Recently i got myself wanting to use a particular monster that has healing spells. But i got myself thinking, "wait, this will just give his sidekicks more HP and make the fight longer".

Then i remembered this section from the PHB 2024: "A monster dies the instant it drops to 0 Hit Points, although a Dungeon Master can ignore this rule for an individual monster and treat it like a character." Then i thinked that healing my unconscious monsters to stand and fight back could at least be more visually interesting than simply wounds being closed.

This lead to here to ask you guys, did you ever used this "feature" in a fight? How did it went? Anyone advice against? Do you (as a player) or as a Dm feel that this is tricking your players?

I was in the dentist's waiting room today.

There was a dad who brought his ~14 year old son for a routine checkup.

The son was clearly a "Dungeon Master in training". He was talking with his dad about a campaign he was leading last weekend. The two of them discussed tactics, ways to liven up the experience for others, rules and tricks and ...

Well it was just delightful to hear. The dad was helping craft the next generation of dungeon master. The son was eager. Both were clearly passionate.

In an era with kids glued to their devices and parents searching for ways to engage with their teens ... this was simply a warm-and-fuzzy kind of reminder that not all of us fall into that trope.

I’m venting bc I’m grumpy.

Recently, I started to notice that my character has had a series of being shut down or left out of things, for no discernible reason. I will preface she’s neither smart or wise, so some of these things started as simply “she didn’t roll very high” which is super fair, but then no one caught her up on anything and folks even clarified that they intentionally didn’t tell her things. But this evolved into basically 1 character in our party (N) getting a ton of super plot relevant information and then keeping it secret between her and one other character while the rest of the party was excluded. We got vague explanations of “she doesn’t trust everyone yet.”

N was very friendly (and at times flirty) with my character and gave me no reason to believe there was friction. My character is very lovable dingus golden retriever. She has no enemies except the party’s enemies. While she’s not very smart, she does understand loyalty and keeping secrets and can follow instructions. There has not been a time where she’s spilled secrets or done something stupid that had negative consequences on anyone but herself. She would jump in front of a sword for anyone in the party.

N also recently had a huge backstory reveal, but again, only to a select few characters, and mine was not included. The following session, N slammed a door in my character’s face while mine was checking on her and making sure she was okay because N was described to be sobbing loudly in her room and no one else wanted to check on her because of still processing her backstory reveal. My character still had no info on the backstory reveal so she just was asking generally what was wrong. N’s player basically said N didn’t want to talk to mine so to stop trying, which was also fair and I respected the player’s boundary and didn’t continue interacting. N’s player continued to hint that she wanted further interaction (“Doesn’t anyone want to check on N? She’s crying” / “You all can still hear N crying loudly in her room”) so I asked if she wanted my character to try again, and she said no, and no one else wanted to interact with her.

I sent a message in our group chat the next day saying I was feeling a little stuck with my character because she seemed to be left out of so much info. DM messaged me privately and asked where I wanted to go with my character. I reiterated that I was feeling kind of stuck because my character basically had zero idea why we were even at the current location, is not up to date on the Party Drama, the current situation with the BBEG, and is getting doors slammed in her face when trying to do things that would help her gain information. DM stated that N doesn’t trust a different character in the party (E) and therefore is going to be distrusting of anyone who interacts with him. E is not hostile at all, but let a tactical secret slip in front of a bad guy on accident toward the beginning of the campaign. The player was driving at the time and genuinely got confused that we were still within earshot of a bad dude, but agreed to proceed and say that E messed up. E is a sheltered teenager with minimal real world experience and is socially awkward, so it made narrative sense and the player was cool with it. No one expressed being genuinely upset, in character or above table. Since this instance, E has been very helpful to the party and I find E’s player to be a fun person to play with.

I messaged N’s player and asked if I could clarify what was up. N’s player confirmed that anyone who interacts with E will never be trusted and information will continue to be withheld. I mentioned that my character isn’t even especially close with E, nor has she personally ever done any of the actions that has made N distrustful. If she’s asked to keep a secret, she never speaks of something again. I also mentioned that my character (and I as her player) were under the impression that she and N were at least friendly so she didn’t realize she was doing anything ‘wrong.’

I did clarify that above table, she was asking me to ignore an entire player for the whole campaign, and she said yes. The DM also confirmed that they were basically trying to ice E’s player out of the campaign by encouraging everyone to just ignore him and using it as a bartering thing where he gives N information and she only tells people who don’t interact with E. I asked why, and DM stated E’s player is too much of a rules lawyer and metagamer (which I haven’t ever noticed, but everyone’s got different pet peeves). I said I didn’t think in-character antagonizing was the way to go for this and was basically told my character’s options were to keep having information withheld from her or to stop speaking to E. This also wasn’t even done well (not that it’s something I would’ve agreed to) because over multiple months of weekly play I genuinely never connected that information was being withheld because my character interacted with E.

I let them know that neither me being excluded or participating in excluding someone else were going to be fun for me, and left the campaign with a message that I didn’t feel my character fit well with the party anymore and wished them well. I’m trying to determine if I message E’s player and let him know or just let them work it out themselves at this point because they’re all adults and I’m no longer involved. In my opinion, issues with a player shouldn’t be resolved by antagonizing a character, and this is all very reminiscent of high school bullying which I don’t want to be a part of. There was never any explanation on why the DM and N’s player wouldn’t just speak to E’s player directly other than because this is how they wanted to resolve it.

Am I absolutely losing it for thinking this was all super petty and wanting no part in it? This all feels like such a toxic dynamic to me. But at the same time, I am sad to leave a group I’ve spent almost a year playing with. I’m a high school teacher, and I have seen how bad isolation and exclusion can get, so it’s not anything I will ever participate in.

TL:DR- I was asked to participate in excluding another character/player because the DM and another player don’t like him and don’t want to address it above table. I said no and left the campaign because the vibes were bad.

Edit: E’s player has been notified. He just told me thanks for the heads up and then wordlessly left the group. 🥲

I have this massive problem where I (the DM) struggle to believe in my villain's ideology. Because deep down I know that they are illogical and irrational. And so whenever my players argue with the villain about why what theyre doing is wrong, I struggle to side with the villain.

Right now I am running a cult that wants to destroy the current universe to form a new perfect one. Its mostly followed by people who believe that life, as we know it, is inherently unfair and a new universe is the solution. They think they are doing a good thing. As you can tell, theres a lot of problems with this logic and when the players point it out to the leader, I struggle to argue with them or side with my villain.

I just started playing the new deadfall campaign. It's basically ocean's 11. Which is fitting, because you start at level 11.

I have ALL divination spells and like 1 damage spell. We're doing a mission where you have to go into some backroom gambling den and subdue a spy agent, but you have to gain an audience with them by successfully gambling.

Being that this is a spy thriller campaign. I made my first divination wizard ever... and It's by far the most fun I've had playing D&D so far.

I AM THE GUY IN THE CHAIR. So immediately, before the party even arrives at the bar, I'm already there, just chilling at a table minding my own business drinking a brew. As soon as they arrive, I wait in line for my second round with the rest of the party and cast Ray's telepathic bond. we now all have "earpieces" to chat with each other. I go back to my chair by myself. As the party is making it inside the backroom, i cast arcane eye that follows in with them before the door is sealed again. I now have full surveillance of the room. They are playing cards trying to gamble for their favor, and I'm telepathically telling them the cards the targets have from my surveillance. None of my party is particularly favorable at cards, so I cast augury to effectively "count cards" and relay the information to the team. "New intel, deck is hot, bet big on the next round, target has pocket 2s, don't fold the bluff". Mind you, I'm doing all this without even being in the room. I'm literally a surveillance van parked outside.

My favorite dnd character I had commissioned a while back. Sadly I can’t find any social or way to credit them anymore was gonna have them do more.

This is Hex he’s was killed doing what he thought was right. His body was taken far away to see if his pistols bond could be magically broken after death. The magical attempts failed and eventually caused him to rise from the grave not knowing who he is or what’s going on. This far away land he learns he’s a criminal but the closer he gets to home the closer he gets to the truth of not only who he is but who killed him.

Sadly haven’t been able to play him much but hopefully soon get the opportunity again.

After years of wanting to play DnD, I finally found a group to play with (thanks to my wife’s coworkers). I’ve worked within the government (military and civilian) for well over a decade and it’s been.. difficult finding anyone to play the game with—my day to day is usually sports talk, finance speak, or politics, so I’m grateful to be finally be playing. I’m a total noob but grateful that I can create stories with like minded folk. This is how me and my wife are spending our Thursday night and I am ecstatic.

I’ve been looking into all of the other 5E books lately, and I’ve seen a lot of negative stuff about Spelljammer. Anyone wanna clue me in on why?

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Correct might be a little bit too strong.

I am running as a first time DM a homebrew world, it's a bad idea I know, just bear with me 😅

After a TPK I got sent new backgrounds, they played some sessions so they new a lot more about my world and they tried to incorporate key aspects into their characters' story and I'm super appreciative tbh

Thing is, it's wrong. There's some "things" some cults/NPC/public institutions would have never done for reasons they don't know YET.

I could let them know why, but

- I don't want to spoil the various reveals, which they're really looking forward to

- I don't trust them (and I explicitly told them, we are all close friends) to discern between what Player knows and what PC knows, and also I'd rather not have them constantly think about it and ruin the immersion

Should I just fix their backgrounds 'because I said so' , which wouldn't be a problem honestly butttt I think there's a better solution I'm not seeing.

EDIT I'm talking about changing 5-10% of the background's body, nothing major and all key points and personality would stay intact. It's a couple of events that don't fit well enough, I'd have to bend the lore to accommodate them

EDIT 2 since my players will never see this post PC was raised in a family devoted to Deity, Deity has monastic order, order is deeply tied to kingdom, order trains PC. PC develops assassin skills and kills bad people. One time PC is asked to kill family, family is innocent. Order is actually bad people, they lobby trying to protect their power and kill political opponents and those who know about their dealings. THE ISSUE: the order wouldn't meddle with political opponents or land disputes, they do believe in structure, order and law, and they are actually being used by BBEG to try to kill the actual king because they got beef. If there were any episodes they would be against the royal family, the Kingdom has its problems but isn't corrupt and it's definitely not using the order as its FBI, it's actually kinda the other way around.

Last Edit: thank you everyone for your input, I've read a ton of different ideas and I think I know how to fix it now, I feel like I improved a bit as a DM thanks to your advice. Much love ❤️

A Long Rest, at least in 5.5e, is defined as a period of 8 hours where at least 6 of those hours are spent sleeping, and the other 2 are spent doing light, non-strenuous activity like eating or talking. Those two hours of light work sound remarkably similar to a Short Rest, a 1-hour period of downtime in which you do non-strenuous activity like eating or talking.

So, this begs the question: can someone use the 2 hours of downtime in a Long Rest to attune to a Magic Item, the same way they would attune to a Magic Item during a Short Rest?

*We are using 5e rules*

I am a level 5 armorer. Currently my armor is chain mail, I have obviously turned it into my arcane armor. Can I then infuse it with Enhanced Defense? If I was able to turn it into +1 chain mail (tho obv imma wait for plate) can I still turn it into my arcane armor or am I not even allowed to do that. I see alot of discussion around this lvl 9 skill.

If i could turn it into my arcane armor post +1, would I then be able to enhance defense it for +2 total? Or nah. Would I instead just use the magical armor stregthening and do enhance defense on a shield?

Also how does magic item creation work?

specifcially for my armor: If I have magical gems, can I inlay my arcane armor to give it specific properties? Like designing a matrix around my chest and then having infiltrator armor with the beam being empowered? Or is that a no no.

And then just magic items by themselves. If i have an abundance of magical crystals how does magic item creation work? Especially for homebrew but even just following already made magic items.

I have proficiency in arcana, jewlers tools, and smith tools btw if thats important.

And then the replicate magic items is alraedy an infusion so i cannot infuse it with another infusion once i make it right? I cant make a Cloak of Elven kind and give it mind sharpener? Or one day winged shoes with the winding path?

What about turning my party members’ stuff into magic items?

If there’s anything else im not thinking of I would love to hear it. Just trying to figure this out, it feels extremely unsatisfying that an artificier built around armor isnt allowed to enchant his own armor so im wondering if im doing something wrong.

Thanks for your help!

Hi there! Eventually, ill master my first table (never played or mastered before), and all my 4 players have never played either.

So, should i do a one-shot just so they get the mechanics, acting... Or should i just start a campaign and see how it goes?

If you guys have an adventure to suggest i would be pretty thankful too :)

Im Brazilian, so sorry if i commited too much writting crimes.

Thanks for the atention!

CW: Body horror

So, id like for you to imagine, a magical scroll, maybe they find it in a lich's old lair, an evil spell

"When you cast this spell, you may choose a creature you can see, they then must roll an intelligence check or be cast away to find a horrible death and be sent to the tom

It can be cast once per day & recharges whenever midnight hits"

This is a once per day practical banishment spell right, It's intentionally balanced by the roll to give a false sense of security to the players

Keep a tally on every creature the group banishes

But theres a secret cypher written on the bag of the scroll, now your players could try and solve it, in which case theyd find out the true nature of the scroll, but lets say they dont coz, free banishment

Whenever you feel like it, set up a quest, could be retrieving a powerful magic item, a rescue mission, smth important or personal

When they arrive, they inmidietly recognise the place, they have made their way onto the tomb of horrors

But its different, it seems that the legends were true, a party once came and ransacked the place already

All the traps are triggered or dismantled, the magical aura is all but a fading remnant of this place's architecture, the walls creak and groan. Seemingly struggling to keep themselves up

When they venture into the deep dark tomb, the scent of miasma starts to seep in, through some checks perhaps, the entrance behind them shuts

They venture deeper and deeper, the tomb seemingly expanding beyond normal means

It is then that they hear squelching creaking & groaning

Something shifts beneath them, something big

The floor collapses, as they are in a large dark chamber, face to face with it

An amalgamation of every creature, person and monster they ever banished, molten and fused together

Maybe the reveal only comes as they start to recognise pieces of it

A pile of flesh, fur, oozing fluids and metal bent & torn, groaning in agony

This is what the cypher mentioned: "Grant thee, an audience with the olden lord Acererack, pity thy flesh, thy soul to him, give yourself entirely, eternally"

& yeah for stats, its a blob, so you can take the max health of everything they ever banished, add it up and multiply it by 1.5

It cant attack so, just gotta roll strength or dex saves to not be consumed into the pile

Anyway! Hope youre having a good day :3

Good morning fellow DMs/Adventurers,

My partner is running a 5.5e of the Crooked Moon module and she is struggling with some aspects of it. I’m a player and just trying to help her out where I can.

One of the things that she, and I, don’t really know is what items to make available to adventurers in the shops/stores. We are currently level 5 and are in a village/town. I’m just wondering if there is a guide anywhere, or a catalogue, which can list what items are available to players? Something easy for her to reference or use.

Thanks in advance.

So like the name suggests, I'm running a quick dungeon crawl for some noobs and the theme of the dungeon is that it belonged to an avatar of a flesh goddess. The boss can shift and morph the dungeon if necessary but it's mainly all fleshy and blood themed so I'd like some ideas for dungeon traps and puzzles.

DnD virgin here, I have a relative who’s been getting into dnd over the past couple weeks and with the Holidays approaching I’ve been thinking about getting him some dice of his own, preferably a whole set.
Anyone know of any reputable sellers/brands to check out?
Materials to look out for or avoid?
Sellers to stay away from?
Stereotypes I shouldn’t engage with?

Looking for cool decorative dice not your average run of the mill single color dice (not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Thanks for the help in advance!

Hello, I'm looking for a character builder that's pretty and dead simple. My friends know nothing about D&D, and I don't really either.
I've found a few sites, but they're either really bland and don't explain much, or really pretty but too basic.
Thanks

I want to play a cold damage focused caster, but I’m not sure what class or subclass I want to use. I’m aware of subclasses like draconic sorcerer or Evoker Wizard, but I’d rather have something a bit more focused like Storm sorcerer or Circle of storms is with electric and thunder damage, including with the aesthetic and flavor. So do you guys have any cool suggestions from expansions or third party books? Thanks!

The people that designed the game we all love are making a stand for a better workplace where they are supported for their creative work. Stand with them and support real people living real lives with real costs. Support the people that bring us the resources for OUR games.

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Edit. Reading the first responses i wanted to clarify. i am not one of the workers at WOTC. I just saw this coming by and think it's important to share.

So as the title says. We got spells like Steel Wind Strike, Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade, True Strike etc that let casters emulate martials or even surpass what a martial is even capable of (like with Steel Wind Strike). When martials are so limited by "realism and grit" should casters have the ability to do what martials do as well?