This is a terrain build that I am doing for my upcoming finale to the story my friends and I have been crafting for 5 years. This version, this timeline of the Forgotten Realms has been around since I was in college and it’s been quite the joy to play and bring the adventure to life with this group.

The board is made out of XPS foam and a hot knife. Each one hand painted; the altars are 3D printed and purchased, the large tree was imagined and crafted. More to come!

Hello, fellow adventurers!

Today, I'm excited to share a 15-page preview of The Ancient Library of Knowledge, now discounted on DriveThruRPG!

What's Inside?

• 12 magical libraries, unique locations complete with brief role-playing hooks and quest ideas to offer opportunities for discovery, learning, and adventure;
• A collection of 345 magical books ranging from common to artifact rarity, each bestowing powerful benefits to characters reading them over a certain period of times. The books are divided in 10 sections: Generic Tomes, Manuals of Proficiency, Treatises of Expertise, Offensive Tomes, Defensive Tomes, Spellcasting Tomes, Cursed Tomes, Sacred Texts, Codices of Knowledge, and Grimoires of Summoning. Additionally, special rules are presented to provide alternative mechanics and restrictions for the books found inside;
• 3 d100 tables containing a vast collection of nonmagical books, for a total of 300 nonmagical books;
• The Warlock Patron: The Lich, a unique subclass to delve into forbidden knowledge and necromantic art;
• 10 spells thematic to the new Warlock subclass;
• 18 unique monsters to fill ancient libraries, including animated objects, book mimics, fable fiends, rune wardens, book wyrms, and much more!

The compendium just received a v2.0 update, featuring brand-new artwork and illustrations, expanded compatibility with both 5E and 5.5E, balance adjustments, several new spells, general layout improvements, and more! or the occasion, you can find it discounted either on DriveThruRPG or my Patreon, alongside a vast collection of previews for this and all my other titles! I'm currently working on updated version of all my older releases, so there's a lot to uncover :)

You can also find this manual (and many more) discounted on my 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E Kickstarter! This project brings weapons, treasures, and relics from Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Asian, Mesoamerican, and many other mythologies to 5E and 5.5E, including scaling items that grow alongside your characters. If you’d like to bring a piece of these legends to your table, check out the campaign!

How would you use this riddle in your campaign?

I’m currently working on Magna Urbis v2, my procedural fantasy city generator.

While v2 is in active development, you can check out the new renders and features in the preview gallery, or try the original v1 in your browser:

- v2 Preview Gallery: https://dunkean.github.io/magna-urbis/gallery/v2/

- v1 :https://dunkean.github.io/magna-urbis/

Feedback much appreciated !

I have a table of 6 players so each combat is typically at least 5 PCs. They are currently lvl 4 about to be lvl 5. This is the first time I've DMed in a while and it was only for about 2 or 3 players then. I'm noticing that all of my combats are typically like 3 rounds at the max, and my players aren't really taking too much damage. How have you structured combat for larger parties so that it didn't take 5 hours just to get through a fight, but it also wasn't just 2 rounds and done with maybe one player taking somewhat significant damage.

I'm going to start running the short adventures in 'Ghosts of Saltmarsh' does it matter which DMG I get?

Are there issues that might happen if I only get one or the other?

I just want to play D&D man. Back in July I put together a higher level adventure for 5 players. We had a great session 0 and agreed on playing twice a month on Sundays. We had to reschedule session 1 bc people couldn’t make it. Between August and Mid October we had ONE session, multiple cancellations and then eventually the table just fell apart from some stupid unrelated drama between the players that divided them. So I talked to some other friends and agreed to set something up to help a friend who’s a total newbie. 4 players, we’re starting at level one and session 0 is supposed to be tonight. One person already couldn’t make it, but I wasn’t that worried because they have a lot of experience playing and they’ve played at my table before. 3 hours before session 0 and I’ve got a text that someone else can’t come. Not to mention NOBODY filled out the scheduling tool I sent out days ago.

I’m just so over it 😭 I’ve wasted so many hours on prep time. I’ve put in so much effort trying to make things work for people who claim to want to play. and every time I get my hopes up that I might actually get to engage in this hobby I love so dearly, they’re dashed again.

It also just makes me mad because half the cancellations are from people ‘not feeling well’ when I KNOW they were out partying the night before and are mostly likely just hungover

Magic comes in all shapes and sizes! From kobold sorcerers wielding draconic magic to goblin and orc shamans drawing upon ancient rituals, this collection brings together all kinds of monstrous spellcasters. You'll also find powerful wraith necromancers and some more unusual magical creatures, including the mysterious Whimz'orr, fiery Pyro Pixies, and imposing Infernal Golems!

Each brings something different to the table, from elemental powers and necromancy to strange supernatural abilities and magical defenses. Whether you need a cunning spellcaster to challenge your party, a mystical ally, or a powerful magical guardian, there's plenty here to add some variety to your adventures!

All these creatures come from various 5E/5.5E manuals I've created over the years, with ready-to-use statblocks, unique abilities, and plenty of options to customize them and bring something new to your encounters!

My Kickstarter for 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E is also live now! Alongside the new book in digital and hardcover formats, the campaign offers exclusive, high-quality printed editions of several of my previous manuals featured in this post! It's a great opportunity to add these books to your physical collection, or grab them together in discounted bundles if you prefer digital copies!

You can find more of my creatures, magic items, and manuals on DriveThruRPG, my Linktree, or on r/JonnyDM!

So I've been a DM now for 3 years. I've gone through many playstyles and interactions of myself as DM.

I do think Im finally settling into being an Online DM and likely wont change my style anymore. However, I do have one area Im undecided on. Art.

Let me lead this by saying Im not making this an Ai discussion post but outside of paid sources finding art has been very difficult that matches my style of games.

So this last year I have re-taken up painting digitally. Im by far not great but I did paint all through high-school and college. So it gets the job done but definitely not professional by anymeans.

The other hitch to all this is Im a shift worker at a nuclear plant in Canada. I simply lack the time to get everything I want done.

So what I would like is an opinion on just how much art matters to your players. I've leaned heavier into ToM for a while now backed up by art but what about just ToM?

My fear is "ToM only" is far better for in person games. In online games I feel like you need a visual, something to pull the players into the game so they dont feel that tug of wanting to look at phones, another "window" etc. Maybe thats just my paranoia of trying something new out.

It would be great even time wise to just go straight ToM and battlemaps I make in Inkarnate. Hell, I've also been toying with making real life battlemaps and photographing them in an isometric view and adding in post effects, animations etc. (I got a lot of "wows" when I debut that method a few weeks ago)

I’m curious how different DMs approach difficulty.

Beyond giving enemies more HP or making their attacks hit harder, what are some ways to make an encounter feel genuinely challenging and keep players on their toes?
Do you use environment hazards, time limits, interesting enemy abilities, objectives beyond simply defeating everything, or something else entirely?
I’d love to hear what approaches other DMs find effective..

A “One-Shot” I decided to create to run for some friends for the spooky month of Halloween. It is meant to be a sort of investigative murder mystery with very little combat. If you are interested, here is most of the hook.

Hook:

Your party of adventurers has been hired by the Crown to investigate what is happening in Salem. A series of unsettling events has left the Crown with little choice but to send people with extraordinary means to deal with the extraordinary.

According to the Crown representative that your party spoke with, Salem’s original mayor, John Smith, was replaced only a month or two ago. The representative gave no reason for the replacement, saying it was not the focus of the current investigation. Regardless, the new mayor, Edmund Vale, took John’s place.

Regretfully, some time ago the new mayor was reported dead in his manor. His apparent death prompted the Crown to send Inspector Silas Crowe to Salem, but not long after arriving, the investigator went missing. The party has been sent to discover what happened to both men and to determine whether the cases are connected.

The Crown representative has also given your party a badge representing the Crown and permission to represent the kingdom’s law. However, the party has been warned to use the badge carefully, given the situation in Salem.

Link to Google Drive: Town of Salem

Disclaimer and Sources: 

I created this adventure to use with my friends. I created all the original ideas, clues, story, and pretty much the rough outline of the adventure and mechanics involved. If necessary, I can prove it, though as always, whether that proof is believed is another matter. 

I say this because, as one person, there is only so much I can do, and I suck at organizing and presenting an adventure in a clean, polished way. As a result, I have used AI Tools to help me organize, categorize, and make the presentation of the adventure into a much clearer, concise, and readable piece of media that doesn’t rant too much about random things. Like I am to do. I did this mainly so I could share it and others could use my creation and idea themselves. Additionally, the AI helped fluff up the adventure, reducing the sheer amount of typing I have to do considering my limited time, basically just expanding my original rough draft to be readable and actually sound nice. 

Lastly, the maps or images are not mine. The Salem Town map was taken from Inkarnate. I cloned a public map created by Lostican and changed some details to suit my needs. All credit for its creation goes to them. Meanwhile, the Wendigo Fight map retains all its original creation pieces, but I also took it from Inkarnate. This time, from user Nimberlake, who also publicly shared their creation. The last image, which is of the Wendigo, was taken from dandwiki, from the Wendigo page stat sheet.

Anyways, with that out of the way, if you like the idea of my adventure, I hope you have fun running it with your party.

Context:
I DM a 5e campaign for a 5-people party of lvl 9s (Fiend Warlock, Bladesinger Wizard, Vengeance Paladin, Grave Cleric, Armorer Artificer). They are skilled and knowledgeable about the game, making it fairly hard for me to present them with an actual combat challenge without trying to outright TPK them, or narratively setting up a non-combat objective to complete at the same time.

Quite some time ago they really enjoyed a fight with a Hydra, and I personally love these monsters too. They are back at the same area again, and I would love to throw some at them, but the truth is the Wizard will just trivialize it with a few Fireballs.

In order to make it not so painfully easy, I tried homebrewing it a little bit, so there is actually a chance for it to grow new heads.

I intend to throw 2 of these at the party next week (I fully expect them to Banish 1), as a trial run and to "teach them" how they work. If the monster passes the test, the upcoming boss will have 2 magically modified ones as "mini"bosses - he will run away, leaving them to deal with an Astral one (growth stopped by necrotic damage) and an Undead one (growth stopped by radiant damage). They might be lvl10 by then, so I may throw some bonus skeletons into the mix or something.

The point:
If you have any feedback on the monster I created, I'd be glad to hear it. What would you do differently, and why?

P.S.
Not sure if relevant, but the wizard has an item that allows him to change dmg typing of a spell (5/day) - but only between fire, cold, lightning, thunder and acid.