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Category Archives: Advice
How the Flawed Hooks in Descent Into Avernus Might Make D&D Players Feel Railroaded
Everyone giving Dungeons & Dragons advice tells dungeon masters how to start an adventure with a hook. This includes me, last week. That advice usually stops after the first hook, and it shouldn’t. Sure, adventures that lure characters into the … Continue reading
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Tagged Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus, hooks, Justin Alexander, leads, Merric Blackman, railroading
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The D&D Adventures That Stumble by Missing the Hook
Every adventure starts with a hook that (1) entices the characters to follow some goal and (2) reveals ways to reach that goal. Appealing to rogues, paladins, and players A good adventure hook appeals to both the party’s rogues and … Continue reading
For Better D&D Fights, Use This 1 Simple Trick That the Designers Won’t Tell You
Late in the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, the design team started presenting each encounter in a 1- or 2-page diagram. By putting everything needed to run an encounter on a page, this “delve format” benefited dungeon masters. The … Continue reading
Using Experience Points To Make D&D More Compelling
Even though experience points have fallen from the favor of the designers of Dungeons & Dragons, XP brings advantages proven by countless video games. XP show players steady progress to the reward of their next level. Players feel a sense … Continue reading
Print My Custom D&D DM Screen to Defeat the Basilisk
When I run games as a dungeon master, I typically use a DM screen, but I see the appeal of skipping it. Many DMs feel that screens create an unnecessary divide that feels adversarial. By this mindset, everyone at the … Continue reading
Can a DM Have Monsters Kill Fallen Characters Without Bringing Hurt Feelings?
In Dungeons & Dragons, the threat of death makes the game exciting, but actual death brings a character’s story to an end that usually feels sad and disappointing. Fifth-edition D&D copes with this conflict by making death virtually impossible for … Continue reading
10 Favorite Nuggets From Monte Cook’s Your Best Game Ever
Roleplaying games have benefited from decades of advice for players and game masters. Every year, several new books offering help to roleplaying gamers reach print. Meanwhile, bloggers like me and countless others post advice and hope someone finds it useful. … Continue reading
Insight Played Wrong Can Become the Most Unrealistic Thing In D&D, a Game With Djinns In Bottles Who Grant Wishes
In Dungeons & Dragons Wisdom (Insight) checks commonly lead players to pile-on checks. One character talks to someone, asks to roll insight, and then everyone adds their roll. The group supposes that just one success will spot a lie. If … Continue reading
