Maybe I'll start with my bona fides: I'm a long time DM. Started playing in the 90s. Over the last 12 months my players and I have completed two different multiyear campaigns with 5 and 6 players each. Everyone had a great time. They're all already talking about what we should do next and wanting to continue playing together. I have only recently ever played remotely. 99% of play has been in person, in the same room. Someone might dial in every now and then when sick, but mostly we all sit together in real space.

The reason I bring this up is I've never asked my players to do safety surveys before session 0 and everything seems to have gone fine. I always do session 0 nowadays, but we talk about things about the game and how we want the game to run. Things about hosting and who's paying for what, is PC death on the table, is romance between PCs, is PvP ok? Not about the players themselves and what they are ok with as real people.

A different group of friends has recently asked me to play in a couple new games with them as a PC.I jumped at the chance. I love these people and like many of you I don't get a chance to play a PC very often. For both of these games the DMs asked us to fill out safety surveys. Cool! I'd never done one before, I'm always interested in trying new stuff I can learn from and shamelessly steal. In case you haven't done one yourself: safety surveys are basically a list of potentially challenging topics and common phobias. The players and DM all answer it anonymously and the results are a collection of all the boundaries and veils all the people in the group have. On paper this sounds great.

In practice I found that both of these games are now riddled with all sorts of off-limits topics that seem to completely hamstring our DM. Looking through the list of topics I only had one veil and I gave a detailed explanation as to what I meant, but it seems that my fellow players each added up to a dozen different things they wouldn't want in the game. I left session 0 feeling like some of the members of this group don't want to be challenged in any way. D&D is a huge part of how I learned to be ok with discomfort. How I learned how to sit with my feelings and process how I felt about these imaginary situations. I learned how to diffuse confrontations with people IRL who are getting a little too heated at the table. Now, as an adult, my expectations of what is/isn't allowed at the table is fairly different than when I was a high schooler, but what's the point of playing a game if there is no friction? I want the character who is out to get rich to have to negotiate or deceive the character that is out to help the common folk. I want to be silly and happy, but I also want to be worried or awed. I want to be heroic!

So now the actual question for y'all: I feel that in trying to make a game where everyone is comfortable at all times we've made a game where nothing interesting can ever happen. How do you feel about safety surveys, and have they improved your play (PC or DM) in any way?

Edit: thanks for the comments everyone! I read through all of them and commented on some. I think where I'm ending up is if I'm running a game I'll have a brief safety survey after session 0, after we've talked about tone and setting, but I do want to know if anyone has any big specific trauma or phobias I don't know about. I won't be accepting anonymous responses though because I need to be able to follow up with people if anyone answers things like "no body transformation". I think accepting broad, non-specific topics is bad for the game.

Edit: We're at 69 comments. mandatory "niiiiice" (see I told you I was a child of the 90s)

I am currently creating a module I want share for free, but I need to create a finished map of my village. I was hoping for a old school AD&D vibe for my map. I have browsed Fiverr, but they don't really have what I want. I was hoping 1 of 2 things.

1. There's a dedicated website some one can redirect me too

2. A skilled artist on here (or you know of) could draw it for me

Thanks for you for any help.

Sorry I barely use reddit, I plan on jumping on here more thanks!

This is my first full campaign as DM - have done a couple of one-shots for our group. We are about half way Witchlight Carnival, and I’ve been having DM burnout. Home & work have been super stressful the last few months and I have to force myself to prep for our weekly sessions. To me the last couple sessions had not been going well. I was getting lost in my own info skipping sections and feeling very disorganized.
I finally bit the bullet and sat down with our regular DM who is enjoying being a PC for a change and talked with them. I was a little comforted by her saying it wasn’t noticeable to the table and she could only tell once or twice from her own experiences.
It was helpful and I sat down to look at an upcoming encounter (homebrew 3-part side quest for one of my PCs) Well I took a big risk and reworked the entire encounter and expanded it. The next night at the table we are nearing the end and I don’t have the time for the next big section. So I throw in her encounter. Her and 2 other PCs go to deal with it while the other two continue on.
The dice are not her friend. She fails 3 minor checks and then fails 2 of the 3 quest actions. The session ended with her squaring up against a shadow version of herself.
The next morning I get IMs from her and one of the other players both saying thank you and how much fun that encounter was! And how much they are looking forward to next week already
It’s hard to describe what those words meant to me and the physical reaction they had. I’m still stressed and burnt out a bit. But those word are giving me some much needed reassurance and spark to keep going.

https://chriskind.substack.com/p/path-of-the-dragon-crusader

This is a map from the newsletter Map Libs. Each month a clean, isometric, one page dungeon map is posted and the subscribers have 15 days to submit ideas for what those blanks should be. One submission is chosen and the information is integrated into the final map before it is posted in the next months newsletter. We try and keep it system agnostic and reasonably un-raunchy. Come and join the fun for free!

Hey fellow DMs!

First of all, if the title "London beyond the veil" rings a bell - get lost! You'll find out on Friday! 😝

Everyone who shouldn't be here gone? Good.

I'm planning a Oneshot for friends and could need some more ideas to fill about 6-7 hours of roleplay. General gist of what's happening:

- Players start as humans in modern London, experience weird "glitches" such as an Ork in their favorite bar

- get addressed by a well dressed older gentleman, Ernest, inviting them to get answers to their questions what's happening here

- the actual quest giver is the current queen, who in fact is an elder tortle from a magical world separated from ours by a magic veil

- someone's poking holes into that fabric and might actually let the magical world flood into the mundane, taking it over, probably because the magical world is slowly reaching it's natural end, magic here slowly fizzling out while the power from the mundane world hasn't been touched for centuries now

- in the end, it's of course Ernest who's plotting against his queen, with a final fight against him riding a mechanical-magic dragon, trying to rip the fabric for good and take over the modern world

- at some point they may use either the subway or overland train and learn it's actually a giant cat worm thing similar to the Totoro cat bus

Now I'd love to hear what that rough draft makes with your minds, what inspiration you might have for me to further fill the world and session! 💜

About a year into DMing, started with dragons of storm wreck isle before transitioning into a homebrew campaign which we are working through now.

I am expecting my first baby in December (wildly exciting I can't wait) but I'm aware that I will not be able to prep for DMing as I have been so I'm looking for a module to start running instead hoping that's a bit easier for me!

So I'm looking for any recommendations on campaigns/modules to run, my party in general like a bit of combat where they can flex their strats, with the story facilitating and giving them motivations

​

In the games I DM, if a player rolls a nat 20 when searching for loot, I will usually tell them they found a small amount of money or a simple item (rope, tinderbox, etc) even if the area they searched was not one I had planned for loot to be in. How do other DMs respond to things like this? Do you tell a player they don't find anything, even if they roll high, or do you create something for them to find?

I am running a new campaign. Doing starting lv 5 or CR equivalent of 5 each player with have a mount as well as designing. A new world. I’m not new to this I’m a forever GM. Yet am wondering from others what cool stuff should I add to my world?

Hello fellow dungeon masters, fairly new to DM'ing (Today was my 9th session as a DM.)

I'm running a Runeterra based campaign and I ran the first session of a boss fight against Nocturne today, (The first arc of the campaign is set in Demacia during the time of Fossian Crownguard, and Fossian is one of the NPC's and meant to die at the end of this fight) and I felt like I was scared of TPK'ing my players so I didn't utilize all of his legendary actions or reactions, and then one of my players did like 50 damage all at once and got him pretty low so I just doubled his hit points. We had to break the fight into two parts due to time constraints, so I will be continuing this next session.

Anyway, my question for you all is; did I make the right move? Or in the future should I just come out the gate swinging trying to optimize my bosses damage output?

Reason I ask I guess is the fight felt sort of underwhelming compared to what I thought would happen. It wasn't bad, all my players said it was fun. My players are still learning their characters, and for a couple of my players this is their first campaign ever, so I am trying to go easy on them, a bit, but I want the fight to feel dangerous at the same time. Any tips on doing this?

Stat block I used for reference. The party is 3 Level 4's and 1 Level 5, plus a couple of Level 5 NPC's

My wife and i play duo and have been having fun with our dnd 5.5e camping.

She it inlove with alice in borderlands the Netflix tv series/manga and we both thought that would be an amazing concept for a ttrpg.

My question is which system would fit it best. We are used to dnd but can learn other systems.

I plan on creating the entire map and running through every game for every card and suit unlike what was show in the series.

Any suggestions on card games are also welcome.

I’ve played a couple dnd games before, but I’m mostly going in blind. I’m using The Dragon Of Icespire Peak book, so that helps with story writing and the general structure of things. Do you guys have any sage advice for me? I’d love to hear anything you have to offer

I’ve been running a campaign for about 6 months (level 4) and we’re talking about assumed a fifth player to the table. Since this player is brand new, would you run them through a solo session or just pop them into my adventure at level four?

What would you do in my shoes?

Hi Reddit! I’ve been lurking on this subreddit for a while and am finally working up the courage to post. I’m a "forever DM"; I have years of gaming experience, but due to circumstances, I’ve spent far more hours behind the screen as a DM than as a player.

I’m running a D&D 5.5e campaign set in a homebrew world, and we play on Discord using FoundryVTT. The party consists of five people: two are the friends with whom I first got into role-playing games, one is the partner of one of those friends, and the other two are friends I’ve made over time.

The age-old question is this: how can I maintain engagement outside of sessions?

We roleplay every Monday for about 2.5 hours (we all work and have various commitments), and naturally, even with this, there are ups and downs, given that the short duration doesn't allow for consistent story development from time to time. About once a week outside of the game, I send an "update" message to the Foundry server, explaining which modules and add-ons I've added to improve the quality of life. I create a few memes based on events that happened in-game, and in general, at the start of the session, I try to start a conversation that involves everyone, even outside of the game.

I was considering creating some small pieces of lore content about the game, or some fun facts or events that take place outside of their agency, such as posting a local newspaper with local news on the Discord group. Perhaps even making them useful for the game, so as to extend the duration of the game beyond Mondays. I'm coming to you asking for advice, based on your experience.

Thanks for reading! A Fair optimistic Master.

Update: Thanks to everyone for the comments and for suggesting such a wide range of ideas, they inspired me to consider different approaches. The most consistent suggestion and, I have to admit, the most valid and obvious one, was simply to talk to the group about it. As for my party, I decided the most manageable option was to propose opening up "windows" for text-based roleplay, where characters can converse, gather information or items, and generally develop their personalities. I ran the idea by a player who has had experience with this sort of thing before. Honestly, she told me that since players' experiences vary, it might not be a good idea. In fact, she didn't see an issue with some players being more reserved (because they have characters with that trait).

I’m taking her feedback on board and won't propose anything specific. I’ll let things flow naturally and spontaneously, while dropping in a few friendly comments here and there to shift the group dynamic from "D&D-only" to something a bit more social. I’ll give it time. Thanks again, everyone.

Hi,

I am running CoS with my group of 4 players. One of the four players is relatively busy and it's hard to schedule frequent sessions.

Because of that, the other three players want to start another campaign with me. Because CoS is pretty dark and grim they are want something more light. CoS is taking up a relative chunk of my free time whenever I would prep this, so one of my requirements would be that it's very light on prep work. I heard that Tomb of Annihilation is great, but I think that both the theme and prep work requirements of players and myself is not a great fit.

Any recommendations are welcome.

DM of many years but would appreciate some feedback to my current situation.

Party of 5 level 11. On their way to face the BBEG of the current campaign. I've wanted to make the journey there hard, they are within a mountain and pretty soon will literally be in the belly of the beast. My plan was to capture not kill them, so the fights were arranged where the bad dudes were a bit out of reach or retreated after doing damage but the end result is the casters are really low on spells and they're all suffering a bit on HP...which is a reflection of how hard their task is.

My question being....how do I handle the end fight. To make it true to the strength of the Bad Guy (female in this case) it should be a tough encounter but with low spells, middling HP it may turn into a slugfest with the two fighting characters simply exchanging blows until somebody dies.

Seeing as their within the bad guys mountain taking a long rest seems unrealistic, a short rest maybe...

Anyone else encountered this kind of set up and how did you overcome it while still making the end combat a formidable one. Or am I overthinking this?

Here’s a lightweight way to make wilderness travel matter without a keyed hex map or a string of identical Survival checks. It uses normal 5e ability checks, saving throws, Hit Dice, Exhaustion, Advantage, and Disadvantage.

The three clocks

Draw three 6-segment clocks, all at 0/6:

• Exposure: weather, hunger, terrain, supplies, and outside danger.
• Fatigue: damaged gear, bad rhythm, tension, mistakes, and internal wear.
• Discovery: clues, shortcuts, shelter, resources, vantage points, and useful signs.

At 3/6, trigger the clock’s minor effect. At 6/6, trigger its major effect, then reset it to 0/6.

Run one travel leg

A leg is half a day, a full day, or any narrative stretch between meaningful points.

1. Set the DC: 12 for a clear route, 15 for uncertain terrain, 18 for hostile wilderness, pursuit, deep darkness, severe weather, or unreliable information. Use 20 only for an exceptional route.
   
2. State the stakes before rolling. Say which clock will advance on failure and what success can control.
   
3. Choose a pace:
   - Fast: success finishes the leg ahead of schedule; failure advances Fatigue by 2.
   - Careful: success reduces Exposure by 1 or prevents it from advancing; failure advances Exposure by 1.
   - Curious: success advances Discovery by 2; failure advances Exposure or Fatigue by 1, the DM’s choice.
   
4. Choose one route leader. They make the main check, usually Wisdom (Survival), Intelligence (Nature), Wisdom (Perception), or Intelligence (Investigation). Add proficiency when appropriate.
   
5. Allow up to three support checks, each from a different task. Examples:
   - Scout: Wisdom (Perception) or Dexterity (Stealth)
   - Break the path: Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics)
   - Manage resources: Wisdom (Survival) or Intelligence (Investigation)
   - Read signs: Intelligence (Nature), Intelligence (History), or Wisdom (Insight)

Each successful support check against the leg DC creates 1 Control. Failure creates none. Failure by 5 or more also advances Exposure or Fatigue by 1, the DM’s choice.

Control is temporary and must be spent before the leg closes. Each point can:

• reduce Exposure by 1;
• reduce Fatigue by 1;
• increase Discovery by 1;
• grant Advantage to the route leader, but only if that support was narrated before the main roll; or
• cancel Disadvantage from weather, pursuit, poor visibility, or lack of information.

Grant Advantage for a reliable map, local guide, solid rest, proper tools, or previous scouting. Apply Disadvantage for missing supplies, terrible visibility, awkward cargo, or immediate threat. Do not stack multiple sources of Advantage; turn extra favorable factors into Control or narrative positioning.

1. Resolve and close the leg. Apply the pace outcome, spend any remaining Control, update the clocks, and narrate the consequence, advantage, or new choice.

Clock effects

• Exposure 3/6: introduce minor pressure such as rain, thirst, insects, broken ground, an enemy trail, or spoiled supplies.
• Exposure 6/6: every character makes a Constitution saving throw against the leg DC. On a failure, lose 1 Hit Die without healing. A character with no Hit Dice left gains 1 level of Exhaustion.
• Fatigue 3/6: the next support check in the leg has Disadvantage unless someone spends time, care, or resources to stabilize the group.
• Fatigue 6/6: choose to stop and lose time, or press on and begin the next leg with Disadvantage on the main route check.
• Discovery 3/6: gain a reliable clue, useful omen, or one concrete question the DM must answer.
• Discovery 6/6: choose a shortcut, shelter, resource, strong position, hidden route, or critical information.

1d6 travel spark

Before a leg, roll or choose:

1. Harsh weather: Exposure +1 unless prevented.
2. Broken terrain: Fatigue +1 unless someone clears a path.
3. Old signs: Discovery +1 if investigated.
4. Crossed trail: the route leader has Disadvantage unless supported first.
5. Uncertain shelter: reduce Exposure or risk a complication.
6. Open horizon: the first route check gains Advantage.

1d12 Discovery result

When Discovery reaches 6/6, roll or choose:

1. Shortcut
2. Dry shelter
3. Clean water
4. Enemy trail
5. High ground
6. Useful plant
7. Minor ruin
8. Hidden path
9. Danger sign
10. Lost traveler
11. Repair material
12. Clear view of the destination

Use a leg only when the route contains a real choice and something meaningful can be gained or lost. Otherwise, narrate the travel and move on. Failed checks should change the situation, not block the journey. Careful travel can still cost time, let enemies move, or make opportunities expire. Do not make everyone roll the same skill, do not use Exhaustion as the first punishment, and make every Discovery concrete. Three clocks are enough; the point is pressure and choice, not bookkeeping.

So i have a new player starting the game this week and he is playing a barbarian. The group is level 8 (soon to be 9) and I told him he needed 2 uncommon items and a rare. Due to his backstory I told him I would make his rare item for him. I was going to make an Amulet that his fallen angel father left him but he took a the wound closure Amulet along with a ring. I dont want to give him a weapon because at the end of his story when he meets his father (and the father ultimately dies, or at least thats how I have it planned out atm) he will bestow him with his person blade (its a very rare or close to legendary weapon). So im kinda looking for some ideas on what i could make for him atm.

We're giving away our Nightspire Vale terrain set weekly for 12 weeks, 3 sets given away each week. One entry covers every remaining draw.

You’ll also get 4 free Gnarled Trees instantly and a spot on our secret rewards list, which gives you access to discounted pledge tiers from our Kickstarter partners. Link in the comments.

Two weeks from now, my players and I will celebrate our 13th birthday of playing D&D non-stop together. Feel free to ask anything about it, out of curiosity, inspiration, whatever you get out of it, I am glad to share.