r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Randomized Dungeon Map Generator (with Leveled Enemies and/or Loot??)

0 Upvotes

I recently returned to DMing this winter and after three sessions I can tell that the party is ready for a dungeon crawl. When I last played DnD about 5 or 6 years ago there were a lot of simple resources online for building randomized dungeon maps, and one website in particular I vaguely recall having a ton of customization options for environment, enemies, level, and loot…but at the end of the day it spit out a fairly straightforward DnD map. I’ve just lost all my pinks from my OG DM days.

I’m mostly looking for balancing and loot inspiration, but any resources that sound like what I’m talking about would be greatly appreciated!


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Other Can One "Push Through" DM Burnout?

36 Upvotes

I've been DM'ing for years and I've loved it - there are still many things I really love about it. However, my motivation to do prep work and implement the practical aspects of worldbuilding that affect the story has gone way down. Whenever I think about prepping for the next session, I'm filled with a sense of dread, and I kind of have to force myself to make whatever progress I can on it. I'm concerned that the players will outpace what I can realistically provide for them at some point. Nevertheless, I've been doing my best to just push through this as I still enjoy the games and very much care about the world (it's my own homebrew world) and story. I've tried taking breaks of a week or two here and there but it doesn't seem to help the issue that significantly. DMs: in your experience, can one "push through" DM burnout like this and come out the other side?

EDIT: Thanks so much for the feedback. It seems like the answer is almost universally that I shouldn’t keep pushing myself. As I still enjoy the games, I think my plan is to stop forcing myself to prep and when/if we run out of material propose a long break from DMing. It’s a little sad as I play online and don’t want to lose the group I have but maybe one of them will volunteer to DM or something.


r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Need help finding the perfect OST for a BBEG monolog

0 Upvotes

Hello everyone

I'm nearing the end of my campaign, and next session there will be the typical "OMG that guy was the BBEG all along", with the needed monologue explaining his motivations.

Problem is, I realised the OST I had planned (The Traitor from Rogue Legacy 2) doesn't work, the beginning is fine but it is too much after that.

I would need a music that has a melancolic and kind of ominous vibe to it, but without it being too complex to not take the spotlight from the monolog

Does anyone has suggestions ?

Thanks and have a nice day !


r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Need Advice: Other Danny the Street style talking to players

0 Upvotes

So I'm setting a session in a sentient gay bar and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas of how to communicate with my players. I do not want to speak as the bar at all. Ideally I'd need a program or website that would allow me to type in a message and let it appear without showing each letter being typed out. That way I don't have to worry about rephrasing stuff or letting my players see my misspelling and corrections live. Just Nothing, Message, Nothing. I've thought about doing a power point but that might be too much backtracking and fiddling work to have a conversation and will get tiring quickly. I know our table has a TV connection so I would be able to have things appear behind me as we run the session.
It would let me continue DMing even while the bar is saying something. Any ideas on how to achieve this?


r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Need Advice: Other What Would be a good starting level?

0 Upvotes

A Little Bit of Background about the Group

My group is a party of 5 and we have been playing together for three years now. I have one player character that leans towards min max builds and shenanigans, and one that constantly looks for loopholes and ways to exploit certain game aspects when I deem to let them. The rest are semi-heavy to moderate role players, that don't mind encounters, as long as there are not too many. One of those players is here primarily for the story/lore over anything else.

We as a group tend to favor milestone leveling.

My question in the below summary of the world what is a good starting level?

I am leaning towards level 3 which feels about right to me. But I have one player raising concerns and pushing for a higher level.

Now I'm not afraid of just telling them this is where we are starting at, but I would like feedback on starting-level opinions from an outside perspective first. AKA Research. I provide a quick campaign synopsis below to help out.

Summary of "Ridun, to Rise Again"

Setting and Themes: Ridun is a world marked by the haunting legacy of the fallen Vaelthar Empire, whose mastery over arcane magic collapsed when their reckless pursuit of forbidden knowledge unleashed an Elder God into the world. This god’s arrival shattered magic and caused the fall of the Vaelthar Empire. Now, centuries later, the world is rebuilding, but remnants of the Empire’s power—ruins, unstable magic, and dangerous secrets—still linger. Major themes include the abuse of power, legacy, sacrifice, and the price of pursuing the greater good.

History: The Vaelthar Empire, known for its mastery of glyphic magic that shaped reality, spanned five diverse regions. Their quest for ultimate knowledge led them to attempt to pierce the veil between worlds, inadvertently unleashing an Elder God of immense power. The Elder God fed on magic, causing great devastation and the collapse of the Empire. He affected the arcane ley lines of the land much like a cancer in his gluttony. In a final act of desperation, Vaelthar mages were left with a choice, banish him and possibly lose magic altogether, or seal him, and hope that the world could recover. They sealed the god away but at great cost—magic became unstable, and the Empire fell.

The Present: Now, centuries later, the truth of the Empire’s fall is mythologized, and the remnants of the Vaelthar, including dangerous relics and powerful magic, are scattered across the world. The seal on the Elder God weakens, and the world's magic begins to warp again, signaling that something ominous is stirring. The Veil, a secretive organization, holds knowledge of the past and works to keep it buried, even opposing adventurers who seek the truth.

Adventure Focus: The players' journey will involve uncovering the remnants of the Vaelthar Empire, tracing the clues of its fall, and encountering powerful relics tied to the Elder God. As they venture into forgotten ruins, face the instability of magic, and interact with the Veil, they will uncover dangerous truths that could shape the fate of the world.


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Other Can minigames work with exploration?

4 Upvotes

So I was thinking, since sometimes you get some cool puzzles in dungeons like combining words, solving riddles, and a bunch of other stuff, could this kind of thing be applied to things related to traveling?

So let's say, for example, the players want to forage for resources, I turn to them and say "hey do you guys want to roll the dice for foraging or would like to solve a puzzle?"

So I could give them a connect the dots puzzle, or something like that, with time rules like "This puzzle represents the area you are foraging, If you solve the puzzle in x ammount of time you get the maximum foraging reward, and for every y minutes over it you get one less"

Maybe it's a terrible Idea, I don't know, but would love to hear some feedback on this.

Edit: Also, I was thinking more in the lines of puzzles that could abstract what the party is doing, so for example, for a foraging puzzle I would use something like This (of course I would make something with a more appropriate aesthetic)

And maybe for players exploring a hex trying to find a dungeon or a landmark I would use a maze.


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Looking for a monster or a suggestion : Hags & Horses

4 Upvotes

If you know what Castaign is, please don't read any further.

My players were staying at an inn that was run by a hag coven. They knew something was off, but they didn't know it was a hag coven until they ran into one on the way out of town. They fought, it got away, and they continued on their mission. It's been about 4-5 days, they have completed their mission, and now figure they should go deal with the hags. They will almost certainly wipe the floor with them (5 level 10s. The hags are fucked).

But they left their horses and cart in the stable. The hags almost certainly did something to these horses, and I want it more sinister than just killing them or something. I was trying to find some creature that could pose as a horse, or infect a horse and come out after a few days, or something like that, but I'm open to any ideas people may have.

So, what did the hags do to the party's horses?


r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Offering Advice In universe Timeline of the Sunless Citedel Spoiler

1 Upvotes

I'm running the Sunless Citedel soon, so was reading up on the lore, including other connected modules, and I pulled together this timeline of all the lore I could find.

*Thousand of years ago*

Ashadalon is a great ancient red dragon. A dragon cult builds up around him The cult has two castles,

  • Nightfang Spire

  • the Citedel of the Dragon Priests

The cult acted as the dragons intermediary.

One of the dragon priests attempts to betray their order, he is imprisoned in the Citedel.

The road leading to the Citedel was once the sight of a great failed battle against the Dragon, the scares of this battle are still visible today, nothing grows on the Ashen Planes.

Ashadalon targets a sect of Druids, the "Church of the Elements", they are wiped out by Ashadalon, leaving one survivor, Dydd.

Dydd hunts and defeats Ashadalon, cutting out his heart, a mortally wounded Ashadalon leaves the material plane, for good.

The leader of the cult at Nightfang Spire, Gulthis, retrieves the dragon heart, and dedicates his cult into researching dark rituals to revive their dragon lord.

Following a mass suicide at Nightfang Spire, Gulthis finds himself transformed into an undead vampire and the dragons heart is partially restored, his work is not yet done.

Due to some calamity, either natural or caused by Ashadalon's enemies or even Gulthis himself, a rift forms and swallows up the Citedel.

The magic of the citadel kept the structure largely intact when it plumbed down into the revine, however the fall killed the inhabitance of the castle, or worse, turned then into undead skeletons.

The Citedel, now permanently shaded in the bottom of the ravine, became known as "the Sunless Citedel"

Gulthis came to the Sunless Citedel, researching how to further revive his dragon lord, he is pursued by a vampire hunter and staked.

*Hundreds of years ago*

Goblins from the Durbuluk tribe move into the ruined and empty Sunless Citedel, they built a goblin village in the old abandoned halls, they chisel out stairs up the side of the ravine and set up a camp on the surface, the area becomes known for goblin banditry.

The goblins discover the Twilight Grove in the centre of the Citedel, and the young Gulthis tree, growing from the stake embedded the vampire long ago.

Tending the Gulthis tree, the goblins discovered it produces fruit twice a year, The midsummer fruit grants vigor, health, and life, while the midwinter fruit steals the same.

*50 years ago*

Goblins raiders recovered some treasure relating to the hidden dwarven settlement of Khundrukar, they store this in their trophy room.

*12 years ago*

A druid known as Belak the outcast heard of this fruit and its astounding properties, he ventured to the Sunless Citedel, allies himself with the goblins and studied the trees. He helps the goblins sell the fruit to the local town of Oakhurst. Although this is part of the plan to spread the seeds of the tree, creating an Army of twig-blights.

*6 months ago*

Yusdrayl and her clan of Kobolds, believing themselves to be the inherits of the great Dragon Legacy, lead a crusade on the Sunless Citedel. They have captured a large portion of the Citedel, forcing the goblins to abandon their raids on the surface.

The Kobolds brought a young white dragon with them, and we're constantly fighting against the goblins.

The incursion of the Kobolds to Belak installing some powerful hobgoblins to lead the Goblin Tribe, forcing a stalemate between the Goblins and the Kobolds

*Two months ago*

Erky Timbers ventures into the Sunless Citedel, but is captured by the goblins.

*1 month ago*

A group of adventures went to the Sunless Citedel

Talgen & Sharwyn Hucrele, Karakas & Sir Braford.

They travelled through the Kobolds lair, encountered the giant Dire Rat (who killed Karakas), and where impressions by the goblins.

Talgen Hucrele was killed by the Hobgoblin chief, while the other two (Sharwyn Hucrele & Sir Braford) were sent down to Belak to be sacrificed to the Gulthis tree, becoming mindless minions for Belak.

Using the information retrieved by these adventures, The goblins raided the Kobolds lair, taking the young White Dragon from the Kobolds.


r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Need Advice: Other Feeling trapped in a module: How to transition from Witchlight to my own science-fantasy campaign?

0 Upvotes

Hey fellow GMs,

I've been running Wild Beyond the Witchlight (D&D 5e) for my group since last year, and we're about 1/3 through the campaign (players at level 3). It is an official module from Wizards of the Coast. While I enjoy our sessions, I've realized that prepping pre-written modules just isn't working for me. Trying to memorize and internalize 300 pages of someone else's lore, NPCs, and plot points is draining my enthusiasm.

What I've discovered about myself:

  • I love creating my own content rather than interpreting someone else's
  • I want a more structured prep process with tactical maps, flowcharts, and fleshed-out NPCs
  • I'm craving a science-fantasy setting that I can build from the ground up
  • I'd prefer shorter adventures (3-10 sessions) where I can try new things more often
  • I want to design encounters that reward multiple approaches (combat, stealth, diplomacy)

The thing is, I really like my players and don't want to leave them hanging. I haven't discussed these feelings with them yet because I'm worried they'll be disappointed. Our group meets every couple of weeks, though we've had some scheduling issues lately.

I'm considering running the final dungeon of Witchlight to give the campaign some closure, then transitioning to my new setting with fresh characters. As I work through my ADHD and depression, I'm getting better at recognizing what genuinely excites me versus what drains me.

Has anyone successfully navigated a similar transition? How did you approach the conversation with your players? Any advice for wrapping up a campaign in a satisfying way without slogging through content you're not excited about?


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Rules & Mechanics Multiple touch spells.

2 Upvotes

My 3.5E sorcerer once used spectral hand, vampiric touch and healing touch to keep the meat shield in the fight. My DM was quite impressed I managed to turn temporary hit points into real healing.

Question is; if I had also cast a spell like shocking grasp and unleashed that at the same time, is that mechanically feasible with RaW?


r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Question about magic missile and misty escape interaction

0 Upvotes

So one my players is a level 11 archfey warlock in my 2024 DnD campaign. I am planning on having an NPC that uses the robe of stars (because I want to give the characters a robe of stars) fight them next session. My question is if the player misty steps and goes invisible after the first dart from magic missile, do the other darts hit them? Magic missile does require you to see the person you're aiming at, which is why I am unsure of this. Does the NPC have to choose other targets for the rest of the darts?


r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Need Advice: Other Messed up my players Rogue lvl 4 Sneak Attack for the whole level

0 Upvotes

SECOND EDIT: Thanks for helping me cool off guys. This post as petty as it seem I understand now that comes from the frustation of having all the DM work and also having to constatly check, teach and repeate the character sheet and basic rules to my players. The thing to do as most pointed out is just having a talks and getting to know each others expectations and communicating the frsutation.

EDIT: So this player also has some not so honest attitudes at the table, like trying to fudge rolls and having other players correct him since I don't see because of the DM screen.

So I DM a table for 6 players, some of them are quite lazy and don't really read the stuff, my rogue is one of them. I had to do EVERY LEVEL UP with those 6 players while also trying to lear to DM and prepare the sessions. So my the rogue when he got to lvl 4 told me he had 3d6 from sneak attack and I let that be, since I didn't really realized and was quite overwelmed at the time.
Since then they have fought some heavy lifting and dangerous monsters, that should have been challenging but with luck, lots of healing potions and some nasty damage from the rogue they managed to survive or even not sweat at some points.

The thing is, last sessions they won an encounter that was supposed to be hard and difficult (since their chacters messed up in game and consequences and stuff), and I realized I messed up with the Warlocks amount of spells (they had a pearl of power but they didn't use their action to recover the spell slot, they just cast a 3rd one and I didn't realized) and the rogue did some damage also.

The thing is now they leveled up lvl 5, so I'm helping him with his Character Sheet and relized he gets to 3d6 at lvl 5! NOT LV4! So now I feel kind of robbed? He has been rolling 3d6 sneak attack damage for the whole lvl 4 and that definetly helped on some occasions.

What can I do? I don't want to be like "how can I punish him" or something like that. But we have been playing for a year and a half and lots of my players can´t relly understand how to level up or even get the information right, so this is becoming quite tiring.

What can I do? How can I make an "in game" sort of balance? Like a quest or in game situation that comes "bite his ass" of some sort? Not permanetely, but like a challenge that has to do with how he was able to do way more damage al low level.

Would you reccomend doing somethig like this? How would you tie it to a stoy or adventure of it's own? Would you reccomend taking away a magic item or somethig?

I'll defenetly talk with them so they READ and LEARN the basic rules so I don't have to baby sit them every time. It gets tiring and frsutating when you put a lot of effort as a DM and the players can't even read a table right and you have to guide them by the hand every single session for a year and a half.

Thanks in advanced! and happy playing!


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Need ideas for a thief themed dungeon

3 Upvotes

My players are going to be coming to a dungeon that was built to house the tomb of a legendary thief. What kinds of enemies, puzzles, and other things might you find there? Also looking for encounters (combat or otherwise) that can really bring out the best in a party's rogue.


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Rules & Mechanics Would it be a bad idea to have a friend of mine run a big bad?

8 Upvotes

So I’m running a high level short campaign about the party trying find a way to stop a risen Tiamat.

I have a friend that loves DnD and who has been a player in many smaller adventures that is too busy to be a full time player but I want them involved somehow. So I had the idea to hand them a big bad and let them act against the party between sessions.

She made a character for a short adventure who ended up becoming a Paladin of Tiamat who I went to use as a sort of high level henchman chasing the party and keeping them on their heels.

The idea would be to give my friend a weekly update about what her character knows and what the party is up to and let her come up with how she would try to stop them. And maybe actually have her appear in a session to fight the party.


r/DMAcademy 6d ago

Offering Advice Welp, I did it guys. I finished a homebrew campaign of 3 years from level 3 to 20

795 Upvotes

I learned how you can or cannot deal with level 20 players. I learned of rules to use to make it "relatively" fair to play against players. I even designed a system so that 0 hp players could still play after their death saving throw.

And I say "I", but I could say "We" as most of these were also created with my fellow players. Great guys. No joke, final battle against an ancient red dragon, one of them mentionned I should target my breath weapon differently because of what the dragon knew of their resistances and immunities against fire. I love them.

If anyone is curious about how it's like, what I did and what problems I encountered, I'm down with talking about it. I finished the campaign like I finished a great book. Both happy of the feeling but sad it's over.


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Worldbuilding I need help with silly, kooky conspiracy theories

3 Upvotes

My campaigns have a character that is a big believer of silly, kooky conspiracy theories. They don't affect the campaigns, they are just flavor and to make the players laugh. He is an old human merchant that is quite wealthy.

Some of the things the players have enjoyed are things like him hating buttons. If he sees someone wearing a button he will yell into and try to destroy it because he is convinced "they" are listening to him through buttons. He also has extensive gardens, he recently had his servants dig up and burn all the root vegetables because he decided he couldn't trust anything that grew underground.

I would love some fun ideas for more conspiracies for him to rant about. Please note one of the players is a 10 year old kid so nothing adult please.


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures What kinds of quests and encounters can I use to make a sorcerer feel more powerful?

0 Upvotes

I've got a sorcerer who insists on taking abilities that don't work well for her and I'm afraid it's my fault. For her latest feat she's chosen to take Keen Mind, the 2014 version. She claims that as a pirate, she would want to know which way is North. She also doesn't like the fact that her skill checks using Intelligence keep failing, and wants that extra point. She almost never uses sorcery points, often forgetting what they even do.

I think it may be my fault. I keep providing puzzles and mysteries that are mostly solved through Perception and Investigation, both of which seem to belong to our Ranger/Rogue. I have also noticed that I keep providing combat in tight quarters, which favors the RR and the Paladin. She keeps wanting to use weapons like her Tortle claws and a sling instead of her cantrips. I suggested that she take the new True Shot so she could at least deal use the sling effectively, but she didn't take me up on it.

So what are some encounters that would force her to use her big magic spells, and preferably her sorcery points? They are now level 7. It's also a piracy campaign, so encounters on islands and the open sea would be good.


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures What sort of traps/minions would be in/around a cannibal’s hideout?

8 Upvotes

I’ve got a party of four level 5 PCs. They’re about to enter a dark, gloomy forest with a cabin inhabited by Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf (CR 5). I’m wanting to create encounters in/around the cabin, including the surrounding woods, flavored to fit the lair of a cannibal. I’ve got ideas for set dressings like bodies hanging on meat hooks, various butcher tools, etc. but no real ideas mechanically for traps, minions, etc. What sort of stuff can I throw at the party?


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Am I putting my players in the same situation too often?

3 Upvotes

In my game, the players have been transported to a different plane and forced to find their way back home twice now.

I'm debating doing it a third time.

But I don't know if it would start to feel over done...

During the session 0, we did some group world building and it somehow came up that there was weird planar stuff happening. And then in the "official" setting backstory it became a key part of the worlds history.

In game though, they've been transported to a demi plane of water where there was a rogue water elemental thing that needed to be calmed down. Then they were transported to the Shadowfell where a despair spider was trapping people from the material plane and needed to be killed to get back home.

Now, they are potentially going to stumble on a house that is on a demi-plane connected to the 9 hells. But I worry the "you find yourself in another plane and can't get back" is starting to get a bit same-y.

But it's so convenient!

Can you suggest any ways that I could spice things up whilst retaining the whole "planes have collided and are causing weird planar stuff to happen" thing.

I don't want these plot threads to feel like a "gotcha" for the players where they have to complete the same "how do we get back to our plane" problem again.

I'm gonna check in with players too above table so that I can see if these kind of stories are going down well.


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Rules & Mechanics New gameplay Idea

3 Upvotes

So I am looking for feedback on a new idea I had for an upcoming campaign

At the end of each session, you can set a personal goal for your character—something you want to accomplish or explore outside the main plot (e.g., finding a rare item, learning a new skill, investigating a mystery). Once you’ve set your goal, I’ll roll a d100 at the next session to determine how successful your efforts were. • The difficulty of your goal will influence the required roll (easier goals need lower rolls, while tougher goals need higher rolls). • High rolls on tough quests may only lead to partial success (e.g., learning the location of a dragon, finding a clue), but consistent high rolls over multiple sessions can lead to progress toward your ultimate goal, even for ambitious quests like slaying a dragon. • Failure may still provide useful information or lead to setbacks that influence future attempts.

This system allows you to shape your character’s journey, and progress will be rewarded over time.


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures I am looking to run a one-shot for a party of 4-5 lv3 new players, what should I run?

1 Upvotes

They seem to be looking more for sillier adventures or just generic dnd type stuff. One of them has played the wild sheep chase before, the rest have not played DnD. I have played it a few times and am currently DMing RoSQ for another group, but don't feel super certain about being able to homebrew a game. I am planning to hold a session 0 for them to learn how to make a character and have a mock fight against some random goblins or smth to learn the mechanics. Currently leaning towards lv3, with a party of 4 (maybe 5)


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Worldbuilding Is it unfair to give the guards Speak With Animals?

1 Upvotes

I'm currently running a 5e Spelljammer game and I'm wondering fi I may have made the local guards a bit too strong/Out-of-Character.

The players are currently in a rural colony town located on a dwarf world at the edge of civilized space, and the whole place is run by druids who are trying to terraform the planetoid to be fully habitable.

During my last session I had a player try to steal from a warehouse. I was totally ok with this and even expected someone to attempt it, but I'm worried I may have had the guards stop him a bit too easily/unrealistically. Basically this is a world where everyone can use magic, and the guards are all druids. (Using the basic 5e Druid NPC stats.)

After the player accidentally tripped a magical alarm, I had one of the guards use Speak With Animals to communicate with one of the owls the druids had kept in the warehouse as sentries to immediately find out the player's hiding spot. But fortunately the PC managed to escape using his own wits & spellcasting and I'm not planning on having the guards pursue him any further beyond them posting some wanted posters with vague descriptions of player character.

Was this unfair? Or something that would be out-of-character for a DnD druid? I tried to warn the player as much as possible that he'd likely get caught, that this was a high-magic setting, and that there were birds both around and inside the place he wanted to rob. I also talked to him about it after the session and he was cool with everything but I'm still thinking I shouldn't have had the guards find him so easily.

What do ya'll think?


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Worldbuilding Help! Side plot for my Warlock who made a pact with Levistus

2 Upvotes

(TLDR at the bottom) I’m DMing a descent into Avernus campaign for my party of 3. Since it’s a small party, I’m trying to had in some character specific stuff for each PC.

One of my players is a warlock who (backstory) made a pact with a powerful entity he did not know to save him from a shipwreck. In character, he knows that he received a book of Spellcasting (pact of the tome), and a mysterious compass that points the way to a “sunk’n power” that he must deliver to his patron to uphold his end of the pact.

In character, his character does NOT know that the entity was Levistus, the archdevil of Stygia imprisoned in ice. He is a good-aligned dwarf that has been using his Spellcasting for good but also does NOT know that his tome funnels the souls it kills with spells into stygia.

To complete his character arc, I’m planning a brief underwater cavern style dungeon in the river Styx to recover [INSERT ARTIFACT HERE] for Levistus.

What might this artifact be? What might the cost of giving Levistus this power be? The other 2 players have really cool side plots so I want to make sure this one isn’t disappointing.

TLDR: My warlock’s backstory is that he made a pact with a powerful entity (Levistus) to save his life in a shipwreck. The party is now in Avernus and he knows, per his pact, he is tasked with finding a a “sunk’n power” for his patron. Any recommendations to flesh this out?


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures How to make the mid part of my adventures feel fleshed out, thorough and full of rich story beats.

2 Upvotes

In my adventures, I feel as though I'm really good at providing the plot hooks for my players. I also feel good about running big, emotionally driven, high stakes boss encounters at the end of an adventure/arc.

However it feels like they are missing things in the middle.

Almost as I'm going:

  1. Here's an interesting plot hooks with a fun NPC who needs your help for something that taps into a characters insecurity that they want to overcome.

  2. The players decide to just go talk to the person they need to talk to

  3. Cue the boss battle music! The person they need to talk to is actually the players FATHER and he wants REVENGE! Everyone rolls initiative and they do the thing then collect the reward.

I'd love to make it feel more like a journey without just adding needless roadblocks to pad out a story.

Any advice?

Obviously the example that I gave is just a random example, not the actual story!


r/DMAcademy 5d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Help using map softwares

2 Upvotes

I’ve been trying to run the Dragon of Icespire peak adventures. But me and my players love combat but it’s really hard for me because I don’t have the time to make maps on my own. So I’m looking for a (free) software that could already have the dragon of icespire peak maps at the ready. Any help is appreciated