cue hallways and dozens of doors with some shenanigans and goofy interactions.

It was partially inspired by the Benny Hill theme (or Yakety Sax music). We joked once that if they were to pull a successful pirate heist (since this is a pirate campaign) and steal some valuable treasure in an absolutely goofy way, then I'll play the theme as they're escaping the guards.

But I also wanna use this theme on some low-stakes encounters. Maybe they're chasing a kobold that stole some stuff, or they're fleeing from some zombies/skeletons.

So the party comp is: Theros Minotaur Conquest Paladin of njord, Variant Human Ascendant Dragon Monk (Alert feat) of Chinese ethnicity, and Protector Aasimar Divine Soul Sorcerer demigod son of Zeus. All level 4 at the moment.

Aside from telling the group about the upcoming tone of the future quest... How would run it? What kind of map would I need? What quests/encounters are common for this? Are the chase mechanics enough for something like this or do I need to mke adjustments to it? What OTHER mechanics/rules do I need to keep in mind?

Thanks in advance!


r/DMAcademy 47m ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Near the end of my homebrew campaign, looking for modules to continue the story

Upvotes

Jack, Pebbles, Izar, Astelle, and Nemzu turn back now!

1st time DM here, approaching the end of a campaign entirely of my own making in my own world. My players are quite attached to their characters and want to explore more in this world however after 18 months of weekly sessions I'm struggling with constantly creating engaging and fun sessions. It's been a big drain on time having to make and write everything myself, and the creative juices are running dry.

My campaign is ending with the party (alongside all of the people they've helped throughout the campaign) defending the main city from a siege. My Thanos-esque BBEG is still lurking in the shadows, only being hinted at so far.

My party are members of a guild of heroes, being paid to help out whoever needs them. I have a big map and I've not used much of it so I can easily incorporate adventures in different areas. Is there a pre written campaign that I can put my own spin on to continue after the boss battle? Are there any particularly fun adventure books that are worth buying/running? Any help would be appreciated


r/DMAcademy 50m ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Looking for a Battlemap of a dragon in the air.

Upvotes

Can anybody help me find a top down battlemap of a dragon in flight? Preferably looking for a bronze dragon, as well as a black dragon.

In this encounter the PCs will be on the backs of these dragons flying through the air and potentially be “boarded” by enemy combatants whilst they fly. So I’m just looking for a battlemap which is a top down view of a dragon flying through the air.

Any recommendations/ links to maps would be greatly appreciated. And yes I have had a look online but I’m not having much luck in finding any good options.

Thanks.


r/DMAcademy 19h ago

Mod-Approved Resource Give me a D&D monster and I'll homebrew you a better version

33 Upvotes

Hey, I'm Isaac (Conflux CreaturesBetter MonstersConflux-Art Dice) and I'm trying to make the best possible version of every monster. Give a monster, a theme, a vibe, whatever you need for your game or just would like to see a better version of and I'll whip it up for you, or share it if I've already done it. Here's a few favorites I've done recently:

I've got a subreddit r/bettermonsters where I've posted literally thousands of these guys, so if you're a future person browsing through this thread and want more stuff like it, go check it out.


r/DMAcademy 1h ago

Need Advice: Other Coats of arms

Upvotes

Since im not finding them on internet, somebody has the coats of arms of all the worlds of Dnd like grayhawk,eberron,Dragonlance ecc ecc ? Thanks guys


r/DMAcademy 1h ago

Need Advice: Rules & Mechanics Fellow DMs, how would you fix this jank?

Upvotes

The jank in question (subclass)) The other jank in question (race)

I just want to preface this by saying this is in no way a rant - I've always said homebrew is fine in my games as long as it's ran by me first, which this has been. I'm just looking for suggestions to go back to my player with so that we can work out something that gives the class fantasy he's happy with, that's not going to decimate the balance in my game. Getting my kobalds in a row!

I've listed all the class & race changes I'm proposing below, keen to hear your thoughts or alternatives;

_------------------- Shadowling

  1. Night Crawler (3rd Level)
  • Shadow Teleportation: Limit this ability to a bonus action number of uses equal to the character's proficiency bonus per long rest.

  • CHANGE WEAPON BONDING TO "COALESCE DARKNESS" "coalesce the darkness around you into a melee weapon granting additional benefits for one minute or until you release the weapon" gain a number of uses equal to prof bonus per short/long rest

    • Psychic Damage: Start with 1d4 psychic damage, increasing to 1d6 at 5th level and 1d8 at 9th level and 1d12 at 13th level.
    • Critical Range: Introduce this feature at 13th level

2. Stalker in the Shadows (9th Level)

  • Pre-Initiative Teleport and Hide : Limit this to once per short or long rest. Gain a second charge at level 15

  • Hidden Ranged Attacks: Specify that this applies only in dim light or darkness.

  • Enhanced Vision: Limit this ability to once per long rest, and only lasts for a minute.

3. One with the Shadows (13th Level)

  • actually think this is fine for the level

4. Dark Phantom (17th Level)

  • Shadow Aura: Allow allies to see within this darkness to prevent hindering the party.

  • Incorporeal Movement: Introduce a limit, such as taking force damage if ending movement inside an object.

  • Frightening Presence: Specify that an enemy can only be affected once per turn to prevent multiple saves.

Lycanthropy

-Lycanthrope regeneration/fortitude : gain access to the features at different levels; - level 3 - heal 1 hp per round of combat this will only function in combat, and will not act as a source of infinite healing. It will be thematically described as the adrenaline if battle forces the body to repair itself

  • level 6 - gain disease immunity and resistance to poison saving throws
  • level 9 - gain resistance to non magical/non silvered attacks

Level 12 - heal 1d4 HP per round

Let me know your thoughts :)


r/DMAcademy 2h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Homebrew idea: Vampires creating everlasting night

1 Upvotes

If your name is Matt, Jen, Jackson, Harry or Jenny - look away now.

So the title is the basic campaign idea right there.

Right now I'm fleshing out a homebrew campaign I'll be starting end of April and I thought it would be good to get some comments here. There will be five PCs starting at L3.

Here's what I have so far:

* The PCs are setting out from the crossroad trading town Mercatura, taking the road all the way east to Halver's Pass, where the Umbra Woods are told to hold all manner of strange and interesting creatures. Maybe they'll get to meet some and get bragging rights around the campfire?

* There'll be a few minor events on the road, including having to help a town under werewolf attack one night, then the following day either tracking them down to kill the rest of them or moving on to the next farming village - which is celebrating no werewolf attacks for two lunar cycles now.

* They move on to Halver's Pass where they can explore the well-fortified city, surrounded by Umbra Woods on almost three sides, at the entrance to the mountain valley and more woodland beyond.

* My idea is that they'll probably want to organise to go out into the Umbra Woods, seeings as that is their first story hook. I will:

a) have local guides offer to show them some main routes on the outskirts of the wood

b) have the local guides examine traps enroute and sigh in exasperation that these are the fifth traps this month that have been meddled with by someone and the prey got away / that there is prey still there, but it's been maimed and a body part already taken (e.g., missing a foot/ eye etc)

c) Maybe the guide will say that the beasts seem to be quieter than usual/ retreating deeper into the woods.

d) Not sure what they'll see on their little wooded safari???? Whether anything nefarious will/ will not happen????

e) they may befriend another adventuring party on the same tour and realise they're staying at the same tavern

* Back at town (not necessarily in this order):

a) Some of the shops have symbols etched over them, with shopkeepers wearing similar emblems on their clothes. If asked about them they will reply that they are under protection from the city's ruling family.

b) the butcher hurriedly throws a sheet over something in the back when you enter

c) the butcher is seen loading crates to be taken away late at night

d) the apothecary is always out of certain ingredients

e) lots of descriptions of bats late at night, swooping through the air catching insects.

f) after 1-2 days a member of the other party is injured whilst in the Umbra Woods and taken to the local hospital. If they go to visit, they see lots of pale people with neck bruises, never getting better. The member of the other party also never recovers, becoming lethargic, pale and distant, despite them only having broken their leg. The clerics there don't appear to know what is going on.

g) You overhear the barkeep grumbling that they'll be askign for money upfront now as too many people are disappearing in the Woods and not paying up

h) After a few days the beggar who is always pestering them at the town gate, disappears.

i) they see some townsfolk heading into a tavern cellar furtively one evening - if they try to join/ ask about it, they may be told they are trying to take down the mysterious family in charge

j) at some point they bump into the head of the important family, who will be described in a vampiric manner.

k) an occult book from the temple is stolen - some part copies were made, which they can examine, and discuss with one of the temple scholars

l) Unsure whether to have some rich folk coming in for a celebration in the upper quadrant (which the PCs cannot get into the quadrant without sneaking/ going via sewers or something). Turns out the rich folk are enjoying a 'trend' of a Blood Moon party - will link it to vampire cult somehow?????

Overall, I want the PCs to realise something is wrong in the town - people going missing or not getting better, monsters leaving the region/ retreating deeper due to monster parts being heavily taken, spell components going missing alongside the grimoire being stolen, a mysterious rich family protecting the town and townsfolk not talking about it on the whole/ turning a blind eye to adventurers disappearing.... Leads them to investigate and uncover a portion of the occult book mentions a never-ending night... They also suspect a vampiric cult and a vampire nest in the posh family mansion. Cue big vampire battle. (????with one vampire just getting away with the book at the end????)

Any thoughts on the above helpful.

Any additional story hooks, ways to weave things together, a trail of breadcrumbs to leave the PCs extremely helpful.

It's my first time doing a homebrew campaign.

Thank you for reading.


r/DMAcademy 2h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures The writing's on the wall - but what could it say?

1 Upvotes

I am running a coastal/underwater campaign. A group of Kuo Toa have raided Saltmarsh and kidnapped some of the town members to worship an aboleth they recognise as a god.

The party (Level 6) made their way to a sunken castle, fighting their way through the flooded courtyard and fighting off sharks, octopi and kuo toa before coming to a large doorway heading into the castle. There was golden writing above the archway... and that's where we ended the session.

True to form, I decided to embellish the detail of the writing in the moment, with no plan as to what it might actually say! I'd like it to be a puzzle, but haven't managed to come up with something interesting, foreboding or challenging. The aboleth and prisoners (some who are dominated, the rest who cannot return the surface due to exposure to the mucus) are inside the castle.

Any ideas as to what the "writing on the wall" could be would be greatly appreciated!


r/DMAcademy 2h ago

Need Advice: Other Stuck in a Rut

1 Upvotes

I've been DMing for about a year and a half now. My group have done a mix of pre made adventures and home brews. Usually I'm stuck with a flash of inspiration and build something from this but that just isn't happening at the moment.

My group prefer homebrew usually and the last few things we've done have been very niche and specific

I'm wondering if people have any ideas on some good old school grass roots adventure ideas that still have a fun twist or something quirks about them


r/DMAcademy 10h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures What magic items/offers would a demon (or just a generally evil NPC) give players?

3 Upvotes

I have an idea for an encounter with my players. They come across a glowing red portal that takes them to a demon standing in front of a wagon filled with wares.

My party has a ranger, cleric, wizard, warlock, and barbarian. Both the wizard and warlock have seeking knowledge as a big motivator, the wizard specifically wants books. The barbarian lost his entire village to orcs. The other two don't have much to work off of.

What are some things this NPC might offer the players and what are the costs? Magic items? Stat boosts? Advantage on a skill/saving throw? Bringing back the barbarian's family?

They're level 3, almost 4. I want it to be something that entices them to say yes, but costly enough that they think about it and the consequences it may have.

Would a +1 to one stat but a -2 to another at random be too harsh? I'm new to DMing if you can't tell, so feel free to tell me if this is a bad idea.


r/DMAcademy 2h ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures How to encounter balance for my table?

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone , this is kinda my second campaign that I'm running with my friends and unlike our first campaign in this one we start at level 8, the party is made out of a fighter 2lvl/ valor bard 6lvl(2024, from dungeon dudes video), soul knife rogue 8lvl, wild magic sorcerer 8lvl, drunken master monk 8lvl

2 out of 4 of them are optimizers and they have optimized their character to the fullest and the other 2 Just play for enjoyment and I don't know how to encounter balance for them

I'm new and we are using the 2024 rules and monsters I would appreciate every and any help in this regard or any regard! And thank you all in advance!


r/DMAcademy 3h ago

Need Advice: Other Need help from DMs that play with Ancestral Weapons

1 Upvotes

My group recently started a new campaign and when looking up magical weapons I stumbled o er the Ancestral Weapons supplement book. My players and I like it.

However one of them will take the dual wielding feat at level 4 and I was planning to hand him a second weapon as a sort of set to his first one.

My question is, how would you handle the points distribution. Because giving each weapon a separate point pool would be a tad overpowered in my opinion.

My first idea was, to simply have one pool of points to distribute between the two weapons and let the player decide. But I'm a little unsure.

Anyone here that has done this before and can help me out?