Dragonbornknight - D&D Stuff

well i'm no wizard but i can hit you with a wooden "beam" that immediately takes the effect of "give you a concussion"

A flail-axe?

By @jacobwitzling on TikTok

Want to play some cool underwater adventures in D&D? Check out Beneath the Waves on DMs Guild!

This book I've been working on with a bunch of amazing creators has a load of rules, player options, and new monsters plus a level 1-5 mini campaign!

It's beautiful (look at these pieces by Angela O'Hara and Kendal Gates!) AND it's currently 1/3rd off!

Homebrew Spells

hi! mixing things up a bit with some homebrew spells i've designed to be used in my own campaigns. maybe they'd fit yours! let me know what y'all think!

Last of the location plot hooks. Support or commission me here!

Greetings!

The infiltration has been a success so far. The crafty heroes have managed to get inside the cult without them noticing their intentions.

After an initiation that almost went horribly wrong, several gruesome missions and a lot of false prayers to Baphomet, they have finally gained the right to visit their dark church.

Besides taking the cult down, they hope to gain access to the Labyrinthine Teleporter: a magic device of immense power capable of taking them to Baphomet’s Labyrinth and many other planes.

But tonight is Offering Night, and a sacrifice is on the schedule too. Can they stop all the evil plans before they are discovered?

You can see a preview of this map’s Patreon content by clicking here.

If you liked the map I’d be extremely thankful if you considered supporting me on my Patreon, rewards include higher resolution files, gridless versions, alternate versions, line versions, PSDs and more. Thank you!

DM Tip: The Trouble With Treasure/ An Alternate Wealth System

If you’re a player or dungeonmaster who’s at all interested in game design you might’ve noticed D&D’s treasure and economy systems suck. You also might have noticed even if you’re not interested in game design, because the longer you play d&d the more it becomes glaringly obvious that the game doesn’t actually HAVE a treasure and economy system despite pretending otherwise.  This is a major problem given that seeking riches is one of the default adventuring motivations, and largely stems from the fact that back in ye-olden days gold was directly related to experience points, so wealth accrued exponentially in line with the increasing cost of levelling up. This is why magic items cost to damn much despite being not only a staple of the genre but absolutely necessary to the long-term viability of certain classes (as I discuss here in my post about gear as class features).  

After being cut lose however, nothing was really DONE with gold in d&d from a gameplay perspective: Treasure generation largely fell to dm discretion or random tables, and the useful things a party could buy steadily shrunk to the point where characters could be stuck with their starting equipment for an entire campaign.  “Too much gold and nothing to spend it on” became one of the major criticisms of d&d 5e, but only touched on the problem that without something worthwhile to spend treasure on the party has less and less reason to venture into the dangerous unknown, take dodgy contracts, or perform any of a half dozen other plot beats that make up traditional adventuring.

 The system likewise breaks down once you pass a certain threshold of wealth, or once you try to model larger economic activities: divvying up a lockbox full of dungeon plunder to reequip your heroes before launching out on the next mission works great for the first couple of levels, but completely falls apart when you’re dealing common enough story tropes such as running a business, transporting cargo as merchants, or caring for the estates around a castle.

What I propose is splitting d&d’s economy into two halves: Wealth, which represents the piles of GP and other coins the party carries with them, and Resources, more abstract points which chart how plugged in the party is to local systems of production, trade, and patronage.

If you’d like an explanation of how these systems work, and how they can improve your game like they improved mine, I’ll explain both of these mechanics in detail below the cut, as well as subsystems that let your party open businesses, operate estates, build castles, and make a living as merchants.

Keep reading

Cemetipede – Tiny undead, unaligned

This peculiar creature is a rare but notorious critter. Once the darkness it stems from is stripped of all its flesh, it emerges and intrudes into to the world of the living – crawling through the smallest cracks of doomed tombs and cursed caskets. The cemetipede is driven by an insatiable hunger and nests close to places where food is plenty. It infests the pits of overcrowded graveyards, snatches rotting remains from shunned battlefields or creeps through the soggy sewers beneath the local butcher’s shop. Reeking of undeath, the cemetipede quickly turns from a pest into a menacing threat for any settlement close by, especially when gathering in decently-sized groups and food supply is running low…

🔮 If you like my work, kindly consider to support me on Patreon to gain access to monster pages, tokens & artwork of 200+ of quirky creatures, items and potions.

Dungeon Masters, don’t be afraid to challenge your players!

Sometimes you need to really throw something threatening the party’s way, something out of their league. Not in a DM v Players situation, in a genuine reaffirmment that stakes are real and character death is possible. The goal is never to kill players, but a truly terrifying and epic fight is sure to leave the players feeling awesome for defeating such a powerful enemy.

Challenge Rating is not an accurate measurement of a creature’s strength, a single CR9 could be easily beaten by a band of level 4s. I won’t go into action economy because that’s not what this post is about.

So how do we throw a deadly encounter at our players to make them feel cool?

Well first, pick or redesign a monster to play to the party’s strengths in subtle ways.

Have an archer PC? Give the monster a vulnerable point that’s hard to hit. For example in my most recent game a low level party fought a large clockwork dragon, illusionist and a swarm of cultists, the dragon had 3 weaknesses 1. A maintainance hatch that if hit could deal critical damage, perfect for a rangers well placed and timed arrow to hit. 2. A combustion engine that could be extinguished briefly using our sorcerers water or ice spells. 3. Legs that were vulnerable to attack from the barbarian causing it to lose movement. These weak points were hard to hit and required tactical thinking to approach and exploit adding complexity to the combat. This could be achieved in many ways, perhaps the basalisk has a soft underside that would leave it vulnerable if they could get close enough to strike it, or the armour of a battle ogre has a cannon shot hole in it perfect for a well placed arrow. Make these weak points easy to spot, and hard to act on without forethought.

Second, tailor the environment to the encounter

If your monster is too powerful, give the players pillars and tables to duck for cover behind. Hanging chandeliers or breakable platforms are great assets to an offensive and battlefield changing encounter. But these features aren’t exclusively helpful, powder kegs and coal heaps are great for both players to utilise in strategic attack but also pose a constant threat to anyone close enough that a well placed scorching ray may leave them unconscious. Chances are your players will take on the information and strategise, luring a creature to a dangerous place or having to choose between facing the beast head on or risking a trip over the rickety bridge. My last campaign ended with the PCs ultimately tricking a demon lord to the edge of a cliff before banding together to trip them over. A good set piece may be the foundation to a satisfying fight! (This applies to all encounters not just boss monsters)

Finally, Don’t pull punches!

The players will be way more proud and excited about their victory if it’s earned. Yes, there is a time and a place for fudging rolls or having a monster not attack the lowest health character for a while. But don’t rig the combat, to challenge your players and give stakes to your game the reality that PCs can die is important. So yes, don’t go all out on the players with a monster well out of their league, but definitely don’t turn the frightful beholder into a plush toy who’s eye beams keep narrowly missing while it sits and soaks up damage. There’s a very fine balance you have to find between keeping the fight even and keeping the fight threatening. But in my experience if one or two PCs are downed and the healer is scrambling to save them both, as the fight comes to a close and everyone barely scrapes through alive are usually the ones that get the best reactions. Again the goal is NOT to try and kill PCs, the goal is to push your players to strategise and earn their victories and feel AMAZING going it!

If anyone has any further advice or just stories of a perilous battle feel free to share them, and remember the number one rule of D&D is that everyone should be having fun!