So you're trying to chill in a cave for like five seconds and boom. Giant lava bear comes at you. Straight nightmare fuel. That's what the Magma Bear D&D 5e is all about, and honestly, I don't blame your players for panicking when they see one. I'm gonna walk you through how this thing works, how to use it in your game, and exactly where your party can absolutely destroy it if they're not sleeping on the encounter.

Hey there! So you want to play a fighter who can shoot magical arrows with amazing precision and versatility? Then let me tell you about the arcane archer build I've been working on. This is a subclass of the fighter class that specialises in ranged combat combined with arcane magic. I'll share some tips on how I created and played this character.

So here's the thing. The more I run tabletop RPGs, the easier it gets to spot when a new Game Master is making rookie mistakes. And honestly? The biggest screw-up I see is prep time. Either they're scrambling together something five minutes before the session, or they're spending forty hours painting miniatures that will appear in one scene. Neither approach works.

I've decided to jump into something completely new - the One Page Dungeon Contest. This annual competition has been running since 2009 and is now in its 17th year. I've never created a one-page dungeon before, and honestly, I've never even played one. But it sounds like an exciting challenge, and what's the worst that could happen? I don't win? No big deal.

You know that feeling when you're walking through a dark hallway in a dungeon? Your torch is barely doing its job, and you're already nervous. Then you turn the corner and suddenly your whole body just freezes. There's this massive thing at the end of the hall, half bull, half man, and it's staring right at you. Before you can even think, it lowers its head and charges at you, screaming like crazy.

I've written before about how I ran my previous long-term campaign with nine players. However, my current campaign has only five players at maximum capacity. This, combined with the fact that my players and I are all much more experienced at playing RPGs, has allowed us to incorporate more of D&D 5e's mechanics into our sessions. One mechanic that has completely transformed our gameplay is the cover system.

If you're creating a new D&D character, you've probably heard about D&D point buy as an alternative to rolling dice. Look, I did all the math, and yes, rolling 4d6 and keeping the best 3 dice (4d6k3) gives higher stats on average than the D&D point buy system. My friends and I always rolled dice for our D&D characters. But a few months back, we tried something different in a one-shot game - we used point buy instead of rolling.

So, you've decided to run an RPG (like D&D) with your friends. That's impressive! You're almost ready to go, but you have this one thing to do first: Session 0. "Wait, what's that?" you ask. Don't worry, it's not as scary as it sounds. Session 0 is a way to lay the groundwork for the campaign, so everyone knows what to expect.

Last week, I showed you the map I drew for my 2018 dungeon contest entry. Good news: I finished it on time, and I will send it this Saturday after rechecking it. This week, I wrote out all the fights and challenges for the dungeon. Want to see it? Download my one-page dungeon called "Just Desserts" here! What I Was Trying to Do…

The term "murder hobo" gets thrown around frequently in the D&D community, describing players who solve every problem through violence, looting, and mayhem. While this behavior often stems from new players treating D&D like a video game such as Skyrim, the solution isn't punishment it's creating better incentive structures that reward the kind of gameplay you want to see at your table.

Hey everyone, how are you all doing? I'm looking forward to discussing this topic with you and hope you'll find it interesting. Let's talk frankly for a moment... When I first started playing Dungeons & Dragons, I was in awe of the monster manuals. Seriously, flipping through those pages felt like walking into a fantasy world where every creature had a history, a purpose, and a deadly ability just waiting to challenge the players.

Welcome to the blog! If you're playing a Sorcerer, you get to skip the boring textbooks. Your magic is a natural part of you, like a talent you were born with. And guess what? Your bloodline has a dragon in it. Yup, you're rocking dragon blood. This is what's called Draconic Ancestry. Basically, your character's magic comes from an ancient dragon ancestor, someone (or something!) in your family's past that was a dragon.

So you want to play a Wild Magic Sorcerer Build that can turn any combat into an unpredictable adventure while actually helping your team? The Wild Magic Sorcerer Build, focused on support, is absolutely worth trying. This Wild Magic Sorcerer Build is all about using your Wild Magic Surge feature to create controlled chaos and support your teammates, plus you get some really useful spells and abilities to manage the battlefield.

Introduction Let me ask you something: you're in the middle of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. There's a huge dragon in front of you, and you and your group are fighting for your lives. One of your companions made a clever move, another inspired the group with their words, and someone else made a joke that made everyone burst into laughter.

In this weekly series, I talk about some of my favourite D&D monsters, both official and homebrew. This week, we take a look at one of my new favourite monsters, the banshee. My players had been exploring the catacombs of an ancient high elf city that had been destroyed in a disaster. Throughout their exploration, they found many undead foes that they had to slay.

Becoming the Dungeon Master for D&D is a great choice! If you're new to the game, though, you're probably feeling a bit overwhelmed. After all, being a DM means you're responsible for more than just narrating the story. You're the architect of the world, the creator of NPCs (non-playable characters), and, most importantly, the one in charge of crafting engaging, challenging, and memorable encounters.

Introduction If you're new to role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), you may have heard people talk about dice rolls and how they decide what happens in the game. When you roll the dice, the number you get is often what determines whether your character succeeds or fails. But what if you could predict what kind of number you're likely to get?

You're setting up a D&D session on Roll20. Great, you've come to the right place. You've probably got your maps looking nice, and your tokens for all the heroes and monsters are ready to go, but something feels flat. Everyone can see the whole dungeon, even the parts their characters haven't discovered yet. It takes away some of the mystery and fun.

So, you're giving D&D a try? You'll love it. It might seem like a lot if you're new to the game. You've got character sheets, spells, combat rules, and let's not forget the dice! All these things can make the game feel pretty overwhelming at first. But trust me, once you get the hang of it, it's one of the most fun, creative experiences you can have.

Ever wonder why movies feel so much more intense with a good soundtrack? The same principle can work for your tabletop RPG sessions, but it's not as simple as just hitting play on Spotify. Music can definitely make your games more immersive, but it also comes with challenges that many guides don't mention. Let's talk about what actually works, what doesn't, and how to avoid the common mistakes that can make music more distracting than helpful.

I'll never forget that moment in my campaign. We had just taken down this massive monster, and there was this perfect, tense silence before the loot was pulled, the curtain was pulled back on. Right there in the rubble, a glowing sword. I mean, it was just pulsing with magic. The kind of sword that could turn an entire battle around…

As a Dungeon Master who's been running campaigns for over 15 years, I've created my share of forgettable villains. You know the type, generic dark lords who want to destroy the world because... reasons. So when I stumbled across this viral villain creation blog post that's been making rounds in the D&D community, promising to create "memorable villains that players will talk about for years," I was immediately intrigued.

If you play a wizard, cleric, or anyone who uses magic in D&D, you know it can be tricky to keep your spells going during a fight. All it takes is one bad roll, and your magic fades. That’s where the War Caster feat comes in. It doesn’t make your spells stronger, but it helps you keep them active when it really counts.

Hello Everyone! So, you’ve decided to give this Dungeons & Dragons thing a try. Maybe your friends are talking about it, or your grandkid wants you to play with them. That’s really great! I remember when I first started. I heard all these words being thrown around, and I just nodded along, pretending I knew what was going on. One of the biggest words was “encounter.” It sounded so serious!

If you've ever had the chance to sit down at a Dungeons & Dragons table, you know that one of the most exciting parts is the character creation. You're about to step into the shoes of someone who's completely different from yourself. But when I decided to make a Bounty Hunter Ranger, something just clicked. It felt like the perfect combination of everything I love: adventure, survival, and the thrill of the chase.